Weekly Roundup – July 1st, 2025

"Nearly two years on from the carriage negotiations that promised to change the landscape of the entire pay TV industry, Disney and Charter have reached another, much smaller, agreement.
The new deal expands the current carriage agreement, adding Hulu’s ad-supported tier to Spectrum TV Select plans, along with the eight minor cable networks dropped during the 2023 dispute, per Dade Hayes of Deadline. Crucial for sports fans, however, is that the new agreement will include ESPN’s forthcoming direct-to-consumer streaming service in the Spectrum TV Select plan."

"Chrome for Android could be getting a really fun new feature, which would allow it to use AI-generated voices to create an informative podcast about any webpage you see.
As spotted on the r/google subreddit, Google Chrome for Android's beta build contains an upgrade to the AI overview that reads aloud whatever page you're on (via Android Authority). Rather than simply reading the page aloud, like the old AI overview would, this new feature uses the information on the webpage to create a podcast episode to tell you all about it.
Chrome will be able to make podcasts on the fly
As if your podcast lists weren't full already
The feature was first spotted on the Google subreddit, courtesy of Leopeva64-2 and, later, Android Authority. Accessed through tapping the Listen to this page option in the side menu, the podcast takes a few seconds to load up before launching straight into the episode on, er, the Wikipedia article for Google Chrome."

"President Trump won a higher percentage of the Latino vote in 2024 than previously believed and came within striking distance of capturing a historic majority of those voters, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of the election results.
Why it matters: The analysis confirms what early exit polls hinted: Kamala Harris dramatically underperformed previous Democratic presidential candidates among Latinos, a rapidly growing and once-solidly Democratic voting bloc that has taken a big swing toward Republicans.
The big picture: Pew's analysis of election data shows that Trump won 48% of Latino voters — a group that had soundly rejected him in 2020 and 2016 — and that it was a crucial factor in his victory.
The findings challenge claims by some left-leaning Hispanic political operatives that the early exit polls — which suggested Harris' percentage of the Latino vote was in the mid-50s, still a decline for a Democrat — were incorrect, and that her losses among Latinos were minimal.
Pew says the exit polls were off, but that the results were even worse for Harris — 51% of the Latino vote.
The new data also show that Trump rode back into office with a more ethnically and racially diverse coalition than previously known."

"Roughly one-third of all social media users report posting less on their preferred platform compared with last year, with nearly twice as many of them saying they go online to be entertained as to post.
Republicans, millennials and men are the most likely to say they still post on their favorite social media platform at least daily, while Gen Z adults, who famously spend more time online than any other demographic, are among the least likely to do the same.
Social media’s original ambition might have been to serve as a digital town square, but Morning Consult’s data shows that it is increasingly becoming a form of passive entertainment produced by a select few. As such, brands need to rethink how they show up across platforms, particularly when the goal is to drive organic buzz."

"Two of the biggest names in U.S. audio are joining forces. iHeartMedia and Audacy announced a new content distribution partnership today that will make Audacy’s full portfolio of more than 240 broadcast radio brands and time-shifted podcasts available on iHeartRadio, iHeart’s free digital platform.
The agreement significantly expands Audacy’s digital reach, giving iHeartRadio users access to a wide range of Audacy content, including:
28 sports radio brands, such as WFAN New York, the nation’s most-listened-to sports station
Seven of the top eight most-listened-to all-news stations, including WINS in New York
Music staples like KROQ Los Angeles and WXRT Chicago
Audacy’s programming will now be accessible on over 500 platforms and more than 2,000 connected devices via the iHeartRadio app—including smart speakers, car dashboards, mobile devices, and gaming consoles."