MoviePass ended all subscriber services on Saturday, after its parent company Helios and Matheson announced details of its financial troubles Friday.
Catch up quick: MoviePass' cheap ticketing plans launched with plenty of buzz in 2017, but the company never found a sustainable way to stay afloat. Helios and Matheson is now considering whether to sell the company as a whole to review its "strategic and financial alternatives." MoviePass, which had around 225,000 subscribers in August, sunk shares for Helios and Matheson by roughly 99% in 2018.
Tech companies are ramping up efforts to support news companies as they face pressure to elevate quality news and information ahead of the 2020 election.
Why it matters: Tech titans, particularly Google and Facebook, have been blamed for their role in spreading misinformation during the 2016 election that may have impacted voter turnout or results. They've also been blamed by publishers for cutting into media ad revenues.
A massive labor shortage is expected in the construction industry if the Trump administration wins its legal battle to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from El Salvador, Sudan, Honduras, Nepal, Haiti and Nicaragua, the New York Times reports.
The impact: Roughly 20% of D.C.'s construction workers are in the U.S. due to maintaining their TPS, while almost 46,000 people with TPS are in the Virginia, Maryland and D.C. area overall, per the Center for American Progress.
NASCAR rejected multiple advertisements from firearms companies this summer, muddling the racing organization's stance on Second Amendment issues, according to CNN.
Why it matters: Gun enthusiasts and manufacturers told CNN the rejections stunned them and they fear NASCAR is silently joining the chorus of companies calling for action on gun control and changing their internal policies on guns following recent mass shootings.
CNN and the New York Times will co-host the 4th round of Democratic debates in October, the Democratic National Committee announced on Friday per a NYT report.
Where it stands: 11 candidates have qualified for the debate so far: Every hopeful onstage at September's debate, plus billionaire Tom Steyer. The event near Columbus, Ohio at Otterbein University will be held on Oct. 15, with a possible second night on Oct. 16. Qualifying candidates must poll at 2% in 4 DNC-approved polls and receive donations from 130,000 unique donors.
China is expected to suspend tariff hikes against American pork, soybeans and other agricultural goods ahead of trade talks between the 2 countries, per Chinese state-run media.
Why it matters: This follows President Trump's announcement earlier this week that the U.S. would delay the increase on existing tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods in an attempt to calm trade tensions. The moves may mean both sides could soon be ready to talk about "the prolonged dispute that is threatening global economic growth," writes AP.
A TV ad that ran during Thursday night's Democratic primary debate and targeted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), has garnered backlash against the Republican PAC that bankrolled the commercial and the network that ran it, reports the New York Times.
The impact: Ocasio-Cortez said the ad's creator, a group called New Faces GOP, is essentially writing "a love letter to the G.O.P.’s white supremacist case." Others are questioning why ABC, the network that hosted the 3rd round debate night, approved and ran the ad. Some are calling for a boycott of ABC, per the Times.
Early and unofficial Nielsen ratings on Thursday night's Democratic presidential primary debate well exceeded 10 million viewers, far above other programs on TV that night, CNN reports.
Why it matters: Though the official numbers are set to release Friday afternoon, the preliminary numbers show that interest in the primary process is higher than past primaries.
WeWork tried breathing new life into its IPO this morning with a new filing disclosing significant changes to voting structure, lockups, profit-sharing, and succession-planning.
Why it matters: Almost all of this is about reducing the power of co-founder and CEO Adam Neumann, who remains more controversial among many investors than WeWork's business model.
Walmart is unveiling a grocery delivery subscription service this fall, AP reports.
Why it matters: The big box store is hoping to boost its constituency of time-starved shoppers looking for convenience, and attempting to move strongly into one of the fastest growing e-commerce sectors.
As the streaming wars heat up, consumers are going to have to be choosy about which services they subscribe to, or risk racking up steep monthly bills.
Why it matters: Digital streaming was supposed to break up the expensive cable bundle, but now that so many companies are launching their own services, paying for TV could get even more expensive and complicated.
