SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " Line " 18,710 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Fake Spa Listings Take Deposits, Then Send Customers to Real Businesses
Customers searching online for a late-night massage around Jackson, Mississippi, are finding spa listings with real street addresses, glowing reviews, and around-the-clock availability. The businesses...
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.
Mets at Brewers, 7/20/26: Peralta vs Misiorowski
Luis Robert, Jr. returns to the lineup for the first time since April
Darline Graham’s Political Views Largely Unknown As She Launches Senate Campaign
Lindsey Graham became his sister’s legal guardian after their parents died when she was 13.
iPhone 18 Pro Release Date: Apple’s 15-Year Event Timeline Signals Exact Date
As rumors build, analysis of every fall iPhone release indicates one date above other possibilities.
UF Health appoints regional hospital COO for Greater Gainesville
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Donnie McLaughlin, FACHE, M.B.A., has joined University of Florida Health as chief operating officer for UF Health Shands Hospital. With…
Democrats avoid a messy fight in Maine, but uncertainty lingers: From the Politics Desk
Plus, Darline Graham to seek full Senate term in South Carolina.
CAITLIN CLARK, PAIGE BUECKERS, AND OLIVIA MILES HEADLINE USA SPORTS’ THREE WNBA GAMES ON USA NETWORK THIS WEEK, BEGINNING TONIGHT WITH LYNX-STORM AT 10 P.M. ET
A global media and technology company.
Jalen Hurts Gets Reasonable Warning Before Eagles Training Camp
Like every year, there are plenty of NFL players with a lot on the line heading into the new season. For the Philadelphia Eagles, the quarterback Jalen Hurts might have more pressure than anybody. It’s nothing new for Hurts. Even months after he was named the Super Bowl MVP, the star quarterback went into the […] The post Jalen Hurts Gets Reasonable Warning Before Eagles Training Camp appeared first on HEAVY.
Apple Watch Series 12 Coming in September With These New Features
With the Apple Watch Series 12 now just two months away, we have created a recap of rumored new features, with some more likely than others. Below, we have outlined everything rumored so far for the Apple Watch Series 12. More Likely New Chip After One-Year Hiatus While the Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and Apple Watch SE 3 all contain the same S10 chip as the previous year's models, leaked Apple code showed the Apple Watch Series 12 will get a new chip.
Kovert Creative Adds Mallory Morehead Pritzl To Entertainment PR Team
Sony Pictures TV's Mallory Morehead Pritzl Joins Kovert Creative Entertainment PR Team.
'I'm in.' Darline Graham says she will run for a full term in Lindsey Graham's Senate seat
The entrance of Darline Graham into the Republican scramble to select a new Senate nominee further complicates an already rushed process following Lindsey Graham's death earlier this month.
WhatsApp begins rolling out Liquid Glass revamp to its Mac app
WhatsApp is now rolling out its Liquid Glass redesign to the Mac app, bringing it in line with the iPhone and iPad versions.
Dodgers make first trade deadline move, pick up injured reliever Seth Halvorsen from Rockies
Sen. Darline Graham will seek full term to her late brother’s seat
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) appointed her last week to temporarily fill the Senate seat of her brother, Lindsey Graham.
Sen. Darline Graham running for full Senate term after being appointed to Lindsey Graham’s seat
Sen. Darline Graham announced that she will run for her late brother’s seat this November, after being appointed last week to serve out the rest of Lindsey Graham’s term.
G.O.P. Boxed In on Iran War as Trump Sidelines Congress
Republicans now face a worst-case political scenario of being asked to fund an unpopular war over which they have exercised little oversight.
The Pixel 11 Pro showed up on one of Google’s websites
Images of the Pixel 11 lineup have already surfaced, but those uncovered images didn’t come with loads of confidence. New...
Jeff Arcuri On Katie Thurston Cancer, Netflix Special
Jeff Arcuri talks his wife Katie Thurston's cancer battle and telling that story in his debut Netflix special on the 'Comedy Means Business' podcast.
Greg Sankey outlines SEC's priorities amid changing college sports landscape
Sankey did not make any sweeping pronouncements during his 50-minute address to open SEC Media Days on Monday, but his remarks made many of his stances clear.
3 storylines for Alabama football entering 2026 SEC media days
Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is likely to speak on a variety of topics at 2026 SEC media days, most notably the Crimson Tide's quarterback battle.
Yankees must consider trading these 5 players after Dodgers series
New York must have a busy trade deadline to keep their World Series hopes alive.
Anthropic's life sciences plans: Mystery programs, Nobel hires, M&A and big ambition
Anthropic pushes into life sciences with a $400M Coefficient Bio deal, Nobel hire John Jumper, Claude Science launch and its own drug pipeline.
AMC Entertainment (AMC) Q2 Earnings: Taking a Look at Key Metrics Versus Estimates
The headline numbers for AMC Entertainment (AMC) give insight into how the company performed in the quarter ended June 2026, but it may be worthwhile to compare some of its key metrics to Wall Street estimates and the year-ago actuals.
AMC Entertainment Shares Surge On Upbeat Q2 Report, Windfall From ‘The Odyssey’
The world’s biggest theater chain saw its shares surge as it posted the highest quarterly revenue in its history for the three months ended in June.
Josh Pate on CFB Controversies and Media Landscape
Josh Pate on Michigan football, Brendan Sobe, the NCAA's decline, and his growing platform at ESPN.
This Week: Muni 1 Bus Improvements, Car Free Happy Hour, SF Politics 101
Here is a list of events this week. Tuesday Park Presidio and California Evening Pop-Up. This SFMTA project aims to improve the Muni 1 California bus route from 33rd Avenue to Steiner Street. Come learn about it. Tuesday, July 21, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Corner of Park Presidio and California, S.F. Tuesday East Bay Car Free Happy Hour. Whether you’re car free, car light, car free curious, or just want to hang out with fun people and have nerdy urbanist conversations, everyone is welcome. Tuesday, July 21, 5:30-7 p.m., Drake’s Dealership, 2325 Broadway, Oakland. Wednesday SF Politics 101 with Joel Engardio. SF Politics 101 is an entertaining look at how local politics work and the history that shaped San Francisco — brought to life with visuals and narrative storytelling. Wednesday, July 22, 6-7:15 p.m., SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street, S.F. Friday Woman and Non-Binary Morning Ride. Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for a socially distanced bike ride for women and nonbinary cyclists. Friday, July 24, 7:15-8:45 a.m., McLaren Lodge, 501 Stanyan Street, S.F. Saturday Smart City Cycling 3 — Road Practice. In this class, you’ll go on a guided group ride to practice street-riding skills on increasingly high-volume streets. This class is the third in the Smart City Cycling sequence, and Smart City Cycling 2: Maneuvering is a prerequisite. Saturday, July 25, 10 a.m.-12 p.m., Arguello Extension, Arguello Blvd and Lincoln Way, S.F. Sunday Adult & Teen Learn-to-Ride Workshop. This three-hour workshop is for adults and teens who have not yet learned to ride a bike or would like a refresher on the basics of balancing, pedaling, and steering. Sunday, July 26, Alameda Waterfront Park, 2151 Ferry Point, Alameda. Got an event we should know about? Drop us a line.
Mz. Shyneka has the latest in entertainment headlines
Drake loses a ton of money after a World Cup bet. Plus, was Cardi B on a date with a soccer player?
Where science meets the shoreline, Iowa Lakeside Laboratory builds for the future
Construction is underway on a new Innovation and Discovery Lab at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory that will expand hands-on learning for students of all ages. The new space will also support research to better understand and protect the water quality of the Iowa Great Lakes.
Republicans defy Trump, jump into South Carolina Senate race despite his handpicked successor
Trump endorsed Darline Graham for Lindsey Graham's Senate seat, but Ralph Norman and Russell Fry are jumping into the GOP primary race anyway.
Omnicom to merge Mediahub and Hearts & Science
Hearts & Science's Garrett O'Reilly will become UK chief executive of the merged global entity.
Tarik Skubal landing spots: Eight teams that could land ace at deadline (and why the Tigers may just keep him)
The Tigers ace is the hottest commodity on the market leading up to Aug. 3, but his availability isn't a sure thing
Two Broncos Linemen Named To ‘All-Backup’ Team
The Denver Broncos have plenty of depth, and these two linemen were recognized for it in a different way.
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
Bills OL Alec Anderson joins 'GMFB' to discuss Joe Brady as HC and importance of mental health
Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Alec Anderson wakes up with "GMFB" to discuss new head coach Joe Brady and why mental health awareness is important in the NFL.
Bluehost Expands AI Business Platform with New Simple-to-Use AI & Agentic Solutions Purpose-Built for Small Business
Today, Bluehost, the all-in-one platform trusted by millions of small businesses to build, grow, and run online, today unveiled its next-generation AI business platform for small businesses, introducing intelligent AI agents that can build websites, run online stores, capture leads, answer customer questions, and book appointments, all without requiring technical expertise. The solutions are purpose-built for small business needs, giving entrepreneurs the capabilities of a much larger business w
How Fox News, MS NOW and CNN Are Building Beyond the Cable Bundle
Fox News, MS NOW and CNN are using profitable linear TV businesses to invest in streaming, memberships and digital products.
An 8-Seat Mazda Is Faster And Lighter Than A 420-HP Dodge Charger R/T
New test data shows the three-row CX-90 with an inline-six is lighter than a Charger R/T and faster at the top
HHS vaccine committee quietly gets new charter
Lax clinical oversight for online GLP-1 prescriptions, proposed financial help for people who want to quit smoking, and more health news
Ardmore’s downtown business district has a new name and launching new programs
Now, the organization formerly known as the Ardmore Initiative has changed its name to the Downtown Ardmore District to better reflect who it is.
MLB News: Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Trade Deadline, Ken Griffey Jr, Red Sox streak
Plus, is Paul Skenes better than ever?
Young people prefer to watch than join when it comes to politics
A poll found that nearly half of young people under age 30 prefer to engage politically by liking or sharing news content online.
Ray Veeraraghavan joins L7 Informatics as VP science and AI
Indian American health executive to advance agentic AI platform across scientific workflows at life sciences firm.
Six AMC theaters showed THE ODYSSEY for more than 85 hours
THE ODYSSEY's media-reported domestic gross reached approximately $124M; Rotten Tomatoes scores were 95% from critics and 97% from audiences. Ticket information is online.
AMC Entertainment Attracts More Than 4.3 Million Moviegoers Worldwide as THE ODYSSEY Delivers the Biggest Opening Weekend for an R-rated Film Across AMC’s U.S. Circuit Since 2024
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC), the largest theatrical exhibitor in the United States and the world, today announced that more than 4.3 million...
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results, Delivering the Highest Quarterly Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in Its 106-Year History
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMC) (“AMC” or “the Company”) today reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, which have been post...
Argentina 2026 FIFA World Cup™ Final Mini-Movie 🇪🇸🇦🇷🎥
Spain and Argentina met on football’s biggest stage with the FIFA World Cup™ trophy on the line. Relive the emotion, intensity and unforgettable moments from the 2026 FIFA World Cup™ Final in the official FOX Sports Mini-Movie.
Cleveland Browns 2026 training camp position preview: Offensive line
The Browns open training camp with a completely new offensive line. Here's a look at the position group.
Commentary: Hollywood's guaranteed paydays for stars are bad bets now
Rather than making a summer splash, Disney’s live-action "Moana" remake floundered at the box office. Opening with $43 million domestically against a $250 million production budget, the film is already
Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link may have been cancelled, but that hasn't stopped footage of Keyblade-wielding astronauts from leaking online
A year has passed since the game was canned, but this new snippet shows it's not lacking in wackiness.
George Deek’s Story Offers a Rebuttal to Politics of Blame and Hatred
In a sharply argued opinion piece, Felice Friedson […]
Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) Opens Record Coaster As Investors Ask If The Stock Is A Bargain
Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) just opened Tormenta: Rampaging Run at Six Flags Over Texas, a record-setting giga dive coaster that could influence how investors think about the company’s park assets and guest appeal. See our latest analysis for Six Flags Entertainment. Despite the buzz around Tormenta: Rampaging Run, Six Flags Entertainment’s share price has softened recently, with the 30-day share price return down 29.71%, while the 1-year total shareholder return has declined 43.38%,...
As koalas disappear in Australia, scientists build a frozen genetic lifeline
Infertility means fewer joeys are being born, making it harder for populations to recover naturally.
Vote on top offensive linemen in high school football preseason
Take a look at the top offensive linemen in Greater Cincinnati high school football in 2026. Be sure to vote for your favorite of the group.
See the best moments from AC/DC's Camp Randall concert
Relive AC/DC's Power Up Tour performance through photos from Camp Randall with opener The Pretty Reckless.
Atlanta Braves GM Reveals MLB Trade Deadline 'Priority'
The Braves are preparing for the MLB trade deadline.
Hardship Case At Board Of Health Could Have Broad Implications With…
Nantucket Current is the island's leading online news source. We deliver the news, stories, and people of Nantucket, unbiased and unfiltered.
2026 ACC Media Day Storylines: SMU Mustangs
Rhett Lashlee discussed Kevin Jennings’ Heisman campaign, his new coordinators, and more at ACC Media Days.
Could Jimbo Fisher Coach Again at Florida State?
Despite a record-shattering buyout, the former national champion craves a return to the sidelines. Could a struggling program reunite with its winningest coach to reclaim lost glory?
Dodgers Have Array of Prospects to Trade From at Deadline
The Los Angeles Dodgers have plenty of chips to choose from if they choose to deal at this year's Trade Deadline.
Digital Safeguards: How To Safely Vet Virtual Entertainment Platforms In The Modern Era
Virtual entertainment used to be easier to separate. Streaming was streaming. Gaming was gaming. Betting and casino content sat somewhere else. Now the lines are messier. A single platform can
The World Cup's First Halftime Show Did Too Much and Meant Too Little
Madonna, BTS, Justin Bieber, Shakira, and more headlined a spectacle too bland and overstuffed to be memorable
iPhone 18 Pro Release Date: Apple’s 15-Year Event Timeline Signals Exact Date
As rumors build, analysis of every fall iPhone release indicates one date above other possibilities.
Not Greek to them. Scholars question Christopher Nolan\'s \'The Odyssey\'
Greek translator Emily Wilson finds the release of Christopher Nolan's film “The Odyssey” both gratifying and unsatisfying. Her 2017 translation of Homer's epic has surged in popularity. Nolan even cited
After Alan Rangel stumbles, how much longer can Phillies wait on No. 5 spot?
Alan Rangel’s rough outing was another reminder that the Phillies’ No. 5 starter spot is a black hole and remains a glaring deadline issue.
How presidential travel is the ultimate expression of political power
President Donald Trump's luxury plane donated by Qatar is just the latest in a line of aircraft and vehicles that advertise the power of the office.
BTS, Madonna and the Muppets take the World Cup stage
Madonna opened the World Cup halftime show with her 2000 dance-pop hit “Music,” joined by star Brazilian soccer players of yesteryear, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Sunday's show started with an apparently
Apple's scrapped Mac Pro plans reportedly included a new Intel model
A new report reveals Apple developed two unreleased Mac Pro models before discontinuing the line, including one powered by Intel.
AI Is Changing How Businesses Are Found Online. That's Why You Need to Rebuild Your Search Strategy.
Search engines no longer reward the loudest voice. They reward the most trusted one. Here's how to make sure your business is keeping up.
Cowboys Called ‘Logical Landing Spot’ for $118 Million Free Agent
Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox called the Dallas Cowboys a logical landing spot for free-agent inside linebacker Bobby Wagner. The post Cowboys Called ‘Logical Landing Spot’ for $118 Million Free Agent appeared first on HEAVY.
The Air India First Class Lounge Delhi Is Delightful... What A Treat!
The first class section of the Air India Maharaja Lounge Delhi is incredible, and the airline knocked it out of the park. Well done!
Tom Cruise, IShowSpeed, and More to Headline World Cup Closing Ceremony
Tom Cruise, IShowSpeed, Robbie Williams, Laura Pausini, Nicole Scherzinger, and Jennifer Hudson will headline FIFA's star-studded closing ceremony before the 2026 World Cup final at New York New Jerse...
World Cup final entertainment kicks off
The 2026 World Cup comes to an end this morning with a match between Spain and Argentina – and a musical line-up featuring some of the biggest names in entertainment.
Argentina vs. Spain starting lineups today for World Cup Final
See the official starting lineups for Argentina and Spain in the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium.
UCF’s Preston Cushman Focused on Going 1-0 Every Week
The veteran offensive lineman ignores outside noise to anchor a disciplined culture, eyeing a Big 12 resurgence and a chance to become UCF’s first drafted blocker since 2011.
The supercars and super sports cars utilizing electric power, hybrid technology, as well as gasoline
In recent years, there's been a move toward electric power for supercars and super sports cars, or at least a lot of talk of that.
Second person dies of Legionnaires’ disease as New York City cases decline sharply
Upper East Side buildings, including the Met and Guggenheim museums, have cleaned and disinfected their cooling towers, which are believed to be the source of the outbreak.
MLB insider unveils update on Phillies' trade deadline demands
As reported by a senior MLB insider, the Phillies are looking to fill two holes in their roster before the deadline closes.
Parker Arts celebrates 15 years with new entertainment lineup
From memorable performances and inspiring exhibitions to educational classes and cultural events, Parker Arts has become an integral part of the Parker community over the last 15 years, creating unique
Royals' Michael Massey: Out of Sunday's lineup
Royals' Michael Massey: Out of Sunday's lineup
California residents can now delete personal data from brokers through new online platform
Tom Kemp, a representative from Cal Privacy, explained the Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (DROP) on California Politics 360.
An update from Harley, data center woes, and more Milwaukee business news
Rich Kirchen from the Milwaukee Business Journal talks Harley, Southwest Airlines, data centers, and more!
Yankees Get Notable Max Fried Update After First Rehab Start
The New York Yankees have spent the last two months watching their team get picked apart by injuries. Max Fried has not pitched in a major league game since May 13. Carlos Rodón has been dealing with left elbow inflammation. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton remain sidelined on the position player side.The Yankees have stayed […] The post Yankees Get Notable Max Fried Update After First Rehab Start appeared first on HEAVY.
Dr Haridopolos warns about impact of screen time on kids' health
National Health Communications Director Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos outlines the surgeon general's warning on the harmful effects of screen time.
Dr. Haridopolos warns about screen time's impact on kids' health
National Health Communications Director Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos outlines the surgeon general's warning on the harmful effects of screen time.
Competing for the crown: Rivers Casino wants to be the ‘entertainment capital of Hampton Roads’
More than just gambling, Rivers Casino in Portsmouth has restaurants and live touring acts, and aims to be the No. 1 option for entertainment in Hampton Roads.
Amazon-Affiliated Pop-Up Draws Long Lines and Protestors
Hundreds of shoppers waiting in line to go to the Shop Bop pop-up shop in Edgartown last week were met with a group of protesters who urged them to shop at locally-owned businesses.
ESPN ranks Broncos’ starters among NFL’s best
The Denver Broncos have one of the top starting lineups in the NFL, according to ESPN.
Have Scientists Built a Cell from Scratch?
According to recent news headlines, the curiously named SpudCell can feed, grow, reproduce, and undergo selection.
It's Your Business
Dawn Stahl and her husband, Karl, have partnered with Burgess and Cline Insurance owners Kevin and Brooke Feeney to open Bookshop on the Square in Hartfield Book Co.’s old location
Trump ally seeks makeover ahead of critical Arizona governor's race
Gov. Katie Hobbs is considered the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent in a swing state that's been on the 2020 election denier frontlines for years.
Yankees news: Pushing the chips in despite a missing Judge
If Judge returns this year, the Yanks need to be aggressive; deadline targets; Schmidt rehabs; Boone is old-school
Tampa Bay Rays Must Be Aggressive at MLB Trade Deadline After Post-All-Star Skid
The Tampa Bay Rays' post-All-Star slump has only increased the urgency ahead of the MLB trade deadline. With the AL East lead shrinking, Eric Neander may need multiple impact additions, including offensive help and another frontline starter, to keep Tampa Bay in contention.
New Hospital Reflects Commitment to Cherokee Health
Guest Opinion The new W.W. Hastings Hospital did not rise from the ground overnight. It grew from decades of planning, staff dedication, and a belief from everyone involved that Cherokee families deserve state-of-the-art care in the heart of the Cherokee Nation Reservation. That belief is now standing six stories tall in Tahlequah. This $470 million […]
Community health services and resource fair held in Boyle Heights one month after Lineage fire
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline marks 4 years as NC expands mental health crisis services
As the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline marks its fourth anniversary, North Carolina is rolling out new crisis response tools to meet growing demand for mental health support.
Mason McCormick expected to play new position in 2026
The Steelers have a potential All-Pro center in Zach Frazier and two young rising offensive linemen in guard Mason McCormick and tackle Troy Fautanu.
Yankees Get Final Answer on Francisco Lindor Trade Rumors
The New York Yankees won't be looking to land New York Mets star Francisco Lindor at the trade deadline, a report revealed. The post Yankees Get Final Answer on Francisco Lindor Trade Rumors appeared first on HEAVY.