AGM Knowledge is our complimentary digest of worldwide marketing tech, data, business, and brand news. We email it every week to thousands of marketing professionals around the globe. If you’d like to join them, click here to subscribe.
Check out the latest posts from AGM Leaders
TL;DR
In a hurry? Here's our pick of the top news items of the week.
-
OpenAI launched GPT-5, a new flagship AI model that will power the company’s next generation of ChatGPT. (Tech Crunch)
-
Skydance officially closed on their $8B Paramount deal, creating what some are calling the "next-generation media and tech giant". (THR)
-
Disney has announced plans to fully integrate Hulu into the Disney+ app experience, with the standalone Hulu app expected to sunset next year. (THR)
-
Roku is launching a new ad-free subscription streaming service, Howdy, available for $2.99/mo. (THR)
Audiences
-
72% of US Gen Z and Millennials believe Broadway tickets are too expensive, but once shown what goes into creating a Broadway production, their perceived value of tickets more than triples. (Ticketing Business)
-
Almost half (49%) of US Gen Zers are much more likely to pay attention to ads that make them laugh or use music they like. (Emarketer)
-
US kids ages 6-17 spend 20% more of their TV-viewing time on streaming services compared to the general population. (Nielsen)
Platforms
-
Snapchat reached 469M daily active users in Q2, an increase of 9M from Q1. (Social Media Today)
-
Instagram has officially made three new features available to all users: re-posts, a friend map, and a "Friends" tab in the Reels feed. (Instagram)
-
TikTok’s live stream broadcast of the "Tomorrowland" electronic music event drew a record 74M viewers. (Social Media Today)
Content
-
Peacock’s "Love Island USA" reached No. 1 as the most-streamed content across household televisions the second week in July, marking the first ever No. 1 overall rating for Peacock. (Media Play News)
-
ESPN announced it will acquire the NFL Network and certain other media assets owned and controlled by the NFL, including the league’s linear RedZone Channel and NFL Fantasy. (Media Play News)
-
Fox Corp. announced its new streaming service, Fox One, will launch on Aug. 21, granting subscribers access to all Fox programming including scripted entertainment, live sports, and news. (Deadline)
-
New Line's "Weapons" is the second-best horror ticket pre-seller of 2025 behind "Sinners," and is expected to beat out "Freakier Friday" this weekend at the box office with $40M. (Deadline)
Tech &
AI-
Google is launching a new AI tool called "Guided Learning within Gemini," designed to help users build a deep understanding instead of just getting answers. (Tech Crunch)
-
OpenAI says ChatGPT is on track to reach 700M weekly users this week, up from 500M users as of the end of March. (Tech Crunch)
-
Google is testing a new, AI-powered Google Finance, which will let users ask finance-related questions and receive an AI-generated answer alongside relevant links. (The Verge)
-
OpenAI dropped its first open-weight models in over five years, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, which can run locally on consumer devices for free. (Wired)
Location-based
entertainment-
Revenue increased by 19% at Universal’s theme parks in Q2, boosted by their newly-opened Epic Universe park. (Blooloop)
-
Operating income for Disney’s US theme parks grew by 22% YoY to $1.7B. (Blooloop)
-
The Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix unveiled new single-day ticket options in an attempt to attract more local fans. (Ticketing Business)
Travel &
hospitality-
Demand for short-term rentals in Europe’s peak summer season is declining, a key factor being extreme heat. (Skift)
-
Southwest Airlines is expanding its third-party distribution by partnering with Priceline and making flights available on Booking Holdings platforms. (Skift)
-
IHG Hotels & Resorts announced that it surpassed 1M open rooms across the globe. (TravelPulse)
Gaming
-
The Global Gaming League, a new video game league launching later this month, secured licensing agreements with six major game publishers. (gamesindustry.biz)
-
Sales for the Nintendo Switch 2 consoles have reached 5.82M units since its June 5 release, on track to sell 15M units by March 2026. (Variety)
-
Roblox is rolling out a new "Sensitive Issues" content tag that will make certain content inaccessible to players under 13 without parent permission. (gamesindustry.biz)
