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☆ I'm running out of things to say about Elon Musk and his terrible tweets
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-16 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewDid Elon Musk just tweet something terrible on Twitter? Did Elon Musk then realize it was so terrible — even by his standards — that he needed to delete that tweet? "Elon Musk says he's learned a lesson," as my colleagues at Business Insider put it. But, as always, it doesn't matter who Elon Musk has working on his Twitter ads business as long as Elon Musk keeps tweeting. AdvertisementAlso: A reminder that in addition to owning Twitter and using it to tweet terrible things, Elon Musk is the world's richest man and has enormous power.

Persons: —, Elon Musk, hadn't, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Tucker Carlson, Hitler, Musk, you've, Elon, he's, He's, it's, Angela Zepeda, Linda Yaccarino, José Garza Organizations: Service, Business, Twitter, Hyundai, Elon Locations: Travis County , Texas, Travis County

☆ WBD scored a crucial cable deal — by making HBO free for millions of people
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-12 | by ( Peter Kafka | James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AdvertisementCharter will end up paying WBD for the right to give away Max with ads (as well as Discovery+, WBD's much-less-popular streamer), which sells for $10 a month. So WBD isn't exactly giving Max away. But by making a version of Max free to millions of Charter subscribers, WBD is basically inviting existing Charter/Max subscribers to trade down. But this time around, LightShed analyst Rich Greenfield calls the deal a "victory" for WBD, given the weakened position of its cable channels. Related stories"Nobody had faith in Zaslav/WBD to get a Charter deal done, especially a deal that was not even up for an entire year," he writes.

Persons: —, WBD, Max, there's, Warner, Rich Greenfield, Nobody, Greenfield, John Malone, Malone, David Zaslav, Goldman Sachs, He'll Organizations: Service, Warner, TNT, NBA, Business, HBO, Charter, Disney, ESPN, Analysts, Comcast, DirecTV Locations: Zaslav, DirectTV's

☆ Taylor Swift used only Instagram to endorse Kamala Harris. There's a reason for that.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-11 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

In 2020, when Taylor Swift endorsed Joe Biden, she used Instagram and Twitter to make her announcement. This week, when she endorsed Kamala Harris, she only used Instagram. Go to newsletter preferences Thanks for signing up! AdvertisementLet's say you're one of the most popular people in the world, and you have something important to say. If it's 2024, and you're Taylor Swift, this a no-brainer: Of course you use Instagram, which is where she endorsed Kamala Harris Tuesday night.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Elon Musk, — Organizations: Twitter, Service

☆ TikTok could be banned from the US in months. TikTok doesn't seem worried.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

TikTok faces a January 19, 2025, deadline to find a new US owner or shut down. Despite the looming deadline, TikTok employees and ad buyers act as if nothing will change. Go to newsletter preferences Thanks for signing up! download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . But inside the company, The Information reports, most US TikTok employees are behaving as if nothing is going to happen at all.

Persons: — Organizations: Service, Business

☆ OnlyFans figured out the best porn business on the internet
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-07 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

OnlyFans is an astonishingly big, and astonishingly profitable business. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You may also know that OnlyFans is a big business. But you may still be shocked to see just how big a business OnlyFans has become: Last year, the company posted operating profits of $650 million, on revenue of $1.3 billion. Maybe I'm missing something, but from what I can see, that makes OnlyFans the biggest and most profitable (mostly) porn operation in the world.

Persons: —, OnlyFans Organizations: Service

☆ The NFL is here to save TV, again. But it's going to get harder every year.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-06 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

We can't stress this enough — increasingly, the chief reason for some TV networks to exist is to transmit NFL games. And at Fox, NFL games and "shoulder programming" accounted for an astonishing 63% of the time viewers spent with the network. MoffettNathansonBut those trends should still worry both the NFL and the TV networks that pay it many billions of dollars every year. But to state the obvious: TV networks pay the NFL many billions of dollars because the NFL delivers TV eyeballs, not because it delivers Instagram eyeballs. And if younger viewers are starting to tune out of the NFL — again, like they have tuned out of everything else on TV — that's going to be a problem for the league and the TV guys.

Persons: —, Robert Fishman, Per Fishman, NFL — Organizations: Service, NFL, Kansas City, Baltimore, Business, MoffettNathanson, CBS, Fox

☆ Cable TV's collapse deepens: 'It is becoming increasingly clear that there is no longer any floor'
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-03 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Pay-TV distributors — that's conventional cable guys like Comcast, satellite-TV outfits like DirecTV, and digital alternatives like YouTube TV — lost 1.6 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2024, according to analysts at MoffettNathanson. But not as bad as other Q2s, like in 2023, when the industry lost 1.7 million subscribers, or in 2022, when it lost 1.8 million subs. And in other good news for the TV industry … well, that's about it. That's why YouTube TV lost subscribers for the first time in the first quarter, and added only 50,000 subscribers in the second.

Persons: —, MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett, Michael Nathanson, we've, Nathanson, Venu, Warner, Fox —, Moffett, James Faris, Jimmy Pitaro Organizations: Service, Comcast, DirecTV, YouTube, Business, Hulu, Moffett, Warner Bros, Disney, Fox, ESPN, ABC

☆ Why did people think Beyoncé would play at the DNC? Because TMZ said so.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

ET on Friday, TMZ fessed up: BEYONCE NOT AT DNC AFTER ALL, it acknowledged. "To quote the great Beyoncé: We gotta lay our cards down, down, down ... we got this one wrong." It's that in 2024, for much of the modern media world, a TMZ report is pretty close to accepted fact. To me, TMZ's big breakthrough as a Real News Source was when it broke the news of Michael Jackson's death in 2009. And if you still aren't convinced, see this tweet from CNN's Abby Phillip, who declared that "TMZ lost a lot of credibility tonight."

Persons: —, Kamala Harris, Harris, Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé, TMZ, I'd, I've, Time Warner, Harvey Levin, Michael Jackson's, doesn't, TMZ's, Donald Trump, Abby Phillip Organizations: Service, Democratic, Convention, Business, DNC, TMZ, Reuters, Street, Hollywood, United, National Enquirer, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, Time, Facebook, Twitter, Washington Post, Trump Locations: Chicago

☆ Nate Silver on the 2024 race: 'It's no longer Trump's election to lose.'
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

And when Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election, after Silver gave her a 71% chance of winning, he became the subject of much (misplaced) scorn. But the rest of the world wants to know who Silver thinks is going to win the 2024 election. It's no longer Trump's election to lose. And so if it's Harris 80/20 and Trump wins, or Trump 80/20 and Harris wins on election day, then that's running some career risk. With hindsight, do you make sense at a big company, or do you think you're better as a solo act?

Persons: —, Nate, Hillary Clinton, Silver, Sam Bankman, Sam Altman —, I'm, Harris, Kamala Harris, You've, it's, we've, She's, Tim Walz, she'd, Biden, It's someone's, Hilary Clinton, Trump, Clinton, It's, it's Harris, you've, … Organizations: Service, NBA, Business, Biden, Trump, Libertarian, Party, New York Times, Disney — Locations: It's

☆ Why Apple's Vision Pro is stuck in neutral
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The Apple Vision Pro has been out for six months. We're still waiting for a killer app for the $3,500 headset. Go to newsletter preferences Thanks for signing up! download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementDid you know that Apple Vision Pro has been on sale for more than six months?

Persons: We're, — Organizations: Apple, Service, Apple Vision, Business

☆ Trump is suddenly back on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Twitter barred Donald Trump in 2021. Elon Musk reinstated him in 2022. Trump is now running a Twitter ad that looks like it comes from his account. Of note: Musk is scheduled to conduct an interview Monday night with Trump on Twitter/X. AdvertisementWelcome back to Twitter, Donald Trump.

Persons: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, he's, Trump, — Organizations: Trump, Twitter, Service

☆ Trump is (sort of) posting on Twitter again
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Twitter banned Donald Trump in 2021. Elon Musk reinstated him in 2022. Trump is now running a Twitter ad that looks like it comes from his account. AdvertisementWelcome back to Twitter, Donald Trump. Or, more accurately: Trump's campaign seems to be using Trump's account to post an ad on the service, which Musk has renamed "X."

Persons: Donald Trump, Elon Musk, he's, Trump, — Organizations: Trump, Twitter, Service

☆ Why Apple should buy Warner Bros. Discovery. No, seriously.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-10 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

So I've got a not-so modest proposal: Time for Apple to jump in with both feet, and buy HBO — along with the rest of Warner Bros. I know, I know: "Apple should buy X, Y or Z" is a long-running piece of techworld fanfic. But now I think Apple should spend real money and buy WBD. And then, boom: Apple's services business — the part of the company Apple needs to keep growing while its hardware business slows — instantly grows by nearly 50%. AdvertisementIt's one thing for a tech company to buy a minor studio and 50% of the James Bond franchise.

Persons: —, I've, that's, Maxes, Warner, James Bond, hoover, It's, Tim Cook, Steve Jobs, Xi Jinping, Donald Trump, WBD Organizations: Service, Apple, HBO, Warner Bros, Business, Warner Bros . Studios, CNN, Warner mergred, Microsoft, Activision, Big Tech, Comcast, Paramount, Warners Locations: writedowns

☆ Paramount's TV networks are collapsing in a $6 billion hole
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-08 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Discovery just told investors its TV networks were worth $9 billion less than the company thought. Now it's Paramount's turn: It's taking a $6 billion charge on its TV business. Discovery told investors its TV business was in free fall, and that it would take a $9 billion write-down on those assets. On Thursday, it was Paramount's turn: The entertainment conglomerate, which is about to be acquired by David Ellison and a consortium of investors, just took a $6 billion charge on its TV business. For context: Public investors value all of Paramount's equity at $7 billion.

Persons: —, David Ellison Organizations: Warner Bros, Paramount, Service, Warner Bros . Discovery, Business

☆ Big Tech reform is coming from the courts, not Congress. Is that good?
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The US government won a major Big Tech antitrust battle this week, against Google. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Go to newsletter preferences Thanks for signing up! download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . So people who want Big Tech companies to change their ways are trying to do it via the courts.

Persons: —, It's Organizations: US, Big Tech, Google, Washington, Service

☆ Why Apple could be a loser in Google's antitrust defeat
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-05 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A federal judge ruled against Google in a major antitrust case. That's because a big part of the case was about exclusive search deals Google does with Apple and other platform owners. Google's Apple deal is worth a lot of money — $20 billion in 2022 alone. AdvertisementA federal judge just ruled against Google in a major antitrust case. And the biggest one of those is the one Apple has with Google, where Google pays Apple tens of billions of dollars a year — $20 billion in 2022 alone — to have pole position on the iPhone.

Persons: — Organizations: Google, Apple, Service, Business

☆ The new sports streaming bundle will cost $43 a month — but won't have some of TV's most popular sports
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

What would you pay for a streaming service that gave you lots — but not all — of the biggest sports programming on TV? Most crucially, it won't include lots of NFL games, since the package doesn't include CBS, which has the national rights to AFC games on Sundays. Take the NFL out of traditional TV and there's almost nothing left at this point. If you wanted a streaming service that had all of the NFL games on traditional TV, you'd need a service like YouTube TV, which currently costs $73 a month. That's partly because the TV companies that are part of the bundle kind of believe that, and partly because they have a delicate relationship with pay TV distributors like Comcast.

Persons: Venu —, It's, Venu, they've, they're Organizations: Service, Disney, Fox, Warner Bros, ESPN, FS1, ABC, TNT, Business, CBS, AFC, NBC, NFL, YouTube, NBA, Comcast, Netflix, Bowl

☆ Don't feel sorry for Linda Yaccarino
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Linda Yaccarino left her job running ad sales for NBC to become the CEO of Twitter about a year ago. Twitter's ad business, which fell in half after Elon Musk bought the company, continues to sputter. What a hard job Linda Yaccarino has! AdvertisementBy the time Yaccarino agreed to take the Twitter job, Musk's capricious track record as Twitter's owner had been well-established. Then, after formally hiring Yaccarino, Musk made it clear that while her title would be chief executive officer, she wouldn't actually be running the company.

Persons: Linda Yaccarino, Elon Musk, Musk, Yaccarino, they've, Linda, Don Lemon, Lemon, Twitter hasn't, wouldn't, she'd, he'd Organizations: NBC, Twitter, Elon, Business, New York Times, Times, CNN, Visa

☆ 'White Dudes for Harris' fundraiser thinks Elon Musk might have suspended his account. He's going to keep using Twitter.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewOn Monday night, a group calling itself "White Dudes for Harris" hosted an online fundraiser aimed at … white dudes who support Kamala Harris. Organizers said thousands joined the call, and that the event raised more than $4 million for the Harris presidential campaign. But good luck understanding why Musk makes any decisions at Twitter about content moderation or anything else. AdvertisementAnd in cases like White Dudes for Harris, when it's unclear if he's done anything at all, people will be that much more inclined to believe he has done something. That includes Nellis, who says he'll continue to use the platform to promote White Dudes For Harris.

Persons: —, Harris, Kamala Harris, Mike Nellis, Nellis, @elonmusk, we've, we're, …, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, I've, Twitter, haven't, Musk, Bari Weiss, Matt Taibbi, Trump's, he'll, We're Organizations: Service, Twitter, Business, Nellis, Meta, Trump PAC, Trump

☆ BuzzFeed keeps attracting investors who are upset with BuzzFeed
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

BuzzFeed is a digital publisher that used to attract a lot of attention from people who thought it was the future of media. Now, it attracts people who think it is mismanaged and want to change the way CEO Jonah Peretti runs the company. But it remains unclear how BuzzFeed investors can influence Peretti's ownership. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Varun Gupta thinks it should be worth more.

Persons: Jonah Peretti, —, BuzzFeed, Varun Gupta, Gupta, he's Organizations: Service

☆ Does Amazon's Twitch have a Twitch problem? Or a livestreaming problem?
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Amazon paid about $1 billion for Twitch in 2014, hoping it would become the next YouTube or Instagram. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Instead, The Wall Street Journal reports, Twitch has fizzled: It's losing money on annual revenue of $2 billion — a nothingburger by Amazon's standards — and usage seems stalled. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: —, Twitch Organizations: Amazon, Twitch, Service, Big Tech, Street Journal, Business

☆ What JD Vance's rise tells us about the influence of Peter Thiel — and Silicon Valley in the age of Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-26 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Without Peter Thiel, Vance does not get anywhere near the US Senate. And in Silicon Valley, the conservative movement is much stronger, and more muscular than it was before. AdvertisementThere's this narrative, promoted by people like Thiel, that Silicon Valley is super-liberal. Because Silicon Valley has conservative roots in addition to roots in the counterculture. AdvertisementLike I said, the liberal nature of Silicon Valley has always been sort of overplayed.

Persons: —, I'm, Donald Trump, Vance, Peter Thiel —, Max Chafkin, who's, Thiel, Peter Thiel's, Trump, JD Vance, Narya, It's, supercharge, Bill Pugliano, David Sacks, Peter Thiel, revel, that's, he's, Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, They're, Elon Musk's, Apu Gomes, Steve Jobs, Ben Horowitz Organizations: Service, Republican, Trump, Business, Bloomberg Businessweek, Republican National Convention, YouTube, Ohio Senate, The, Thiel, Twitter Locations: Silicon Valley, Mithril, Narya, Ohio, West Coast, —, America, Silicon, San Francisco

☆ WBD is suing the NBA so it can stay in business with the NBA. Yikes.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-26 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Discovery boss David Zaslav told investors he'd be ok without NBA games, which his TNT network had been airing for decades. You can read an excellent blow-by-blow of WBD's failed negotiations with the NBA from John Ourand at Puck. One is that WBD somehow wins its suit and ends up forcing the NBA to give it games it would prefer to sell somewhere else. And then there are two other possibilities: One is that WBD doesn't get the games, but extracts some kind of settlement from the NBA for supposedly breaching a contract.

Persons: —, David Zaslav, He's, it's, they've, WBD's, John Ourand, WBD, who's, doesn't, Fox — Organizations: Service, Warner Bros, NBA, TNT, Disney, Comcast, Business, HBO, WBD, Fox, Advertisement College, NFL Locations: Puck

☆ Here's how moguls like Rupert Murdoch control their companies — without owning their companies
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-25 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The Murdoch family is fighting over control over its media empire — even though it doesn't own all of it. The fight is over what happens to the company's voting shares — the ones that give the Murdochs the ultimate say. That's a set-up that's used quite often in media and tech: It lets moguls and founders take public money, without giving up power. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementRupert Murdoch is fighting with his children over control of his media empire, and the "Succession"-style brawl is headed for a Nevada courtroom.

Persons: Murdoch, —, Rupert Murdoch Organizations: Service, News Corp, Fox, Business Locations: Nevada

☆ Mark Zuckerberg says his weird tan is just a tan — not a hint about a new product.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-24 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

What's up with Mark Zuckerberg's face? Maybe he's trying to tell us something? download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementWhen is a tan line just a tan line? But it was one I had Tuesday, when I saw a new video interview with Mark Zuckerberg.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg's, —, Mark Zuckerberg Organizations: Service

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