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TL;DR
In a hurry? Here's our pick of the top news items of the week.
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YouTube passed 1B monthly active podcast viewers in January, and more than 400M hours of podcast content were played on "living room devices" during 2024. (Engadget)
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OpenAI launched GPT-4.5, which, though not a frontier model, has better writing capabilities, improved world knowledge and a “refined personality over previous models.” (The Verge)
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Perplexity is rolling out a new feature that will let Pro subscribers purchase a product without leaving its AI search engine. (The Verge)
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Sony Pictures Entertainment is soliciting bids from major media and tech companies for the streaming rights to new episodes of "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" for the first time. (NYT)
Audiences
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According to a new UK survey, 24% of Gen Zers now own a retro games console. (Fast Company)
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One in 5 Americans (20%) placed a sports bet in the past 12 months, up from 12% a year ago, and many do so simply because they enjoy it. (Nerdwallet)
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Netflix is the most popular streaming platform among new Hongkongers, though YouTube is most popular when you add in short-form video. (Marketing Interactive)
Platforms
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Some Apple TV 4K users in the US are being prompted to connect their Netflix accounts to the Apple TV app. (The Verge)
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In-app purchase revenue on TikTok in the U.S. rose by $1.47B between Q4 2023 and Q4 2024, a larger increase than the rest of the top five markets combined. (Social Media Today)
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Instagram is considering launching a stand-alone app for Reels, which would be a more direct replica of TikTok, opening to a full-screen, scrolling display of short-form videos. (Social Media Today)
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Local Australian SVOD Stan, owned by Nine Entertainment, has confirmed ads will be coming to the service. (MI3)
Content
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Warner Bros. Discovery has cancelled plans to charge Max ad-free subscribers extra for sports and news content. (THR)
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Warner Bros Discovery will launch its streaming service Max in Australia at the end of March, signaling the end of premium HBO content on Binge. (Mumbrella)
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Meta apologized for an "error" after Instagram users reported a flood of graphic and disturbing content recommended on their feeds. (Insider)
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Regional sports networks are adjusting their pricing strategies as they acknowledge that high subscription costs are deterring consumers and contributing to the decline of traditional cable subscribers. (PC World)
Tech &
AI-
The heads of the world’s three largest music companies have backed a media campaign that opposes the UK Labour government’s controversial AI copyright exception proposal, warning it could severely damage the country’s creative industries. (MBW)
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Instagram is currently experimenting with a new “Create Task” prompt within its DM options that would let users initiate a simple action based on the content of a message, further expanding on the next stage of AI agents. (Social Media Today)
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Tripadvisor's new AI strategy (partnering with companies like Perplexity) and financial restructuring indicate a significant transformation for long-term growth in travel. (Skift)
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After kickstarting the market for making calls over the internet 23 years ago, Skype is closing down. (Tech Crunch)
Location-based
entertainment-
Ticketmaster had more unique visitors in December 2024 than the next nine sites/apps combined. (eMarketer)
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Telefilm Canada, the Canadian federal government’s film financer, has cancelled its Canada House event at the 2025 South by Southwest Conference and Festival amid cross-border political tensions. (THR)
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Universal Orlando has launched the next phase of tickets and packages for Epic Universe, but only for Florida residents and military members. (Blooloop)
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Disney’s Snow White live-action remake starring Rachel Zegler as the iconic princess is tracking to open to $53M at the North American box office. (THR)
Travel &
hospitality-
Interest in travel to Thailand is growing amid the third season of "The White Lotus," which premiered on Feb. 16. (Travel Weekly)
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In recent years, travelers have begun branching out from traditional honeymoons to plan “moons” of all kinds, from babymoons to minimoons, career-changing jobmoons, friendmoons, and solo memoons. (Afar)
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Online travel giants Airbnb, Booking Holdings, Expedia Group and Trip.com Group revealed sales and marketing investment of $17.8B in total in 2024, up an entire billion from 2023’s figure. (Phocuswire)
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Despite efforts to boost tourism, Brexit policies, rising costs, and global competition continue to threaten the UK's travel industry, with inbound tourism spending still down from 2019. (Independent)
Gaming
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About $112M of Hasbro's $472M 2024 digital gaming revenue came from "Monopoly Go" alone. (Games Industry)
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Electronic Arts (EA) confirmed lower-than-expected quarterly earnings due to the poor performance of "Dragon Age: The Veilguard" and "EA Sports FC 25," leading to revised net booking expectations of $7B to $7.2B for the fiscal year. (Variety)
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Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe has announced an expansion of its distribution agreement with Square Enix. (Otaku's Study)
