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Cleveland Browns still looking for help at defensive end
Cleveland is reportedly still in the market for another DE. But with the options dwindling, what is the right play?
Nintendo maintenance schedule - July 26, 2026 - lots of games downtime incoming
Nintendo has released its maintenance schedule for the week of July 26, 2026. The previously announced Nintendo Switch Online maintenance for next month is still on the docket. On top of that though, a new session has been added. Maintenance is kicking off in a few hours for a bunch of different Nintendo Switch games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,...
Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) Faces Margin Pressure, Is The Stock Still Undervalued?
Recent commentary on Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) has focused on slower sales growth, rising capital intensity, and substandard operating margins. This has raised investor questions about free cash flow resilience as margins are expected to contract. See our latest analysis for Live Nation Entertainment. At a share price of $177.24, Live Nation Entertainment has eased slightly over the past week and month, but its 90 day share price return of 13.3% and 1 year total shareholder return of...
Film review: ‘Hadestown’ goes to hell and back on the big screen
“Hadestown: The Musical" is a live stage capture filmed at London’s Lyric Theatre, now playing in movie theaters.
Katie Wilson tries to find balance in move from organizer to mayor
Wilson said she’s trying to make the right decisions for the city, but admits the balancing of her time, priorities and projections is still a work in progress.
Walking shark discovered in Papua New Guinea
Shark Week begins with a remarkable discovery: scientists have identified a new walking shark, proving the ocean still holds secrets worth protecting.
Why it took so long to talk about perimenopause
For too long, women’s health was treated as an afterthought. We still haven’t caught up.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries kicks off 100 days till midterms with affordability agenda
The stage is in battleground Pennsylvania
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries kicks off 100 days till midterms with affordability agenda
The stage is in battleground Pennsylvania.
Will Washington Nationals Be Aggressive at Trade Deadline?
After pulling the trigger on one trade on Saturday, will the Washington Nationals still be aggressive in the trade market?
Country singer taking time off after life-threatening health scare: ‘Still recovering’
He shared the news with fans on social media.
It's Your Business | Beck's announces inventory sale, still hopes to rebuild
A furniture and upholstery business that suffered significant damage during the June 11 tornado is offering up its surviving inventory at a discount as it continues to figure out next
ADHD looks different in women and poses unique health risks
For decades, ADHD was viewed as a childhood condition that mostly affected boys. Researchers now know ADHD manifests differently in girls, but many still go undiagnosed until adulthood.
Seahawks Issued Intriguing Najee Harris Take Amid Training Camp
The Seattle Seahawks head into the 2026 NFL season as the defending Super Bowl champions, but they still have a few concerns as they try to repeat. One of the biggest questions surrounds the team’s running back group.Kenneth Walker III departed in free agency this offseason, signing with the Kansas City Chiefs, while Zach Charbonnet […] The post Seahawks Issued Intriguing Najee Harris Take Amid Training Camp appeared first on HEAVY.
Letitia Wright reacts to ‘Black Panther 3’ bombshell and passing the mantle to David Jonsson’s T’Challa
Letitia Wright says she’s ‘still living in’ the ‘beautiful’ news of David Jonsson’s casting as T’Challa in ‘Black Panther 3,’ which was announced during Marvel’s action-packed Comic-Con panel.
50 days till Arizona Cardinals' opener: Remembering the 1950 season
With 50 days until the Arizona Cardinals' 2026 opener, let's look back at their 1950 season.
Jets signaled true intentions with Connor Hellebuyck amid trade rumors
Winnipeg still has the star goalie's situation to figure out.
Justin Verlander injury update: Tigers RHP battling through rehab
Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said right-hander Justin Verlander still aims to pitch in 2026, but that his injury rehab has been "really slow."
Justin Verlander injury update: Tigers RHP battling through rehab
Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said right-hander Justin Verlander still aims to pitch in 2026, but that his injury rehab has been "really slow."
Former Eagles LB Tears Into QB Jalen Hurts
The Philadelphia Eagles spent all offseason trying to convince the league Jalen Hurts is still elite, but Emmanuel Acho isn't buying. The former Eagles linebacker tore into the Philadelphia quarterback by saying he is "not ranked too low" on the NFL's top-100 list.
Superagers keep youthful memories but their DNA does not explain why
Scientists expected SuperAgers might simply inherit fewer Alzheimer’s-related risks, but their genes looked much like those of typical older adults. Their extraordinary memories may instead come from still-unknown protective forces involving the brain, body, lifestyle, and environment.
Software engineer: AI could reduce junior engineering jobs
A software engineer says AI could reduce junior engineering jobs, but experienced engineers who adapt will still be needed.
Sony Group (TSE:6758) And The Entertainment Narrative As Valuation Questions Build
Sony Group (TSE:6758) drew attention at SIGGRAPH 2026 in Los Angeles, where its presence in graphics and imaging intersected with growing interest in the stock ahead of upcoming earnings. See our latest analysis for Sony Group. Sony Group’s recent appearance at SIGGRAPH comes as the stock trades at ¥3,409, with the share price up 4.89% over 30 days and 6.27% over 90 days, yet still down 16.43% year to date. The 5 year total shareholder return of 62.24% points to a stronger longer term record...
Bedlam Basketball Belongs in Oklahoma City
Conference realignment may have changed college sports, but Bedlam basketball still deserves a place on the schedule. I think Oklahoma City has become the perfect home for the rivalry, giving both fan bases a neutral stage while keeping one of the state's best traditions alive.
ESPN lines up six European preseason matches following World Cup
The World Cup may be over, but ESPN is betting that viewers are still interested in soccer by televising six preseason matches featuring European clubs touring the United States. The matches will see Liverpool FC, Wrexham AFC, Leeds United and Sunderland AFC playing in Nashville, New York City, Chicago, Tampa, and Philadelphia. Of the six…
EAST TEXAS POLITICS: About 100 days out — Smith County’s Republican and Democratic chairs preview th
EAST TEXAS POLITICS: About 100 days out — Smith County’s Republican and Democratic chairs preview the midterms: Smith County Republican Chair David Stein and Democratic Chair Kristen Hardin-Sigler join Blake Holland for this week’s show
Vanderbilt Health warns about ‘data security incident’ potentially involving patient info
Vanderbilt Health announced Friday that it’s notifying “a limited number of patients” about a data security breach from earlier this year.
After backlash, Meta pauses plan to ‘rate limit’ its smart glasses
A paywall is still coming, though.
New York Yankees @ Philadelphia Phillies: Cam Schlittler vs. Jesús Luzardo
Schlittler starts scintillating series
State canvassers finds Michigan’s ‘Money out of Politics’ effort has sufficient valid signatures
Valid signatures for the Michiganders for Money Out Of Politics ballot petition were determined to be sufficient on Friday after a close call by the Board of State Canvassers. However, the board must still determine if the wording of the proposed petition meets legal standards.
Is North Star-Rochester Regional deal still on after dueling news releases?
Conflicting news releases have raised questions about the status of a potential partnership between North Star Health Alliance and Rochester Regional Health.
3 unanswered questions before training camp: Denver Broncos edition
The Broncos' offense still belongs to head coach Sean Payton, but what can be injected now that Davis Webb is taking over play-calling?
Android Auto is still the best in-car entertainment experience despite its foibles
Android Automotive has made me realize just how much better Android Auto is for most people despite its problems.
Arch Manning keys in on making this a great season at Texas
Certainly, there's still work to do for the 22-year-old junior-to-be.
Update: The Majority Of PlayStation Network Services Are Back Online
The PlayStation Store is still experiencing issues, however.
Nancy Armour's disastrous Caitlin Clark article exemplifies why sportswriting and sports media is failing
A USA Today columnist linked Caitlin Clark's interactions with WNBA officials to Emmett Till, presenting another example of modern sports media's political bias.
Can Emery transform Aston Villa again?
Aston Villa will still be seeking another top-four finish next season - when the Premier League landscape looks certain to be a lot different from last season and Villa are without many of their previous squad. After ending their 30-year wait for a trophy with May's Europa League win, can Emery continue to produce his magic? Last season, Villa's expected points was 48.50, which would have left them 12th - eight places below where they eventually finished.
2026 AFC North Positional Rankings: Cornerback
During this year’s free agency cycle and 2026 NFL draft, all four AFC North teams made significant moves to add talent to their rosters. While more additions are still possible over the next few months, everyone’s core players are mostly set ahead of the 2026 season. How do the different positional groups in the division […]
Senate Democrats reject Trump-approved ethics provision in landmark crypto bill
Senate Democrats signaled they would not support a revised version of Republicans’ landmark cryptocurrency regulation bill, saying a new ethics provision approved by President Donald Trump does not go far enough to limit the president’s ability to profit off crypto.
McConnell’s Absence is Grinding Some Senate Business to a Halt
Farm bill and government funding negotiations are at a standstill without Sen. Mitch McConnell, with just 10 legislative weeks left this year.
Oil prices surge as Congress splits on Iran war votes: From the Politics Desk
Plus, South Carolina Republicans are still getting to know their new senator.
Tom Holland vomits on camera during “Hot Ones” visit — after spoiling the moment in another interview
The “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” star proved that he still cannot hold a secret very well.
Cassidy shifts on CDC nominee, citing change to disputed autism page
But the page’s core claim still suggests a long debunked link between vaccines and autism.
Lollapalooza 2026 is nearly sold out, but here’s how you can still find last‑minute tickets
More than 100 artists will perform across 8 stages at Chicago's Grant Park from July 30 through Aug. 2.
My Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ongoing Review As I Live With the Samsung's Passport Foldable
Samsung's new book-style foldable phone is making a strong first impression, but I'm still testing how it holds up in everyday use.
When It Comes to Fusion, Materials Matter
Fusion at high temperatures powers the sun and, if harnessed, could provide a potential source of energy here on Earth. But controlling fusion reactions has other benefits. The process also generates subatomic particles called neutrons that are used in a range of applications spanning medicine, research, and national security. Now, scientists at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), and the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have found that the materials surrounding a fusion reaction can dramatically increase how often it occurs, particularly at low energies where fusion is rare. The study was published July 18 in Nature Communications. Their approach sets up a way to study and engineer nuclear reactions within solid materials, opening a new field of “materials-driven fusion.” Instead of designing materials just to survive the harsh conditions of fusion, researchers might be able to design materials that boost the reaction in specific conditions, similar to the way catalysts speed up chemical processes. “It gives you a new knob to turn that you didn’t have before,” said Arun Persaud, head of the Fusion Science & Ion Beam Technology group in Berkeley Lab’s Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics (ATAP) Division. “If we understand this effect better, it opens the door to engineering new materials that would affect the fusion rate under certain conditions. Someday future progress might enable more compact and efficient neutron generators, which have all kinds of applications, like cargo screening, planetary science, and medical therapy and imaging.” In the experiment, researchers used two different methods to pack deuterium, a heavy form of hydrogen atoms that is often used in fusion, into thin foils of palladium and titanium. They then fired a beam of deuterium ions at the foils at different energies and measured how often fusion happened. Then they compared the rates from the different materials and methods with the “bare” fusion reaction (not in a material). The team found that fusion rates depended on how the deuterium was loaded into the metal foils. The biggest effect was at the lowest energies, below 2.5 kiloelectronvolts (keV), where theory predicts fusion rates drop off sharply. Instead, researchers found a surprising plateau: Some samples showed elevated fusion rates roughly a quintillion times higher than bare fusion reactions. (A quintillion is a 1 followed by 18 zeroes.) Researchers are not exactly sure why that’s happening, though they have some ideas and ways to test them. The electrons and defects within the material might partially shield repulsive electrostatic forces between deuterium nuclei, making it easier for them to get close together and fuse. Tuning the electronic structure, defects, and composition of materials could help make nuclear reactions happen more readily. “It comes down to better understanding the mechanism so that we can try to enhance it,” said corresponding author Jeremy Munday, a professor at UC Davis. “We’ve seen that we can increase fusion rates, but what is the limit? Can we bring it to lower temperatures or energies? There’s obviously a lot of interest and excitement about fusion, so if there’s something we can learn about the physics at these lower energy scales, maybe there’s something we can translate to other areas of nuclear science.” The team plans to explore a wider range of materials and continue probing the unexpected fusion plateau at lower energies. Their work establishes a reproducible experimental platform to study how solid materials influence nuclear reactions, creating a new area of research that links fusion science with materials science and chemistry. “The work shows conclusively that the material environment where fusion occurs at low temperatures is an active participant rather than a passive container,” said Cameron Geddes, director of ATAP. “That adds a new dimension to fusion research.” This work was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.
Four Young Mathematicians Receive Prestigious Fields Medals
The awards are bestowed only once every four years to mathematicians under the age of 40.
Denver Health expands whole blood program to bring life-saving transfusions to patients before hospital arrival
Breaking down Phillies' trade deadline candidates
The Phillies have clear deadline needs, but with most of MLB still in the race, finding the right fit could take creativity.
South Carolina lawmakers say they have a tentative state budget deal. It still has to pass.
Budget negotiators have an agreement to fund South Carolina government after operating under a continuing resolution for the last three weeks. Their colleagues still need to approve it.
Once the ‘Worldwide Leader in Sports,’ ESPN’s latest layoffs cement its new identity
ESPN is still a destination spot in sports media, but it has not been a utopia for a long time.
Hong leads latest Marquette Poll, large percentage of voters still undecided
A new poll reflecting the rapid changes in the Democratic primary will be released next week.
'Street justice’: Maryland’s Squatter King removal business fills area divide
When property owners call Sanchez Deandre Lewis, they are often already locked out.The Maryland contractor, known as “Mikey,” says unauthorized occupants have h
Rising healthcare costs are reshaping Ohio's midterm elections
A drop in Obamacare enrollees has raised concerns about healthcare costs.
If You Aren't Going To BlizzCon 2026, You Can Still Spend Money Like You Are
Cosmetic bundles for Blizzard's biggest games are live now.
Colorado health officials still unable to investigate tuberculosis case at ICE detention facility
Colorado public health officials are still unable to investigate at least one tuberculosis case at an immigration detention center in Aurora, as the private company that runs the facility missed a dea...
‘We need someone who’s going to be pragmatic’: David Crowley on challenging a democratic socialist in the WI Gov. race
Hands On with Xbox Back-Compat for PC - a New Initiative That Begins with Four Classic Games
A vital step for game preservation - that still needs some work.
New Report Examines How States Can Protect Pregnant/Postpartum Enrollees from Losing Health Coverage Due to Work Reporting Requirements (And Why We Should Still Be Worried)
As awareness has grown about the new Medicaid work reporting requirements (WRRs) that have already been put in place in some states but are mandated to begin January 1 of next year, it has created layers of confusion about who will be required to report work hours. Our new report on pregnant women and WRRs […]
Tim Hennessy won't be a full-time UND employee anymore, but still might call hockey games
UND is moving its hockey play-by-play position under Fighting Hawks Sports Partnerships.
Big Ank Lost By Accident!
Former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev still has revenge on his mind. “Big Ank” returns to action this weekend (July 25, 2026) in the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi versus Uzbek knockout artist Bogdan Guskov (not Khalil Rountree Jr.). It’s been about ten months since Ankalaev’s title loss to Alex Pereira, a quick […]
Business in Oak Creek Canyon worried about impact of flooding threat
Last week’s flooding turned Oak Creek dark as water carried charred debris downstream after the Pocket Fire. Forest Houses Resort says floodwaters rose about 5 feet at its crossing, leaving it impassable until crews cleared sediment. Owners say continued flash flood concerns have prompted guest cancellations, even as their private property remains accessible. Businesses say open trails, restaurants and other attractions still give visitors reasons to come to Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon.
N. Y. contractors brace for impact of new Canada tariffs
The current questions around tariffs are being piled on top of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and previous tariffs.
Neill Blomkamp’s new zombie AI ‘film’ is just slop warmed over
AI text-to-video generators still can’t churn out quality films.
Harmful algae bloom leads to health advisory for T. Howard Duckett Reservoir
Recreational areas will stay open, and boating and fishing will still be allowed, but cyanobacteria can bring risks.
Trump’s latest Canada tariffs raises concerns about Ohio economy
The tariff threatens to trigger a trade war with the U.S.’s second-largest trading partner—and Ohio’s largest.
Trump’s latest Canada tariffs raises concerns about Ohio economy
The tariff threatens to trigger a trade war with the U.S.’s second-largest trading partner—and Ohio’s largest.
US attorney who Trump fired minutes after he got the job sues to get it back
A former US attorney in Washington state is suing the Trump administration for firing him less than one hour after a panel of federal judges unanimously voted to appoint him to the role.
Xteink's Next Pocket-Sized E-Reader Could (Almost) Replace Your Kindle
The Xteink X4 Pro adds more premium features over earlier models—though it's still not for everyone.
Cardinal Health's latest deals won't move the needle overnight. They still matter.
Cardinal Health announced two tuck-in acquisitions Monday that further expand one of the fastest-growing parts of its business.
Pittsburgh Steelers Insider Says Team Could Still Add Another Defender
It’s been an offseason of change for the Pittsburgh Steelers. While they haven’t been able to win a playoff game […]
Sphere Entertainment Hires Karen Laureano-Rikardsen For Global Comms
Sphere Entertainment has hired Karen Laureano-Rikardsen as global head of corporate communications.
Moebius Entertainment boards ‘Happily Ever After’ ahead of ...
The cast includes Shuhua, the Taiwanese singer from K-pop group i-dle, in her feature debut.
Xbox Game Pass was a good idea in theory, former Forza Horizon 5 director says, but "the reality is not enough people have subscribed"
One of the lead creatives behind Forza Horizon 5, who departed developer Playground Games, still believes Xbox Game Pass was a solid concept.
Cyclospora False Positive? Why We Should Still Trust Outbreak Science
Cyclospora lab test retraction by FDA does not negate outbreak science.
Illinois cannabis demand grows despite falling prices
The amount of cannabis sold in Illinois rose 9.3% during the first six months of the year, showing demand is still growing six years after the state legalized recreational marijuana use.
Samsung Launches Health Assistant Beta — First Fully Integrated AI-Powered Personal Health Assistant
Today, health information is often fragmented across multiple devices, apps, and services, making it difficult for people to build a complete understanding of their overall wellness. While access to health data has never been greater, many users still struggle to interpret what their data means and understand how they can make meaningful changes in their […]
J.J. McCarthy Receives Strong Take Amid Vikings QB Competition
The Minnesota Vikings will use a QB competition between J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray to determine their starter for the 2026 NFL season. Nonetheless, even with the competition ongoing, many expect Murray to emerge victorious.Murray is looking to show that he’s still a starting QB despite the Arizona Cardinals cutting ties with him this offseason. […] The post J.J. McCarthy Receives Strong Take Amid Vikings QB Competition appeared first on HEAVY.
This Rock Legend’s McLaren F1 GTR Was Crashed Twice And Could Still Clear $35 Million
Nick Mason's McLaren F1 GTR heads to auction next month and could become the most valuable F1 ever sold in public
UFC Freedom 250 Fails to Knock Out The Ratings
(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.) If UFC fans wanted one image to say, “Hey, Paramount+ is crushing it with their UFC rights deal,” I could provide that image. Here it is: (Reminder: this is my creation of the Nielsen Top 30, since Nielsen doesn’t combine the lists or include sports. I take all three lists and combine them. Some streaming TV shows probably have higher ratings than many of the films on this list.) Look at that! UFC Freedom 250 is number one! It topped the Nielsen “Top 30” list for shows and films that made the top ten the week of 15-June. So if you’re a UFC fan or supporter of Paramount+, that’s the good news for you this week. This program topped the ratings charts for one week. Everything else is bad news, or at least a huge caveat to that story, which I’ll explain today in the first part of this week’s Streaming Ratings Report—for the weeks of 8-June and 15-June—which is a double issue since I’ve been writing on a bunch of topics recently. UFC Freedom 250 is one of the biggest streaming events of the year, and super relevant to Paramount+’s strategy, so it merited its own article. Let’s dive 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, JustWatch and Reelgood interest 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 June 8th to June 21st 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Check Out My Interview on UFC 250 at MMA Draw After you read this article, if you want even more thoughts on UFC and Paramount-Skydance/Paramount+, I did a written interview with MMA Draw. They asked me to answer some questions about UFC Freedom 250, and I was happy to chat with them. Find it here: [ The MMA Draw Newsletter Did Paramount really overpay for the UFC? What the data tells us so far If you know the history of American television, you also know that combat sports is often a leading indicator of the future… Read more a day ago · 10 likes · 1 comment · Nate Wilcox and Zach Arnold ](https://www.themmadraw.com/p/did-paramount-really-overpay-for?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) I never thought I’d need a combat sports newsletter in my life, but the good folks at MMA Draw publish an excellent one on UFC, MMA, pro wrestling, boxing and more, analyzing both the sports themselves and the politics, economics and antitrust issues that impact them. Check the article and their newsletter out! Paramount+ Has Its Best Sporting Event of All Time…But Was It Worth It? Before we look at the UFC Freedom 250 data in particular, let’s talk about what we can’t say. Namely, let’s start with the lack of comparisons. First off, I’d love to put a chart out comparing this fight to past UFC fights on Paramount+…but we don’t have the data. This is the first time we’ve gotten Nielsen data about a Paramount+ UFC fight. As far as I can tell, Paramount provided data for the first fight, but it was a proprietary datecdote (saying it had “an average minute audience” of 5 million “views”) and then, for two fights, we got the linear viewership numbers when they aired on CBS, but no streaming data. Everything else was crickets. We also can’t compare this fight to other fights/combat sports on streaming, in particular the MMA and boxing, because Netflix also didn’t use Nielsen to track those events, opting for TVision and VideoAmp, respectively. (This isn’t Paramount’s fault, but does still suck.) We also can’t compare to UFC’s fights that used to be on ESPN+, since we don’t have any data for that, plus Disney+ didn’t have marquee fights. The comparisons would not be apples-to-apples. Can we compare to past Pay-Per-View fights? Absolutely not. The comparisons would absolutely NOT be apples-to-apples. That didn’t stop Paramount+, though, who bragged that their UFC events have reached drastically more people than past PPV fights. Duh. Sorry, but I gotta make this point again. A basic tenet of economics is that the cheaper something becomes, the more people consume or buy it. That’s Econ 101. (Sometimes pundits call things “Econ 101” that are actually like Econ 210 or even PhD-level economics, but no, this is really like first or second class basic economics.) Yet I still see one analytics firm consistently say that more people watch films on streaming than PVOD proves streaming which means that the streaming window is more valuable than the PVOD window. No, it’s not! Same thing here. Pay-Per-View events back in the day could be really, really, really expensive! So whole groups of people pitched in to buy them. That increased the perceived value of, say, the Mike Tyson fight. Or a UFC numbered event. So yes, the fact that Paramount+ makes numbered UFC fights essentially “free” if you’re already a Paramount+ member means consumption will go up. Obviously. Same for Netflix and their boxing matches. They’re talking about fights that used to cost consumers, in some cases, $50 in 1996…which is over $100 in today’s dollars. Over 1.6 million people paid that to watch the Tyson-Holyfield fight! Again, streaming is essentially “free”. Or $10 to $20, depending on what streamer we’re talking about and what tier you’re on. No wonder more people are “watching”. (Plus, Nielsen’s out-of-home viewing also helps these numbers.) UFC Freedom 250 Did Well…But I Have A Lot of Worries So what can we compare the fights to? Well, the good news is Nielsen put out that the fight averaged 7.0 million viewers for UFC Freedom 250, which is a solid number for a fight. We also know the length, at roughly 4 and a half hours. (I saw different run times, but this seems to be the consensus considering it started at 8 pm, had a delay and then finished after midnight on the East Coast. If you assume a shorter run time, then yes, the total hours viewed would go down.) That means I have the two numbers needed to add this to my Nielsen database. And then…I can compare this viewership to the NFL: And, uh, not great. But also within striking distance, mainly because the runtime for this event was so long. I’d also add that this event had viewership equal to a regular season NFL game on streaming, but if anything, it was more comparable to an NFL playoff or Super Bowl-esque event. And you can compare viewership to the top football games on broadcast, cable and streaming, and it’s not impressive at all: We can also compare it to other sports that week, including the NBA Finals and start of the World Cup: Again, not great. The NBA generated roughly four times as many average viewers each game for its NBA Finals. The World Cup has similarly big numbers. Also, that’s just a tiny fraction of the 25 most watched sporting events each week. The NBA, NHL and FIFA World Cup had many, many more games racking up hours. We could also compare this to other streaming programs to get an idea of “is this a good investment?” and here is how it ranks compared to other top Paramount+ programs: The worry here? Well, unlike scripted programming, which has rewatchability, older fights/sporting events have very little library value. Very, very few people are rewatching these fights, especially years from now. Paramount has also released datecdotes bragging about their subscriber numbers. Earlier this year, they claimed that the first UFC fight on Paramount+ brought in 1 million subscribers. Then, in their quarterly earnings report, they only ended up with 700K subs. Not great! They claimed they dropped lower-value international subscribers, but that’s why I tend to discount subscriber additions when they’re leaked to the press.1 I expect we may see a bump again for UFC Freedom 250, but I’d caution using subscriber growth so soon after these events to judge the success, since new subs with high churn (see Peacock) aren’t great either. Also, analysts often want to attribute all subscriber growth to their favorite/pet show, and that just doesn’t make sense. The biggest caveat for UFC Freedom 250 and Paramount’s very first UFC marquee event is that these could be high watermarks for the sport. UFC Freedom 250 had an incredible amount of earned media coverage compared to most UFC fights. I mean, it had wall-to-wall national news coverage in the lead up to the event. (The first fight also had a lot of promotion from Paramount since it was first.) Other fights could reach this bar—say the Conor McGregor return to the Octagon—but they’ll be fewer and far between. Was This Deal Worth It? All to ask: is this Paramount deal worth it? In this case, I think the UFC Freedom 250 numbers are more distracting than helpful. This fight did well and compares well to other top sporting events. But we know that the first marquee event was at least a third smaller, if Paramount’s own data is to be believed. And it’s likely the other fights are much, much, much smaller. And then you get to the paycheck that Paramount-Skydance paid. FIFA’s World Cup cost about the same for Fox, but clearly generated multiples more total viewership. (Though it’s only every four years.) The NBA is much more expensive, but until the playoffs, they likely didn’t pay for itself. Even still, Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video likely overpaid. So, in that context, the NBA may be an overpay that makes the UFC look not so bad. But two overpays don’t make an underpay, to paraphrase the old cliché about wrongs and rights. And looking at UFC Freedom 250 as the likely ceiling of MMA on Paramount+, Paramount-Skydance likely paid too much. Share 1 I would love regular reports on subscriber additions by programs, but as is, it’s mostly leaked or rumored in haphazard ways.
Everything New in iOS 27 Beta 4
Apple is continuing to tweak iOS 27 ahead of its September launch, and the fourth developer beta is available as of today. There are fewer changes than in prior betas, but Apple is still adding new features. TV App In the Settings section of the Apple TV app, there's a new Automatic Downloads toggle. Turning it on will automatically download the next two episodes of shows you start in Continue Watching. They'll be deleted when you finish the episodes.
FDA is still focused on lettuce supplier as source of parasite, despite faulty test result
Federal health officials said Monday they remain focused on lettuce from Taylor Farms as the source of a multistate outbreak of a diarrhea-causing parasite, despite inaccurate test results that the government briefly publicized over the weekend.
Proposed changes to Protect College Sports Act would allow conference expansion -- with a catch
As negotiations on the college sports bill intensify ahead of a possible floor vote on the Senate floor later this month, sources tell CBS Sports that Power Four leagues would still have a pathway to expand
Valve suggests memory crisis is "still getting worse," admitting, "we're limited by memory capacity, for sure"
Steam Machine developer and gaming giant Valve has admitted that sourcing memory and storage supply for the Steam Machi…
How much coffee is safe for the heart? Doctors explore the benefits and risks of caffeine
Drinking multiple cups of coffee each day may decrease a person's risk of heart disease, heart failure and stroke. Too much caffeine can still cause issues, however, when taken as energy drinks.
Our PlayStation price analysis shows why physical games still matter
Used discs are often cheaper than even deep digital discounts.
FDA says it’s still investigating Taylor Farms in cyclosporiasis outbreak
A false-positive test result doesn’t change the “overwhelming epidemiological data” linking Taylor Farms to the outbreak, the FDA said.
Pokémon Winds And Waves: Pokédex Numbers And More Leaks
The Switch 2 RPGs are still a year away, but fans have been gossiping about what the new Pokémon games may entail
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Shaky political "science": breakdown of the peer review process
[This article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in December 2025, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting (RCV). Many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first four articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report; the second one analyzed a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report; a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research; and a fourth article that analyzed seven studies sponsored by New America’s political reform program that deployed flawed methodology based on “simulated” elections instead of real-world elections, which when combined with some basic misunderstandings of RCV, produced odd and misleading results]. In this fifth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we examine two flawed studies on the impact of RCV on voter turnout authored by San Francisco State University professor Jason McDaniel. McDaniel’s research in these two papers stands out for its puzzling methodology, inadequate and cherry-picked data, and faulty analyses that not only misunderstands ranked choice voting but reflects a basic misunderstanding of politics in general. The first of the McDaniel studies actually passed through a peer review process and then was subsequently published by the Journal of Urban Affairs, despite its obvious errors. It is perplexing that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the errors and send it back to McDaniel for a rewrite or outright rejection. This calls into question the credibility of the peer review process itself. The peer review process is supposed to represent the intellectual pinnacle of the profession – a way for academics to certify the quality of each other’s work, and to act as a check against sloppy research. In the case of the McDaniel study, the peer review process failed. Yet his flawed study has been cited dozens of times by other political scientists in their own flawed works — an unvirtuous circle of academic research. Here is the first Jason McDaniel study that we analyzed: “Writing the Rules to Rank the Candidates: Examining the Impact of Instant-Runoff Voting on Racial Group Turnout in San Francisco Mayoral Elections,” by Jason McDaniel, 2016, Journal of Urban Affairs. This study covered San Francisco’s use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in mayoral elections, purporting to show that RCV reduces voter turnout overall, increases voter errors, and has a negative impact on “marginal populations,” i.e. racial minorities, mainly as the result of the alleged complexity of RCV asking voters to rank candidates and having to be familiar with multiple candidates and related dynamics. McDaniel reached these conclusions by examining five San Francisco mayoral elections taking place in odd years (i.e. where there are no federal or state races on the ballot) from 1995 to 2011, comparing three earlier non-RCV races (in 1995, 1999 and 2003) with the later two RCV races (in 2007 and 2011). Only two RCV races were studied, and as McDaniel acknowledged, only the contest in 2011 was “competitive” (that contest in 2007 was the first mayoral election using RCV, and incumbent mayor Gavin Newsom won easily in the first round of counting, earning 74% of first choices and far ahead of the second place candidate who had just 6.3% of first choices). Yet even the allegedly competitive contest in 2011was won by an incumbent with a landslide margin of nearly 20 points. No other elections were studied by McDaniel, even though San Francisco elects 17 other offices besides mayor with RCV, including the 11 seats on the Board of Supervisors (the name for the city council) in even years, and six other citywide offices in odd years. Previous academic research has found that competitive elections can stimulate greater voter involvement and higher turnout. For unexplained reasons, this study ignored at least 34 other RCV races between the years 2004 to 2011, many of which were very competitive and had high voter turnout. Instead, McDaniel’s analysis based its conclusions on data from only a single, marginally-competitive mayor’s race using RCV. These 2007 and 2011 mayoral elections were the only two RCV elections that McDaniel used as the sole basis for his small data set to determine the impact of RCV on voter turnout. Despite having no meaningful data to inform his study, McDaniel nonetheless concluded that RCV lowered turnout when compared to the previous three mayoral non-RCV elections using two-round runoffs. Then, using the same inadequate database of San Francisco elections, McDaniel also found that “Instant-runoff voting is associated with a significant decline in Black voter turnout and White voter turnout…On average, Black voter turnout decreases by 18 points and White voter turnout decreases by 16 points …” But how could he credibly arrive at that conclusion when his study was based on voter turnout in two RCV contests that were not even remotely competitive? Beyond that, McDaniel tacitly admits that the key determining factor driving Black voter turnout was not RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable Black candidate. McDaniel wrote, “Black voter turnout was about 17 percentage points higher for the two elections that featured an African American candidate compared to the three elections that did not” — but one of those three elections did not use RCV. The same dynamic was present for White voter turnout, in which higher turnout was not correlated with RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable White candidate. Beyond that, McDaniel’s voter turnout results, whether correlated with the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections, showed no clear patterns. In his Figure 1, he shows low Asian voter turnout in the non-RCV elections in 1999 and 2003 when there was no viable Asian candidate running, but in the 2007 mayoral election using RCV, there is still no viable Asian candidate, yet Asian turnout increases dramatically. For Latinos, voter turnout is virtually the same in 1999 (no viable Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2003 (leading Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2007 (no viable Latino candidate, RCV elections) and 2011 (leading Latino candidate, RCV elections). Meanwhile White voter turnout increased dramatically from a low in the 2007 mayoral election, in which the leading candidate was a white incumbent, to the 2011 election in which there were no leading white candidates that finished any higher than sixth place with 5.6% of the vote. Clearly other factors were determining voter turnout than either the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections. Despite these inconsistent findings, McDaniel boldly marches forth to render conclusions about the impact of RCV on different groups of racial voters, even though his conclusions are not remotely supported by his data. This looks like the worst kind of “data cherry picking” to cover up a puzzling conclusion based on a poor data set involving only two RCV elections, neither of which were remotely competitive. McDaniel’s cherry picking didn’t stop there. In calculating voter turnout for the three non-RCV mayoral elections in 1995, 1999 and 2003, he failed to mention that in each of these years there was a two-round runoff election, with a first round election in November in which no candidate garnered a winning majority of the vote, followed by the decisive runoff in December. So there were two non-RCV elections in each election year. But McDaniel only decided to include one of the two elections in his data set, apparently the December runoff in each year (which had higher turnout in two out of the three mayor’s races, and lower turnout in the third). So he ignored the November 1995 election, the November 1999 election when turnout was only 45 percent, and the November 2003 election when turnout was only 45.7 percent. This is flawed methodology based on blatant cherry picking, since McDaniel simply omitted three elections worth of data that did not fit within his frame. His study should never have made it through a peer review process, and it is an embarrassment to political science that not only was it approved for publication, but it has been uncritically cited by dozens of other political scientists. Share A “study” without wider context or credible data Lacking a data set that included even a single competitive RCV mayoral race, McDaniel declared that RCV lowered voter turnout in 2011, when turnout was 42.5 percent. But he also ignored -- or did not realize -- that voter turnout in mayoral elections during 2011 had sharply declined in all big cities, including far more steeply in nearby Los Angeles and other cities. In fact, San Francisco’s election in 2011 had the second highest turnout of any mayoral election in the nation’s 22 largest cities from 2008-2011. Was 2011 just a particularly low turnout year all across the country, perhaps because the country was still reeling from the aftermath of the housing market collapse in 2008-2010? McDaniel ignored this factor and did not search for alternative explanations beyond his flawed thesis. Furthermore, while McDaniel suggested that RCV leads to more “overvotes” – which is an invalidated ballot in which a voter, in either a non-RCV or RCV race, makes a mistake and selects two candidates for a single choice – he failed to address that in the June 2012 US Senate primary contest, which used the typical “one-choice” plurality method and did not use RCV, there was more than five times as many overvotes in San Francisco and Oakland than in the RCV mayoral elections in those cities. Additionally, turnout had been significantly higher and more representative in RCV elections for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors races -- that McDaniel didn’t even bother to study -- as compared to previous “delayed two-round runoffs” for those offices, often higher by as much as 40% in the RCV races. Perhaps the most surprising irony was that an earlier study co-authored by McDaniel (Overvoting and the Equality of Voice under Instant-Runoff Voting in San Francisco by Francis Neely and Jason McDaniel, 2015, California Journal of Politics and Policy) found that overvotes are often more common in lower-income precincts, but that the pattern of overvoting is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. Wrote Neely and McDaniel: “[Overvote] errors appear to be a function of complexity in general and not IRV per se…. the pattern of overvoting is similar in both IRV and non-IRV contests…Even among votes cast in a top-of-the-ticket race like U.S. Senate, overvoting occurs in an uneven fashion” (IRV, or ‘instant runoff voting,’ is another name for ranked choice voting in single-winner contests). So McDaniel not only contradicted his own conclusion in his earlier study with Neely, but the earlier study had been an important corrective for one of the most frequently made mistakes made by anti-RCV political scientists – a continual failure to provide crucial context by pairing a comparative analysis of real world RCV elections with an analysis of real world plurality or other electoral methods. Unfortunately McDaniel’s earlier study does not get cited much by other researchers, and McDaniel did not even cite it in his own flawed study analyzed above. Incredibly, McDaniel cherrypicked McDaniel, even as his flawed study has been cited dozens of times. Despite being a textbook example of poor political “science,” featuring both inadequate as well as cherrypicked data, the shelf life of McDaniel’s study has been extended endlessly by other political scientists and media outlets who have cited it uncritically. Equally troubling, the Journal of Urban Affairs put this paper through its peer review process and published it despite its numerous flaws. McDaniel gets it wrong, Part II Not content with producing one shoddy, confused paper, McDaniel produced another one a few years later, here is the link: Electoral Rules and Voter Turnout in Mayoral Elections: An Analysis of Ranked-Choice Voting by Jason McDaniel. San Francisco State Univ. (McDaniel, 2019). In this paper, McDaniel extended his previous flawed research focused on San Francisco, about voter turnout and voter impact, to multiple RCV cities through the 2018 elections. In his data set he included San Francisco, Minneapolis, St Paul, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro and Santa Fe. He then compared their turnout in mayoral elections to non-RCV cities, and to mayoral elections in those cities held before first RCV usage, and concluded “a significant decrease in voter turnout of approximately 3–5 percentage points in RCV cities after the implementation of RCV.” But he replicated many of the same mistakes as his first study presented above. While in this study McDaniel attempted to distinguish between various factors, such as odd year vs. even year elections, competitive races vs. noncompetitive, contests with open seats and other factors, the analysis is superficial and inadequate. He attempts to incorporate so many often-conflicting variables that his conclusions are once again unsupported by the actual data, and ultimately unconvincing (this second study never underwent a peer review process). For example, McDaniel declared that for RCV cities “in elections that are more competitive than average (margin of victory less than 20%), there is no significant RCV effect on voter turnout.” Yet McDaniel is a professor in a city, San Francisco, in which the 2018 special election using RCV to fill a mayoral vacancy was exceedingly close, decided by a margin of only one percentage point, and resulted in the second highest turnout in San Francisco history for a mayoral election. Illustrating the complexity involved in assessing the critical factors in turnout, that special election was held on the same election day as federal and state offices, which tends to boost turnout. Yet more voters participated in that RCV mayoral election than voted on the same day in the non-RCV primary for governor in which former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom was running. Even more puzzling, in this study McDaniel inaccurately cited his own previous study from 2015 with Neely. McDaniel wrote, “Neely and McDaniel (2015) examine individual ballot image files within a natural experiment, and find higher rates of ballot errors in RCV elections compared to non-RCV elections” (emphasis added). However, we quoted from that 2015 study several paragraphs above, and in actual fact Neely and McDaniel actually concluded the opposite -- that the pattern of overvoting – which is the most common form of ballot error – is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. McDaniel also ignored the fact that in Bay Area RCV elections held in even years – at the same time as federal and state elections, when turnout is highest -- the “undervote” (that is, the dropoff in ballots cast for governor or mayor) has declined, which contradicts his thesis that the act of ranking ballots in RCV elections is too complex and presents a barrier for certain demographics of voters. To his credit, McDaniel actually acknowledged another contradiction in his own paper, which found a negative RCV turnout effect in some odd-year elections but not others, admitting that “may present a challenge to the theory that increased complexity [from RCV] will have a marginal negative effect on voter turnout.” But he tried to wallpaper over that contradiction by blaming it on an unlikely source -- bad election administration. McDaniels wrote, “This would suggest that the negative impact of RCV on voter participation may be alleviated by high quality election administration,” without presenting any data or even anecdotes to support such an unfounded theory. While competent election administration of any election, whether RCV or non-RCV, is crucially important, there is no credible research that supports the far-fetched notion that the quality of election administration has much of an impact on voter turnout in US elections, whether using RCV or otherwise. Upgrade to a $5 subscription The unvirtuous circle of academic research It is puzzling how McDaniel’s first study could have survived the peer review process for the Journal of Urban Affairs. The mistakes in McDaniel’s first study above should have been obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of ranked choice voting as well as elections in general, and elections in San Francisco specifically. It undermines faith in the credibility of the peer review process to think that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the egregious errors and reject McDaniel’s sloppy research and paper. And it remains a black mark on political science that this thoroughly discredited study has been cited dozens of times by other researchers. Indeed, in our research paper it became apparent that many political scientists cite each other’s flawed research to pad their list of citations and to legitimize their own flawed research, creating an unvirtuous circle of political science. More broadly, McDaniel’s voter turnout studies, like other studies evaluating RCV’s impact on turnout, lacked a recognition that no credible opinion or research can claim that RCV increases voter turnout merely because so many voters are excited to vote for their favorite candidates instead of “lesser evil” candidates without worrying about spoilers. Instead, with respect to turnout, the advantage of RCV has always been that, in most places where it has been used, it has eliminated a pre-November primary or post-November runoff, which usually saw about half the turnout of the November general election. This is especially true during even years when there are state and federal elections on the ballot which substantially drive turnout more than local contests. Any study that does not adequately account for this non-November primary/runoff vs November general election dynamic, or odd year vs even year election factors, is simply not credible. Both of McDaniel’s studies largely failed on those grounds. Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to a $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS…your digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe