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Factbox-US House races to watch in the 2026 elections

By Nolan D. McCaskill WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Republicans in the US House of Representatives are defending a narrow majority in November's midterm elections.

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Oct 12 • 6:05 AM EDT • Politics • centraloregondaily.com
A Century of Iranian Politics: Veteran Left-Wing Figure Babak Amir-Khosravi Dies in Paris

“If I had the opportunity to live life over again and possessed even a fraction of my current experience, I certainly would never have ...

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Oct 12 • 4:36 AM EDT • Politics • iranwire.com
Will Ermal Hadribeaj Be Albania’s First Boxing Champion?

Ermal Hadribeaj believes he's found the key to defeating Sebastian Fundora on Saturday.

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Oct 12 • 1:30 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
The Social Reckoning Crashes Hard at Box Office, Turns Into a Major Flop

Sony’s Facebook drama opened to just $5.5 million in North America, finishing fifth. The Social Reckoning box office debut fell short of even modest expectations and left it far behind the film that i...

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Oct 12 • 12:20 AM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com
Chinese desalination plant cuts 60% energy use, turns brine into industrial salt

Technology may help to solve the global problem of discharging concentrated by-products of drinking water production into the sea.

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Oct 12 • 12:15 AM EDT • Science • scmp.com
The science, instinct and hard work behind Roosters’ success

Enter your email address to get each Tribune edition sent to your inbox Subscribe There’s a fair bit of unseen work that goes into winning an NRL premiership, dating back many months - just ask Simon Jones. The Sydney Roosters Head of Performance, who hails from Southland, has been in the thick of it. He played a lead role in guiding the 2026 champions through a marathon campaign that ended with a grand final win over the Newcastle Knights. The Roosters had to navigate the lengthy round-robin competition, including the pre-season, before playing through all four weeks of the finals series. It was a demanding stretch that tested the players and the staff responsible for keeping them on the field. “It is a hell of a beast, mate, to be honest,” Jones told The Roar Podcast. “There’s such a great group of staff there that know what they’re doing, and the boys are pretty professional.” Jones believed the Roosters managed the physical demands well, pointing to the health of the squad throughout the campaign and the decision to rest a significant portion of the playing group in the final round of the regular season. That call, made by head coach Trent Robinson and his coaching staff, proved valuable as the Roosters entered the finals with some energy in reserve. “We did finish the season physically where we needed to be, and we’d sort of had a pretty healthy squad all year,” Jones said. “To the team that do that, mate, mission accomplished, really.” It is the sort of work that often goes unnoticed when the spotlight falls on the players scoring tries and making match-winning plays, but Jones knows the cumulative effect of those decisions can be significant over a long season. After a win over Penrith had helped establish them as premiership favourites, losses to the Wests Tigers and Dolphins were followed by a defeat to the Panthers in the opening week of the finals. Rather than panic, the club refocused to position itself to challenge for the title. “The Tigers’ performance was probably the only one where you’re really quite disappointed because it’s hard to get to the top of the competition,” Jones told The Roar Podcast. “We had proof that we could; we knew what we needed to do. We just had to get back to that.” For Jones, the answer was not necessarily a radical change to the programme. It was about executing the basics consistently, both on the field and in preparation. “We just do the basics better than anybody else,” he said. “Whether that is actually the way you play the game or how you’re preparing, it’s just be really consistent, do the basics really, really well.” Like many professional sports teams, the Roosters are entrenched in sports science and performance data. The club has access to a range of information, including players’ sleep, GPS metrics and neuromuscular scores, helping staff assess how individuals are coping with training and competition. “We are very science-backed, and some people would say data-driven, but it’s people first,” he said. “The reason you collect all this data is to try and be the best for that person.” Jones said the club was also prepared to reconsider testing methods if they were not generating useful discussions or helping staff make better decisions. In an environment where technology is continually evolving, he believes experience and gut instinct remain important. “The data is no good unless you have conversations,” he said. “When you strip it right back, mate, trust the gut still and obviously, you know, just doing the basics really, really well.” The return of halfback Sam Walker provided a further example of the importance of individual determination and the work of the club’s medical team. Walker underwent ankle surgery late in the regular season, with his premiership campaign appearing in doubt. However, he was determined to return for the preliminary final. Jones said Walker was back at the training ground three days after surgery, walking freely enough to surprise those around him. While the surgeon’s work was crucial, Jones credited the halfback’s mindset as a major factor in the remarkable turnaround. “He was quite clear with Robbo after he got the surgery that he was going to make it back for the prelim finals,” Jones said. The Roosters’ performance programme also sits within a wider club culture that Jones believes is central to their success. Each season, players develop their own team mantra through a lengthy process facilitated by Robinson. It provides principles that the squad can connect to its actions on the field. Rather than simply carrying over the previous year’s wording after a successful campaign, the club repeats the process because the players’ ownership of it is what gives it meaning. “When it’s led, player-owned and player-led, mate, it’s really powerful,” Jones said. Get more from Logan Savory in the Substack app Available for iOS and Android Get the app Jones joined the Roosters in 2024 and said the environment had evolved as experienced players departed and younger members of the squad took on greater responsibility. Maintaining continuity in the club’s culture and preparation had helped the group navigate those changes. The premiership was a significant achievement for Jones, who acknowledged how difficult it was to win the NRL’s ultimate prize. However, he is already looking at how the performance programme can improve. “There’s still things within my role and things that I’d like to help improve at the club,” he said. For Jones and his team, the challenge now is to review the season, refine their systems and prepare for another campaign. The celebrations may have followed a memorable title win, but the work behind the scenes never really stops. The Southland Tribune is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

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Oct 11 • 9:14 PM EDT • Science • southlandtribune.substack.com
Forty new games are coming to Xbox consoles next week.

Microsoft's gaming platform ecosystem is gearing up for a major expansion of its catalog. Over the next seven days, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox...

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Oct 11 • 7:21 PM EDT • Technology • en.gamegpu.com
Raptors Preseason Game 2: Everything Toronto Fixed Against the Clippers

Toronto answered a sloppy opener in Quebec City with a 114-106 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Saturday night. It was the first win of the Raptors preseason, and the box score shows real changes from the 129-105 loss to Miami a week earlier. Kawhi Leonard sat out again …

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Oct 11 • 6:12 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Michael Page Reacts to Signing With Misfits Boxing

Former UFC middleweight fighter Michael Page shared his reaction to signing with Misfits Boxing, his next home in combat sports.The long-time MMA fighter, who was released by the UFC last month after a decision win over Nursulton Ruziboev that was panned by MMA fans as a boring fight, had been fielding offers from several combat […] The post Michael Page Reacts to Signing With Misfits Boxing appeared first on HEAVY.

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Oct 11 • 4:46 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Aaron Sorkin's 'The Social Reckoning' flops at box office

Moviegoers are unfriending "The Social Reckoning." Aaron Sorkin's follow-up to "The Social Network" has disappointed at the box office.

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Oct 11 • 2:30 PM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com
Tom Cruise Dud ‘Digger’ Drops 60% In Second Weekend At Box Office

Things are going from bad to worse for Tom Cruise’s apocalyptic satire "Digger" in its second weekend at the domestic box office.

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Oct 11 • 1:56 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com
'Other Mommy' scares up N. American box office win

Horror flick "Other Mommy" starring Oscar winner Jessica Chastain debuted atop the North American box office with $27.5 million in ticket sales, while awards hopeful "The Social Reckoning" flopped with...

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Oct 11 • 1:54 PM EDT • Entertainment • afp.com
Theatrical Is Alive: YTD Domestic B.O. Surges Past $8 Billion, Two Months Sooner Than 2025

The motion picture studios can easily sing that 42nd Street song “We’re in the Money” as the U.S. and Canada box office clicked past the $8 billion mark on Friday. Why is this a big deal? Because in p...

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Oct 11 • 1:42 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com
The original Apple TV 4K from 2017 is now officially "vintage"

Apple changed its status in preparation for its upcoming smart home product event. The smart streaming box/stick market is a bit weird for sure. There are...

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Oct 11 • 1:31 PM EDT • Technology • gsmarena.com
‘Other Mommy’ tops the box office with $27.5M; ‘The Social Reckoning’ opens to $5.5M

The Jessica Chastain horror film “Other Mommy” tops the North American box office in its first weekend in theaters.

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Oct 11 • 12:29 PM EDT • Entertainment • seattletimes.com
'Other Mommy' tops the box office with $27.5M; 'The Social Reckoning' opens to $5.5M

The Jessica Chastain horror film “Other Mommy” tops the North American box office in its first weekend in theaters | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM

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Oct 11 • 12:28 PM EDT • Entertainment • audacy.com
'Other Mommy' tops the box office with $27.5M; 'The Social Reckoning' opens to $5.5M

The Jessica Chastain horror film “Other Mommy” tops the North American box office in its first weekend in theaters | 830 WCCO

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Oct 11 • 12:28 PM EDT • Entertainment • audacy.com
'Other Mommy' tops the box office with $27.5M; 'The Social Reckoning' opens to $5.5M

The Jessica Chastain horror film “Other Mommy” tops the North American box office in its first weekend in theaters.

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Oct 11 • 12:28 PM EDT • Entertainment • news4jax.com
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'Other Mommy' tops the box office with $27.5M; 'The Social Reckoning' opens to $5.5M

The Jessica Chastain horror film “Other Mommy” tops the North American box office in its first weekend in theaters.

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Oct 11 • 12:28 PM EDT • Entertainment • clickorlando.com
😐 Neutral (0%)
New Plugin Allows Us To Turn Our Steam Deck Into a PSP, PS5, or Xbox 360

A new plugin for the Steam Deck allows us to change Game Mode to different console interfaces, making it feel like a PSP, PS3, Xbox 360, and more.

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Oct 11 • 11:50 AM EDT • Technology • steamdeckhq.com
PSA: Pokémon Red & Blue Game Boy Jukebox Back In Stock

Take an audio tour through Kanto

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Oct 10 • 10:35 PM EDT • Technology • nintendolife.com
Over 500 people came out to the Better Business Bureau's 19th annual Secure Your ID Day

This event is meant to help community members protect themselves from fraud and identity theft. Folks were able to bring up to three boxes of documents to get destroyed.

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Oct 10 • 8:24 PM EDT • Business • 2news.com
Will Hrgovic be Facing Verhoeven in his First Defence of the IBF Heavyweight Title?

Kickboxer Rico Verhoeven could bounce back from his defeat to Usyk with an immediate crack at another heavyweight title, on the Fury vs AJ undercard

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Oct 10 • 7:39 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
UFC, Bellator vet Michael 'Venom' Page signs with Misfits Boxing

Michael "Venom" Page has begun his post-UFC journey by signing with Misfits Boxing.

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Oct 10 • 5:35 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel's son Silas makes acting debut in 'Matchbox'

Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel's son is ready for his time in the spotlight Silas Randall Timberlake, the 11-year-old son of the "Mirrors" singer, 45, and the "Illusionist" actress, 44,

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Oct 10 • 3:04 PM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com
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Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake’s son disapproved of her revealing outfit in ‘Matchbox: The Movie’: ‘Yuck’

The 11-year-old was “very concerned” about one of his mom’s looks in the new Apple TV film.

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Oct 10 • 2:52 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com
Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake’s son disapproved of her revealing outfit in ‘Matchbox: The Movie’

Jessica Biel revealed that her 11-year-old son Silas, whom she shares with Justin Timberlake, was ‘very concerned’ about one of his mom’s looks in ‘Matchbox: The Movie.’

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Oct 10 • 2:52 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
New Google TV Streamer: Big Upgrades are Coming

The Google TV Streamer is now well over 2 years old, if you can believe that. The streaming media box with its sleek pill-shaped design, was once the easiest recommendation in the business for someone looking to upgrade their not-that-smart smart TV. But because we’ve reached the 2-year mark and Google handed the streamer a...

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Oct 10 • 12:19 PM EDT • Technology • droid-life.com
WBN, Xbox and the CXO Summit: This Week's Top Five Stories

This week's top stories include, WBN on Europe prioritising risk strategy, Asha Sharma's plans for Xbox and discussions around AI at the CXO Summit

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Oct 10 • 10:00 AM EDT • Business • businesschief.com
Five Games Are Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In November 2026 So Far

Looking forward at what's to come

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Oct 10 • 9:30 AM EDT • Technology • purexbox.com
Xbox Sales At An All-Time Low With PlayStation Its Worst In 13 Years

Xbox and PlayStation are having their worst hardware sales in a a decade, if not ever, due to high prices of consoles and consumer indifference.

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Oct 10 • 9:21 AM EDT • Technology • forbes.com
US console hardware market at its most precarious position ‘since the 80s’, says Circana

Xbox sales hit an all-time low as US console prices reach record highs…

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Oct 10 • 8:53 AM EDT • Technology • videogameschronicle.com
From BJ’s to Lululemon, retailers are trimming assortments to boost business

Retail brands are shrinking assortments to get back to healthy growth, while box stores are culling products to better curate offerings and stabilize business.

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Oct 10 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • cnbc.com
From Netflix's 'Animals' to 'Disclosure Day,' 10 movies to stream now

Love movies? Live for TV? USA TODAY's Watch Party newsletter has all the best recommendations, delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now and be one of the cool kids.

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Oct 9 • 7:55 PM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com
Gears of War: E-Day Sold 168,000 Copies on Steam but Xbox Game Pass Players Generated 130% More Revenue

We recently reported that Gears of War: E-Day wasn't having the best launch week over on Steam, but according to Alinea Analytics's Rhys Elliott, Steam doesn't even account for half of the game's revenue or owner base. The analytics firm estimates that Gears of War: E-Day sold around 230,00...

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Oct 9 • 7:54 PM EDT • Technology • techpowerup.com
Heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson drops by White House

Boxing great Mike Tyson stopped by the White House briefing room and took some impromptu questions from reporters.

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Oct 9 • 5:47 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Karl-Anthony Towns sees Knicks lessons in boxing's sweet science

Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns explains how boxing translates to basketball and why he expects a hungry Canelo Alvarez against Christian M'billi.

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Oct 9 • 5:46 PM EDT • Science • dazn.com
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Netflix’s Summer of Bummer

(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.) Today, I’ve got a guest post from longtime friend of the newsletter, Brandon Katz. I’ve been trying to find time all summer to look at Netflix’s straight-to-streaming film slate, but between a pre-planned trip and Nielsen moving up their streaming data timeline, I’ve been swamped. So I reached out to Brandon, one of my favorite fellow analysts, to write about it. And I feel like he captured the tone and data focus of the newsletter perfectly. You can connect with Brandon on LinkedIn and Twitter. Enjoy! Don’t worry, folks. You’re in safe hands with me. To ease any anxieties about an interloper in ESG’s domain, I’ll start by stealing one of his best framing devices: headlines. Box office flops are covered in the same way the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles eye pizza: with cartoonish insatiability. I would know. I’m a former reporter who wrote nearly identical headlines: Yet, intentionally or not, streaming misses get treated with kids gloves, filtered through a rosy lens: In the last six years, U.S. streaming viewership has become nearly as transparent as the box office, but the data often arrives weeks later, in a number of less intuitive metrics, and with nary an official budget to be found. This plays into the Wall Street-whispering narratives major streamers have been cultivating for years. They get a pass in a way that theatrical studios simply don’t. Subscribe Netflix’s Summer Slate Not a single Netflix original film released between May and August this year opened above 20 million U.S. TV hours, per Nielsen. That benchmark usually serves as the EntStrategyGuy’s floor for a streaming hit on Netflix. None of these films enjoyed a hit-cementing single week of 20-plus million hours during their runs. Netflix’s two best films were true crime docs, Maternal Instinct (16.5 million hours) and The Crash (19.7 million), the best overall week for a film this summer. Great for most other streamers, but not necessarily what we’re used to seeing from Netflix. For an overly-dramatic comparison, Happy Gilmore 2 opened last summer to around 47 million hours (celebrity cameos, baby!). Zooming out, the picture looks even worse. In 2026, Netflix’s five biggest scripted summer films posted the lowest average (28.6 million hours) and median (28.8 million hours) eight-week viewership totals of the past four years. Now, it’s unrealistic and unfair to expect Netflix to deliver a _KPop Demon Hunters-_sized hit every year. But it’s also not ideal to see the size of their hits shrinking over the last few summers. Let’s quickly run through some of the notable summer misses. Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein’s perfectly fine romcom, Office Romance, fell off the charts after 20 million hours in its first two weeks. Top films usually last for four-plus weeks. Starry titles ideally don’t decay that fast either. Homegrown star Millie Bobby Brown couldn’t prevent the snappy Enola Holmes franchise from diminishing returns. At 14.3 million U.S. hours, the third film posted roughly half of what the first two films did in their first two weeks. What’s on Netflix calculated that per-day global views were down nearly 60% from the second movie. The Whisper Man did okay with more than 36 million hours over its first four weeks. But I expected a little more juice from a film featuring Robert De Niro, Michelle Monaghan, and Adam Scott. Kevin Hart’s Ladies First collected just 11.2 million hours total across two weeks. That’s a big miss for one of Netflix’s go-to stars. Plopping into the same bucket are Sunny Sandler’s Don’t Say Good Luck (10.3 million in two weeks) and John Cena’s Little Brother (17.5 million). Meanwhile, English-language originals Color Book (June 19), In the Hand of Dante (June 24) and Heartstopper Forever (July 17) never sniffed Nielsen’s Top 10 at all, despite needing only 2 to 5 million hours to land in the top ten most weeks. (By my count, eleven English-language scripted original films released between May and August did chart). It’s only fair to mention that Swapped (1-May) posted nearly 42 million U.S. hours over five weeks (the longest Netflix original run this summer) and is currently their eighth most-watched English-language film ever worldwide. Remarkably Bright Creatures (37 million, 4 weeks) and Voicemails for Isabelle (27 million, 4 weeks) weren’t bombs either. Still, overall, I think it’s fair to say this was a quieter summer season than we’re used to seeing from the market-leader. You might not realize that given the language commonly used in public analysis. The Twist Despite the starkly black-and-white tone of the coverage, here’s the twist: when many box office bombs arrive on streaming, their viewership looks a whole lot like many of Netflix’s supposedly successful summer releases. Hmm, where have we heard that one before? Masters of the Universe topped out at $65 million stateside against a $170 million budget_._ I’ll admit, Skeletor ripping sleeveless curls as a gym bro and bodyslamming Adam’s co-workers was funny. But, much to the chagrin of my bank account, my laughter doesn’t launch franchises. Yet the He-Man reboot opened to 19.6 million hours (from a Wednesday five-day opening instead of just one weekend), on par with Hoppers on Disney+ (19.4 million). It put up nearly 47 million hours over its first six weeks, bigger than all of Netflix’s summer releases. Pretty darn healthy and likely to land among the 25 most-watched movies on streaming this year. Sticking with Amazon, The Sheep Detectives just barely broke even at the box office with $133 million worldwide (and only $66 million domestic). I never expected cloven-hooved, cud-chewing mammals to be able to bring me to tears. Yet that’s exactly how I found myself at the end of this surprisingly affecting movie (#NoShame). It was likely the unexpected quality in a family-friendly film that powered its streaming over-performance. Sheep Detectives delivered a solid run for Prime video netting 26.2 million hours! How about franchise IP? Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu had the lowest opening ($81 million) and lowest-grossing Disney-era live-action Star Wars film ($178 million domestic). One day before release, its Heat score (19.8%)—audiences who list their interest as a 7/7—fell behind blockbusters Wicked (21%), Superman (23%), Fantastic Four: First Steps (23%), Michael (23%), Toy Story 5 (26%) and Avatar: Fire and Ash (27%), according to Greenlight Analytics. The urgent enthusiasm just wasn’t there. On streaming, Mando opened to weeks of 12.1 million, 6.1 million and 2.7 million hours (21 million total) over its first three frames. Not the numbers Lucasfilm was hoping for nor the numbers of a streaming hit. But they’re in the same vicinity as some Netflix summer releases with $345 million at the global box office to offset a smidgen of the pain. Final Thoughts So why oh why does this nuance gap exist? Four key reasons: Data Literacy: A “$100 million opening” just makes sense. After decades of box office reporting, even casual movie fans are well-versed in the benchmarks of hits and home runs. There’s an immediate shorthand. But “16.5 million” hours doesn’t land nearly as cleanly. Despite leaps of progress, the streaming ratings era is still in its infancy compared to theatrical. The EntStrategyGuy and I met thanks to a late 2010s group chat of data nerds hungry to find a shred of certainty in nebulous streaming performance. I’m not surprised to see “No. 1 on Netflix” still getting misconstrued out in the wild. Timing: By Friday morning, we have the box office’s Thursday night previews totaled, allowing us to better project the weekend’s expectations. From there, ticket sales are reported daily. By Sunday, the film’s fate is usually finalized, at least in terms of public perception. In streaming, Nielsen recently improved its delay to…two weeks. The medium isn’t forced to contend with instant gratification as harshly. Financials: Theatrical film budgets are a mere Google away. Profit and loss is calculated in the cold and unforgiving naked light of day for all to see. But finding the vast majority of streaming exclusive movie budgets requires the forensic investigation skills of a Criminal Minds detective. Also, it’s very difficult to calculate how much revenue/value a straight-to-streaming films provides a streamer. This is why there are so few stories about streaming original movies “losing X amount of money”. On top of that, marketing budgets are far greater for theatrical movies than streaming exclusive movies, which leads to earlier and better awareness. This then translates to a wider pool of potential interest. Narrative Control: Netflix is the only major streaming service to publish weekly first-hand viewership data and annual engagement reports. Naturally, some headlines borrow their first-hand framing**.** Other streamers benefit from their comparative lack of transparency. They may occasionally announce vague performance platitudes such as Apple TV’s Mayday becoming its “biggest film debut on the platform to date over its first 18 days,” and that it ranked No. 1 with left-handed viewers in its first weekend. (Fine, I made up that second one). But, for the most part, they keep first-hand viewership shrouded in mystery to avoid bad press. Especially for outlets that demand multiple articles per day from their writers, it’s an easy (and understandable) way for some reporters to hit their daily article quota by just repeating what the streamers have told them. TL:DR version: Streaming-exclusive movies are asked to do different things than theatrical movies, but that doesn’t mean they should escape judgment. Both still need to draw enough eyeballs to justify their cost within the proper performance contexts. The more cleanly we can inject a little nuance into streaming analysis, the better we’ll understand the audience and content trends that drive this industry. And that’s what all of this is really about: knowing what audiences actually want! Brandon Katz is the Director of Insights & Content Strategy at Greenlight Analytics where he focuses on evaluating the ever-fluid media landscape to unearth understanding, opportunity and value. Greenlight Analytics is the entertainment intelligence consulting company redefining how Hollywood finds, understands, and activates audiences. Prior to joining Greenlight Analytics, he served as the senior entertainment industry strategist at Parrot Analytics, and as a full-time entertainment industry reporter covering the Xs and Os of Hollywood, most notably with TheWrap and the Observer.

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Oct 9 • 3:32 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com
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As Xbox and PlayStation sales reach new lows, analyst says the "US hardware market has not been in a more precarious position since the early 80s"

Xbox Series X/S and PS5 price hikes have significantly slowed down sales, according to one analyst who's not too optimistic about the console market.

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Oct 9 • 2:51 PM EDT • Technology • eurogamer.net
High Console Prices Push Playstation and Xbox Sales to New Lows

Circana data found that PlayStation and Xbox console sales are hitting new lows in 2026.

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Oct 9 • 1:26 PM EDT • Technology • polygon.com
Pokémon Red & Pokémon Blue: Game Boy Jukebox Back in Stock at Pokémon Center

Don’t miss your chance to take a nostalgic musical trip through the Kanto region.

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Oct 9 • 1:06 PM EDT • Technology • pokemon.com
Gears of War: E-Day sells 230K copies

Gears of War: E-Day has sold 230K copies since its advance-access launch on October 1 and full release on October 6. Steam accounts for 168K of those, with Xbox (console and PC) selling 62K. But there’s more to this story, as Xbox makes up the bulk of revenue. E-Day is the best-reviewed Gears game in nearly two decades (and the best one ever made, in my opinion). The Coalition has made a banger here (it’s currently in my top 10 of the year). Despite E-Day’s undeniable quality, this is a soft result. And it’s down to the business model, really. E-Day has made $37M so far, thanks to the Premium upgrade On Xbox, Game Pass is cannibalising much of the premium revenue. Our estimates show that 1.7M folks accessed E-Day via their subscription rather than a copy. But Xbox is having it both ways – or having it halfway, at least – via its Premium Edition Game Pass upgrade. Game Pass subscribers could pay $30 (or their local equivalent) for up to five days of early access starting October 1. Our estimates show that of the 1.7M who accessed E-Day through Game Pass, 722K paid for the upgrade. Between the review embargo lifting on October 1 and the full release, E-Day managed to shift another 250K early-access upgrades – no doubt helped by the campaign’s rave reviews. So despite selling far fewer copies on Steam, Xbox accounts for almost three-quarters of the revenue (roughly $26M of the $37M, versus about $11M on Steam). So “230K copies” undersells the paying audience. Including the 722K upgrades, nearly 950K people actually paid something for E-Day. The $30 upgrade is a halfstep from cannibalisation, but will Xbox go all the way? While E-Day is a sublime game, these are soft numbers for a flagship when Xbox badly needs revenue wins. E-Day sold 62K copies on Xbox against 722K Premium upgrades, so for every one copy sold on Xbox, nearly 12 Game Pass upgrades were sold. The $70 premium SKU is – functionally – dead on Xbox. Normally you can’t see what a Game Pass player would have paid, because the game’s just there in the subscription. But the $30 early-access upgrade estimate shows that 722K people demonstrated they’ll spend real money on this game. In a world without day-one Game Pass, many of these folks would have bought E-Day at $70. They paid $30 for five days early access to something they don’t own. Xbox is, in effect, charging its most valuable customers the least, based on a hangover from a tried-and-exhausted strategy from a previous administration. Those 722K willing-to-pay players generated about $21.7M via the upgrade. If three quarters of this group – mostly US and European audiences – bought E-Day outright, that’s nearly $40M. Of course, Game Pass does bring in meaningful recurring revenue, and E-Day is adding value for hundreds of thousands of subscribers. However, Game Pass is no longer growing, so Xbox is at a crossroads. Xbox is reportedly looking to do a Netflix and bolt on an ad-supported tier to pad it further. But that will just set a new floor, and leadership keeps telling us the priority now is revenue growth, which is subscriber-speak for ARPU. Xbox has already pulled Call of Duty from day-one Game Pass after day-one inclusion hammered its sales, with new CoD titles now arriving on the service around a year late. We know that some Microsoft executives believe the service devalues games outright, and rumours (which Microsoft has dismissed so far, to be fair) suggest that day-one releases could be taken off Game Pass. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe When a game this well-reviewed does this softly on its home platform, the model – not the game – gets brought into question. What else E-Day’s early adopters have played (including this month so far) Looking at E-Day‘s players on Xbox, most have played the franchise before (86% have played Gears 5, 76% Gears 4), and every game on the crossover list is either a shooter or a title from an Xbox-owned studio (though Game Pass is inflating those numbers, of course, more on that later): As for what else Xbox’s E-Day players have played this month, the top three are Fortnite (16%), Roblox (7%), and Call of Duty (6%). Another 5% played Minecraft Dungeons II, which is also on Game Pass and launched a couple of days before Gears‘ advance-access date. Many Game Pass players are happy to check out most big new additions. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Over on Steam, the top crossover games are also mostly shooters (slightly more PC-coded ones), including Space Marine 2, which was itself heavily inspired by Gears: Looking at what E-Day‘s Steam players are into this month shows who they are – as subscriptions don’t skew the data. The top three are Wardogs (13%), Deadlock (12%), and CS2 (10%), so you’ve got the restless shooter crowd checking out the new hotness. A little further down are Helldivers 2 and Space Marine 2, your co-op PVE shooter players who’ll feel right at home in Horde mode. Game Pass is skewing the playtime distribution on Xbox Looking at the playtime distribution in our platform, E-Day players on Steam are – relatively speaking – playing for longer: 54% of E-Day players on Xbox have played for five hours or less (versus 32% on Steam) 19% of Xbox players played for over 15 hours (versus 33% on Steam) 14% of Xbox players played for over 20 hours (22% on Steam) The absolute number of people playing for over 15, 20, and 50 hours is, of course, bigger on Xbox, thanks to the sheer volume of folks who came in through Game Pass (upgraders included). None of that is cause for alarm. Game Pass is the reason Xbox playtime skews lower, as when a game is free to try, people try it and bounce without putting in even an hour (17% under an hour on Xbox versus 6% on Steam). Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe The subscription brings in tourists alongside the committed, dragging down the average even when the game is excellent (but also perhaps winning over the uninitiated). It’s standard across every subscription-included title, on PS Plus too. Forza Horizon 6, for instance, had 11% of its Xbox players bounce under an hour, versus just 2% on Steam. So, Xbox’s crossroads So there we have it. Gears of War: E-Day is an incredible game whose revenues have been stifled by subscription inclusion and exclusivity. It’s the best-reviewed entry in the series in fifteen-odd years, but it still turned into one of the year’s softer flagship launches, not because players didn’t want it, but because Xbox’s own storefront gave its most willing buyers a reason not to pay. Which leaves Xbox at a crossroads. Will it keep making Gears games when the financial returns are this thin and the margins this low? And if it does, does the next one arrive off Game Pass at day one – the way CoD now does, or even on PlayStation? I think it should. Alright, back to E-Day for me! The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]

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Oct 9 • 11:49 AM EDT • Technology • alineaanalytics.substack.com
Tauren Wells calls for Christian unity at 2026 Dove Awards: ‘They will know us by our love’

On the red carpet of the 57th annual Dove Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, Christian artists including Tauren Wells, Matthew West and Mr TalkBox emphasized unity, bold faith and using Christian music

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Oct 9 • 11:25 AM EDT • Entertainment • christianpost.com
Ben Affleck is a political 'Animal' in new Netflix thriller

Love movies? Live for TV? USA TODAY's Watch Party newsletter has all the best recommendations, delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now and be one of the cool kids.

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Oct 9 • 10:07 AM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com
Next Week on XBOX: New Games for October 12 to 16

Next Week on XBOX: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, Planet Zoo 2, Valor Mortis, Warhammer 40K: Boltgun II, and more coming soon!

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Oct 9 • 10:01 AM EDT • Technology • news.xbox.com
Braves Minor League Recap: Isaiah Drake Records a Hit

(1-4) Glendale Desert Dogs 2, (2-3) Peoria Javelinas 10 box score It was another bad day for the Glendale team all around. They have been struggling to get any sort of good play from the team. and after allowing six runs in the second inning of this game it was a quick decline to a […]

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Oct 9 • 10:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
The 'Black Box' That Solves AI Fears, And The Stock Behind It

Xometry has the inside track to one of the remaining largely untapped online markets: the market for things that don't yet exist.

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Oct 9 • 8:00 AM EDT • Business • investors.com
Here's What The Mafia 3 Upgrade Looks Like On Xbox Series X|S

How the new Xbox versions stack up

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Oct 9 • 8:00 AM EDT • Technology • purexbox.com
U.K. Box Office Back to Full Health — But What Lessons Do We Learn?

Will the IMAX hype hold? Why does A24 deserve credit? Cinema programmers at three major theatrical players put their heads together and agree on the audience appetite for filmmakers with original stories.

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Oct 9 • 7:34 AM EDT • Health • hollywoodreporter.com
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From 'Animals' to 'Disclosure Day,' 10 movies to stream right now

Love movies? Live for TV? USA TODAY's Watch Party newsletter has all the best recommendations, delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now and be one of the cool kids.

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Oct 9 • 6:15 AM EDT • Entertainment • thenewstribune.com
Pokemon TCG's Delta Reign Expansion Is Finally Up For Preorder On Amazon and Target — And One Box Is Already Under Market Price

Pokémon TCG Delta Reign preorders are now live at Amazon and Target, including Booster Bundles below market price, Elite Trainer Boxes, and 36-pack Display Boxes.

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Oct 9 • 5:07 AM EDT • Technology • ign.com
Hands-on — Xbox's brand new PC app offers BIG performance improvements

VIDEO: Today, I got a sneak peek at an early version of the Xbox PC app rebuilt experience, and for some it might look quite familiar.

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Oct 8 • 10:39 PM EDT • Technology • windowscentral.com
Hugh Hefner’s widow asks Jessica Biel to rethink playing Playboy founder’s wife in new movie

Hugh Hefner’s widow, Crystal Harris, has asked actress Jessica Biel to rethink playing the Playboy founder’s wife in the upcoming movie ‘Playmates.’

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Oct 8 • 6:44 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
New Xbox Division XP Will Adapt More Video Games for Movies and TV

Xbox already had success with A Minecraft Movie and Fallout.

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Oct 8 • 5:25 PM EDT • Entertainment • cnet.com
AMD will bring FSR 4 to handhelds by the end of 2026

But will existing handhelds get the tech?

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Oct 8 • 5:01 PM EDT • Technology • theverge.com
Mafia III: Definitive Edition now available for PS5, Xbox Series

Native PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions of Mafia III: Definitive Edition are now available, publisher 2K and developer Hangar 13 announced. It is a free upgrade from the PlayStation 4 and Xbo…

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Oct 8 • 1:00 PM EDT • Technology • gematsu.com
AI for breast cancer risk prediction goes DTC, regulatory cloud over Utah sandbox, and AI psychosis

In this edition of STAT's Health Tech: The story of a startup taking its algorithm for breast cancer risk prediction directly to patients, and more.

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Oct 8 • 11:43 AM EDT • Health • statnews.com
Free Play Days – ARC Raiders, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, Little Nightmares III, Screamer, and More

This weekend, Polterguys: Possession Party is available this weekend for XBOX Game Pass members, while WWE 2K26 and Wildgate are free for all. Jump in!

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Oct 8 • 11:00 AM EDT • Technology • news.xbox.com
XBOX Unveils New Movies, TV, Live Entertainment Unit – CSO Matthew Ball Says It Aims To Be ‘Number One Entertainment Company In The World’

XP will combine activities into four businesses: XBOX Pictures, XBOX Products, XBOX Places and XBOX Partnerships.

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Oct 8 • 10:42 AM EDT • Entertainment • finance.yahoo.com
UFC AND CLEVELAND CLINIC RENEW LONGSTANDING PARTNERSHIP

UFC To Provide $1 Million Contribution To Fund Professional Athletes Brain Health Study Through 2030 WWE Joins Study; Zuffa Boxing Athletes Now Eligible To Participate

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Oct 8 • 10:20 AM EDT • Health • ufc.com
Pull Up to 7-Eleven in Forza Horizon 6

A storefront inspired by 7-Eleven stores in Japan, a Konbini Prop Pack, an Egg Salad Sandwich Collectible, and an exclusive 7-Eleven Toyota Supra GR livery – all available in Forza Horizon 6 today.

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Oct 8 • 10:11 AM EDT • Technology • news.xbox.com
Skydance CEO David Ellison: AI is going to transform every part of the business

CNBC’s David Faber and David Ellison, Skydance Chairman & CEO, and Ynon Kreiz, Skydance co-CEO, join 'Squawk Box' to discuss Paramount's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, what to expect from the new combined entity, the decision to bring Ynon Kreiz on board, future of the company's linear, streaming and movie businesses, integration of AI, and more.

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Oct 8 • 9:21 AM EDT • Business • cnbc.com
The Witcher 3 Remastered Gets Notable Improvements And A Much-Requested Feature On PS5 And Xbox

Dozens of fresh fixes have arrived for the newest version of the open-world RPG

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Oct 8 • 8:40 AM EDT • Technology • kotaku.com
Microsoft Xbox broadens entertainment push with new XP division

Microsoft Xbox launches new XP division to expand franchises into movies, TV, merch, partnerships and theme parks.

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Oct 8 • 8:18 AM EDT • Entertainment • seekingalpha.com
How Joule Work and SAP Business AI Platform Are Powering the Next Generation of Business AI

Joule Work and the SAP Business AI Platform provide an out-of-the-box competitive advantage for the AI era.

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Oct 8 • 8:01 AM EDT • Business • news.sap.com
Xbox Announces New XP Entertainment Division to Make Movies, TV, and More

Xbox has announced a new TV, movies, and entertainment division called XP. It will be headed up by Kayleen Walters, a Lucasfilm veteran who moves over from her most recent post at Minecraft maker Mojang, for whom she was president – and also served as an executive producer on last year's A Minecraft Movie.

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Oct 8 • 8:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • ign.com
Review: Hellraiser: Revival (PS5) - Faithful Adaptation Let Down by Severe Gameplay Woes

You opened the box, we answered

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Oct 8 • 8:00 AM EDT • Technology • pushsquare.com
Iran’s Economy in Deep Recession as Businesses Face Empty Malls and Soaring Costs

A new wave of citizen and business-owner videos circulating on social media highlights severe market stagnation across Iran. Merchan ...

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Oct 8 • 6:33 AM EDT • Business • iranwire.com
Xbox Seasonal Savings Sale leads massive drop of 1,600+ deals across three sales

The Microsoft Store has been refreshed with new sales, including the Xbox Seasonal Savings Sale, which discounts hundreds of games, DLC, and more.

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Oct 8 • 6:10 AM EDT • Technology • trueachievements.com
Gen Z politicians who want to make a change grapple with parties that aren’t always ready for them

Editor’s Note: This story is part of Gen Z at the Ballot Box, a collaboration between States Newsroom and The 19th. TOPEKA, Kan. — After state Rep. Angel Roeser defied her fellow Republicans and voted against their plan to ask voters to change the way Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected, members of her own […]

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Oct 8 • 6:00 AM EDT • Politics • kansasreflector.com
Xbox Goes Beyond Games With XP, A New Entertainment Powerhouse

Microsoft has launched XP, a new Xbox division headed by Kayleen Walters that will oversee films, TV shows, consumer products, and theme parks.

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Oct 8 • 5:33 AM EDT • Entertainment • hothardware.com
John Gillispie: Season three of 'Reacher' features clever story

Movies & More reviewer John Gillispie shares his thoughts about the third season of “Reacher,” which is “not rated,” according to the DVD box. However, because of the amount of

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Oct 8 • 3:45 AM EDT • Entertainment • herald-dispatch.com
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How boxing inspired a play about men's mental health

The play explores losing a sense of purpose, the difficulty some men have talking about their mental health and the support they can find in each other.

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Oct 8 • 1:44 AM EDT • Health • yahoo.com
How boxing inspired a play about men's mental health

The play explores losing a sense of purpose, the difficulty some men have talking about their mental health and the support they can find in each other.

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Oct 8 • 1:25 AM EDT • Health • bbc.com
UA Business Spotlight: The Original Goodie Shop

If you’ve spent any time in Upper Arlington, chances are you’ve heard of The Original Goodie Shop. And if you’ve ever walked out of the bakery with a box of its famous cinnamon stick

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Oct 8 • 12:07 AM EDT • Business • upperarlingtonoh.gov
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Cat-powered 'Therapod' visits Westwood, sharing mental health benefits of felines

In between classes, third-year sociology student Veronica Rodriguez spent her Tuesday afternoon petting a Maine Coon cat inside a carpet-lined box. Purina, a pet care company, held the Cat Chow Cats As Therapy Project event at Wilson Plaza on Tuesday and Broxton Plaza on Wednesday to highlight the mental health benefits of cats.

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Oct 7 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • dailybruin.com
Gears of War: E-Day Launches to Modest Reviews and 31,500 Peak Steam Players

Gears of War: E-Day, the origin story of the long-running Gears of War franchise, launched on Steam, Xbox, and Game Pass, and, although Microsoft has been building hype for the new Gears game for several months leading up to launch day, the game's launch performance on Steam is less than stellar....

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Oct 7 • 7:55 PM EDT • Technology • techpowerup.com
Who Won August and September: Original Films or Franchises?

(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.) I just heard someone say that if you’re reading a pundit or data analyst, and they don’t tell you that they got anything wrong, they’re not a pundit but an “influencer”. I agree with that. You have to tell your audience when you get things wrong, or they won’t (or shouldn’t) trust you as much. Today, we’ve got another edition of “What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong”. In general, I’m patting myself on the back (and patting very hard) about a few things like IP at the box office, LIV golf, horror films, crowdfunding movies, superheroes, and old people going to the theaters. That said, I also made a couple of data mistakes on the streaming bubble popping and HBO’s datecdotes, so I’m not perfect. But first, I need your feedback... Subscribe Follow-Ups: What Should We Call Mid-Budget Movies Which Aren’t Cinematic Enough for Theaters But Are Too Expensive to Make Money on Streaming? After I asked for feedback on what we should call straight-to-streaming films that are too big to pencil out on streaming but not really big enough to resonate in theaters, I got some great suggestions from you all, including... “Moldilocks” from John Aboud “Little Big Indie” from Travis Frick1 “Midflicks” from Jonathan Funke. “Extra-Medium” from Jona Nwuke. (Read the explanation in the footnote.) Between these and Brandon Katz—who suggested “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”—we’ve got some excellent suggestions. And they’re better than my suggestion, the “Streaming Budget Dead Zone”, so let’s take a poll! The winning entry becomes the new term. Loading... RIGHT: LIV Golf is Fully Bankrupt…Is Anyone Else Next? A few years ago, I was always a bit perplexed at all the articles I’d read praising LIV Golf and their strategy to disrupt the PGA. LIV Golf, a brand new professional golf league, offered PGA stars ten times what they made on the PGA Tour to join their new league. And folks praised this strategy for its initial “success” in that a lot of big names did indeed leave the PGA. Yeah, of course the players came over. LIV Golf paid them so, so, so much more! But LIV Golf hadn’t discovered a way to increase potential revenue. So think about this in basic business terms… They paid much more in costs… …but had no real way to increase revenue. That’s not a strategy! That’s deficit financing. It won’t work unless you bankrupt the competition (and then turn around and pay those same golfers much, much less). It’s not a sustainable strategy and only lasts as long as the company/person/nation backing it decides they’re cool with losing money. For LIV Golf, that meant Middle East oil wealth, in particular Saudi Arabian money. Clearly, the current Iran War has hurt Middle East finances, so they need to trim their more exorbitant spending. And LIV Golf was part of that trimming. This should be a major warning for others. TGL’s parent company, TMRW Sports, just got a $1 billion valuation, despite TGL’s (the indoor golf league) horrible TV viewership of less than half a million viewers per match. Unrivaled, the women’s basketball league, just secured a $650 valuation, despite its horrible TV viewership and a new rival (Project B) entering the scene next year. To relate this to streaming, Hollywood should ask which streamers may have wealthy patrons funding their losses. (Let’s be clear: Google, Amazon and Apple.) Could those patrons lose their appetite? For Amazon, probably not. But Apple has a new boss, so maybe! WRONG: My Analysis of the Streaming Bubble Was Missing a Week I’m going to be congratulating myself a lot today, but I make mistakes too, like this data goof. When I last compiled the data on the decline in TV shows, I was missing one week at the end of June. If you look at the first image, you can see that one week was mislabelled as “July”. Mainly, this image got updated to show a 27% decline, not 29%: This change doesn’t really impact the overall analysis, but it is two percent better. By the way, through the third quarter, the decline increased and it’s now a 30% decrease since 2022. (I’ll write/visualize this in an upcoming article.) But I want you to trust me and my data. Especially these days, when many people are using LLMs that I know are inserting faulty data into their charts, I want to keep earning my audience’s faith. So that’s the accurate data. RIGHT: IP Remains Very, Very Popular In July, I wrote a giant (and I mean giant) article on Backrooms, Obsession, and the box office, going over what we know, what we don’t know about what works in theaters, looking at YouTubers, IP, the horror genre, comic book movies, and a whole lot more. The month of August really tested a lot of my theses and, being honest, mostly supported my arguments. Let’s start with IP. Looking at 8-Aug (the weekend after Spider-Man: Brand New Day came out) to 18-Sep (the weekend that Resident Evil came out, which I think provides a nice bookend to this time period), there were seven films based on pre-existing IP: Resident Evil (2026) ($126 million) Practical Magic 2 ($65 million) _Insidious: Out of the Furthe_r ($65 million) Coyote Vs. Acme ($59 million) Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie ($53 million) Tony ($15 million) Super Troopers 3 ($7 million) Compare those to the notable original films from the past month—I actually could have included more movies, but here are just thirteen, bringing us to an even twenty films—including.... The End of Oak Street ($54 million) Buddy ($26 million) Mutiny ($15 million) By Any Means ($15 million) The Dog Stars ($14 million) Runner ($14 million) One Night Only ($11 million) Hope ($8 million) Spa Weekend ($7 million) The Uprising ($6 million) Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma ($6 million) Onslaught ($3 million) Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man ($2.8 million) Here’s that in chart form: Five of the top six films in this time period were all based on IP. I made a big chart of films that grossed over $200 million at the box office before Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey hit theaters. Let’s update that chart! By the way, if you want to see how I categorized each film—so another bar chart—here it is: I know that many of my fellow critics/pundits/analysts dislike films based on IP and how Hollywood is making so many of them. And I’m sympathetic to this point of view. As I’ve written many, many times before, you need a balance between existing franchises, new IP, and original films. And Hollywood clearly needs to make more films like Resident Evil (a well-made film from a visionary director) and fewer Practical Magic 2’s (which didn’t get critical or customer buzz). But at some point, critics and pundits need to contend with what audiences are telling them: Movie-goers aren’t showing up to original films. Audiences are speaking with their dollars, telling you they want more IP and franchises. You can try to convince studio heads to make fewer IP-based films and franchises, but the data and numbers aren’t there. Instead, critics need to work harder to convince audiences to show up for original films. Aim your ire/concern at the average person, not studio heads.2 Because they’re just making the films that audiences are telling them to make. WRONG: Original Horror Films Didn’t Break Out I’ll be honest, even though I wrote an article casting some skepticism on the horror genre in July, if you asked me to make a prediction, I would have predicted that, in August, a new, original horror film would have blown up. No, seriously, I just assumed that Obsession and Backrooms presaged a change in audience behavior. But none of the buzzy new original horror films from August—Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Onslaught (not an action film in spite of the ads), The End of Oak Street, Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man, or _Buddy—_broke out. To be clear, exactly one of those films (Buddy) had good “ROI”, but again—I try to be specific in my language—none were “popular” in any broad sense of the word. None of them will be “saving” movies theaters like Backrooms or _Obsession_helped save the summer. The new Insidious film and Resident Evil, both based on IP, were far and away the biggest horror films since July. (We’ll see if this changes in October/Halloween season.) RIGHT: Stay Skeptical about Crowdfunding... I’ve long been skeptical about crowd-investing platforms as one of Hollywood’s saviors, mainly because there’s so much hype/buzz. People need to stay more skeptical about more things, explaining both the potential upside but also the downsides. In particular, the media often hypes crowdfunding at the start and never checks in on the actual results after they’ve come in later. And August gave us our first update! _Ice Cream Man—_directed by Eli Roth—grossed $6 million off of a $5.5 million budget. This is a production of The Horror Section, which was one of the first “crowd investing” studios with 2,400 investors, which means that 2,400 investors probably lost money. They certainly aren’t getting as great of returns as if they had just invested their dollars in the stock market. Hopefully Stiletto (Tagline: “Someone’s Going to Make it Rain Blood!”) does better next month. WRONG: Another Data Goof Here’s another data error. When the first episode of House of the Dragon came out, HBO put out that it had 21.5 million viewers in the first three days, and I read that to mean in the US…but no, it was global. So my US-only datecdotes charts shouldn’t have included it. We never got US-only numbers for the first episode, but for the final episode, HBO put out that it had 11 million US viewers. (And that global dropped to 21 million viewers.) Here’s the updated chart (which I’ve since used in the Streaming Ratings Report): Still, this show is absolutely huge. RIGHT: Superhero Films Remain Very, Very Popular After Supergirl flopped, I read a few takes that “comic book movies are going the way of the Western”. Post-Spider-Man: Brand New Day, that take didn’t age well. To be fair, I have a very nuanced take on the superhero genre right now; it’s down right now, for a lot of reasons. But it’s not “dead”. Maybe _Spider-_Man is just a really popular character? I saw that take, and it’s a fair counter-argument. (But pundits arguing that superhero movies were dead should have mentioned this $1.5 billion counter-argument…) But is it just Spider-Man? The next Avengers film already has $50 million in pre-sales (and I was skeptical that that film would do well) and the Avengers: End Game re-release topped the box office two weekends ago (over three original films). And I wouldn’t bet against Batman or Superman. So maybe it’s just Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and the Avengers. Oh, and Deadpool, of course. And Black Panther. And Wolverine. And probably the X-Men. Plus a well-made Wonder Woman or the Hulk film could break out. But that’s it! It’s just those ten characters/teams. Oh, what’s that? Lanterns is also doing well on HBO? (See previous section…) To be fair, I’m actually pretty sympathetic to the argument that more popular characters—like Spider-Man and Batman—anchor more popular films. In fact, I made that exact argument three years ago when I first wrote about the “Marvel-cession”. In many ways, you can blame The Guardians of the Galaxy for fooling Marvel Studios (and the rest of us) into believing that any character could pop. It turns out, the list of iconic characters is probably smaller than most people think. But it’s probably too early to say that superhero films and comic book movies are dead unless “death” means a slight decline over a longtime. RIGHT: Who Killed Theaters? Old People I get frustrated whenever I see headlines or analysis about how young people are “returning” to theaters. As I’ve detailed(for years), young people have always powered the US box office, despite narratives about “kids these days” and their “phones”. Really, what’s changed post-2020/pandemic is that old people aren’t going to the movies nearly as much. This summer, I saw a movie (from an older director) in a theater near a retirement community, and multiple older people at the theater were talking about how this was their first time seeing a movie in years. I dislike personal anecdotes, so YouGov can fill in the data, best summarized by this headline: “Who killed movie theaters? Not the youths”. According to them, 64% of people aged 18-29 have seen a movie in the last year, but only 30% of 65-and-older. 20% of 18-29 have seen a movie in theaters in the last week and 42% in the last month. Here’s the polling data: Most concerning? Many Americans (17%) think theaters are a worse or much worse experience than watching films at home. Slight WRONG: Hadestown Opens Big A live theater capture of the Broadway musical, Hadestown, made $20 million at the US box office, which begs the question: was I wrong to be skeptical about musicals a few years ago? Yes and no. On the one hand, $20 million is a far cry from being “popular”, so yeah, the genre isn’t that popular overall and Hadestown is one of the more popular musicals from recent years (i.e. the “Taylor Swift Data Fallacy” in action). On the other, I doubt filming this cost all that much, and I don’t think that they spent much on marketing, so this is a good source of ancillary revenue. Smaller Updates WRONG: As I mentioned in a Streaming Ratings Report, I underestimated the budget for Enola Holmes 3. It probably cost more like $50 million, if not more. But... I’m not sure that it really matters? At sub-10 million hours, prices have to come down to make this work. WRONG: Netflix is giving Ink a 27-day in theaters! To quote the kids/YouTubers these days, let’s go! Now I might actually have a chance to see Danny Boyle’s latest in theaters. I’d complained about this in a “Coming Soon” section, but I was heartened to read that Netflix is giving multiple films longer theatrical windows this year. RIGHT: Netflix is sending 4-5 films per year to theaters. Netflix is slowly but surely sending more and more films to theaters, as I cautiously predicted earlier this year. For now, it’s just three big films and a number of awards contenders, but still, this is great news. And they’ll be releasing box office grosses! Just this week, Ted Sarandos confirmed that KPop Demon Hunters 2 will come to theaters (and my guess is it performs in the box office top ten at a minimum). WRONG: Angel has 3 million subscribers! How do I know this? Well, they told Deadline, who reported it. I marked this as “wrong”, since they’ve doubled their subscribers in one year but, you know, they don’t really have a hit film to speak of and they’re still losing money. WRONG: Furious was only renewed for one more season. I accidentally wrote “two more seasons” in my latest “Renewals, Cancellations, Un-Orders and Removals Update”. RIGHT: House of David is ending with its third season. In July, Prime Video renewed House of David for a third season, as I just wrote in my latest “Renewals and Cancellations” report. Well, now it’s ending after that third season. Why? As I’ve been writing, its viewership wasn’t great. I got feedback that this show didn’t cost very much, but it cost enough that its limited viewership didn’t save it. WRONG: Adults was a Hulu original! So I missed Adults when it first came out last year; I saw that it aired on FX and just assumed that it was a linear-first program. Turns out, it aired three episodes on FX, but binge-released the rest of its episodes the next day on Hulu. Huh. So I should have covered it last year! But I just wrote about it. 1 “When I was a kid in the 90s, if you wore a t-shirt to school that wasn’t too big and also wasn’t too small, but somehow didn’t quite fit, we’d say you were wearing an “extra-medium” shirt.” 2 As always, a huge exception is Disney, which barely makes anything original anymore.

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Oct 7 • 6:41 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com
Lansing’s crown boxing athletes train hard to learn the sweet science

The popular facility hosts a wide range of boxers, from young beginners to adults looking to improve. All find a space to learn and grow.

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Oct 7 • 3:41 PM EDT • Science • wkar.org
Deep dive
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RWJBarnabas Health and Local Elected Officials Partner for Food Distribution Event

In September at the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center in Essex County Branch Brook Park, RWJBarnabas Health and Clara Maass Medical Center joined Senator Teresa Ruiz, Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin, Assemblywoman Shanique Speight, Assemblywoman Carmen Morales and Assemblyman Michael Venezia to distribute 180 boxes filled with healthy produce, eggs, bread and more to community members.

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Oct 7 • 3:17 PM EDT • Health • rwjbh.org
Veteran Pasadena firefighter discusses boxing for mental health awareness and national program, Next
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Oct 7 • 2:39 PM EDT • Health • cbsnews.com
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Old Boxers Never Die on Robert Street

The London Memorabilia Fair plays an important role in keeping boxing's glorious history alive

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Oct 7 • 2:26 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Bringing local models and sandboxed tools to Windows and GitHub Copilot

Coming soon, GitHub Copilot will determine when a task is best handled by on-device intelligence and when it should leverage cloud-scale models.

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Oct 7 • 2:00 PM EDT • Technology • commandline.microsoft.com
Surface RTX Spark Dev Box is available for preorder for $5,999

Microsoft’s high-end AI mini PC for developers starts shipping in November.

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Oct 7 • 1:46 PM EDT • Technology • theverge.com
Gears Of War Boss Dodges Question About Future Layoffs, Promises Next Game In Series Will Come Sooner

Gears of War: E-Day is good, but will the Coalition get a chance to make more games before Xbox starts making cuts

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Oct 7 • 1:30 PM EDT • Technology • kotaku.com
12 Years Later, Canceled Kojima Game 'P.T.' Makes A Comeback

Before Hideo Kojima began developing OD for Xbox, he made an iconic PlayStation horror game meant to kick off a new Silent Hill era

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Oct 7 • 12:57 PM EDT • Technology • polygon.com
She got Trump's $500 check for health insurance. To her, it's a 'political stunt'

As checks from President Trump for health costs hit millions of mailboxes, a poll shows Americans don't trust Republicans on healthcare. Experts doubt it will move the needle and say it is likely illegal.

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Oct 7 • 12:15 PM EDT • Health • wwno.org
She got Trump's $500 check for health insurance. To her, it's a 'political stunt'

As checks from President Trump for health costs hit millions of mailboxes, a poll shows Americans don't trust Republicans on healthcare. Experts doubt it will move the needle and say it is likely illegal.

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Oct 7 • 12:15 PM EDT • Health • npr.org
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She got Trump's $500 check for health insurance. To her, it's a 'political stunt'

As checks from President Trump for health costs hit millions of mailboxes, a poll shows Americans don't trust Republicans on healthcare. Experts doubt it will move the needle and say it is likely illegal.

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Oct 7 • 12:15 PM EDT • Politics • npr.org
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Inside Microsoft's plan to boost Xbox, Battle.net on PC — "Right now, it is simply very hard to work with Xbox," said Asha Sharma, with plans to fix it

Microsoft has long identified Battle.net as a key part of its Activision-Blizzard acquisition, and at yesterday's Town Hall with Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, we got more hints about the future.

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Oct 7 • 12:01 PM EDT • Technology • windowscentral.com
Coming to XBOX Game Pass: Battlefield 6, Valor Mortis, Forever Ago, and More

Hope you’ve been having fun digging in with Bravo Squad for Gears of War: E-Day or clearing the dungeons in Minecraft Dungeons II. When you’re ready for your next game, we’ve got more coming soon.

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Oct 7 • 12:00 PM EDT • Technology • news.xbox.com
Gears of War: E-Day Studio Boss Insists 'The Next Game Will Not Take Nearly as Long' to Make, Responds to Layoff Concern

The boss of Gears of War: E-Day developer The Coalition has responded to reports that staff at the studio are worried they will lose their jobs amid the ongoing cuts at Xbox, and promised the next Gears game won’t take as long to make.

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Oct 7 • 11:25 AM EDT • Technology • ign.com
Amazon Just Restocked the Rare Pokémon TCG Destined Rivals Elite Trainer Box for Under Market Price in the Prime Day Sale — Here Is Why Collectors Are Grabbing It Fast

Amazon has restocked the rare Pokémon TCG Destined Rivals Elite Trainer Box for under market price in the Prime Day sales. But, stock is extremely limited.

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Oct 7 • 11:05 AM EDT • Technology • ign.com
Indie Selects for October 2026: Discover and Progress Through Unforgettable Worlds

For October, the ID@XBOX team invite you to discover mysterious realms, conquer new challenges, and uncover stories waiting to be told.

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Oct 7 • 11:00 AM EDT • Technology • news.xbox.com
Utah expands healthcare AI sandbox with August AI, Nolla Health pilots, adds third-party evaluators

Utah is expanding the state's AI regulatory sandbox program with new pilots to test AI-supported prescription renewals, dermatology and physical therapy, while adding physician oversight and indepe | Utah is expanding the state's AI regulatory sandbox program with new pilots to test AI-supported prescription renewals, dermatology and physical therapy, while adding physician oversight and independent third-party evaluators to strengthen safety and accountability.

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Oct 7 • 11:00 AM EDT • Health • fiercehealthcare.com
Glen Powell on Avoiding Politics in Interviews and 'Running Man' Flop

Glen Powell opens up in a new Esquire cover story about 'The Running Man' flopping at the box office and his disinterest in talking politics.

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Oct 7 • 10:02 AM EDT • Politics • variety.com
I ignored the Windows app until Microsoft closed this major feature gap

Remote PC connections are now generally available alongside Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Dev Box access.

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Oct 7 • 9:45 AM EDT • Technology • windowscentral.com
Why health AI pilots in Utah may be on a collision course with the FDA

In this edition of STAT's AIP Prognosis: Unresolved regulatory questions around Utah's AI sandbox, and more health AI news.

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Oct 7 • 9:38 AM EDT • Health • statnews.com
In the Shadows Producers to Self-Release British Boxing Biopic

With True Brit having gone into administration, the producers of In the Shadows — about trailblazing boxer Ramla Ali - are self-releasing the film

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Oct 7 • 8:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • variety.com
Gen Z women want politicians who can make the ‘American dream’ feel attainable

This story is part of Gen Z at the Ballot Box, a collaboration between States Newsroom and The 19th. Strike up a conversation with a Gen Z woman about politics, and affordability will likely come up within the first 30 seconds. The cost of doing anything, whether it’s renting a home, staying in college or getting […]

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Oct 7 • 7:58 AM EDT • Politics • nevadacurrent.com