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Academic Excellence Award Winner
Academic Excellence Award Winner Erin shares her experiences as a Public and Community Health Major, with double minors in Legal Studies and Health Policy and Management:"I came to Ithaca from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts knowing that I wanted an education that would allow me to change the world in a positive light. Admittedly, I was unaware when choosing the public health major just how much of an impact I could make, but through my experiences in this rigorous program, I know public health is where I am meant to be. Being a public health major during the COVID-19 pandemic was a unique experience. My education granted me the opportunity to work on and off campus with different populations to provide support during the pandemic. Professor Srijana Bajracharya was my professor for Research Methods in Health. She encouraged her class to create research projects that would benefit our communities. She was a mentor for me and helped me find my passion in research, which I have brought with me to my job as a research assistant for Rescue - The Behavior Change Agency. I thank Professor Bajracharya for her guidance and support throughout my time as a public health student."
How much and why ACA Marketplace premiums are going up in 2027 - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker
For 2027, across 77 insurers participating in the ACA Marketplaces from the 16 states and DC, the median proposed premium increase is 14%.
‘We don’t know how long we can survive’: Church Street business owner hopes new project flourishes
"Since COVID-19, the foot traffic is very, very slow," business owner Yehya Rizeq said of Church Street in downtown Orlando. "It’s not recovered yet." A new project breaking ground hopes to change that, but Rizeq worries they can't survive much longer.
Bethesda, id Software reportedly hit hard by Microsoft layoffs
As much as 50 percent of some teams affected by reductions, and more could be coming.
U.S. opinions toward Israel are shifting, poll finds
Democrats have become much more likely to say the U.S. is overly supportive of Israel in recent years.
Opinion | How Socialism Emerged in American Politics
The debate has shifted from whether the government should redistribute wealth to how much redistribution is enough.
Subnautica 2's first proper update is coming tomorrow, bringing in much needed creature behaviour changes and more
Plus, you'll have an easier time with biomods in the early game.
The biggest cybersecurity risks in streaming, gaming, and online entertainment
Discover the biggest cybersecurity risks in streaming, gaming, and online entertainment. See how much damage they have done and how to protect yourself.
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro Max might come with a massive battery
The iPhone 18 Pro, not so much.
Citizen science could grow beyond data collection under 10 proposed recommendations
Citizen science is booming and could play a much greater role in tackling climate change, reef health, biodiversity and public health challenges by involving members of the public throughout the research ...
Bear of the Day: Caesars Entertainment (CZR)
Sometimes a stock looks cheap for a reason. Most of the time, the reason is macro trends affecting the industry the stock is in. No matter how nice it looks on paper, no matter how much value you perceive…it could get worse. Beware of those value traps. One way to avoid them is by leaning on the Za…
A few thoughts on returning home
Did you miss me? (Editor: might be best not to ask…) I’ve been on the road for much of the last month or so, visiting family and performing my one-man show as Alexander Hamilton for groups of lawyers and regular folks. So, no columns from me lately. Did I miss anything? Oh, right, the primary. […]
AI just supercharged the race to find room temperature superconductors
Scientists have combined machine learning with quantum physics to discover two new superconductors and create a much faster way to search for many more. The technique could bring researchers significantly closer to the long-sought goal of a room-temperature superconductor.
iOS 27 beta 3 makes it easier to adjust AirPods Adaptive mode intensity
A new Listening Mode setting lets users more easily adjust how much ambient noise their AirPods allow through in Adaptive mode.
Founder Asks 'How Much' As Xbox Looks To Cut Arkane Loose
A storied studio's future is more uncertain than ever
Trump admits he didn't know what a red card was in World Cup row with Europe
'I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t think it meant much,' said the US president
Flooding pauses most of Preston business until Wednesday
Excessive rainfall across much of southeast Minnesota caused river flooding. That flooding, pausing one business’ operations during its peak season.
‘They had hyped us up so much’: Seattle businesses near World Cup stadium report declining sales
The city’s tourism board estimated 750,000 visitors would visit over the course of the World Cup
Here's how much the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8, Z Flip8 foldables will cost in South Korea
The foldables are expected to be announced later this month. Last week, the European pricing for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z foldables surfaced online....
How much did Philly-area nonprofit health system CEOs make in 2024?
All CEOs except those at the smallest systems received at least $1 million in compensation.
After America’s 250th, Trump will test how far he can push NATO allies
As NATO leaders gather in Turkey, they are preparing for another summit shaped as much by managing President Donald Trump as by the alliance's security agenda.
What does content creation do to mental health?
This year at Vidcon, I was struck by how much of the conference’s programming was dedicated to the mental health of content creators.
Why Tech Alone Can’t Fix Rural Healthcare
As much as it’s needed, a new $50 billion federal program is too focused on expensive and unsustainable technology that could supplant the basic needs of rural health systems.
'Minions & Monsters' tops Fourth of July holiday box office
The Minions have taken down “Toy Story 5" at the July Fourth weekend box office, but not by much
'Minions & Monsters' tops Fourth of July holiday box office
The Minions have taken down “Toy Story 5" at the July Fourth weekend box office, but not by much
'Minions & Monsters' tops Fourth of July holiday box office
The Minions have taken down “Toy Story 5" at the July Fourth weekend box office, but not by much
NCAA president Charlie Baker floats regional approach to non-football sports
Conference realignment has turned college athletics into a much more national endeavor than it ever was previously. The Big Ten stretches from Southern California to New Jersey. The ACC includes a pair of teams on the Pacific coast. And the Big 12 has members located in both the deserts of the Southwest and the mountains…
I tested Google's new smart speaker with Gemini AI. Here are 3 things to know before you buy.
The new Google Home Speaker with Gemini is smart and capable, but it fails to stand out much from similar rivals.
I Wasn't Expecting Much from Netflix's #1 Movie But It Turned Out to Be Exactly What I Needed
A new Netflix comedy is climbing the charts, and it is a chaotic, laugh-out-loud ride that might be more fun than the trailer lets on. Find out more here.
For much of the past century, scientists believed dinosaurs were already in decline when the asteroid struck 66 million years ago — but a 2025 study published in Science found fossils in New Mexico showing they were flourishing in diverse, thriving ecosystems right up until the moment of impact
For much of the past century, many scientists believed the dinosaurs were already in decline when the asteroid struck 66 million years ago, a group past its prime that a cosmic accident merely finished off. A 2025 study published in the journal Science, built on fossils from New Mexico, argues almost the opposite. Right up […]
Trump hails US exceptionalism before veering into darkly political speech to usher in America 250
The president’s speech capped an Independence Day eve that was otherwise most notable for a brutal heat wave the gripped much of the eastern portion of the country.
Should celebrities and athletes shut up about politics? It’s complicated.
The POLITICO Poll finds that a majority of Americans think there’s too much politics in places it doesn’t belong. But they can still be influenced by what their favorite stars and businesses say.
Braves look for much-needed series win behind Chris Sale
The Braves will look to back Chris Sale to secure a series win, who they can expect another strong start from.
Fireworks, heat and politics: America celebrates its 250th birthday
Anticipation for the milestone holiday has been building for much of the year, serving as an opportunity for Americans to reflect on their complicated history.
Why Video Games Cost So Much More Now
Ballooning development budgets, digital trends are driving higher game, console prices
Why scratching a mosquito bite makes it so much worse, according to science
Scratching activates mast cells that release histamine and substance P, creating a prolonged itch-scratch cycle that worsens skin inflammation.
Why scratching a mosquito bite makes it so much worse, according to science
Scratching activates mast cells that release histamine and substance P, creating a prolonged itch-scratch cycle that worsens skin inflammation.
Testament to hard work and what it can build: Family business grows at Hanamā‘ulu Shops
Rey’s Auto Repair founder Rey Juan and his family created a welcoming place, where customers feel how much the family cares and values them, local businesses trust them to keep their vehicles moving and the next generation sees the results of sweat, elbow grease and dedication.
Ukraine's defense industry edge is tests in days, not months or years
Ukraine's defense companies are iterating much faster than their Western counterparts typically can because they can test their systems more easily.
Alien life on nearby 'super Earth' much likelier than we thought, study claims
A recently discovered "super Earth" located around 25 light-years from our planet is not as massive as previously thought, raising the chances that it has the conditions to support life.
25 lessons and wishes to celebrate America’s 250th
The 250th celebration of America’s birth is upon us. There is undoubtedly much to salute. Despite plenty of strife and discontent at home, America remains a beacon to much of the world. The wisdom of our founders has largely withstood the test of time. That said, we are living through a tumultuous period, certainly not […]
Trump hails U.S. exceptionalism before veering into darkly political speech to usher in America's 250th anniversary
The president's speech capped an Independence Day eve otherwise most notable for a brutal heat wave that gripped much of the eastern part of the country.
Kean’s depression disclosure prompts questions about mental health stigma
When Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) disclosed that his monthslong disappearance from the House was due to depression, he opened a delicate but difficult conversation: How much information about their p…
This toad exists only in Canada—and scientists have finally discovered why
Scientists have identified something that may be even more uniquely Canadian than the beaver or moose: a genetically distinct western toad population found only in Canada. The discovery, made by researchers from the University of Ottawa, points to a rare and previously unrecognized group of toads living in the Canadian Rockies and raises fresh questions about conservation, biodiversity, and how much wildlife still remains to be fully understood.
Scientists Have Created The World's First Synthetic Cell, First Ancient Human DNA Recovered From Cave Art, And Much More This Week
All the biggest science news stories of the week.
Don't read too much into election results
It is a mistake to read too much into the success of Melat Kiros and her upset win over U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette.
Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra, Flip 8 and Galaxy Watch 9 prices leak
If you plan on buying a 2026 Galaxy Z foldable, this leak will tell you how much change you need to find inside your couch.
Carlsson's Flyers offer sheet was entirely avoidable for Verbeek, Ducks
If Anaheim does match, they'll be in tight salary cap straights with much more to do. If they don't match, they'll lose their franchise center for four first-round picks. How did we get here?
Jaguars’ Waldron To Play Much Bigger Role This Season
Following a promotion to Assistant Head Coach, Shane Waldron aims to revive his reputation by powering Jacksonville’s elite coaching staff toward another high-flying offensive season.
Heart health and heat: How hot is too much?
As temperatures rise, so does the risk of dangerous outcomes
As Washington preps for its largest fireworks display, cost questions arise
It is unclear where the fireworks were manufactured and how much the president's tariffs added to the cost
Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics
Lying seems to come naturally to political elites. Dr. Mark Thornton examines John J. Mearsheimer’s book, Why Leaders Lie: The Truth about Lying in International Politics to find out why elites lie so much.
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
Madonna Returns With Long-Awaited ‘Confessions II’
The much-anticipated release is the culmination of a months-long rollout that included a surprise Coachella performance, a pop-up show in Times Square and "taking over the Gayborhood" on Grindr.
Trump got the Senate candidates he wanted. How much will he spend to help them?
President Donald Trump has reshaped the U.S. Senate map by sidelining some Republican incumbents and promoting loyalists
Scientists have detected a giant fan-shaped structure buried beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, suggesting the frozen continent may be hiding the geological scars of the breakup that helped separate Antarctica from Australia
East Antarctica can look, from above, like the quiet half of the frozen continent: old, thick, cold and buried under kilometres of ice. But beneath that ice, new mapping suggests the bedrock may carry the shape of a much more violent past. In a Nature Geoscience study published in June 2026, researchers described a giant […]
Raiders top newcomers ranked by immediate impact
We went about listing the Raiders top ten veteran newcomers and ranking them by how much of an impact they will have right away.
Scientists Sound the Alarm: Antarctic Discovery Is More Disturbing Than Anyone Feared - Futura-Sciences
The Frozen Continent Is Changing Faster Than We Thought Antarctica has always been a tough nut to crack for scientists. Its complex and sometimes baffling phenomena have long made it mysterious, and recent findings suggest its influence on our planet’s climate could be much greater than we thought. In September...
2026 Phillies MLB Draft Preview: Caden Sorrell, OF
Just as I was trying to figure out who to write up next, Baseball America popped out their 5th mock draft, this time with a new name as the Phillies pick. It doesn’t sound like there’s sourcing for this or actual rumors of Phillies interest so much as there is “It’s the 36th pick. Who […]
Trump filing shows he took in about $1.2 billion from crypto businesses last year
Mere startups when he took the oath of office, the new ventures have now eclipsed in revenue much of his vast property portfolio that took him decades to accumulate.
Bonus 236: A Term of Self-Inflicted Wounds
Within minutes of the Supreme Court handing down the birthright citizenship ruling on Tuesday and rising for its summer recess, its defenders were pointing to that decision (alongside the late-arriving mail-in ballots ruling on Monday and the tariffs ruling from February) as decisive proof that the Court really is “above politics,” and that criticisms of the justices for behaving more like politicians in robes than like judges are thus unfair. For a particularly thoughtful version of this claim, see Professor Will Baude’s opening response to the latest New York Times written roundtable about the Court with Baude, Professor Kate Shaw, and me. In that roundtable, I already offered one of the two major arguments against this thesis—that it’s an assessment of the numerator without regard to the denominator, and that a full account of the Court’s behavior throughout OT2025 suggests that the Court behaved even more politically during the current term than during even the previous (highly politicized) one. Just to take one of many data points, last term (OT2024), there were six rulings in argued cases in which all six Republican-appointed justices were in the majority and all three of the Democratic appointees were in dissent (along with a slew of such rulings on the emergency docket). This term, there were … 13. (Along with two 6-3 summary reversals and 10 rulings on the emergency docket from which the three Democratic appointees all dissented.) Today’s bonus issue addresses the flip side of that coin. In particular, below the fold, I identify four different moments in which the justices could have acted in ways to specifically defuse charges of political behavior—and opted instead to lean all the way in. As much as end-of-term narratives focus on what the Court did, and on the takeaways from individual rulings, consider today’s post an attempt to identify opportunities that the Court missed, as well. At least in the examples discussed below, by opting for the outcome that made the Court look more transparently political, the Court inflicted a series of (unnecessary) credibility wounds on itself. For those who aren’t paid subscribers, we’ll be back Monday with our regular coverage of the Court. For those who are, please read on.
🌈 The political fatigue of doing feminist and queer research in anti-gender times
Anti-gender politics does not only attack rights. It attacks the knowledge that makes those rights intelligible. Massimo Prearo argues that anti-gender politics is an epistemic conflict as much as a political one. This conflict generates political fatigue among researchers engaged in feminist and queer work. We must address such fatigue through distance, care and collective reflection
Takeaways from a divisive Supreme Court term that expanded Trump’s power
After berating the Supreme Court for much of the year — while simultaneously inviting some of the justices over to the White House for dinner — President Donald Trump’s final assessment of the court’s momentous term this week felt something like a ceasefire.
Too Big? Jones Explains Poatan’s ‘Perfect Storm’
Jon Jones has a bit of experience with moving up to Heavyweight. “Bones” ruled the 205-pound roost for many, many years before finally making the leap in 2023. He teased a Heavyweight jump for much of that span, but Jones has always been a careful decision-maker in regards to his MMA career and (nearly) undefeated […]
Android 17 QPR1 Beta 6 hits Pixel phones with a major milestone for developers
The public release is just that much closer
Bills’ Josh Allen continues dominating “best current NFL QB” debates
In a league full of elite talent, the better question is how much being the best really matters.
Here's How Much Your Original Nintendo Wii Is Worth Today
If you were to sell an original Wii console, you could get around $50, but you can get significantly more ($300) if you have the original box.
Green Bay Packers Roster Preview: Edge Rushers
Without Micah Parsons, the Packers’ edge rusher room doesn’t have much experience
Sony will cease production of discs for new PlayStation games in 2028
New games sold for PlayStation consoles will only be available digitally and won’t be sold on discs effective January 2028, Sony has announced. The move applies to all PlayStation games released from that point on, including those made by Sony and those released by third parties. The PlayStation group calls the change “a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs,” according to a PlayStation blog post reviewed by Game File in advance of its publication. As movies, TV and music have shifted from physical media to an age of downloads and streaming, Sony’s move could speed the demise of physical media in a gaming. The industry has offered consumers games via cartridges, cassettes, floppy discs, CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays across a 50-year stretch. Sony has been reporting to investors in recent years that PlayStation games have been increasingly purchased as downloads, not as discs. The most recent figures show nearly four in five purchases of full games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were purchased digitally in the past year. Stats like that may cause today’s news to carry an air of the inevitable. But Sony’s declaration for 2028 is still likely to produce a shock, as the biggest gaming platform on the planet that uses game discs leaves them behind. Discs going away, but the fate of game boxes is unknown Sony is committing to still selling games in physical retailers even after they drop discs in 2028. Just how those games will be sold—in boxes with codes inside, as cards marked with digital redemption codes—is unclear. Digital games will also continue to be sold in the online PlayStation Store. New games released for PlayStation consoles prior to January 2028 will be unaffected by the policy change, Sony says. That means the PS5 games of 2027, be they a new Madden, a new God of War, a new Call of Duty, a new Sly Cooper (one can dream?), would still potentially be offered on disc. PlayStation 6 implications Sony’s timeline for a transition to a no-disc era will also spin up more speculation about the timing and configuration of Sony’s next-generation console, the probable PlayStation 6. “This pretty much guarantees that PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest,” Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games research analyst at Ampere Analysis tells Game File. Harding-Rolls also concludes from today’s news that “the base version of a PS6 will not include a physical media drive,” as Sony looks to keep costs down on the device. Sony itself is saying nothing about the PS6 today: not its timing, nor how it might or might not support internal or external disc drives in order to run disc-based PS4 and PS5 games, should the console be backwards compatible. The many signs this was coming Industry support for games being released on physical media has been waning. As has consumer interest in them. PC games effectively went all-digital years ago, thanks to the popularity of playing games through Steam and other digital storefronts. The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that kept much of the global population home helped shift shopping patterns toward downloads. Sony’s own data shows PlayStation game downloads being an uncommon consumer choice a decade ago and now becoming the norm. On consoles, physical media has been in such decline that Sony and Microsoft both launched their current gen Xbox Series and PS5 consoles in 2020 with cheaper versions that lacked disc drives. In early 2024, Phil Spencer, then head of Xbox, told me that ““[w]e ship games physically and digitally, and we’re really just following what the customers are doing.” He added that the game industry had become an outlier in still supporting disc-based entertainment, even as movies and TV have bailed on discs in favor of downloads and steaming: “Gaming consoles themselves have kind of become the last consumer electronic device that has a drive. And this is a real issue, just in terms of the number of manufacturers that are actually building drives and the cost associated with those. And when you think about cogs that we’re going to go put in a console—and as you have fewer suppliers and fewer buyers—the cost of the drive does have an impact.” Last year, the Nintendo’s Switch 2, which uses cartridges rather than discs, introduced the concept of game-key cards, which are physical media that contain no game, just a prompt for a download. Even disc-based games aren’t what they once were, now frequently containing just stubs of games rather than the whole thing. The website Does It Play has tested over 3000 games and found that, for example, that the disc version of this year’s hit 007: First Light, only contained the game’s first mission, with the rest needing to be downloaded. Beyond all that, last week brought the news that Grand Theft Auto VI, likely the biggest game launch this decade, will debut for PS5 and Xbox Series without a disc-based version. Today’s big news comes to you for free. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and ensure more of my work is possible, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Discs helped define PlayStation However the trends in entertainment may be going, it is still remarkable to see PlayStation ditch discs given their importance in PlayStation history: In the late 1990s, the first PlayStation’s support for games on relatively cheap CD-ROMs instead of traditional game cartridges allowed the upstart console to outmaneuver cartridge-based systems from Nintendo and Sega, as it drove down game prices down in the process. (The cheaper disc format even prompted Final Fantasy VII maker Square to taunt Nintendo in a magazine ad, saying that if the game was “available on cartridge, it’d retail for around $1200.”) PlayStation devices often doubled as machines for watching movies and TV on the latest disc-based formats. In the late 2000s, for example, Sony’s pricy PS3 gained traction as a go-to device for playing then-novel Blu-Ray discs. In 2013, Sony effectively roasted the digital game-sharing restrictions proposed by rival Microsoft for its upcoming Xbox One console by showing how games could be shared for the then-upcoming PS4. In a 21-second clip that has over 20 million views on YouTube, one PlayStation executive simply handed a game box—presumably with disc inside—to another, who said “thanks.” Sony’s possible motivations The PlayStation announcement today cites “consumer preferences” and a shift away from discs among “the broader entertainment industry,” but does not delve into the decision-making process that brought Sony to this point. Sony is not discussing the economics of this move (I asked!), but there are a number of potential factors: Abandoning discs will spare Sony the cost of manufacturing and shipping them, which analysts and industry veterans I spoke to said could account for $1 or so of a game’s retail price. For first-party games, that’s direct savings for Sony, though the amount is limited by the winnowing percentage of people who were even buying the disc-based versions. For third-party games, Sony could pass the savings on to partners or just retain the better profit margin for themselves. As the 2024 comments from Phil Spencer alluded to, leaving discs behind could mean leaving disc-drives behind, allowing Sony to produce consoles more cheaply. Switching to digital-only for games could diminish the risks of copies of new games leaking. It would also seemingly make second-hand sales of used games impossible, pushing more people to buy their own copies of games. These economic benefits for Sony could be boons for the games industry overall, Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls tells Game File. Among other things, it could free publishers and retailers from having to worry about securing an inventory of game discs when trying to sell games, he noted. “If there is a way to streamline the business of games retail, I generally think it’s a good thing for the industry as it removes unnecessary costs,” Harding-Rolls said. “This will help offset pressure on margins from other directions – development and staffing costs for example.” Should the industry shift from game boxes that contain discs to smaller, cheaper game cards, Harding-Rolls said, that reduces pressure on publishers and retailers. “The advantage of everything going digital for the industry is that sales can be tracked much more easily and there is less commercial risk for publishers wanting to continue selling via retail,” he said. The shift to no discs will also likely impact game development timelines, as developers will no longer face the same urgency to have a build ready to submit to PlayStation for the production of a disc, as industry experts noted around GTA VI’s no-disc news last week. Instead, projects may gain weeks of development time, in the event delivery deadlines for platform approval move closer to release date. Preservationists’ likely worries While millions of gamers have shifted to digital, there are still people who associate game discs—and only game discs—with actual ownership of PlayStation games. That portion of the gaming community spoke up last week about wanting to buy a version of GTA VI that they could hold in their hands, could lend to a friend and could potentially pop into a well-preserved PS5 console three decades from now and still see it run. Such gamers didn’t want to worry that they’d merely purchased a digital copy that could lose access to the game if, say, the company behind the game someday turns of the servers that transmit downloadable copies. Digital copies of games are inherently less long-lasting, because consumers aren’t actually buying a game (on a disc), just buying access to the game. The fine print in online gaming shops notes this, as does a recent law that went on the books in California in 2025. That lasw requires game publishers doing business in the state to refrain from words like “sell” when offering digital copies of games, unless they explicitly tell consumers that what’s being sold isn’t the game itself but a potentially revocable license to access it. A Sony spokesperson noted to Game File that “[w]ith all digital content, including games, movies, and music, players are purchasing a personal license for non-commercial use.” Regarding the fears of PlayStation games being lost to time in an all-digital era, the rep also noted that Sony remains “committed to delivering experiences from past generations to the new platforms our players are using.” They noted that PlayStation has used emulation and remasters to keep offering its classic games to modern gamers. It’s true that many consumers have become accustomed to not having physical copies of new music albums or movies, but the relative precariousness of digital copies of games is in fact being highlighted today by…. Sony’s other big announcement: the upcoming closure of the PS3 and PS Vita online stores Sony said today that it will be closing the online marketplaces for its PlayStation 3 console and PS Vita handheld in most countries in July 2027 (sooner elsewhere: August 2026 for the PS3 store Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua; late 2026 for PS3 in other Latin American countries and the Middle East). “We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming,” Sony said in its announcement, saying the move “was not an easy decision for us to make.” Sony said that PS3 and Vita marketplaces “are no longer able” to support modern commerce systems, prompting a “need” to close the shops and focus on more modern PlayStation platform stores. The news may spark some deja vu. Sony announced back in March 2021 that it planned to take the PS3, Vita and PlayStation Portable marketplaces offline that summer. The move would have caused some 2,000 digital-only games to become unavailable for new purchasers, according to a VGC analysis at the time. Fans complained loudly. By April 2021, Sony walked back the PS3 and Vita shop closures, with then PlayStation boss Jim Ryan saying “it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here.” This time around, Sony is giving a longer notice period in most regions. The closure of those stores is still likely to cut off access to new purchases of digital-only PS3 and Vita games. The current PlayStation 5 marketplace sells PS5 and PS4 games, as well as a selection of PS1 and PS2 games. It does not sell PS3 games, because games for that platform can’t run on the system (some are offered via a PlayStation Plus streaming option). Vita games also aren’t sold via PS5. Sony says digitally purchased PS3 and Vita games will be downloadable after the stores’ shutdowns “for the foreseeable future.” Sony’s move contrasts with Microsoft’s Xbox platform, which continues to sell and support games from all four Xbox console generations. But it puts it in line with Nintendo, which disabled purchases in the marketplace for its Wii console (a contemporary of the PS3) in 2019. Nintendo discontinued purchases in the online shop for its 3DS portable (a contemporary of the Vita) in 2023. The big questions about Sony’s 2028 post-disc era Will Microsoft follow suit, ending support for new disc-based games on Xbox platforms and therefore all game consoles, too? Whether Microsoft does or not, will third-parties that can no longer release games on discs for PlayStation, simply ditch the disc options across the board? Given the GTA VI no-disc experiment launching this November, will more game publishers decide to forgo disc-based offerings even in 2027? How will no-disc PS5/6 games be packaged and sold in brick-and-mortar retail stores? What becomes of game sharing in an all-digital era? Will Sony modify its current set-up, which currently allows some sharing of digital games across a pair of consoles, to allow more casual lending? (See for example, Nintendo’s year-old system of letting players lend a digital game to another player in a “family group” for up to 14 days.) Will there be a version of a PS6 with a disc drive? Or will a drive be offered as an add-on? And how will gamers who want to retain access to PS4/PS5 disc-based games react to whichever configurations Sony chooses to offer? What will the final disc-based PlayStation game be?
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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?
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