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Elite Entertainment’s award winning services can enhance your next event
This morning on “The Rhode Show” we welcomed DJ Kenny and DJ Armando of Elite Entertainment they chatted with Brendan Kirby about their careers, what they do, and how, for the 10th consecutive year…
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 16, 2026, puzzle No. 661
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
NewsNight panel reacts to viewer comment about Trump’s ICE operations
NewsNight viewers are welcomed to join the debate via CNN.com. One viewer says: “people elected trump for more deportations but not by any means… Especially violent means.” The NewsNight panel responds.
Uber Announces Acquisition Offer for Delivery Hero
Cash consideration of €41.50 per share offered to all Delivery Hero shareholders, representing an Equity Value of $14.8 billion, or $13.7 billion adjusted for Uber’s prior stake purchases The transaction is expected to be accretive to Non-GAAP EPS upon close; high-single-digit percentage accretion by year three Delivery Hero has separately agreed to sell part of its business covering 14 markets to SSW Partners Management Board and Supervisory Board of Delivery Hero unanimously welcome and support the Takeover Offer and intend to recommend Delivery Hero shareholders to tender into the offer, subject to their review of the Offer Document Prosus has irrevocably committed to tender their shares, which would bring Uber’s total economic interest to ~53% Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) has entered into a business combination agreement with Delivery Hero, extending the world’s largest mobility and delivery platform to a total of 99 markets, with combined pro-forma Gross Bookings of $236
Sunscreen gets an upgrade | Investors Lab
There are hundreds of brands of sunscreen available in the United States, but not one of them contains an ingredient we all need. Bemotrizinol, a highly effective, broad-spectrum chemical ultraviolet ray blocker, has been available in Europe for decades but absent from U.S. shelves. The regulatory bottleneck was driven by a 2011 U.S. Food and Drug Administration policy classifying sunscreens as drugs. While the classification remains, consumers and innovators can welcome the news that the FDA has officially approved bemotrizinol, effective August 9, 2026. Science News's Meghan Rosen provides the coverage.
The States Try to Topple WarnerMount…Thus Begins the Local Antitrust Era
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Well, it looks like it’s time for another strategy column. Can I finally avoid writing about M&A? No, it seems I cannot. Admittedly, I’m a week early with this column, since I usually put it out every other week. But this news couldn’t wait. This will make three “Most Important Stories” in a row with a merger or acquisition as its centerpiece. First, Roku-Fox (an acquisition), then Comcast-NBCUniversal (a divestment!), and now the State AGs and the WGA’s lawsuits against Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery (antitrust). M&A is usually the “most important” topic any given week, simply because a giant company merging or breaking up (or preventing those outcomes) can have the biggest impact on the streaming board. If you think about these companies as players in a game, changing the number of players is one of the biggest changes you can make. I shouldn’t really complain, either, since this lawsuit is very good news for customers and suppliers (econ speak for talent, workers and indie studios in Hollywood). So let me answer some questions about this potential trial, along with (shudder) making some heavily caveated predictions. I’ll also look at whether Hollywood must consolidate, whether or not the states can win, trouble at X-Box, Netflix’s YouTube binge, and more. Plus, I have five images that visualize this merger and the harm, including three brand new data looks you’ve never seen before. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Can The States and the WGA Stop Hollywood’s Consolidation (Crisis)? If every other newsletter and news outlet is writing about the same story, I try to avoid writing about it as well, but I can’t ignore a story this consequential. The story of the last year was the fate of Warner Bros. Discovery, and this development potentially extends that saga into 2027. As I tried to figure out my angle, I realized, like my last column, I’m again faced with a series of questions. These questions, though, are much more forward-looking. Will the states win? Will the WGA win? If so, what happens to Warner Bros. Discovery? Either way, will this chill the market for future mergers? So you know what that means: predictions. About the future, no less, the hardest thing to predict.1 Just remember: nothing here comes with a guarantee. And the more confident someone is in their predictions, the less you should trust them. This situation is incredibly fluid, nuanced, uncertain and tenuous. So let’s try to explain what may happen. Question: Why File this Lawsuit? I’ll admit, a few months back, I was fairly pessimistic about the fate of this lawsuit. Rumors had started bubbling up that the state Attorneys General (in particular California) wanted to settle with either some minor divestments (usually CNN) or behavioral remedies. And that tracked for me: the states usually settle lawsuits, like the recent John Deere right-to-repair suit. Yet, they plan to fight this. (As they did the LiveNation-Ticketmaster monopolization trial and the Nexstar-Tegna merger.) Honestly, that also makes a ton of sense. Frankly, this move is just good politics for these State AGs. Most are still running for higher and higher office in blue states—some folks have emphasized that only Democratic AGs joined this suit, but given the Ellison/Trump ties, and fears of retribution, that tracks—and a high profile case like this will help them move up the electoral ladder, especially since Paramount and its leadership (the Ellisons, father and heir) have sided with the other side of the political aisle. That makes them unsympathetic to Democratic voters and Hollywood workers in particular. Why did this lawsuit happen? In addition to the very real concerns about industry consolidation, this is why. That said, I don’t think we would have seen this lawsuit for Netflix and Warner Bros., simply because they’re more sympathetic and aligned with Democrats. But those consolidation concerns are real. The “town”—meaning Hollywood and such—really is seeing the damage of mergers on this industry. That’s why the WGA also filed its own lawsuit in defense of workers as well. (Wildcard: What about Europe? Will they try to stop the deal, too? There have been some rumors out of the UK they may try to fight the deal, and UK enforcers just stopped a Getty Images-Shutterstock tie up, so there is precedence. This argument could go either way, though. On one hand, the EU doesn’t need to step in, cause they states are handling it. On the other hand, this could make the EU’s case easier. Just imagine if both sides coordinated. I’ll simply say, “We’ll see!”) Question: Will The State AGs or the WGA Win? Can the state AGs play David to Paramount-Skydance’s Goliath here? That’s really the whole thing, isn’t it? If you know this result, you could make a lot of money. When things are uncertain, it’s tempting to shrug and say, “Eh” meaning it’s a 50/50 proposition. I wouldn’t, though. When in doubt, you should expect that the merging parties succeed. AT&T did successfully buy Warner Bros., after all, and Disney bought Fox without any challenges. Many judges are extremely sympathetic to mergers, and I’d bet the state AGs get a judge who will allow the merger. (Even Obama-appointed judges often allow mergers.) As I understand it, we’ll see two main attacks. First, theatrical films. The AGs are arguing that, when it comes to share of box office and the number of both “wide releases” and blockbuster (or “tentpole”) films, the merging parties will have over 27% market share. Now, the Supreme Court once ruled from on high that any merger that exceeds 30% is presumptively illegal, but that’s guidance, not an ironclad bar. Still, the states will have to argue that this is close to having too much power, and with that power, this will likely further worsen the theater/studio splits in particular. Indeed, as Matthew Stoller pointed out, “just five studios are responsible for 95% of all blockbusters; if this merger goes through, then Paramount and Disney will control 60% of that.” So yes, movie studios will be very concentrated after this merger. Want me to visualize some of that? Well, here’s the share of films that grossed over $200 million at the domestic box office since 2022. (Note: this isn’t all films released in over 3,000 screens, but it is a good look at market power.) First, here are the 43 films by studio: Notice all the blue (Disney), orange (Universal), and purple (Warner Bros)? Yeah, those studios are powerful, and this combines Paramount with one of them. Here’s the look by studio and share of the films that grossed over $200 million: Now, if you look at that and also think, “Huh, should we break up Disney?” I’m with you. I’ve seen some folks poo-poo this idea that this is a real category, but it is! For an upcoming article, I’ve been pulling data on the share of top 100 films at the box office as a share of total box office, and it’s massive. Here’s the chart: (This analysis looks at The-Number’s top 100 films and total domestic box office each year.) To be clear, tentpoles make up 80.7% of the box office each year, so I do think it’s a genuine market. (To be clear, films grossing over $50 million make up 80% of the domestic box office, and films grossing over $100 million make up 64.1%.) I mean, the top 100 films at the box office make up 95% of each year’s grosses. Worse, the combined studios will likely cut output to flex that market power. Everyone can just look at what happened to Disney and Fox to see the precedent. (With fewer films, the remaining theaters have to give more for those few films that remain.) Here’s an image I’ve used a lot, the share of wide-release films from Disney and Fox over time: The AGs will also argue that this consolidation will also impact the cable industry. In this case, the consolidation is actually worse, but that environment is…complicated. Paramount will argue that the cable industry is shrinking. That said, predictions that cable will “go to zero” also don’t look very well supported by the data, as the declines are shrinking, meaning “cable” or “vMVPDs” will likely stabilize at some point. Can the state Attorneys General win on those two main arguments? I honestly don’t know. Again, I’d bet no, since history in general supports that, but it depends on the judge/jury and how they interpret the arguments. Notably, Paramount won’t face accusations about monopoly power in other areas, like streaming, news, sports rights, or vertical integration. I tend to disagree with leaving out sports rights, but I also see the appeal for a simpler case. The states also aren’t really pushing novel theories about labor harm either, which should help. (By the way, Sean McNulty at The Ankler wrote a great run through of potential options, and Capitol Forum also wrote a great paper on theatrical consolidation. Both these pieces predated the lawsuit. Matthew Stoller is also out with his analysis of the pros and cons of the case too.) In some ways, the WGA’s case is even stronger. Quoting Sean McNulty’s summary: “The WGA is citing WARNAMOUNT as crossing a 30% market share in multiple sectors, a number that the Supreme Court has precedent for deeming “presumptively anticompetitive” in a market. According to the WGA numbers, WARNAMOUNT would have represented: - 35% of film writing jobs between 2021 and 2024 - 36% of TV writing projects between 2022 and 2025 - 38% of overall deals between 2021 and 2024” Notably, antitrust enforcers did win recently in the Penguin-Simon & Schuster merger by focusing on labor impact, so don’t count this thinking out. (Wildcard: Will the states try to get a jury trial? Most likely no, they’ll let a judge handle it. If I’m them, though, I’d try to put this in front of a jury. Juries tend to understand monopoly power in a more realistic way than judges faced with legions of economists.) Question: What if They Win? What if They Lose?
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 15, 2026, puzzle No. 660
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
ECU Health welcomes 152 new resident physicians and fellows to train across Eastern NC
WCTI ABC 12 Greenville and WYDO Fox 14 Greenville offer local and national news reporting, sports, and weather forecasts to viewers in the Greenville, New Bern, Washington, North Carolina region, including Farmville, Wilson, Rocky Mount, Goldsboro, Snow Hill, Pikeville, and Simpson, North Carolina.
47 revelatory hours with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
To review this month’s supposed remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, I must first correct the record. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced isn’t a game about pirates (and assassins) in the 18th century Caribbean. Sure, sure, that’s what the trailers would have you believe. They’ve go their clips of Edward Kenway swinging his swords and steering his pirate ship into cannon-blasting combat against British frigates. Is Resynced truly a pirate game? Of the 47 hours I spent playing Resynced over the past few weeks, I will admit I spent maybe 44 (?) of them collecting plunder with Blackbeard, drinking rum with Anne Bonny and debating the pros and cons of the lawless pirate-run settlement Nassau with Benjamin Hornigold. I may in fact have spent dozens of hours sailing to remote islands, reading treasure maps, opening messages left in bottles, sinking the odd Man o’ War with a well-timed broadside, collecting sea shanties for my crew, befriending a pet monkey, and hunting whales. I am nevertheless neither so Gullible nor so Narrow-Minded as to call the magnificent Resynced a “pirate remake.” Oh no. Forget any reviews of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced you may have read. Forget what you yourself may have played, if you’ve spent any time with the game since its launch. What Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is really about I’m here to give you the scoop (spoilers for Resynced’s Animus menu lore, which many players are probably not going to see): Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, the new game whose development was led by Ubisoft Singapore, is set in the year 2096. It’s about a societal split, about revolution, about an old Assassin’s Creed adventure repurposed in the series’ distant future as propaganda or samizdat. It’s about the overheated future of 2096, essentially conquered by the series’ well-established nefarious Templar-run company Abstergo. (In this future, Abstergo is, among other things, remaking a 2013 pirate movie called Devils of the Caribbean, but this time in VR. The VR version will be backed by a marketing plan that involves AI influencers, a 10,000-avatar “metaverse premiere event” and that manufacturing of memes aimed at “50 million VR nodes.” See what I mean about Abstergo being evil?) Resynced is about a late 21st-century population mollified by the widespread use of Abstergo’s Animus devices which let people experience the lives of historical figures culled from “genetic memories.” It’s about an insurgent faction of Assassins. And it’s about a plan to wake the population into revolutionary fervor by showing them the memories of 18th century pirate Edward Kenway, who—as depicted in the original Black Flag and again in Resynced—gradually comes to an understanding about the Assassins of his day and their centuries old fight for freedom. Resynced is also about an AI developed within the late 21st-century Animus, called Ego. It has found a way to alter genetic memories, to create and show Animus users false ones. The game is about Ego’s efforts to tell the people experiencing Edward Kenway’s memories that Kenway was wrong, that fighting against order is folly, that we should crave a world where “compliance is rewarded with power.” Who are we in this game? We’re an unnamed Animus user in 2096 who experiences Kenway’s journey virtually. At four moments during Kenway’s exploits in the Caribbean our virtual jaunt can be interrupted for 10-15 minutes, as we explore Animus “rifts” where Ego explicitly tries to tell us how wrong Kenway was. None of this is what 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was about, of course. That was a different game, even if you also spent dozens of hours pirating as Kenway in that game, across missions and a map that’s been faithfully reintroduced and rebuilt for Resynced. The 2013 Black Flag was about you playing as an unnamed researcher newly hired in 2013 by Abstergo Entertainment, the video game development wing of the Templars’ evil-corp. In that game, you were assigned to use the Animus to dive into the genetic memories of Desmond Miles, a man who died in Assassin’s Creed III and who was descended from a long line of Assassins (and at least one Templar) whose adventures were featured across the prior AC games. In 2013’s Black Flag, your mission was to plumb the Edward Kenway experience for material that Abstergo could use in productions such as the motion picture Devils of the Caribbean, though the Templars had some ulterior motives for the assignment. Resynced is therefore not a remake of 2013’s Black Flag. It’s a sequel. It is a new game about a new exploration of Edward Kenway’s pirate/assassin journey, set 83 years after the framing sequences of the original game. Resynced provides a new narrative framework that, thanks to the concept of an AI that wants to alter historical memories, arrives with creative justification to tweak a now-classic 13-year old game. That makes Resynced, already a hot seller, a tantalizing hint of where Ubisoft could go with a line of Assassin’s Creed remakes. They could remake the first game, the Ezio games, even the recent ones set in ancient Egypt and Greece. And for each, they could not just modernize the graphics and controls but expand and alter their sequences of events to use them as reference points for a conflict set in the late 21st century, as rival factions try to weaponize historical memories. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, even when that work consists of ravings about Assassin’s Creed’s modern day plot, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe A story most players will probably miss If you didn’t know any of this, I’m not surprised. If you played the game and still didn’t catch it, I’m not a bit shocked. If Ubisoft has no plans to do more of this, I won’t fall down. Almost all of what I’ve described is optional and missable in Black Flag Resynced. I nearly missed it myself, as I planned for a breezy playthrough of an old Assassin’s Creed favorite. Instead, I found myself in a 40+ hour hunt for the “real” story, buried deeper in Resynced than any gold-filled chest. The story of 2096 is Resynced’s meta-story, told in two remote pockets of the game: 1) four optional playable “rifts” that players may find as they proceed through Resynced’s pirate fantasy , 2) in dozens of text files tucked three menus deep in the game’s barely-interactive Animus hub. Assassin’s Creed games have almost always had a meta-story about people in the 21st century (usually matching the game’s release year) and their connections to the main history portions you play. Those meta-stories have always been squeezed into the margins, though seldom as severely and as, uh, graphiaclly simple, as in recent games. Back in 2013, the modern-day exploits of you as an Abstergo Entertainment employee were prominent. They were portrayed via first-person portions that occasionally interrupted the third-person Kenway experience and could be explored for hours, complete with their own missions, side quests and puzzles. Resynced’s 2096 story—of Assassin “Watchers” vs. Abstergo/Tempar goons, of rogue AIs, of panicking scientists, of a woman wondering why her Animus-addicted husband is muttering about Mary Read (“What does he mean by Assassins?”), of a fight for the population’s hearts and minds via varying interpretations of Edward Kenway’s life choices—is mostly told through unlockable text files. The files are interesting. Offered via diary entries, intercepted chats and news reports, they present varied perspectives of a world in crisis. One set works as a narrative puzzle as it reveals the Rashomonic interpretations of a massacre, or was that a successful Assassin hit? Another favorite reveals the rising bitterness of a person who, through Edward Kenway’s journey, now shakes at the ignored evil around him. One surmises that Ubisoft is averse to putting the Assassin’s Creed’s meta-story in the way of more marketable pirate playgrounds and ninja/samurai epics. Instead, we get a better-than-nothing text-in-menus approach introduced in 2025’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In Shadows, players unlocked the meta-story text files largely via time-gated missions that called on the user to kill X number of enemy type Y, clear three enemy castles, re-win a three-phase fighting tournament, and other grinds. Time restrictions on accessing these missions and unlocking the files meant it could take players months to access the full story in-game. But even in the most hardcore Assassin’s Creed hangouts, the fanbase instead seemed to throw up their hands rather than grind to keep up. In Resynced, Ubisoft has shown some mercy, diminishing the amount of new text files that are tied to timed grinds. Now, most of the text-based 2096 lore are associated with “data file” collectibles that players can find in the world. That includes a batch of written entries that explain a historical link between the feudal Japan era in Shadows and the piracy adventures in Black Flag. Players who explore a lot will find dozens of data files, though the game does not appear to offer any in-game tracker for finding each one. You just need to keep looking for them. As of this writing, I have most of them, but not all. I can’t find any full guide for them online. And even Ubisoft’s optional $5 microtransaction that reveals lots of items in-game does not appear to reveal the locations of the text files (at least the official description omits them from its collectibles list). That’s not a huge bother, because tracking the data files down compelled me to re-explore the waves and islands of Black Flag. That was a thoroughly pleasant task to do for the first time in a dozen years. I expect many players, though, will be content to wait for the files to be reproduced in an online AC wiki somewhere, the easier to read on a web page. It may not seem enticing to play a video game in order to gradually unlock pages of text to read. Why not, you may ask, just read a book, where they put the pages in order? For one, they’ve not tucked this latest installment of Assassin’s Creed’s meta saga in a book. I also enjoy the unordered delivery, the dawning comprehension of a story about 2096’s desperate people and questionable tech, which I glimpsed first at its middle, then the end, then the front, then other moments in between1. I am also enamored with the idea of the Assassin’s Creed games I’ve previously played, including Black Flag, being repurposed for an information war. The ideas in Resynced’s meta-story, which builds off characters and ideas in Shadows’ chunks of text, are strong. The potential of where they could go with it is exciting. As for the pirate stuff? Looks great, controls pretty well, is fun to play and oh so speedy in terms of how much of a good time you can have with each sit-down. It never gets old to chase a new shanty page across a rooftop, bombard a fort with upgraded mortars or use a diving bell to explore sunken wrecks (hats off to the team at Ubisoft Barcelona that worked on the underwater portions in Resynced; that team is now facing layoffs, such is the misery of modern gaming and oft-troubled Ubisoft). New pirate missions in Resynced involving new ally characters are brief, dramatic and add more to Edward’s story, even if the gameplay perks they provide barely enhance the gameplay. A new denouement for high-class pirate Stede Bonnet is affecting; a new hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure is a welcome extra moment. A new epilogue to hunt down a pirate killer, on the other hand, over-complicates Kenway’s character. The ending credits remain my favorite of any game I’ve ever played. Black Flag provides great source material. The revisit is well-made and a great sign of what could be. It is offered in a different wrapper that hints at an opportunity for more interesting remakes to come, should Ubisoft choose to pursue such treasures—and as we brace to resist or comply with an Abstergo future. 1 The messages that Edward Kenway finds in bottles tell another out-of-order story, one about a man reckoning with the strange memories and voices he’s heard in his head since he was a boy. That tale was also in the 2013 game and develops into one of Black Flag’s most compelling character arcs. In Resynced, it has lost its climax, because the bottle story previously paid off in the halls of the first-person Abstergo Entertainment, which is exclusive to the older game. An altered resolution, written by the 2013 game’s lead writer is fine, doesn’t invalidate the 2013 version, but makes for an inferior final note.
ECU Health Graduate Medical Education welcomes 152 new resident physicians, fellows
The future of medical care at ECU Health has arrived in the form of 152 new Graduate Medical Education (GME) resident physicians and fellows.
Fenway Health Welcomes Governor Healey’s Signing of the FY27 Budget, Advancing LGBTQIA+ Health and HIV Prevention
Governor Healey’s signing of the FY27 budget marks an important step forward for LGBTQIA+ health, HIV prevention, and health equity in Massachusetts. At a t ...
RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute Welcome First Patients at Melchiorre Cancer Center
RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, officially welcomed its first patients today at the Melchiorre Cancer Center.
Trump rolls out the White House welcome mat for new Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi
President Donald Trump is set to welcome Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, to the White House
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 14, 2026, puzzle No. 659
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Polymarket Promo Code SBWIRE Get $50 Bonus for World Cup, Politics & More For July 13
Use Polymarket promo code SBWIRE to skip the waitlist AND claim a $50 bonus with a $20 deposit welcome offer. Start trading prediction markets immediately.
Aggie Venture Accelerator Welcomes Inaugural Cohort of Life Science Startups
The University of California, Davis Innovation and Economic Development Office has announced the inaugural cohort of the Aggie Venture Accelerator (AVA), selecting SinewUS, Pharm to Food and ThriveSpan Labs as the program’s first participating startups.
Opinion | Welcome to the Golden Age of the Crone
A new generation is not willing to settle for being invisible.
Kansas City continues to prove it's a superior sports city as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce could welcome a new superstar to town soon
The Kansas City Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce as international superstars in their own sport. The city could soon have Mo Salah.
Poll: Who Wins the Home Run Derby?
Editor's note: Welcome to Athlon Sports' poll of the day, where we ask readers to weigh in on the biggest topic of the day. Thanks for voting, and be sure to sound off in the comment section. We've hit the MLB all-star break, and Monday night is the Home Run Derby (8 p.m.
Stealth PlayStation 5 Feature Update Adds a Handy New Widget
Sony Interactive Entertainment has quietly dropped a new PS5 feature update that adds a handy new widget to the Welcome Hub.
Sen. McConnell breaks weeks of silence about health, US and Iran vie for Strait of Hormuz control
Welcome back.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 13, 2026, puzzle No. 658
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Opinion: A baton pass to welcome a new era of Alaska politics
In a political climate built for outrage, Alaska needs leaders who still know how to build coalitions.
Summer Games Done Quick 2026 raises another $2.4 million for Doctors Without Borders
The annual speedrunning marathon, held in Minneapolis this week, welcomed around 2500 in-person attendees, as well as thousands via its livestreams.
Poll: Home Run Derby or All-Star Game?
Editor's note: Welcome to Athlon Sports' poll of the day, where we ask readers to weigh in on the biggest topic of the day. Thanks for voting, and be sure to sound off in the comment section. We've got one more day of baseball action before most of the MLB's players get to relax during the all-star break.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 12, 2026, puzzle No. 657
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
MRN BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: The Daily Grind
More than just coffee. The Daily Grind in Mendon has been brewing up more than your favorite drinks since opening in 2022. From breakfast and Underbrink’s treats to a brand-new drive-thru and a freshly renovated space, Chloe Shaffer and Megan Kirby are creating a place where everyone feels welcome. Hear their story on the latest...
Opinion | ‘Platner Is Vile.’ McConnell Is Missing. Welcome to American Politics.
What America’s embarrassments have in common.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 11, 2026, puzzle No. 656
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
SCORE Welcomes Four New Board Members to Advance Small Business Success
/PRNewswire/ -- SCORE, the nation's largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors and a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration...
SCORE Welcomes Four New Board Members to Advance Small Business Success
SCORE, the nation's largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors and a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), is pleased to announce the appointment of four new members to its board of directors.
James Cronin joins Essentia Health-South University Clinic to practice sleep medicine
The Essentia Health-South University Clinic is proud to welcome James Cronin, an advanced practice registered nurse and certified nurse practitioner in sleep medicine.
Building a Better CB Stat
Welcome to Steelers Morning Rush, our new daily short-form podcast with Alan Saunders, giving a longer perspective on a single […] This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Building a Better CB Stat | Steelers Morning Rush
Ferris State College of Health Professions leaders say building renovation, expansion will help meet demand, grow healthcare workforce
Ferris State University leaders are taking the first steps to plan for extensive renovations to the Victor F. Spathelf Center for Allied Health, modernizing and expanding programs that train the next generations of health professionals and address statewide shortages.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 10, 2026, puzzle No. 655
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
NFL offseason power rankings: No. 20 Pittsburgh Steelers welcome back Aaron Rodgers, hope Mike McCarthy changes their arc
Business Brief: Community Bank names Gregory business development officer
Community Bank has welcomed Bart Gregory as business development officer, a role in which he will focus on connecting customers with financial solutions and reinforcing the bank’s commitment to local communities.
Hoo boy, RUF has built a 1,000bhp+ boxer engine with *eight* cylinders
Welcome to the ‘Boxer-Eight’: 4.8-litres of twin-turbo fury
Gibraltar Business Capital Welcomes Fine as SVP, Account Executive
Michael Fine joined Gibraltar Business Capital’s credit team in July 2026 as senior vice president – account executive, bringing more than 30 years of banking
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 9, 2026, puzzle No. 654
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Kaballos Mexican Kitchen Open for Business
Public officials from Middlefield Village, Burton Village and Burton Township welcomed Ramon Arellano to the new location of his Kaballos Mexican Kitchen and Bar just before a storm blew through July 6. The crowd applauded as Angel Arellano, 10, used the Burton Middlefield Chamber of Commerce’s oversized ceremonial scissors to cut the red ribbon while
World Wide Technology Raceway Welcomes the Super Fair July 31-Aug. 8
MADISON, Ill. (July 8, 2026) – World Wide Technology Raceway will transform into the Super Fair by Kissel Entertainment July 31–Aug. 8, bringing more than a week of carnival thrills and family entertainment to the Metro East. The Super Fair will fill the raceway with one of the area’s largest traveling midways, featuring more than...
Leadership Louisiana Health Fellows Welcomes Inaugural Class - Leaders for a Better Louisiana
Leaders for a Better Louisiana is proud to announce the inaugural class of Leadership Louisiana Health Fellows
Kremlin hails 'important step' as IOC eases Russia restrictions
The Kremlin has welcomed as an "important step" the International Olympic Committee's decision to remove many of its restrictions on Russia, a big step closer to letting it field a full team when Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Games.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 8, 2026, puzzle No. 653
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Explaining The Comcast and NBCUniversal Divorce
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) I hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July in America, celebrating the country’s 250th birthday. Frankly, I am bummed the 250th wasn’t a bigger celebration, but that’s a different topic for a different Substack. While it was generally a quiet week on the entertainment/streaming/media business fronts, we still had some interesting news stories. Actually, that kinda undersells one of the stories, a huge, huge, huge divestment that could upend the entertainment landscape... So let’s get right to it. In today’s column, I’ll cover Comcast spinning off the rest of NBCUniversal, an entertainment company investing in an LLM company and an LLM-owner investing in a movie studio, the latest round of threats of digital tariffs, and more. Let’s dive in. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Most: Comcast/NBCU Breakup!!!! If I had to describe my reaction to Comcast spinning out NBCUniversal, it feels like a relationship ending, either breaking up or divorcing. Comcast’s decision to spin off the rest of NBCUniversal, after spinning off some of its cable assets into Versant last year, really does feel like a family breaking up under “irreconcilable differences”. Of my stereotypes of the entertainment moguls, my go-to for Comcast CEO Brian Roberts—heir to the Comcast fortune, but a man who’s been at the helm for 24 years now, and president for twelve years before that—is that he likes building empires. He cut his teeth acquiring cable rivals in the 1990s and tried to buy Disney repeatedly, then settled for NBCUniversal after a long court battle. (Contrast this with Rupert Murdoch, a man who also loved to buy, but would also sell when the price is right. Murdoch made Fox out of nothing, but then sold 20th Century Fox to Disney, arguably at the top of the market. So I understood why he sold.) But I don’t understand Roberts’ motivation to sell now. I have some explanations but no single, super-satisfying explanation. Strategically, it would just make more sense to have kept NBCUniversal in-house, especially for a one-time empire builder like Comcast. Yet one powerful force—arguably the decider in modern capitalism—likely overwhelmed all other considerations. At first, I thought I’d arrange my thoughts as a “Five Why” analysis, digging through each layer of the puzzle. But instead, I found myself asking, “But…why?” (And I only ended up with four sections.) So let’s look at Comcast from that angle. Then, at the end, I’ll give my biggest strategic recommendation for every company in Hollywood. It’s obvious, but sometimes, the obvious strategy is the most ignored. But…Why? The Stock Market, Conglomerations, and Sum of the Parts Analysis We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… Why Comcast could never get a “tech company” valuation The not-so-secret motivation for Comcast What Versant has to do with all of this The key strategic advice I think every entertainment exec should follow (though it’s really obvious) Some big AI investment news… Whether we’ll see digital tariffs… And more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support.
WATCH: Trump arrives at NATO summit in Turkey, with ceremonial welcome from Erdogan
President Donald Trump arrived in Turkey on Tuesday to attend a NATO summit and was welcomed at a ceremony by Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shortly after.
Ranking the Dolphins roster
Welcome to the Splash Zone, the quickest way to get your day started off right. We bring you a rundown of Miami Dolphins news from the last 24 hours.
Advantage Business Capital Welcomes New Senior Vice President
Advantage Business Capital welcomed Todd Waldrip to its growing team. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Waldrip will be focused on asset-based
German business leaders warn Merz more is needed to prevent ‘lost decade’
Bosses welcome government’s reform package but say country is still at a competitive disadvantage
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 7, 2026, puzzle No. 652
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Arizona fans cheer Balogun’s return but fear politics in soccer
Arizona soccer fans welcome Folarin Balogun’s return, but Trump’s role in FIFA’s reversal has some worried that politics is entering the World Cup.
How to watch San Francisco Giants vs. Toronto Blue Jays
The San Francisco Giants welcome the Toronto Blue Jays to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series.
Thousands celebrate U.S. Independence Day with Army traditions in Puerto Rico
FORT BUCHANAN, Puerto Rico — The Army's home in the Caribbean welcomed thousands of community members July 4 for a U.S. Independence Day celebration fea...
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 6, 2026, puzzle No. 651
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Shore Regional Health Cancer Center adds community outreach coordinator
EASTON — The Cancer Center at University of Maryland Shore Regional Health recently welcomed Catalina Billings as coordinator of community outreach, a new position designed to provide up-to-date cancer information
Science National Honor Society hosts this year’s induction
CLARK — On Thursday evening, April 23, Arthur L. Johnson High School welcomed 23 new inductees into the
‘Changing the space’: New St. Clair business hopes to become a community hub
If you’ve noticed a change in energy while passing through St. Clair, you’re not imagining things. A mystical, explorative new shop has hit the zero block of South Second Street, and welcomes folks to mingle with the esoteric…
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 5, 2026, puzzle No. 650
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Overnight News Digest: Star Spangled Science Saturday, 7/4/26
Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame, jck, JeremyBloom…
Wang Yi Says China Welcomes Stronger European Business Relations
China welcomes deeper cooperation with Swedish and European businesses, which will benefit all parties involved, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a meeting with Investor AB Chairman Jacob Wallenberg in Stockholm on July 4, according to a statement from the ministry on Sunday.
Andrew Mortensen Earns Georgia Tech MS in Computer Science
Woodbridge, CT resident Andrew Mortensen graduates from Georgia Tech with a Master of Science in Computer Science during the 270th Commencement exercises. (156 characters)
South Texas Health System welcome two 4th of July babies
HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The South Texas Health System congratulated two families in McAllen and Edinburg as they welcomed two babies born this Independence Day! Born at South Texas Healt…
SB Nation Reacts Results: Would you change the draft?
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Arizona Diamondbacks fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. Since I was out of range this week – I will be leaving a one-star […]
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 4, 2026, puzzle No. 649
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Long Reads for the Long Weekend
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) Happy Fourth of July weekend! As has been a tradition of mine going back to the beginning of the EntStrategyGuy website, I’m sharing my favorite long reads of the last year, like I did in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025. Let’s dive right in! Subscribe “Different Prices for the Same Ride: How Uber and Lyft Use AI to Get More Money Out of You“ by Derek Kravitz in Consumer Reports I don’t think surveillance pricing, like the kind described in this brilliant Consumer Reports article, is long for the world—it’s toxically unpopular—but we’ll see if either party takes on this issue. If I ran a political party focused on affordability, I would focus on a few pro-consumer and pro-market policies: Banning non-compete agreements. Ending surveillance pricing Eliminating junk fees (read more here...) Ensuring “right to repair” for consumer (and military!) products Capping excessive app store fees Stopping digital/algorithmic price-fixing tools. Preventing automatic subscription price increases. And more. If you want to fight inflation, there are a lot of great ways to do it quickly. Speaking of higher prices... “Secret Documents Show Pepsi and Walmart Colluded to Raise Food Prices Across the Economy“ by Matt Stoller in BIG Again, I think a political party should focus on lowering prices for consumers. And deals like this—Walmart making a deal/forcing Pepsi to offer the lowest prices at its stores and nowhere else—hypothetically lower prices at Walmart...but raise them everywhere else. “15 DUIs, still driving: California’s failure to take repeat drunk drivers off the road“ by Robert Lewis and Lauren Hepler in CalMatters CalMatters does terrific reporting in California, something the Golden State desperately needs more of, and this article is a great example of that. “PugLips: The next insanely popular thing you’ve never heard of…” by Simon Carless in Game Discover Co I thought that this parody article (and yes, it’s a parody, but I was definitely unsure at first) was hilarious and totally nailed how much tech/business journalism feels these days. Actually, three of my favorite articles this year were on hype in the video game industry, including Georg Zoller’s “The Video Game Industries Very Dark Night”—which I linked to recently and wrote a follow-up here—and Owen Mahoney’s “Derek Zoolander, Videogame Exec”. In particular, I like Mahoney’s focus on user experience as a guide to what trends will actually grab hold of customers. “The Matrix Lies“ by Evan Shapiro in Media War & Peace Evan Shapiro’s first person account of his experience with AI was hilarious. I think LLMs capabilities have significantly grown from last summer, and yet...my editor/researcher just had an abysmal experience using an LLM to do a quite basic task (which our LLM normally does each week) and the LLM made a mistake on every single data entry...along with seven different mistakes affecting twelve of the twenty or so entries, including mistakes that are explicitly spelled out in the prompt. That’s a brutal failure rate. Again, if you use AI/LLM for data collection, you need to take a lot of extra steps to verify and check the data. “Ghosts in the Balcony: A Cross-Country Trip to 58 Theaters Fighting to Survive“ by Matthew Frank in The Ankler I thought Matthew Frank’s pitch to head across America to visit theaters sounded insane aggressive at the time—at least it felt that way to someone a decade older than him; man, to be in your twenties again, am I right?—but I knew the result would be great. And it was, a terrific feature by a great young writer. Also, I loved Matthew’s recent article on who’s getting the precious few entry level jobs in Hollywood. (Hint: nepotism.) “Disney erased FiveThirtyEight“ and “Did Las Vegas get too greedy?” by Nate Silver in Silver Bulletin I love media history and analysis, and there’s no one better to get the history of FiveThirtyEight than from Nate Silver, who wrote about his personal experience in one of my favorite pieces from this year. I also loved Nate’s breakdown of what’s causing Vegas’ woes, but I’ll offer one criticism, summarized as “Might I suggest antitrust?” Many centrists/center-right/libertarian thinkers (Nate is self-described as the latter) often don’t consider consolidation or antitrust as factors in policy issues like housing, America’s military readiness, or, in this case, Las Vegas. Even if libertarians want to debunk antitrust/consolidation concerns, I’d love to read that debunking. In this case, Vegas is incredibly consolidated (though it also has been for a long time) and I’d have loved to read Nate at least contending with this factor, since he addresses almost every other potential factor for Vegas’ decline. “Why Microsoft’s Carbon Removal Pullback Is Such a Big Deal“ by Robinson Meyer in Heatmap News I’m a big supporter of carbon removal efforts, but this nascent industry faces a lot of headwinds, including this big move most recently. I think it’s clear that solar panels and batteries should be able to get the world to its carbon footprint goals, but effective carbon renewal remains necessary to prevent the worst impacts of global warming. “AI is killing the cheap smartphone“ by David Oks LLMs and AI will impact the world in ways we’re not ready for, and already, third world countries are seeing the prices of cheap cellphones skyrocket due to the cost of chips skyrocketing. This article by David Oks is a terrific breakdown. “100 Days of Madness: Netflix, Paramount, Warner and the Future of Hollywood“ by Wade Major at Hollywood Heretic Wade Major dove deep into Hollywood/streaming’s financials in this must read piece. Not that I agree with everything in this article (read my take on Warner Bros./Paramount here) but the analysis is top notch. I think many people discount how quality thinking, regardless of the argument/conclusion, will make you a better thinker. “Erased by the UFC: Frank Shamrock, The MMA GOAT of the 20th Century“ by Nate Wilcox in The MMA Draw Newsletter Growing up playing the UFC fighting game on the Dreamcast, Frank Shamrock was my favorite MMA fighter, and this history/tribute to him was great. Other Fun Reads “The Hardest Part Of History To Tell Is How It Felt“ by Craig Fehrman at Defector “Unmasking the Sea Star Killer“ by Craig Welch at bioGraphic “What Could Save the Industry? Fin-Syn“ by Richard Rushfield in The Ankler Alex Rollins Berg in Underexposed on movie bumpers, pillow shots, Disney trash cinema, cult films, and Casablanca. David H. Montgomery in YouGov’s The Surveyor on punctuation marks, condiments, dinosaurs, and comic strips and kids media. “How Medium finally pivoted its way to profitability“ and “Why the best journalists on YouTube are all former Vox employees“ by Simon Owens in Simon Owens’s Media Newsletter “It’s Not Just You, Netflix Shows Have Gotten Slightly Shorter: Here’s What the Data Says“ by Kasey Moore at What’s on Netflix “Numlock Awards: How Diane Warren became the biggest loser in Oscar history“ by Nathaniel Rakich and “Numlock Awards: The Oscar Bait era is over. The Oscar Chum era is here.” by Walt Hickey & Michael Domanico at Numlock Awards
I visited Fraunces Tavern, the oldest restaurant in New York City
I visited Fraunces Tavern, New York City's oldest tavern and restaurant, which has welcomed diners for more than 250 years.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 3, 2026, puzzle No. 648
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Ecolab Closes CoolIT Acquisition and Expands AI Cooling Platform as Global High Tech Business Targets $4 Billion by 2030
ST. PAUL, Minn., July 02, 2026--Ecolab today announced the close of its acquisition of CoolIT Systems, a leader in direct liquid cooling for high‑density data centers. The transaction closed earlier than expected, and Ecolab welcomes the world-class CoolIT team to the company.
Meta Is Charging a Subscription for Smart Glasses Features. Welcome to the New Era of Consumer Tech
You bought the hardware. Now you’ll need to subscribe for “expanded access” to the most advanced features.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 2, 2026, puzzle No. 647
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Bickley: They're no longer the mom-and-pop Lakers
The Lakers have changed. They are cunning and coherent. They are no longer a mom-and-pop shop awkwardly in charge of an iconic brand. Welcome to our latest
‘The science is here’: UN chief welcomes first global AI assessment
Fresh scientific evidence and options for harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) were unveiled Wednesday following the launch of the first global, independent scientific assessment of opportunities, risks and impacts by a pioneering UN expert panel.
ECU Health launches new residency program, welcomes first ophthalmology residents
New program expands access to specialized eye care in eastern North Carolina
Meta pops 8% as company makes cloud push to sell excess AI compute power capacity
The new business is a welcome signal for some investors who have been uneasy about the company's infrastructure spending plans.
Sun Belt Conference Officially Welcomes Louisiana Tech
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Dolphins most interesting games
Welcome to the Splash Zone, the quickest way to get your day started off right. We bring you a rundown of Miami Dolphins news from the last 24 hours.
The new Pac-12 Conference officially launches with the addition of seven full-time members
July 1, 2026 — Today, seven new full-time member institutions officially join the Pac-12 Conference, including Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, San Diego State, Texas State and Utah State. With the additions, the new Pac-12 features nine full-time members and is set to compete in its first season with the 2026-27 campaign. The league also officially welcomed 12 new affiliate members today across five Olympic sports, including baseball (Dallas Baptist), men’s soccer (Cal Baptist, Cal Poly, UC Riverside, UC San Diego), women’s gymnastics (Southern Utah), women’s swimming (Cal Baptist) and wrestling (Air Force, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, South Dakota State). In addition to official member admissions and the launch of the new Pac-12, and amid celebrations across new member communities, the league also made a series of other announcements related to its basketball tournaments, its official sports sponsorship and championships and a special edition content series in promotion of its first football season.
Cut Tom Aspinall?
Josh Hokit has a plan to make Heavyweight great again. “The Incredible Hok” may be a controversial figure, but it’s hard to argue that he’s a welcome presence in the division’s largely stagnate title mix. In less than a year on the UFC roster, Hokit has built up a 4-0 record in the promotion, beating […]
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 1, 2026, puzzle No. 646
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
St. Peter’s Health Partners Medical Associates Welcomes Nattamon Thapa
Nattamon Thapa, FNP-BC, has joined St. Peter’s Vascular Associates in Albany. A board-certified family nurse practitioner, Thapa specializes in vascular surgery care.
‘A place where everyone felt welcome,’ New KC business offers sensory-friendly play for kids with autism
Bubbles and Goo opened in Kansas City's River Market to offer sensory-friendly slime play for families affected by autism.
UFC Power Rankings after UFC Baku
Hello everyone, and welcome back for another week of rankings in the UFC. As we look forward to no fights this week, we were definitely spoiled by the UFC Baku card. There were a few upsets, but none bigger than…
Argonne Open House 2026: Science comes to life for visitors
Argonne’s June 27 Open House welcomed more than 8,000 visitors for hands-on science, tours of major research facilities and opportunities to meet researchers across four themes: AI, energy, scientific tools and the universe.
L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Week 2026: Celebrating excellence
From 8 to 11 June 2026, UNESCO and the Fondation L’Oréal welcomed the five laureates of the 2026 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science International Awards to Paris for a week of exchanges, discovery
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for June 30, 2026, puzzle No. 645
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
DEATH OF SYSTEM FOOTBALL | OPEN THREAD
Welcome to The Daily Merengue! THESE ARE YOUR MODS: Ezek XI, Valyrian Steel, KungFuZizou, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, and Juninho LEAST TALENTED This is the least talented generation of footballers we’re seeing world wide. Due to the lack of generational players, teams have adopted what they hope to be a generational system. Generational players are much harder […]
Netflix and Superheroes Are Having a Rough Stretch on Streaming....
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) I have a quick prediction before we start today’s article: You might see this data in future news articles. Not my specific charts or analysis, but the core trend I’ve been monitoring—Netflix is having a lackluster Q2—will become inescapable. Often, folks want to know “What does the data say?” Well, that’s what it says. I haven’t seen this analysis hit the trades really yet, but I have a feeling some other outlets are going to start making this case soon. Remember, you read it here first. You probably have read about the problems facing superhero films at the box office this weekend. Well, this week, I explore whether superheroes are dying on TV as well! And the data says: definitely maybe! We have a lot to cover in today’s Streaming Ratings Report, which covers the two weeks of 18-May and 25-May. Today, I’m just looking at TV, like Netflix’s disappointing Q2, superhero shows underwhelming, a few TV shows dropping off the charts, The Pitt finally ending its epic run on the viewership charts (and whether “view counts” change its status as one of the biggest shows of all time), all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Tomorrow, I’ve got a great rundown of the film side of things. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, Showlabs, TV Time trend data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of May 18th to May 31st, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Television - Netflix’s Q2 Slump Continues Having analyzed streaming ratings for going on half a decade, I have learned to trust my gut, but I’m always relieved when I can find actual data to back it up. For example, after a string of very popular shows like Stranger Things, Bridgerton, The Lincoln Lawyer and The Night Agent came out, week after week, in January and February, my gut wondered if Netflix had enough new and returning TV shows to sustain them throughout the year. Since then, Netflix’s post-March slate of shows has not impressed me. This week seemed to feature a potential new hit, but then, like a classic Duffer Bros. TV show, there was a twist. I speak of The Boroughs, Netflix’s latest (and last) Duffer Bros. produced show. The pitch is “Stranger Things with older actors”. And it topped the Nielsen charts: With just two weeks of viewership, The Boroughs would have been a top 25 debut show last year: But here’s the twist: Netflix has already cancelled The Boroughs! What happened? Likely a few things. First, the show didn’t do as well globally as it did in the US. As What’s on Netflix showed, it lagged behind several other shows that got cancelled. Second, its completion rate was likely low; after an initial burst of interest, it quickly dropped off on the Samba TV and Luminate charts. Third, the Duffer Bros. left Netflix for Paramount, and that may have factored into Netflix’s decision here. (Though I tend to believe that if a show is doing well, Netflix would have kept greenlighting seasons.) Still, just because I can explain why Netflix may have cancelled this show doesn’t mean I’m justifying it. In particular, as I’ve noted before, Netflix is losing a lot of their bigger shows as they reach their natural ends, and they need to replace those shows. This show had the hallmarks of a big new genre show, and it’s their biggest hit of the last few months (in the US at least), but now it’s done. Netflix’s other show this week—The Four Seasons, the second season of the “hit” show from last year—definitely disappointed. Its sophomore season had about half the viewership of the first, only 12.7 million hours. It also only had a two week run on Samba TV, and its numbers were all down on Luminate too. In other words, even with two successes, the Q2 slump for Netflix looks real: I could add to the list of disappointments: Both Lord of the Files and Man on Fire had short runs on the Nielsen charts. Running Point’s sophomore season also opened to about half its viewership, similar to The Four Seasons. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’s second season—see below—didn’t even make any of the three viewership charts I track, unlike the first season. Netflix is absolutely having a dismal second three months of 2026. If this Nielsen data is any indication, and I think it is, I think this will show up in Netflix’s engagement report, and maybe even their financial outcomes. And the rest of June doesn’t look much better. We have two hit shows coming back—Sweet Magnolias, one of their quietest big shows, and Avatar: The Last Airbender, a big hit for them in 2024—but the other big swings are limited series crime thrillers i.e. no future season potential. Like I said above, sometimes when I uncover a juicy nugget like this, other outlets end up writing very similar articles mimicking the data without credit. We’ll see if that happens this time! Share Television - The State of Superhero Shows on Streaming When I first heard the pitch for Spider-Noir—a Sony TV show on Prime Video that binge-released eight episodes first on MGM+ then on Prime Video two days later—I had my doubts. It’s a live-action Spider-Man show set in the 1930s, starring Nicholas Cage, based on a cameo of a character in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. No, seriously, that’s the pitch. That could either go terrifically well or horribly wrong. Great because, Spider-Man. He’s the biggest superhero we have. I’ve seen tracking numbers that put the new _Spider-Man: Brand New Da_y as the blockbuster of the year and initial pre-sales back that up. And yet this Spider-Noir pitch feels very esoteric. (Also, the eight-episode binge release feels very “Amazon copying Netflix” again.) So what’s the data say? And what does this say about the future of superhero shows?
SGMC Health Welcomes 32 Resident Physicians
SGMC Health welcomes its newest cohort of resident physicians as they begin their clinical training, representing a significant milestone in the continued advancement of the organization’s Graduate Medical Education (GME) program.
Kristen Hogan joins Essentia Health-32nd Avenue Clinic to practice nephrology
The Essentia Health-32nd Avenue Clinic is excited to welcome Kristen Hogan, an advanced practice registered nurse and certified nurse practitioner in nephrology.
Essentia Health-Cloquet Clinic welcomes Jaycee Hewitt to practice family medicine
Jaycee Hewitt, an advanced practice registered nurse and certified nurse practitioner in family medicine, is thrilled to join the Essentia Health-Cloquet Clinic.
Essentia Health-Duluth Clinic welcomes psychotherapist Jeremy Perrett
Jeremy Perrett, a licensed independent clinical social worker specializing in psychotherapy, is thrilled to join the Essentia Health-Duluth Clinic.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for June 29, 2026, puzzle No. 644
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Master pianist Swann to perform Goldberg Variations
The Winter Harbor Music Festival will welcome internationally acclaimed pianist Jeffrey Swann for a special performance of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, on Saturday, July 11, at 7 p.m.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for June 28, 2026, puzzle No. 643
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Texas Democrats welcome Bernie Sanders and plunge into economic populism
In speeches and conversations throughout the convention, Texas Democrats embraced affordability and anti-corruption themes championed by the Independent senator from Vermont.
Connections: Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for June 27, 2026, puzzle No. 642
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
Business Honor Roll picnic celebrates community support
The Business Relations Committee at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena recently welcomed local professionals and industry leaders to a Business Honor Roll Appreciation Picnic hosted by Alpena Agency in their downtown location. Established in 1994, the Business Honor Roll brings together local companies and corporations interested in strengthening health care for our region. Through annual contributions […]
Oklahoma City hosts Day of Sport ahead of hosting games during 2028 Summer Olympics
Oklahoma City welcomed 250 kids to Woodson Park for LA28's Day of Sport, offering them a chance to try Olympic and Paralympic sports ahead of the city hosting events in 2028.