Media

It is a brutal day for institutional games media, and independent media cannot fill the void.

Polygon Acquired by Porn Mogul Who Co-Founded Brazzers

Before he founded Valnet, Hassan Youssef started one of the biggest porn sites on the internet.

404 MediaSamantha Cole

There's a a big shake up coming for Foxtel, specifically Foxtel's Binge. Another streaming platform is launching in Australia, with Warner Bros. Discovery today announcing the local launch date for Max. The service will start March 31, but other details are still a little unclear. Previously known as HBO Max, but also confusingly hosting both HBO Originals and Max Originals, the service has been available in the US since 2020.

It looks like the service will launch with exclusive access to HBO programming, as well as other Warner Bros. Discovery properties. Which does might put Binge in a bit of limbo, if we're reading this literally.

Via Whistleout:

A spokesperson for WBD confirmed to WhistleOut that new Warner Bros. and HBO content won't premiere on Binge. Hubbl has started bringing some live and on-demand Kayo Sports over to Binge to add value to the service. 

WhistleOut has reached out to Foxtel for comment on what will happen to the existing catalogue of HBO content on Binge. 

And from the press release:

As the home of HBO Originals and Max Originals, Max will offer fans culture-defining series including returning seasons of The Last of Us, And Just Like That..., House of the Dragon, Euphoria and Peacemaker as well as highly anticipated new shows such as It: Welcome to Derry and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, from the world of Game of Thrones.  
 
Subscribers will also be able to enjoy recently released theatrical hits from Warner Bros. Pictures, including blockbusters from the last few years such as Barbie, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice and Twisters, alongside treasured franchises including Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and the DC Universe. Coupled with all-time fan-favourites including Friends, The Big Bang Theory and Rick and Morty, best-in-class real-life stories across food, home, lifestyle and factual like 90 Day Fiancé and Outback Opal Hunters, as well as family viewing such as Ben 10 and We Bare Bears, Max promises to set the bar for consistently captivating, craveable entertainment.

In addition, WBD also announced a launch partnership with Foxtel, providing Foxtel subscribers with access to the Max app at no additional cost.*

*Requires a compatible Foxtel IQ box. Some customers will need to upgrade their box. Included Max plan is Basic with Ads.

Developing...

Update: The paywall has launched. Via Semafor:

Editor-in-chief Nilay Patel told Semafor that the move was intended to drive additional revenue and insulate The Verge from changes made by social media platforms[...]

“I think it’s a tragedy that garbage is free and news is behind paywalls. I don’t want to make that worse,” Patel said. “I think that The Verge homepage and our news coverage serves a central utility function in our ecosystem.”

The website also hints at future integrations with ActivityPub and Bluesky in an effort to take the focus away from SEO and social-media traffic and make The Verge homepage a platform of its own.

Early benefits include unlimited access to posts, such as paywalled newsletters and metered product reviews and features, limited ads on all Verge content and a physical limited edition magazine. Also the original decentralised solution, RSS, is available to subscribers, with unabridged posts available through RSS readers.

Original post:

According to Semafor, Vox Media's technology website The Verge is going behind a paywall. Some content will remain free:

Beginning this week, the Verge will charge $7/month or $50/year for comprehensive access to the site as well as the already-paywalled newsletters Command Line and Notepad.

Some content and the publication’s homepage, which was redesigned in 2022 to resemble a social feed, will remain free. The Verge is Vox Media’s third major subscription push behind New York and Vox, which launched a membership program earlier this year.

Everything old is new again at Vox Media, which will also be introducing an app for its publication New York Magazine, focused on digital NY Mag subscribers:

It will be the magazine’s second crack at a mobile app; New York first launched an iPhone app in 2016. 

A little over a month ago, ABC youth brand triple j relaunched at its One Night Stand music festival. And it was a pretty big rebrand, touching the logo, typeface and general audio style of the station. A pretty big change is the new "J" audio sting that plays often on the station.

Gloss Australia reached out to the ABC for more details on the sonic rebrand, but didn't hear back. On the visual side of things, Howatson+Company, partnering with the ABC, has more info on the visual changes:

Since 1975, national broadcaster triple j has served as a lighthouse for young Australians, actively pushing culture forward and challenging norms through its disruptive programming, shows and events. Yet for the last 15 years, the brand and logo have remained static. To address this, triple j has partnered with Howatson+Company to reinvigorate the brand for today’s listeners.

To make it, a custom variable typeface was designed that changes based on audio and musical inputs. The type was taught to respond to music and sound using algorithmic machine learning, creating a reactive design.

The brand’s most iconic element, the drum, was also updated to reflect the tastes of the station’s youth audience today, featuring a simplified base designed to reference digital soundbars and incorporate a hidden ‘j’.

The rebrand successfully refreshes triple j’s visual world while preserving its core identity as a champion of youth culture and new Australian music.

From Oliver Darcy's media newsletter Status:

As part of the effort, the Jim Bankoff-led digital media conglomerate — which houses widely recognizable brands such as New York magazine, Eater, Vox, SBNation, NowThis, Thrillist, and more — has started exploring the introduction of a pay wall on its popular technology website, The Verge, people familiar with the matter told me.

As Darcy also writes, The Verge has already experimented with some paid newsletters, which are published to The Verge as articles that require a subscription. This new offering could be a bundle and include additional bonus content.

This would fit with previous efforts to bring the focus of The Verge back to its homepage as a central way of accessing its content, as opposed to relying on social media links and SEO for traffic. From 2023:

Post by @reckless1280

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“This migration rests on Vox Media’s front-end platform, Duet — first seen on The Verge, and then Vox.com — coupled with a new, more flexible backend in WordPress VIP,” says Polygon publisher Chris Grant. “Beyond just a redesign, this new site represents a fundamental shift in our product strategy, and our continued investment and confidence in websites and loyal audiences.”

Powered by its migration to WordPress VIP and Vox Media’s front end platform, Duet, Polygon will continue to build out its homepage and website, with new community tools aimed at boosting user experience to follow the redesign.

Polygon Unveils Redesign Aimed at Making Its Homepage a Destination for Gaming Culture Consumers

Powered by its migration to WordPress VIP and Vox Media’s front-end platform, Duet, Polygon’s new homepage will unveil new editorial rubrics, with recommendations curated by staff and special guests.

Vox MediaVox Media

“I shoot politics for a living, man. Every single photo I take people are going to argue about,” Vucci said with a laugh. “I spend my life around a very highly polarized part of our society, so no matter what I do, people are gonna hate it. People are gonna love it. Listen, as long as everyone hates me equally, I’m doing the job.”

AP Photographer Spills on Viral Trump Rally Shooting Pic

Evan Vucci told The Daily Beast how he managed to capture one of the most compelling images from the shocking event.

The Daily BeastTrumpland