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Game Pass Reportedly Down To 30 Million Subscribers After Churn
The decline comes after a very unpopular price hike in 2025
Kasson looks at role of science during country's formative years
To mark the semiquincentennial, Matt Kasson writes in Popular Science about Benjamin Franklin and other citizen scientists who were, in his view, core parts of the American experiment.
Democrats invoke ‘big, beautiful bill’ far more than Republicans as midterms near
Republicans continue to tout some provisions of the law, including tax cuts, but its overall unpopularity has provided Democrats ammunition for the midterms.
As socialism rises in popularity, GOP turns to a new attack: ‘Communists’
As more Americans take on a positive view of socialism, and those candidates win elections, more Republicans are using a different label: communist.
Science SARU's New 'The Ghost in the Shell' Series Premieres on Prime Video on July 7
A new anime series based on the hugely popular Ghost in the Shell franchise is coming to Prime Video on July 7. The news was announced at Prime Video’s new International Originals event held in London. The new Ghost in the Shell series will be directed by Mokochan, who will be making his directorial debut […]
As socialism rises in popularity, GOP turns to a new attack: ‘Communists’
Democratic voters are shifting to the left in primaries. Republicans are doing the same with the labels they use to paint them as extreme.
'Multiple' people shot in Glendale, police say
Multiple people have been shot at a popular entertainment spot in Glendale, according to officials with the city’s police department.
Huntsville gaming business making a big splash in the hobby industry
One of the most popular gaming businesses in north Alabama is Mastermind Gaming.
31 alien-like marine species discovered off the coast of Brazil
A ghostly squid, speedy gossamer worm, and more dwell 600 to 3,300 feet beneath the waves.
Superyacht designers reveal biggest trends among billionaire owners
Vripack's Marnix Hoekstra and Bart Bouwhuis design luxury superyachts for billionaires. Popular asks include high-end offices and gyms.
The American revolutionaries who popularized science in the early United States
Benjamin Franklin and other citizen scientists are core parts of the American experiment.
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
The National Announces Hall of Fame Musical Artist To Autograph Lineup
The addition of Public Enemy to the 2026 National Sports Collectors Convention autograph lineup highlights the hobby's continued evolution, as music, movies, sports, and popular culture collectibles i...
If you still own one of these 6 popular Android phones, it's probably time to upgrade
Holding onto an old Android phone from Samsung, Google, or Motorola? It might be time to finally give in and upgrade.
Popular Windsor egg farm exits egg business amid hard times for small farms
Tiffany Holbrook, co-owner at Wise Acre Farm, announced this week that the farm shut down its local egg operations and will move to a new location in Sonoma County to focus on meat production. She said the realities and costs of running the…
13 IKEA Finds That Will Upgrade Your Home Office
These popular standing desks, monitor stands, and more will transform your home office into a sleek, organized space with ergonomic design.
How a freelancer pitched a story about sperm freezing to Popular Science
Freelancer Julia Daye’s commitment to attending in-person media events paid off by inspiring a successful pitch to Popular Science.
Popular TV-tracking app TV Time is shutting down as company focuses on AI
TV Time, the popular TV tracking app, is shutting down on July 15 as parent company Whip Media pivots toward enterprise AI products.
The best new popular science books of July 2026
From friendship in a world of chatbots to what it means to be alive, this month’s new popular science books are asking some big questions. Liz Else rounds up the ones she’s most looking forward to
Sports entertainment veteran homers with interactive gaming sports bar, baseball outing indoors
Serial entrepreneur Lance Windholz — who spiked a career in tech to build community around beach volleyball in Shawnee — is batting again; this time, taking a swing at sports entertainment and the resurgent popularity of baseball.
Meta Is Slapping Subscriptions on Its Smart Glasses
'Rate limits' on AI features will surely be popular with the masses.
Apple's first-ever foldable iPhone is as popular as the plague, as it turns out
Wait, wasn't the iPhone Ultra supposed to be a hit?!
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?
What older adults need to know before taking a GLP-1 medication to lose weight
Starting Wednesday, millions of Medicare-qualifying adults will have access to popular medications for weight loss at deep discounts through a temporary federal program called the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for July 1 #646
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
‘Minions & Monsters’ scores series-best reviews for Illumination’s animated franchise: ‘Weird, willful popular entertainment’
The latest installment drops the Minions down in Old Hollywood with cameos from Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin.
Landlord-tenant spat at center of Highland Park's retail losses
Uncharacteristic store closures in popular Highland Park linked to landlord-tenant dispute that's headed to court.
Top GLP-1 prescription indications include sleep apnea, depression and kidney disease, study finds
A report from Trilliant Health looking at payer data found that, as prescriptions for the popular weight loss drugs spike, so rises the number of approved benefits.
Is the World Cup becoming America’s biggest sports betting event ever?
The world’s most popular sporting event is being played in North America, so U.S. audiences can see the games live while the sun is out or in the early evening
Woman says popular oil change business left her engine in the backseat
“What they pulled out of my car looks like something from a sci-fi movie.”
FDA panel on peptides will include experts who promote the unproven chemicals favored by RFK Jr.
The Food and Drug Administration is meeting next month to consider easing restrictions on several peptides, a group of unapproved drugs popular with followers of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
WhatsApp Now Lets You Reserve a Username
Popular messaging app WhatsApp is now allowing users to reserve usernames ahead of plans to launch username-based messaging. Right now, WhatsApp uses a person's phone number as an identifier, but usernames will allow people to interact without having to exchange personal information. Username reservations are rolling out starting this week, and not all users will have access to the reservation system right away. WhatsApp is sending a notification when a username can be reserved.
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?
Peptides are the latest US health craze. But what exactly are they?
While peptides are taking the health and wellness category by storm for various use cases, what exactly are they? Leerink Partners senior research analyst Michael Cherny helps break down what a peptides are, how people are choosing them for personal health and recovery reasons, and who the biggest winners in consumer pharmaceuticals could be if their popularity continues to grow.
Arena, the AI leaderboard everyone uses, is now a $100M business
The startup, which runs a popular free AI leaderboard, launched its commercial service just last September.
India’s Yash Raj Films Backs Rusk Media in Vertical Entertainment Push (Exclusive)
IMDb, the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content.
Grand Theft Auto VI Rumored to Offer 60 FPS Mode on PS5/Xbox Series X, But Maybe Not at Launch
One of the reasons Grand Theft Auto VI fans are eager to learn the currently missing details on PS5 Pro enhancements is that the most powerful console available on the market is expected to include a performance mode targeting 60 FPS. However, according to a credible source, there's a decent chance that even the base PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's roughly equivalent Xbox Series X will support 60 FPS in Rockstar's massively anticipated game. The rumor comes from the popular Polish gaming podcast Rock and Borys, which features Remigiusz "Rock" Maciaszek and Borys Nieśpielak. It is the latter who shared in […]
Popular 9-season sitcom losing its streaming home at end of the summer
The Emmy-award winning series is regarded as as one of the most iconic shows in television history.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for June 28 #643
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Country music icons play final show after 6 decades together: ‘What a run we’ve had’
The popular group thanked fans as it took its final bow.
3 foods that seem healthy but may be bad for your heart: cardiologist
A cardiologist said popular "healthy" foods can actually be bad for your heart, since they're highly processed and full of additives like sugar and fat.
Public health alert issued for chicken sold at popular grocery store in the Tri-State area
A public health alert was issued for chicken sold at a popular grocery store chain in the Tri-State area.
Is Mega Skarmory good for Pokémon GO Raids?
Super Mega Skarmory Raid Day brings one of the new Legends: Z-A Mega Evolutions to Pokémon GO, and gives the undeniably cool Skarmory a new lease of life in the Raids meta. A popular / type from Gen 2, Skarmory has been a staple in the Little and Great League formats, but has never made […]
Salpointe flag football QB named MaxPreps Freshman of the Year
It is the first year that MaxPreps is putting together an All-American team as the sport continues to gain popularity.
It's Xbox's turn (again), as console prices keep going up
Microsoft announced a price hike for the Xbox Series consoles today, the third in little over a year. Effective August 1, the Xbox Series S, which launched in 2020 for $300, will cost $500 in the U.S. The Xbox Series X, which launched in 2020 at $500, will go for $800. This follows a round of PlayStation 5 price increases from Sony this spring, and a slow-motion increase for Nintendo’s Switch 2, which will kick in in the U.S. in September. (Mind you, there were also eight video game industry price hikes in six months of 2025). The chart up top shows the sudden ascent of console prices over the past year, a sudden surge in an already unusual hardware generation. Prices had been flat for years, now “up” is the new “flat.” Game console prices used to go down across the length of a console generation, but not this time around. Microsoft’s explanation for the new price hike today: We hoped another price increase would not be necessary, and we have spent the last several months working with suppliers on options. Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027. The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles. Unlike phones, computers, speakers, and other consumer devices, consoles are typically not sold at a profit, but instead for less than they cost to make. This is an issue well beyond game consoles. Apple announced price hikes on its computers and tablets today as well. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: Brutal Bungie cuts Bungie laid off “most” of its Destiny development team and some developers who worked on Marathon, the newest game from the struggling Sony-owned studio. A WARN notice issued by Sony to Washington State, where Bungie is based, tallied cuts impacting 292 workers, effective next month. That’s strictly for Bungie/Sony jobs in Washington and wouldn’t account for any elsewhere. The video I clipped below shows the redacted list of Bungie cuts filed to Washington State officials. As you’ll see, I had to scroll for a while… In a note emailed to PlayStation workers and published online, PlayStation game studios chief Hermen Hulst offered the following explanation for these latest cuts at Bungie: This is painful news, especially for talented colleagues whose roles have been eliminated. This decision was made only after extensive discussion and careful consideration, and I want to provide some context on how we arrived here. Over the past several months, together with Bungie leadership, we reviewed the studio’s long-term direction, development priorities, resource needs, and role within our broader portfolio strategy. We explored multiple alternatives before concluding that a reduction was necessary to align the studio’s resources with its current priorities and long-term goals. In 2022, Sony bought Bungie for $3.7 billion. The studio’s marquee game, the multiplayer live service shooter Destiny 2 was losing popularity at the time. Its next game Marathon, released earlier this year, has been well-reviewed but had a slow start. Bungie is renowned for making great shooter games, and Destiny fans have mourned the wind-down of Destiny 2. They’ve also expressed bewilderment over reports that Destiny 3 is not, per Bloomberg, immediately in the cards.
Participating in heavy-contact youth sports, dropping out of sports linked to acts of violence
Contrary to popular belief, simply playing organized youth sports does not reduce the likelihood of committing violence in one’s lifetime, and in some cases, may increase it, according to a new study.The study, published online recently in the Sociology of Sport Journal, found that while most survey respondents — including those who played y...
Entertainment this week: Paul Thorn, Hike for Hope and more
Friday, June 26 Annual Ian Casey Classic – Tahoe Donner Golf Course. Our most popular event of the year, a full field of 130+ golfers will team up in foursomes and hit the links to...
News | Family entertainment company inks retail lease at West Michigan shopping center
Screen-free indoor play operator plans fall move-in at popular Walker retail corridor
Chick-fil-A gets into the home repair and services business
The popular chicken chain has brought its hospitality prowess to a new industry in metro Atlanta — home services.
Patriots Coach Jeremy Springer Announces Engagement To NBC Sports Host Kayla Burton
NBC Sports host Kayla Burton is engaged to an NFL coach. The popular Boston-based sports media personality announced her engagement to New England Patriots special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer. The two announced their big news in a joint Instagram post Monday, sharing photos from the NFL ...
Netanyahu’s growing unpopularity, angering Trump, boosts Mamdani’s pro-Palestine candidates for Congress
Netanyahu faces criticism over Gaza and Iran, pro-Palestinian candidates score major victories in New York politics.
New website names and shames companies that still don't offer passkeys to users
According to a new site, 24% of the most popular websites in the world don't offer support for passkeys, which are considered the most secure way to log into apps and services.
Even in Defeat, a Democrat Showed the Upside of Angering the A.I. Industry
Alex Bores’s close loss in New York could pave the way for other Democrats to take political advantage of being attacked by the increasingly unpopular A.I. industry.
What will the Trump administration’s relationship with Andy Burnham look like?
The popular Labour Party politician could butt heads with the U.S. president
The 17 best popular science books of 2026 so far
The first six months of the year have brought us popular science reads on everything from consciousness to cosmology. Liz Else rounds up her favourites
Underground methane gas leak leaves a dozen Owasso businesses displaced, stranded
A sudden environmental scare has left a popular Owasso shopping center wrapped in caution tape and at least 12 local family-owned businesses completely stranded
Alo Yoga primed for public offering or sale after owner's sale of wholesale T-shirt business
In a deal that attracted little interest from Wall Street, the owner of popular yoga clothing maker Alo agreed to sell its wholesale T-shirt division Bella+Canvas last month.
E-bike injuries rising among kids as Corewell Health doctors warn parents about speed, safety risks
E-bikes have exploded in popularity among adults, teens, and even some tweens. But as more people are riding them, injuries have increased, too.
Tucker Carlson says he will no longer support the Republican Party
Longtime conservative commentator Tucker Carlson said on a podcast that “there’s no chance I would support the Republican Party” ahead of the November midterm elections, dismissing the political affiliation he’s defended as a pundit for decades, including as one of Fox News Channel’s most popular hosts.
Tucker Carlson says he’ll no longer support the Republican Party
Carlson had been one of Fox News Channel’s most popular hosts
Tucker Carlson says he’ll no longer support the Republican Party
Carlson had been one of Fox News Channel’s most popular hosts
Start Building With 30+ Prime Day Lego Deals on Star Wars, Minecraft and Botanical Sets
Save some cash on popular Lego sets with these Prime Day steals. We've found something for everyone, from Marvel fans to car enthusiasts.
Combat Sports Are Ready For Their Data Moment
Combat sports are increasingly popular. SmashLog has built the operating system that allows athletes to train with purpose.
These Are Our Readers' Favorite Car YouTubers
Let's take a look at some of the most popular non-John-Davis responses.
New iPhone 18 Pro leak highlights big upgrade for most popular camera
iPhone 18 Pro’s Main camera sounds set for an especially big upgrade this year, per the latest posts from leaker Fixed Focus Digital.
Prediction markets push gambling to new level, causing concern
The state is waging a legal fight to preserve oversight and tax revenue amid competition from the increasingly popular platforms, which are regulated by the federal government.
View: The rise of identity politics
Éric Zemmour’s diagnosis is not the standard analysis of why centrist leaders everywhere have grown so profoundly unpopular.
Media Buying Briefing: How Sport Beach became a big Cannes Lions destination
Sport Beach has grown into one of Cannes Lions' most popular activations -- and a standalone business unit for holdco Stagwell.
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for June 22 #637
Here's today's Connections: Sports Edition answer and hints for groups. These clues will help you solve The New York Times' popular puzzle game, Connections: Sports Edition, every day.
Stray Kids to drop new album in August, announces new world tour
Popular boy group Stray Kids will release a new album in August and embark on a new world tour, the group's agency JYP Entertainment said Monday. T...
Kickstarter campaign aims to help popular Castro Valley toy store fight October closure
The Prize Booth, a popular toy store in Castro Valley, is preparing to close by October after losing its lease. It has prompted a surge of community support as owners race to find a new location before the holiday season.
Mamdani looks to flex political muscle in key New York House primaries
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) is looking to use his political power to reshape New York’s congressional delegation less than six months after taking office. The popular mayor has mad…
As lakes turn brown, trout and bass decline while pike and walleye thrive
Freshwater lakes across North America and Europe are becoming noticeably browner, reducing underwater visibility and reshaping fish populations. Research found that several popular sport fish, including trout, bass, perch, and whitefish, tend to decline in darker waters. Meanwhile, walleye and northern pike often become more abundant because they are better adapted to low-visibility conditions. The shift could change both lake ecosystems and the fishing experience for millions of anglers.
These Early Prime Day Apple Deals Slash Prices on MacBooks, iPads and AirPods
Score Prime Day savings on some of Apple's most popular devices, including AirPods, iPads and Beats headphones.
Popular beaches closed as high bacteria levels raise health concerns for swimmers
Several states warn beachgoers about elevated bacteria levels this summer, with beach closures in Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington state.
Minisforum’s Upcoming MS-03 SFF PC Brings More of a Good Thing
At Computex 2026 Minisforum was showing off their upcoming MS-03 mini-PC, the successor to their popular MS-01 and aiming to bring more of a good thing with Intel's new Panther Lake platform
Scammers using AI to make fake moving companies look more convincing
Summer is a popular time to move, and the Better Business Bureau warns scammers are using AI to make fake moving companies look more convincing than ever.
Gears of War: E-Day's strong summer showing triggers series-wide popularity spike
Gears of War: E-Day's strong showing this summer, coupled with its recent Xbox exclusivity, has led to the Gears franchise doubling its audience.
'Proactive' Johansson's Motherwell appointment 'very exciting'
Former Hibernian player Kevin Nicol believes "proactive" Alfred Johansson's appointment as Motherwell manager is "very exciting". Nicol is assistant at Fredrikstad, who play in the same Norwegian top flight as Johansson's former club Rosenborg. Swede Johansson, 35, replaces Jens Berthel Askou, who became a hugely popular figure with the Fir Park faithful.
Popular weight-loss drugs linked to unexpected male fertility benefit
GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide and liraglutide do not appear to suppress male hormones and may boost fertility in obese men, new research suggests.
Popular Kapahulu running shop to close after 50 years in business
Running Room has been a must-stop shop for runners for five decades.
Ancient Gem Popular With Romans And Victoria's Elite Found In New Martian Rock
An international team of scientists has discovered a completely new type of rock and the mineral garnet in a Martian meteorite fragment, unlocking fresh secrets about the geological evolution of Mars.
Easy money or risky business? What can Hong Kong do as prediction markets boom?
Despite official warnings ahead of World Cup, Polymarket and Kalshi remain popular with residents who bet on everything from politics to weather.
Glaive Rush Mega Baxcalibur: Greatest Community Day for Raids?
Community Day has always been a redemption arc for several Pokémon, with the popular event propelling them to the top levels of relevance in the PvP and/or PvE meta. In fact, Pseudo Legendaries like Metagross (Meteor Mash) and Hydreigon (Brutal Swing) have literally gone from zero to hero in Pokémon GO via their exclusive moves. […]
Why Republicans think they can save their House majority at the US-Mexico border
Republicans are in an uphill battle to save their narrow House majority, weighed down by an unpopular president and concerns about the cost of living amid the US war with Iran.
U.K. Election Results Live Updates: Burnham Wins Makerfield By-Election, Clearing Path to Challenge Starmer
Andy Burnham, the Labour Party’s most popular politician, earned a decisive victory for a parliamentary seat in northern England. The win energizes his bid to become prime minister.
‘If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD’: Vance’s risky gambit on Iran peace efforts
As the Trump administration neared a breakthrough in its negotiations with Iran, Vice President JD Vance jumped at the chance to be the face of a peace agreement designed to end months of unpopular war.
Lehigh Valley entertainment and dining venue expands with mini golf, arcade and 2nd bar
A popular destination for fresh food, flavorful drinks and family-friendly fun is leveling up with a 12,000-square-foot addition set to open this weekend in Northampton County.
After 27 Years, Utica Zoo Is Retiring 'Brewfest'
Utica Zoo’s popular Brewfest fundraiser will not take place this year after running for 27 years.
Most TikTok sunscreen content is accurate but misinformation goes viral, study finds
A study found that videos promoting misinformation about sunscreen got more engagement on the platform, despite making up a fraction of the most popular posts on the topic.
Trying BLT sandwiches at Subway, Jimmy John's, Jersey Mike's; best
I ordered a BLT from Subway, Jimmy John's, and Jersey Mike's to see which popular chain offered the best value and version of the classic sandwich.
Americans view Obama far more positively than Trump or Biden, CNN poll finds
As Barack Obama opens his presidential center, he does so as by far the most popular living president.
'Relief' for small businesses after St. Petersburg city council rejects parking changes
Parking continues to be a problem in St. Petersburg, especially in neighborhoods with popular restaurants and businesses. City leaders voted down a proposal that would have allowed specific neighborhoods outside of downtown to establish resident-only parking zones.
MrBeast's next challenge? Writing a book. See the cover, title, plot.
If popular YouTuber MrBeast and bestselling author James Patterson have anything in common, it’s that they’re both game to try something new.
Why Sophie Cunningham is broadcasting WNBA game for USA Network
The Indiana Fever's popular wing is going to be on the other side of the game.
More than 11K bottles of blood pressure drug recalled
Certain lots of a popular diuretic have been recalled due to concerns about the drug's effectiveness.
Health department orders Wintzell’s Montgomery location to close
A popular seafood restaurant in downtown Montgomery has been ordered to close by the Montgomery County Health Department.
Popular blues/rock singer bringing his music to Modesto theater. See when, where
It’s one of several entertainment options coming up in the Modesto and Mother Lode regions.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! World Entertainment expands Branson footprint with Adventure Seekers acquisition
ORLANDO — Ripley’s Believe It or Not! World Entertainment is excited to announce the acquisition of the Adventure Seekers and FlyRide® attraction in Branson, Missouri. The popular local attraction …