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House Dem urges transparency by public officials after GOP colleague reveals reason for extended absence
Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres urged transparency from officials after House Republican Tom Kean revealed the previously undisclosed reason for an extended congressional absence.
How cognitive automation can transform your business
Zapier reports that cognitive automation enhances business efficiency by enabling machines to interpret information and make decisions, unlike traditional automation.
Kroger announces deal to buy Giant Eagle for $1.65B
The transaction is expected to close in 2027, subject to regulatory clearance.
What to know about the US supreme court’s ruling on trans athletes
Decision upholding bans on trans girls in women’s sports in two states is narrow, but could be broadly weaponized for anti-LGBTQ+ efforts
Enter The Sadie-Verse
After ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘John Proctor Is the Villain,’ Sadie Sink is burning up stage and screen in equal measure. Next stop: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day.’
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?
Scientists recreated a dinosaur nest and solved a 70-million-year-old mystery
A team of researchers recreated a life-size oviraptor nest to investigate how these bird-like dinosaurs incubated their eggs millions of years ago. By combining physical experiments with heat transfer simulations, they discovered that oviraptors likely relied on both their own body heat and warmth from the sun.
This satellite constellation transformed earth science by creatively tuning in to GPS signals
Key takeaways —The first constellation to produce high-quality data by picking up GPS microwaves reflecting off Earth, called CYGNSS, is featured in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Living in the Space Age exhibit. —Distortions in the reflected signals can reveal information about Earth, including hurricane wind speed and the distribution of moisture in soil, and the constellation provided unprecedented coverage in both time and space. —GNSS-R data is useful for mon
Inside the Supreme Court battle to 'Save Women's Sports'
Riley Gaines and Save Women's Sports activists celebrate after the Supreme Court upheld state laws banning trans athletes from girls' sports.
Liverpool transfer news: Jeremy Jacquet officially completes £60m move to Anfield from Rennes
California trucking business files for bankruptcy
Commodity Transporters initiated the Chapter 11 petition.
Newsom Vowed To Transform Kids’ Mental Health. Many California Schools Are Still Waiting.
Gov. Gavin Newsom launched an ambitious initiative to make public schools the epicenter of mental health services for young people. Five years after he promised transformation, many schools have struggled to get the program up and running, and hundreds more have yet to try.
NC’s first full budget since 2023 reflects transformed health policy landscape
North Carolina's first full budget since 2023 reflects Medicaid expansion, Healthy Opportunities Pilot funding, SNAP changes and new federal health policies.
How Elite Sports Coaches Make High-Pressure Decisions
Drawing on interviews with 11 elite coaches across major U.S., European, Australian, and New Zealand professional sports leagues, the authors show that high-pressure decisions aren’t a single “formula” but a set of practices that unfold before, during, and after pivotal moments—and translate directly to business leadership. Top coaches combine disciplined preparation with emotional control and social awareness during crunch time and accountability and continual system improvement after the fact.
How Wisconsin Used Foxes And Deer To Revamp Science Education
Public input identifying over 100 million trail cameras photos of Wisconsin’s animals has transformed science education and state wildlife management.
2027 NFL Draft summer scouting report: Darian Mensah, QB, Miami
Miami transfer quarterback Darian Mensah is next up one the 2027 NFL Draft summer scouting report series.
North Dakota opens wellness equipment funding opportunity for rural hospitals | Health and Human Services North Dakota
From fitness and recovery equipment to mindfulness tools and wellness spaces that help reduce burnout, North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS) is investing in the health and well-being of rural healthcare workers through a new funding opportunity for rural hospitals.Applications are now open for the Hospital Wellness Equipment funding opportunity through the North Dakota Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), providing resources to help rural North Dakota hospitals create healthier workplaces and support the physical, mental and emotional well-being of their workforce.
Riley Gaines and MyKayla Skinner send message to Simone Biles on women's sports debate after SCOTUS ruling
Riley Gaines and MyKayla Skinner celebrate the Supreme Court transgender athletes ruling and call on Simone Biles to join their movement.
What 124 Future Business Leaders Really Think About AI and Work
Insights from 124 career assessments written by UMD-Smith graduate students show 98% expect artificial intelligence to transform, not eliminate, their careers. The analysis also found AI raises performance expectations while increasing demand for strategic thinking, AI literacy, ethical judgment and critical evaluation of AI-generated work.
Supreme Court upholds transgender sports bans: What to know and what’s next
The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state bans on transgender students playing on girls sports teams, delivering another blockbuster setback to trans youth and their families in a decision that is likely to sustain similar laws in about half of the nation.
Supreme Court upholds transgender sports bans: What to know and what’s next
The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state bans on transgender students playing on girls sports teams, delivering another blockbuster setback to trans youth and their families in a decision that is likely to sustain similar laws in about half of the nation.
Trans youth athletes vow to keep playing after US supreme court sports ruling
Justices upheld laws in West Virginia and Idaho, boosting similar restrictions in 25 other states
What’s being built, bought and planned in Ascension Parish
Here are the latest property transactions, issued permits and upcoming business-related events in Ascension Parish. Property transactions Local organization American Soldiers Evaluation Services purchased a 4,000-square-foot office building on East Josephine Street from Nolan and Sharon Aikens for $400,000. American Soldiers Evaluation Services’ CEO, Dr. Sandrine Nkouga, represented the buyer in the transaction. ASES provides […]
Match for the Marsh with Barton Health
We’re back with another awesome opportunity to transform the south end of the Upper Truckee Marsh, this time with help from our friends at Barton Health! Now that the California Tahoe Conservancy has demolished the former Motel 6 building, restaurant, and parking lot from the Upper Truckee Marsh in South Lake Tahoe, planning is underway […]
Trans Sports Ruling Puts Pressure on States Without Bans
Almost half of states do not prohibit trans girls and women from competing. The Supreme Court ruling doesn’t force them to, but lawmakers and voters could change that.
The Supreme Court’s trans sports ruling is a cautionary tale for all left-leaning lawyers
If you’re a liberal, and you’re thinking of bringing a case to the Supreme Court, don’t
'American Horror Story' reveals 'Love Story' heartthrob's blond transformation
'American Horror Story' reveals 'Love Story' heartthrob Paul Anthony Kelly's blond transformation for season 13.
'Save Women's Sports' legal defense and trans athlete's attorneys speak out after landmark SCOTUS ruling
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador and West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey praise the ruling as a victory for fairness in women's sports.
The End of Independent Federal Agencies Will Change Your Business
For executives, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Slaughter v. Trump will likely lead to less certainty and consistency for the regulated aspects of their businesses, with federal rules and their enforcement increasingly determined by political expediency rather than expert analysis. Specifically, there are five ways in which all U.S. businesses will be affected: regulation will become more informal and less transparent; consistency across administrations will disappear; oversight by Congress and the federal courts will be diminished; expert advice will be devalued; and politically-connected lobbyists will drive decision-making. In this environment, business leaders will need to plan accordingly, honing their ability to shift strategy, perhaps dramatically, after every election—and perhaps even during administrations.
Mamdani, City Council reach agreement on $125.8 billion budget
Mamdani said the budget will help make public transit more affordable.
I asked strangers to let me farm their yards. They said yes
Marisa Mender-Franklin built a flower business after dozens of neighbors offered free yard space through Facebook.
Protecting Access to Established Research-Backed Healthcare
Protecting Access to Established, Research-Backed Healthcare, Including Transgender Healthcare, Is a Shared Responsibility Across Providers, Advocates, and ...
Stein creates bipartisan commission to address rising North Carolina health care costs
Gov. Josh Stein signed an executive order Tuesday creating a bipartisan commission to recommend ways to lower health care costs, improve transparency and expand access to care across North Carolina.
America at 250: Innovations That Transformed Business
Wharton faculty explore the American business innovations that transformed industries, reshaped markets, and changed the way the world works.
'Shrek 5' trailer sparks backlash over Fiona's 'problematic' transformation
Fans aren't happy about Fiona's "problematic" transformation in the latest "Shrek 5" trailer. Here's what experts say about the observations.
Supreme Court rules states can restrict transgender athletes’ sports participation in schools
The decision marks another legal setback for transgender youth as the Trump administration and Republican-led state legislatures have advanced policies limiting transgender rights.
July 2026: Sustainable Business Wins Roundup
Each quarter, Plastic Pollution Coalition is reporting exciting news from companies that are leading the way for a transition away from fossil fuels and synthetic materials to a healthier plastic-free future.
FMOL Health pegs Cancer Institute investment at $70M, shares timeline
FMOL Health expects to invest roughly $70 million to transform the former Bone & Joint Clinic of Baton Rouge building into a new home for the Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Institute, according to E.… Already an INSIDER? Sign in. Already an INSIDER? Sign in
Tennessee baseball shortstop Manny Marin transfers to Arkansas
Manny Marin, Tennessee's starting shortstop, will transfer to Arkansas, he announced on social media on June 30.
Who’s building and who’s buying in Greater Baton Rouge
Here are the latest issued permits and property transactions in East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes. East Baton Rouge Parish The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office purchased the pr… Already an INSIDER? Sign in. Already an INSIDER? Sign in
SCOTUS protects girls in sports, upholds biological reality
A trans athlete keeps winning girls' state titles in California. The Supreme Court just made sure 27 other states don't have to allow it.
Supreme Court says states can ban trans girls from playing women's sports
The ruling should not affect Illinois and the 20 other states that do not bar trans student athletes from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity.
Tennessee transfer infielder Manny Marin commits to Arkansas
Tennessee transfer infielder Manny Marin has committed to Arkansas via the NCAA Transfer Portal. The former Volunteers star made the announcement via his Instagram page. — This story is developing and will be updated. Check back momentarily.
Supreme Court lets states ban trans girls from girls sports
The decision caps a yearslong, Republican-led push through statehouses and school boards to define girls' sports by sex assigned at birth.
US Supreme Court upholds bans on transgender women in female school and college sports
It rules that states can ban transgender athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports.
Supreme Court upholds laws banning transgender females from school sports teams
The ruling could impact 25 other states with similar laws
Supreme Court upholds state laws banning transgender athletes
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a decision to uphold state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams.
Supreme Court upholds laws banning trans athletes from women's sports
The 6-3 ruling upholds state laws in Idaho and West Virginia.
Supreme Court upholds bans on transgender athletes participating in women and girls' sports
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who has long coached his daughters' and other girls basketball teams at school, wrote the court's majority opinion.
Supreme Court makes ruling on trans athletes in women's sports
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to uphold West Virginia and Idaho laws requiring student-athletes to compete based on biological sex at birth.
Supreme Court upholds state laws banning transgender girls and women from school sports
The Supreme Court upheld state laws banning transgender girls and women from school athletic teams on Tuesday.
Supreme Court rules against trans athletes in case over sports participation
The court ruled Tuesday that Idaho and Virginia did not discriminate against runner Lindsay Hecox or high school shot-putter Becky Pepper-Jackson in barring them from playing on teams that align with their gender identity.
Supreme Court upholds state bans at center of transgender sports debate
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court upheld state bans on transgender athletes, a ruling with major implications for Arizona and 26 other states with laws restricting participation in school sports.
Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports
Supreme Court Upholds Bans On Transgender Women In Sports
The ruling will impact laws in more than 25 states.
Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender athletes in girls and women's sports
The ruling on a pair of separate cases from Idaho and West Virginia could carry far-reaching implications for transgender rights.
Supreme Court upholds state transgender sports bans
In the latest of a string of losses for LGBTQ rights, the high court allowed states to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.
US supreme court upholds laws excluding trans women from competing in female sports
Justices voted to overturn judgements issued by lower courts in favor of trans students who sued after being barred from competing in West Virginia and Idaho
Live Updates: Supreme Court Rules on Banning Transgender Athletes From Women’s Sports
The court’s decision involving laws from West Virginia and Idaho has implications for 25 other states with similar restrictions. Times reporters are reading it and providing analysis.
Lexus expands its MSG presence across arenas, theaters and Knicks games
Lexus gains entitlement rights at Chase Square entrances and more signage across MSG venues, plus expanded exposure during Knicks and Rangers games.
Drake University’s Zimpleman College of Business Earns High Rating for Societal Impact
Drake Achieves Level 4 ‘Transforming School’ Designation in the 2026 Positive Impact Rating Drake University and the Zimpleman College of Business have once again secured their position as a global leader in responsible education, earning the prestigious Level 4 “Transforming School” designation in the 2026 Positive Impact Rating (PIR) for business schools. The Positive Impact...
Absent congressman returns to Congress after nearly four months
Rep. Tom Kean (R-New Jersey) has pledged to be “completely transparent” about what happened upon his return.
Computer scientists develop a new AI tool that rivals AlphaFold 3 in mapping RNA
The method, called RNAbpFlow, was described in a study published on June 30 in Nature Methods, among the most selective journals in computational life sciences.
Nokia, SAP and Microsoft Enter Strategic Multi-Year Agreement to Advance Cloud- and AI-Driven Business Transformation
Nokia will accelerate its enterprise transformation using RISE with SAP Methodology, with SAP S/4HANA hosted on Microsoft Azure.
SoFi Introduces Small Business Loans to Help Members Pursue Their Business Ambitions
SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2026--SoFi Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI), the everything app for digital financial services, today announced the launch of SoFi Small Business Loans, to help entrepreneurs and small business owners access fast, transparent financing to run and grow their businesses.
Supreme Court could rule on birthright citizenship, transgender sports cases today
The Supreme Court is expected to release decisions on birthright citizenship and laws barring transgender girls and women from participating in school sports teams.
Supreme Court to rule on birthright citizenship and rights of transgender athletes
The Supreme Court will hand down the final opinions of its term today. Follow for live news updates.
Meet a PhD student selected for a national Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation Scholarship | CWRU Newsroom
Jenna Jaklich is nearly three years away from completing her PhD program in materials science and engineering at Case Western Reserve University, but...
US Supreme Court to decide legality of state transgender sports bans
The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Tuesday to decide the legality of state laws in West Virginia and Idaho banning transgender student athletes from female sports teams at public schools including universities, a contentious issue enmeshed in the nation's culture wars.
Action! NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Begins Capturing the Greatest Cosmic Movie Ever Made
The wait is over: NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, is now capturing the cosmos in unprecedented detail, transforming the way we study the dynamic Universe.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid meet over Julian Alvarez transfer
Barcelona’s pursuit of Julian Alvarez appears to be moving into a decisive phase, with fresh reports claiming that direct contact has already taken place between the Catalan club and Atletico Madrid...
DEA Comes Out Swinging in Cannabis Rescheduling Hearing
The government argued in support of currently accepted medical use; anti-rescheduling parties attempted to poke holes in the Schedule III recommendation.
Encina Private Credit Provides $90MM First Out Tranche for Healthcare Business
Encina Private Credit (EPC) served as the administrative and collateral agent on a senior secured credit facility supporting a dividend recap and refinance
Developer addresses community concerns around Franklin youth sports complex project
The project, proposed by developer BLVD Capital, would transform Brownland Farm, a 233-acre property on Hillsboro Road just outside downtown Franklin, into “The Banks at Brownland.”
Interferometric scattering for optical tomoslicing of transparent solids
Light: Science & Applications - Interferometric scattering for optical tomoslicing of transparent solids
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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