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Fitbit’s rolling out Tap to Pay in time for the new school year. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

It’s officially back-to-school season, so Fitbit’s updating its kids-focused Ace LTE smartwatch with some helpful features for parents and children. Namely, it’s adding a Tap to Pay feature, launching two new games, and later this year, will allow users to add siblings as contacts in the Fitbit Ace app.
Tap to Pay was mentioned as “coming soon” when the Ace LTE launched back in May. The idea was to give kids the freedom to buy things on their own, while also allowing parents oversight. To do that, Google — which owns Fitbit — is partnering with Greenlight and GoHenry, which offer debit cards for children and teens. If you have accounts with those services, you’ll be able to add them to the Ace LTE, and kids will be able to use their smartwatch to buy things wherever Google Pay is accepted. If not, Google says you’ll be able to sign up via the Fitbit Ace app for a discount.

The Ace LTE is unique among kids trackers in that it isn’t just a GPS tracker for parents. It also includes several wrist-based video games. With this update, Fitbit’s adding two more to its catalog: Sproutlings and Spirit Garden. The former is a Tamagotchi-like game with virtual pets that you feed and walk around with. The latter has a more meditative concept with guided mindfulness and an element of unlocking land spirits and rebuilding shrines. Like the Apple Watch, the Ace LTE also includes a school time mode to reduce distractions — though parents can program a break for recess.
Later this year, Fitbit says that families will be able to add older and younger siblings as contacts. This includes siblings who have their own phones or those who also have an Ace LTE. That said, there wasn’t any further information regarding how the feature will work or timelines.

Fitbit’s rolling out Tap to Pay in time for the new school year. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

It’s officially back-to-school season, so Fitbit’s updating its kids-focused Ace LTE smartwatch with some helpful features for parents and children. Namely, it’s adding a Tap to Pay feature, launching two new games, and later this year, will allow users to add siblings as contacts in the Fitbit Ace app.

Tap to Pay was mentioned as “coming soon” when the Ace LTE launched back in May. The idea was to give kids the freedom to buy things on their own, while also allowing parents oversight. To do that, Google — which owns Fitbit — is partnering with Greenlight and GoHenry, which offer debit cards for children and teens. If you have accounts with those services, you’ll be able to add them to the Ace LTE, and kids will be able to use their smartwatch to buy things wherever Google Pay is accepted. If not, Google says you’ll be able to sign up via the Fitbit Ace app for a discount.

The Ace LTE is unique among kids trackers in that it isn’t just a GPS tracker for parents. It also includes several wrist-based video games. With this update, Fitbit’s adding two more to its catalog: Sproutlings and Spirit Garden. The former is a Tamagotchi-like game with virtual pets that you feed and walk around with. The latter has a more meditative concept with guided mindfulness and an element of unlocking land spirits and rebuilding shrines. Like the Apple Watch, the Ace LTE also includes a school time mode to reduce distractions — though parents can program a break for recess.

Later this year, Fitbit says that families will be able to add older and younger siblings as contacts. This includes siblings who have their own phones or those who also have an Ace LTE. That said, there wasn’t any further information regarding how the feature will work or timelines.

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Elgato’s Stream Deck Neo is designed to be accessible to everybody, not just streamers. | Image: Elgato

Here at The Verge, we’re big Stream Deck fans. However, Elgato’s programmable macro controllers can be pricey, with the Stream Deck XL and Deck Plus retailing for $249.99 and $199.99, respectively. If you want something more affordable for streamlining your workflow, the Elgato Stream Deck Neo is currently matching its all-time low of $84.99 ($15 off) at Best Buy, Target, and directly from Elgato.

Although you can program Elgato’s compact Neo to perform a variety of shortcuts in macOS or Windows, it comes preloaded with some common actions right out the gate. It sports eight customizable LCD buttons — as opposed to the six on the like-minded last-gen Stream Deck Mini — allowing you to control your smart lights, join or mute a video call, pause notifications in Slack, or perform an infinite number of tasks with the press of a button. The handy desk companion also introduces two capacitive buttons, letting you easily cycle through a number of macro pages with ease as well as a glanceable info display at the bottom so you can keep track of the time and date as you’re working or streaming.

A few more deals to start your day

Now through August 23rd, you can buy the Board Game Night With Dire Wolf & Friends Humble Bundle for as little as $18 from Humble, with all proceeds going toward the World Wildlife Fund. Along with DLC for select titles, the bundle includes digital PC versions of nine award-winning board games from a wide range of genres, so you can conquer Arrakis in Dune: Imperium or the vast wilderness in Root. If you’re looking for something more relaxing, you can even build your own ecosystem in the bird-themed Wingspan, which our sister site Polygon included in their list of the best board games of 2023.
The latest iPad Mini is on sale at Amazon with Wi-Fi and 64GB of storage starting at $379.99 ($119 off), which matches the all-time low we saw during Prime Day. The 8.3-inch tablet is the smallest and most comfortable model in Apple’s lineup, which makes it well suited for both reading and travel. And while Apple’s A15 Bionic chip is getting a little stale, it’s still snappy enough for web browsing, watching TV, and everyday tablet things. Read our review.

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds FE are down to $74.99 ($25 off) at Amazon, which is $5 shy of their lowest price to date. For a pair of wireless earbuds that cost less than a Benjamin, the FE offer great noise cancellation and solid audio performance. The well-designed earbuds also come with two pairs of silicone wing tips for a more secure fit, though you do lose out on multipoint connectivity, wireless charging, and some of the more premium features that have been trickling down to value-based earbuds in recent years. Read our review.

Elgato’s Stream Deck Neo is designed to be accessible to everybody, not just streamers. | Image: Elgato

Here at The Verge, we’re big Stream Deck fans. However, Elgato’s programmable macro controllers can be pricey, with the Stream Deck XL and Deck Plus retailing for $249.99 and $199.99, respectively. If you want something more affordable for streamlining your workflow, the Elgato Stream Deck Neo is currently matching its all-time low of $84.99 ($15 off) at Best Buy, Target, and directly from Elgato.

Although you can program Elgato’s compact Neo to perform a variety of shortcuts in macOS or Windows, it comes preloaded with some common actions right out the gate. It sports eight customizable LCD buttons — as opposed to the six on the like-minded last-gen Stream Deck Mini — allowing you to control your smart lights, join or mute a video call, pause notifications in Slack, or perform an infinite number of tasks with the press of a button. The handy desk companion also introduces two capacitive buttons, letting you easily cycle through a number of macro pages with ease as well as a glanceable info display at the bottom so you can keep track of the time and date as you’re working or streaming.

A few more deals to start your day

Now through August 23rd, you can buy the Board Game Night With Dire Wolf & Friends Humble Bundle for as little as $18 from Humble, with all proceeds going toward the World Wildlife Fund. Along with DLC for select titles, the bundle includes digital PC versions of nine award-winning board games from a wide range of genres, so you can conquer Arrakis in Dune: Imperium or the vast wilderness in Root. If you’re looking for something more relaxing, you can even build your own ecosystem in the bird-themed Wingspan, which our sister site Polygon included in their list of the best board games of 2023.
The latest iPad Mini is on sale at Amazon with Wi-Fi and 64GB of storage starting at $379.99 ($119 off), which matches the all-time low we saw during Prime Day. The 8.3-inch tablet is the smallest and most comfortable model in Apple’s lineup, which makes it well suited for both reading and travel. And while Apple’s A15 Bionic chip is getting a little stale, it’s still snappy enough for web browsing, watching TV, and everyday tablet things. Read our review.

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds FE are down to $74.99 ($25 off) at Amazon, which is $5 shy of their lowest price to date. For a pair of wireless earbuds that cost less than a Benjamin, the FE offer great noise cancellation and solid audio performance. The well-designed earbuds also come with two pairs of silicone wing tips for a more secure fit, though you do lose out on multipoint connectivity, wireless charging, and some of the more premium features that have been trickling down to value-based earbuds in recent years. Read our review.

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Roku is preparing to launch a new 24/7 sports channel across its devices, apps, and on its website. Starting on August 12th, the new Roku Sports Channel will start showing sports-themed content that includes live events, and original content.
Joe Franzetta, who heads Roku’s sports division, describes the channel as a “curated always-on channel that leads our viewer through the wide variety of premium sports content available for free on The Roku Channel.”

The most “premium” of those will be Sunday Leadoff, the live Major League Baseball games Roku got in a broadcast deal with the MLB earlier this year. But the channel will also feature live Formula E races and other sports broadcasts, including archival boxing matches, NBA G-League (minor league basketball) games, and “high-stakes poker entertainment from PokerGO.”

The channel’s originals will include shows like NFL Draft: The Pick Is In and WWE: Next Gen. Folks who want to check it out can do so for free on Roku devices and TVs, the Roku channel site, and in the Roku app on various devices like other smart TVs and iOS and Android phones.

Roku is preparing to launch a new 24/7 sports channel across its devices, apps, and on its website. Starting on August 12th, the new Roku Sports Channel will start showing sports-themed content that includes live events, and original content.

Joe Franzetta, who heads Roku’s sports division, describes the channel as a “curated always-on channel that leads our viewer through the wide variety of premium sports content available for free on The Roku Channel.”

The most “premium” of those will be Sunday Leadoff, the live Major League Baseball games Roku got in a broadcast deal with the MLB earlier this year. But the channel will also feature live Formula E races and other sports broadcasts, including archival boxing matches, NBA G-League (minor league basketball) games, and “high-stakes poker entertainment from PokerGO.”

The channel’s originals will include shows like NFL Draft: The Pick Is In and WWE: Next Gen. Folks who want to check it out can do so for free on Roku devices and TVs, the Roku channel site, and in the Roku app on various devices like other smart TVs and iOS and Android phones.

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Image: HBO

House of the Dragon ended its second season with a reminder that this is all just one part of a much larger story. After spending so much time in its first season just getting its many players on the board, House of the Dragon’s second season appeared poised to let the dragons dance and finally plunge Westeros into a cataclysmic civil war. An escalation of fiery battles and royal treachery felt like the logical next step for a series chronicling how the Targaryens fell from grace in the past and sowed seeds that would go on to save the world in the distant future.
Instead, House of the Dragon’s second chapter put much more focus on the quiet moments that shape history rather than the explosive ones that go on to become legends. The choice made some sense, given HBO’s decision to shorten season 2’s episode count from 10 to eight, and seemed somewhat prescient in the wake of last year’s strikes that put the show’s production on hold.
And while it culminated in a season finale that might not have lived up to everyone’s hopes action-wise, the episode solidified House of the Dragon as a series capable of telling its own powerful stories and adding new depth to A Song of Ice and Fire. That may seem anticlimactic to viewers who wanted big set pieces, but it will likely give the series’ four seasons a more convincing and satisfying arc.

Image: HBO

This has always been a show about characters — the decisions they make and the consequences they face. While dragons laid waste to cities in some of House of the Dragon’s more exciting episodes this past season, the actual tension of the show is the palace intrigue: misinterpretations of one another’s actions continued to be the biggest threats to the realm as the schism within House Targaryen grew even deeper.
Queens Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke) already knew well how calamitous their battle for power would become if it continued to unfold across the Seven Kingdoms. But with both women surrounded by men desperate to see themselves on the Iron Throne, House of the Dragon made clear that their attempts at waging war with caution were doomed from the jump.
In a season that was punctuated by riots, maimings, and senseless bloodshed, House of the Dragon framed Rhaenyra’s quiet time poring over family records as one of the most pivotal moments in the show’s history — not unlike Game of Thrones’ season seven reveal of Jon Snow’s Targaryen heritage. But House of the Dragon was much more transparent than its predecessor about how important illegitimate children — an “army of bastards” — could become if given the chance. And while a few innocent people were burned to death as Rhaenyra tested out her theory, “The Red Sowing,” the penultimate episode, unexpectedly established Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim), Ulf White (Tom Bennett), and Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew) as people who seem fated to help shape Westeros history.
There’s never been any question about how House of the Dragon will end — many of these people die horribly, and House Targaryen falls into ruin. But season 2 spent ample time highlighting how the Black / Green war could have been averted if the two sides could just engage in good faith.

Image: HBO

The finale, “The Queen Who Ever Was,” pulled back on its action to make a larger statement about how — even at this point when war’s all but inevitable — its characters still have the ability to see the situation more clearly and change their minds. The episode gave a deeper and unmistakable meaning to Daemon’s dreams of his past, the present, and Game of Thrones characters like Daenerys and the Night King. His return to Rhaenyra spoke to his understanding of why the Targaryen family needed to be strong for the realm, not just themselves. And that same clarity of mind is what brought Alicent to Dragonstone undercover, ready and willing to surrender King’s Landing in spite of Aemond’s plans.
But war is a machine that’s hard to stop once its gears have been set in motion. And “The Queen Who Ever Was” used its final moments to emphasize how there will be no coming back from the war on the horizon.
That war feels like something House of the Dragon wants to treat as a true turning point for its characters, and this season’s restrained action felt like an intentional choice to save the bombast (and production resources) for the series’ recently announced final two seasons. Pacing issues thoroughly derailed Game of Thrones in its home stretch; House of the Dragon could very well meet a similar fate, but its restraint showed that the writers room might have the patience to resist going too big too soon. After all, this season left little question that the world will burn when the show returns and all of its characters will have little choice but to burn with it.

Image: HBO

House of the Dragon ended its second season with a reminder that this is all just one part of a much larger story.

After spending so much time in its first season just getting its many players on the board, House of the Dragon’s second season appeared poised to let the dragons dance and finally plunge Westeros into a cataclysmic civil war. An escalation of fiery battles and royal treachery felt like the logical next step for a series chronicling how the Targaryens fell from grace in the past and sowed seeds that would go on to save the world in the distant future.

Instead, House of the Dragon’s second chapter put much more focus on the quiet moments that shape history rather than the explosive ones that go on to become legends. The choice made some sense, given HBO’s decision to shorten season 2’s episode count from 10 to eight, and seemed somewhat prescient in the wake of last year’s strikes that put the show’s production on hold.

And while it culminated in a season finale that might not have lived up to everyone’s hopes action-wise, the episode solidified House of the Dragon as a series capable of telling its own powerful stories and adding new depth to A Song of Ice and Fire. That may seem anticlimactic to viewers who wanted big set pieces, but it will likely give the series’ four seasons a more convincing and satisfying arc.

This has always been a show about characters — the decisions they make and the consequences they face. While dragons laid waste to cities in some of House of the Dragon’s more exciting episodes this past season, the actual tension of the show is the palace intrigue: misinterpretations of one another’s actions continued to be the biggest threats to the realm as the schism within House Targaryen grew even deeper.

Queens Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) and Alicent (Olivia Cooke) already knew well how calamitous their battle for power would become if it continued to unfold across the Seven Kingdoms. But with both women surrounded by men desperate to see themselves on the Iron Throne, House of the Dragon made clear that their attempts at waging war with caution were doomed from the jump.

In a season that was punctuated by riots, maimings, and senseless bloodshed, House of the Dragon framed Rhaenyra’s quiet time poring over family records as one of the most pivotal moments in the show’s history — not unlike Game of Thrones’ season seven reveal of Jon Snow’s Targaryen heritage. But House of the Dragon was much more transparent than its predecessor about how important illegitimate children — an “army of bastards” — could become if given the chance. And while a few innocent people were burned to death as Rhaenyra tested out her theory, “The Red Sowing,” the penultimate episode, unexpectedly established Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim), Ulf White (Tom Bennett), and Hugh Hammer (Kieran Bew) as people who seem fated to help shape Westeros history.

There’s never been any question about how House of the Dragon will end — many of these people die horribly, and House Targaryen falls into ruin. But season 2 spent ample time highlighting how the Black / Green war could have been averted if the two sides could just engage in good faith.

The finale, “The Queen Who Ever Was,” pulled back on its action to make a larger statement about how — even at this point when war’s all but inevitable — its characters still have the ability to see the situation more clearly and change their minds. The episode gave a deeper and unmistakable meaning to Daemon’s dreams of his past, the present, and Game of Thrones characters like Daenerys and the Night King. His return to Rhaenyra spoke to his understanding of why the Targaryen family needed to be strong for the realm, not just themselves. And that same clarity of mind is what brought Alicent to Dragonstone undercover, ready and willing to surrender King’s Landing in spite of Aemond’s plans.

But war is a machine that’s hard to stop once its gears have been set in motion. And “The Queen Who Ever Was” used its final moments to emphasize how there will be no coming back from the war on the horizon.

That war feels like something House of the Dragon wants to treat as a true turning point for its characters, and this season’s restrained action felt like an intentional choice to save the bombast (and production resources) for the series’ recently announced final two seasons. Pacing issues thoroughly derailed Game of Thrones in its home stretch; House of the Dragon could very well meet a similar fate, but its restraint showed that the writers room might have the patience to resist going too big too soon. After all, this season left little question that the world will burn when the show returns and all of its characters will have little choice but to burn with it.

Read More 

Image: Rad Power Bikes

Rad Power Bikes announced a new more affordable, lighter-weight e-bike for urban commuters who just want a cheap, simple way to get around. Dubbed the RadKick, the new bike starts at $1,199, making it the Seattle-based company’s most affordable model yet.
And for those desiring fewer grease stains on their pant cuffs, the RadKick also comes with an optional belt drive in place of a traditional bike chain, which is a first for the company.
The low-step frame, integrated battery pack, and space for a plethora of front- and rear-rack optional add-ons could make this the ideal entry-level bike for anyone curious about electric bikes but perhaps turned off by high prices or the idea of lugging an extremely heavy bike up and down stairs.
In a statement, Rad Power Bikes CEO Phil Molyneux said the RadKick was designed to fill a gap in the company’s lineup, which was identified with the help of customer feedback. That “missing piece,” Molyneux says, was for an e-bike that was lightweight but also affordable to attract more price-conscious consumers.

The RadKick clocks in at a respectable 55lbs, which is about as light as you can get without sacrificing too much power and range — both of which are extremely important to Rad’s US customers.

The RadKick comes in two trims: a seven-speed with a traditional bike chain and a single-speed with a belt drive. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The seven-speed is ideal for anyone who wants a little help when tackling big hills or prefers a more familiar riding experience, while the belt drive offers a smoother ride and requires less maintenance.
The addition of torque sensors, which regulate the motor based on how hard you push the pedals, could also help sweeten the deal for those customers interested in the belt drive version. But you’ll have to pay a little extra, to the tune of $1,399.

Just like the rest of Rad’s lineup, the RadKick is a Class 2 e-bike, with a throttle-assisted top speed of 20mph. The fully integrated 36V/10Ah battery supplies enough juice for up to 35 miles of range, which isn’t as far as some of Rad’s bigger-battery-sporting bikes, but should be enough for most commuters.
But the battery also features the company’s new thermal-resistant epoxy resin and complies with UL 2849 and 2271 standards. (Rad released the new batteries earlier this year as part of an effort to push the entire e-bike industry toward safer, more fire-resistant materials.)
There’s a lot more to like about the RadKick
There’s a lot more to like about the RadKick, including the 500W rear-hub motor, an LCD display with USB-C charging port, hydraulic disc brakes, front and rear fenders, a rear rack with a bamboo shelf, front suspension, and an adjustable stem to accommodate riders as short as five feet, two inches or as tall as six feet, one inch.
It’s great to see Rad continue to innovate on the product sign, even as market conditions get tougher and the business contracts. The post-pandemic bike boom appears to be waning in some respects, and venture-backed bike companies are feeling the pinch. Rad has gone through several rounds of layoffs — the most recent one was last week — and was forced to pull out of the European market to focus exclusively on the US.
And e-bikes are about to get more expensive as exclusions from tariffs on Chinese imports in the US expire, which could cause even more belt-tightening among the major manufacturers. Amid all of this, it’s great to see companies like Rad are still committed to keeping their products affordable and turning more people on to the climate-change-fighting power of electric bikes.

Image: Rad Power Bikes

Rad Power Bikes announced a new more affordable, lighter-weight e-bike for urban commuters who just want a cheap, simple way to get around. Dubbed the RadKick, the new bike starts at $1,199, making it the Seattle-based company’s most affordable model yet.

And for those desiring fewer grease stains on their pant cuffs, the RadKick also comes with an optional belt drive in place of a traditional bike chain, which is a first for the company.

The low-step frame, integrated battery pack, and space for a plethora of front- and rear-rack optional add-ons could make this the ideal entry-level bike for anyone curious about electric bikes but perhaps turned off by high prices or the idea of lugging an extremely heavy bike up and down stairs.

In a statement, Rad Power Bikes CEO Phil Molyneux said the RadKick was designed to fill a gap in the company’s lineup, which was identified with the help of customer feedback. That “missing piece,” Molyneux says, was for an e-bike that was lightweight but also affordable to attract more price-conscious consumers.

The RadKick clocks in at a respectable 55lbs, which is about as light as you can get without sacrificing too much power and range — both of which are extremely important to Rad’s US customers.

The RadKick comes in two trims: a seven-speed with a traditional bike chain and a single-speed with a belt drive. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The seven-speed is ideal for anyone who wants a little help when tackling big hills or prefers a more familiar riding experience, while the belt drive offers a smoother ride and requires less maintenance.

The addition of torque sensors, which regulate the motor based on how hard you push the pedals, could also help sweeten the deal for those customers interested in the belt drive version. But you’ll have to pay a little extra, to the tune of $1,399.

Just like the rest of Rad’s lineup, the RadKick is a Class 2 e-bike, with a throttle-assisted top speed of 20mph. The fully integrated 36V/10Ah battery supplies enough juice for up to 35 miles of range, which isn’t as far as some of Rad’s bigger-battery-sporting bikes, but should be enough for most commuters.

But the battery also features the company’s new thermal-resistant epoxy resin and complies with UL 2849 and 2271 standards. (Rad released the new batteries earlier this year as part of an effort to push the entire e-bike industry toward safer, more fire-resistant materials.)

There’s a lot more to like about the RadKick, including the 500W rear-hub motor, an LCD display with USB-C charging port, hydraulic disc brakes, front and rear fenders, a rear rack with a bamboo shelf, front suspension, and an adjustable stem to accommodate riders as short as five feet, two inches or as tall as six feet, one inch.

It’s great to see Rad continue to innovate on the product sign, even as market conditions get tougher and the business contracts. The post-pandemic bike boom appears to be waning in some respects, and venture-backed bike companies are feeling the pinch. Rad has gone through several rounds of layoffs — the most recent one was last week — and was forced to pull out of the European market to focus exclusively on the US.

And e-bikes are about to get more expensive as exclusions from tariffs on Chinese imports in the US expire, which could cause even more belt-tightening among the major manufacturers. Amid all of this, it’s great to see companies like Rad are still committed to keeping their products affordable and turning more people on to the climate-change-fighting power of electric bikes.

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Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Disney Plus will soon no longer let you share your password with people outside your household. During an earnings call on Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the crackdown will kick off “in earnest” this September.
The timeline for Disney’s password-sharing crackdown has been a bit confusing so far. In February, Disney announced plans to roll out paid sharing and also began notifying users about the change. It then launched paid sharing in a “few countries” in June but provided no information on when it would reach the US.

But now, it seems like Disney is pretty serious about rolling out paid sharing to more subscribers in September — even though it still hasn’t shared details on how much it will cost. Netflix, which rolled out paid sharing last year, charges an extra $7.99 per month to add another person to your account. “We’ve had no backlash at all to the [paid sharing] notifications that have gone out and to the work that we’ve already been doing,” Iger says.
On top of the crackdown, Disney is raising prices across Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus starting in October. Iger says he’s “not concerned” about losing subscribers over the price increase since the company is also adding ABC News Live and curated playlists that give the company “pricing leverage.”
With Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus turning a profit for the first time this quarter, Disney is likely looking to maintain that profitability with price increases and paid sharing.

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Disney Plus will soon no longer let you share your password with people outside your household. During an earnings call on Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the crackdown will kick off “in earnest” this September.

The timeline for Disney’s password-sharing crackdown has been a bit confusing so far. In February, Disney announced plans to roll out paid sharing and also began notifying users about the change. It then launched paid sharing in a “few countries” in June but provided no information on when it would reach the US.

But now, it seems like Disney is pretty serious about rolling out paid sharing to more subscribers in September — even though it still hasn’t shared details on how much it will cost. Netflix, which rolled out paid sharing last year, charges an extra $7.99 per month to add another person to your account. “We’ve had no backlash at all to the [paid sharing] notifications that have gone out and to the work that we’ve already been doing,” Iger says.

On top of the crackdown, Disney is raising prices across Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus starting in October. Iger says he’s “not concerned” about losing subscribers over the price increase since the company is also adding ABC News Live and curated playlists that give the company “pricing leverage.”

With Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus turning a profit for the first time this quarter, Disney is likely looking to maintain that profitability with price increases and paid sharing.

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The crimson red ‘Apex Edition’ OnePlus Open is a stunner, and the color isn’t the only thing that’s different about it. Based on all the leaks and Google’s own marketing, we already know that the upcoming Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a design quite similar to last year’s OnePlus Open. OnePlus doesn’t (yet) have a new foldable ready to take on the latest from Google and Samsung, so for the time being, it’s instead releasing a limited edition of the Open in a crimson red color. That’s one way to squeeze some more juice out of the thing, right?
Priced at $1,899.99, the OnePlus Open Apex Edition is completely specced out with 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM. Aside from the color, the company has made some other very minor hardware tweaks with this version: the alert slider switch is thinner with a carved-out splash of orange in the middle, for example.

The alert slider has been redesigned for this limited edition model.

OnePlus’ press release says this about the “crimson shadow” color: “the darker, almost veiled tone offers a sense of mystery and evocation, hinting at an enduring timelessness.” The red is applied to the faux leather back cover and the camera ring, and OnePlus includes a matching case for the device in the box.
I’ve been carrying the Apex Edition around New York City for a few days now and have gotten plenty of questions about it. It’s a looker, and this is also the first time I’ve gotten familiar with the Open’s design after many months of using a Pixel Fold. Spoiler: this is the way, and I’m now very glad Google is making the switch to a similar approach.

It’s a very good color. The leather is still fake, however.

And damn, this company sure did come up with a great system for multitasking. Allison covered a lot of it in her review, so check that out. The long and short of it is that OnePlus’ gestures and multi-app experiences feel surprisingly intuitive in very little time.

The crease is somewhat visible but you rarely ever feel it when using the Open, which I can’t say about the Pixel Fold.

But there are also some things about OnePlus’ software that I find mystifying. Here are a few:

You can only have four apps in each row on the homescreen, and that’s really messing with my usual layout. Where are my grid customization options? I can’t even fit Gmail into the dock.
There’s no way to disable the Google Discover feed that’s to the left of your homescreen. Bizarre. Most other Android phones let you turn this off with a simple toggle.
Whenever you close all of your apps — yes, I still do this — the phone displays a useless “your system is now in optimal condition” message. Great. Thanks.
The alphabetical ordering of the app tray is nonsensical. Because the “craigslist” app uses lowercase, it’s placed before Calculator. Make it make sense.
Just like on iOS, OnePlus puts a dot next to recently updated or newly installed apps. This drives me mad and cannot be turned off, and so I have no choice but to open every app just to clear the dots and restore order.

So far, I’m a fan of the camera and that Hasselblad “master” mode.

One new software feature called VIP Mode is totally exclusive to the Apex Edition. And I’ve gotta say that it feels pretty tacked on. When you push the alert slider to its top position, you enter this mode. Here’s what OnePlus claims that it does:
VIP Mode locks the security chip to create a completely secure and private environment where all microphones and cameras on the phone are disabled, and advertising tracking is heavily restricted through chip-level permission encryption powered by the secure chip. VIP mode also prevents chat information from being viewed or recorded by apps without permission.

Unless you’ve got a supremely confidential job, I’m not sure you’d ever need VIP Mode.

I’m not some hotshot CEO, so maybe I just don’t have the right appreciation for VIP Mode. Either way, I wish I could customize the alert slider to do something else when I put it in that position instead of being stuck with this mode I’ll rarely need.
But back to the hardware: there’s just a lot I’ve come to enjoy about the OnePlus Open in a matter of days. The inner display’s screen protector has an anti-reflective quality that makes it easy to see in a variety of lighting conditions. The speakers sound noticeably better than those on the Pixel Fold. And I’m again impressed by OnePlus’ proprietary wired charging speeds.

I will never say bad things about red (or orange) phones.

The Apex Edition of the OnePlus Open will be available “while supplies last” when it goes up for purchase on August 8th for $1,899.99. If you don’t need the fancy red color, you can temporarily save a bit on the standard model with 512GB of storage, which will be on sale for $1,399 from August 8th through the 30th. See? It’s pretty clear the company is trying to lure in some Pixel 9 Pro Fold buyers.
Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

The crimson red ‘Apex Edition’ OnePlus Open is a stunner, and the color isn’t the only thing that’s different about it.

Based on all the leaks and Google’s own marketing, we already know that the upcoming Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a design quite similar to last year’s OnePlus Open. OnePlus doesn’t (yet) have a new foldable ready to take on the latest from Google and Samsung, so for the time being, it’s instead releasing a limited edition of the Open in a crimson red color. That’s one way to squeeze some more juice out of the thing, right?

Priced at $1,899.99, the OnePlus Open Apex Edition is completely specced out with 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM. Aside from the color, the company has made some other very minor hardware tweaks with this version: the alert slider switch is thinner with a carved-out splash of orange in the middle, for example.

The alert slider has been redesigned for this limited edition model.

OnePlus’ press release says this about the “crimson shadow” color: “the darker, almost veiled tone offers a sense of mystery and evocation, hinting at an enduring timelessness.” The red is applied to the faux leather back cover and the camera ring, and OnePlus includes a matching case for the device in the box.

I’ve been carrying the Apex Edition around New York City for a few days now and have gotten plenty of questions about it. It’s a looker, and this is also the first time I’ve gotten familiar with the Open’s design after many months of using a Pixel Fold. Spoiler: this is the way, and I’m now very glad Google is making the switch to a similar approach.

And damn, this company sure did come up with a great system for multitasking. Allison covered a lot of it in her review, so check that out. The long and short of it is that OnePlus’ gestures and multi-app experiences feel surprisingly intuitive in very little time.

The crease is somewhat visible but you rarely ever feel it when using the Open, which I can’t say about the Pixel Fold.

But there are also some things about OnePlus’ software that I find mystifying. Here are a few:

You can only have four apps in each row on the homescreen, and that’s really messing with my usual layout. Where are my grid customization options? I can’t even fit Gmail into the dock.
There’s no way to disable the Google Discover feed that’s to the left of your homescreen. Bizarre. Most other Android phones let you turn this off with a simple toggle.
Whenever you close all of your apps — yes, I still do this — the phone displays a useless “your system is now in optimal condition” message. Great. Thanks.
The alphabetical ordering of the app tray is nonsensical. Because the “craigslist” app uses lowercase, it’s placed before Calculator. Make it make sense.
Just like on iOS, OnePlus puts a dot next to recently updated or newly installed apps. This drives me mad and cannot be turned off, and so I have no choice but to open every app just to clear the dots and restore order.

So far, I’m a fan of the camera and that Hasselblad “master” mode.

One new software feature called VIP Mode is totally exclusive to the Apex Edition. And I’ve gotta say that it feels pretty tacked on. When you push the alert slider to its top position, you enter this mode. Here’s what OnePlus claims that it does:

VIP Mode locks the security chip to create a completely secure and private environment where all microphones and cameras on the phone are disabled, and advertising tracking is heavily restricted through chip-level permission encryption powered by the secure chip. VIP mode also prevents chat information from being viewed or recorded by apps without permission.

I’m not some hotshot CEO, so maybe I just don’t have the right appreciation for VIP Mode. Either way, I wish I could customize the alert slider to do something else when I put it in that position instead of being stuck with this mode I’ll rarely need.

But back to the hardware: there’s just a lot I’ve come to enjoy about the OnePlus Open in a matter of days. The inner display’s screen protector has an anti-reflective quality that makes it easy to see in a variety of lighting conditions. The speakers sound noticeably better than those on the Pixel Fold. And I’m again impressed by OnePlus’ proprietary wired charging speeds.

The Apex Edition of the OnePlus Open will be available “while supplies last” when it goes up for purchase on August 8th for $1,899.99. If you don’t need the fancy red color, you can temporarily save a bit on the standard model with 512GB of storage, which will be on sale for $1,399 from August 8th through the 30th. See? It’s pretty clear the company is trying to lure in some Pixel 9 Pro Fold buyers.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

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Image: TCL

It’s been several years since Samsung first launched its popular Frame TV lineup, and now we’re starting to see more brands release their own canvas-like designs. The latest is TCL’s newly announced 4K QLED NXTFrame TV, which has many of the features you’d expect from an “Art TV” — including a magnetic wooden frame, flush-to-wall mount, an “ultra matte” display, and various gallery modes for displaying images.
This follows similar releases like the Hisense CanvasTV and LG’s Posé and Easel TVs that mirror Samsung’s Frame pitch — to disguise the TV itself as a piece of artwork around your home. Third-party accessories like the Leon Studio Frame for Sony’s Bravia range have also appeared to get in on the aesthetic trend, but all-in-one solutions have been limited to Samsung’s original until fairly recently.
The NXTFrame is available in four sizes: the 55-inch ($1,500), 65-inch ($2,000), and 75-inch ($2,500) models, which are available now in the US, and a larger 85-inch model that will arrive in September for $4,000. The pricing here is fairly comparable to the latest version of Samsung’s Frame TV, and the specifications are similar, though Samsung’s 55-inch model comes in a smidge cheaper at $1,300.

Image: TCL
We’re seeing more brands release TVs that are visually near identical to Samsung’s original Frame. The NXTFrame TV (pictured) has taken some obvious inspiration.

TCL is also launching a more expensive NXTFrame Pro series in the same sizes, which starts at $2,000 and comes with upgraded audio courtesy of a Bang & Olufsen 3.1.2 soundbar and wireless subwoofer system. All versions of the TV feature a 144hz variable refresh rate and support HDR10, HDR10 Plus, Dolby Atmos Audio, and AMD FreeSync Premium.

Image: TCL
The NXTFrame Pro series comes with some extra audio goodies, but it still doesn’t come with a table or floor stand (pictured).

The most notable features, however, are those designed to help consumers display the TV as an art piece. There’s an optional movable floor stand for $699.99 that seems partly inspired by Samsung’s Studio Stand. TCL says the NXTFRAME’s off-white bezels blend into “virtually any home décor.” It also comes with a preloaded art library, options to display personal photo galleries, and an AI Art feature that allows users to “curate a customized experience.”
The biggest downside so far is that while TCL includes its magnetic frame for free (as opposed to Samsung and Hisense, which charge extra for them), there’s only a single light wood option available right now. Given there are entire companies dedicated to selling third-party magnetic frames for Samsung’s Frame TV, I imagine we may see other brands release canvas-inspired offerings to carve out their own space in this rising trend for aesthetics-focused displays.

Image: TCL

It’s been several years since Samsung first launched its popular Frame TV lineup, and now we’re starting to see more brands release their own canvas-like designs. The latest is TCL’s newly announced 4K QLED NXTFrame TV, which has many of the features you’d expect from an “Art TV” — including a magnetic wooden frame, flush-to-wall mount, an “ultra matte” display, and various gallery modes for displaying images.

This follows similar releases like the Hisense CanvasTV and LG’s Posé and Easel TVs that mirror Samsung’s Frame pitch — to disguise the TV itself as a piece of artwork around your home. Third-party accessories like the Leon Studio Frame for Sony’s Bravia range have also appeared to get in on the aesthetic trend, but all-in-one solutions have been limited to Samsung’s original until fairly recently.

The NXTFrame is available in four sizes: the 55-inch ($1,500), 65-inch ($2,000), and 75-inch ($2,500) models, which are available now in the US, and a larger 85-inch model that will arrive in September for $4,000. The pricing here is fairly comparable to the latest version of Samsung’s Frame TV, and the specifications are similar, though Samsung’s 55-inch model comes in a smidge cheaper at $1,300.

Image: TCL
We’re seeing more brands release TVs that are visually near identical to Samsung’s original Frame. The NXTFrame TV (pictured) has taken some obvious inspiration.

TCL is also launching a more expensive NXTFrame Pro series in the same sizes, which starts at $2,000 and comes with upgraded audio courtesy of a Bang & Olufsen 3.1.2 soundbar and wireless subwoofer system. All versions of the TV feature a 144hz variable refresh rate and support HDR10, HDR10 Plus, Dolby Atmos Audio, and AMD FreeSync Premium.

Image: TCL
The NXTFrame Pro series comes with some extra audio goodies, but it still doesn’t come with a table or floor stand (pictured).

The most notable features, however, are those designed to help consumers display the TV as an art piece. There’s an optional movable floor stand for $699.99 that seems partly inspired by Samsung’s Studio Stand. TCL says the NXTFRAME’s off-white bezels blend into “virtually any home décor.” It also comes with a preloaded art library, options to display personal photo galleries, and an AI Art feature that allows users to “curate a customized experience.”

The biggest downside so far is that while TCL includes its magnetic frame for free (as opposed to Samsung and Hisense, which charge extra for them), there’s only a single light wood option available right now. Given there are entire companies dedicated to selling third-party magnetic frames for Samsung’s Frame TV, I imagine we may see other brands release canvas-inspired offerings to carve out their own space in this rising trend for aesthetics-focused displays.

Read More 

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images

From Car Throttle to Donut, countless YouTube creators are fleeing. But is this a new trend or a tale as old as venture capital? Where people once got their car news, reviews, and opinions from a few recognizable media empires, today, that’s all changing. An explosion of YouTube channels has been seeing momentum as brands that aren’t just covering car culture but defining it.
This has caused no shortage of consternation for those older, established brands, but lately, even upstart car YouTube channels have had troubles. They’re suffering through a phenomenon playing out across countless “Why I Quit” videos that have collectively served up more beef than the combined discographies of Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
Many of the world’s most popular creators are fleeing the channels they helped make famous. They’re going solo, often not long after those former channels received high-dollar acquisitions. According to endless ponderings and pontifications from YouTubers, influencers, and commenters, profit-minded venture capitalists are sucking the life out of some of the internet’s most popular channels.
Many of the world’s most popular creators are fleeing the channels they helped make famous
Private equity certainly has been blamed for destroying some of our most beloved things over the years, from RadioShack to Toys R Us, but is there something special afoot here in the world of automotive media? Or is this just a new chord added to a familiar and unpleasant tune?
Early momentum
Much of the talk lately has been about Donut Media, a YouTube channel launched by Matt Levin in 2015 that’s been shedding talent left and right. Boasting nearly 9 million subscribers, Donut has had numerous one-off viral videos over the years, but its ongoing series “Up to Speed,” hosted by James Pumphrey, has been a consistent hit. Donut Media was acquired by private equity firm Recurrent Ventures in 2021.
But this trend, such as it is, reaches far beyond that one channel. It’s a little tricky to say exactly when this all kicked off, but according to Tiernan A.I., former technical producer at Donut, the canary in the coal mine was Alex Kersten.
Kersten was a major contributor at Car Throttle, an automotive website that launched in 2009 and, since kicking off its YouTube channel in 2011, has grown to over 3 million subscribers.
But Kersten left the site back in 2022, after a decade there, to launch his own YouTube channel, Autoalex Cars. Two other popular hosts, Ethan Smale and Jack Joy, also left Car Throttle quite publicly in April of this year.

“I feel like that was kind of the first big one, where it was someone who not only left but is also publicly expressing some of the reasons why they left,” A.I. said.
Kersten’s departure came three years after Car Throttle was acquired by Dennis Publishing, which, at the time, also owned major British motoring publications Auto Express and Evo. In 2023, Car Throttle was acquired again, this time by Crash Media Group.
“Then there’s sort of like this slow percolation until you get the situation at Hoonigan,” A.I. said. Hoonigan, the brand made famous by Ken Block, was acquired by aftermarket wheel company Wheel Pros in 2021, itself backed by the private equity group Clearlake Capital. Two years later, after pruning away much of the enthusiast-minded content that formerly defined Hoonigan, Wheel Pros rebranded itself as Hoonigan.
“I think a lot of us were sort of appalled by that.”
“I think a lot of us were sort of appalled by that,” A.I. said.
If there was a key moment in this evolving landscape, it was the appointment of Vance Johnston as president of Hoonigan. That announcement, featuring Johnston wearing a shirt and tie, was seen by many as being emblematic of Hoonigan truly losing touch with its audience. The news was shared to the /r/Hoonigan subreddit in a thread sarcastically calling Johnston “a true Hoonigan.”
The top-voted comment reads: “The only tyres hes slaying is office seat wheels on carpet.”

Hoonigan appoints Vance Johnston as president to lead the company in its next phase of growth and announces retirement of Randy White as CEO#PrivateEquity #Investment #Acquisition #Leadership #Automotive #Hooniganhttps://t.co/cKtmn8ByD4 pic.twitter.com/9IjH9ZSWNg— Clearlake (@clearlake) December 12, 2023

The knee-jerk treatment of Johnston by the internet at large was vastly unfair (enthusiasts wear uniforms of all sorts), but by the same token, Hoonigan’s PR team clearly could have read the room a little better before signing off on that release. (Hoonigan did not respond to a request for comment.)
Donut departures
While there have been dozens of departures at many brands in the time since, few have set tongues wagging like the very public departures of Jeremiah Burton and Zach Jobe from Donut Media.
In June, the pair announced their departure with a YouTube video that launched their new channel, BigTime, while simultaneously throwing shade at Recurrent Ventures, the private equity firm that acquired Donut Media back in late 2021.

Burton and Jobe expressed frustration about how the creative process changed, from experimenting and failing fast to constantly having to make hits. “We just got to where we were trying to make videos that we knew would do well,” Burton said in the video. “Instead of making videos that we just wanted to do. And when you have to convince people who are paying for it to do the videos you want to do, it gets old fast,” Jobe said.
Though perhaps the most public, those were far from the only departures, following that of Jesse Wood, the brand’s CCO, who left in February after eight years at Donut.
“The early people who were there eight or nine years ago, probably the only one left is James Pumphrey,” A.I. said.
Since I last spoke with A.I., Pumphrey confirmed months of speculation by bowing out of Donut. Pumphrey issued a lengthy video, which includes the usual explanations and well-wishings to those who remain, before introducing his new brand, Speeed, launched with Wood.

A.I. left Donut in January, putting his own video on YouTube last month with his take on what’s happening in automotive media. Even automotive creator heavyweight Doug DeMuro, who has nearly 5 million subscribers on his automotive channel, has weighed in.
To address all the angst, Donut Media’s new editor-in-chief, Nolan Sykes, and creative director Max Maddox hosted a Reddit AMA to discuss the extensive changes, promising a stubborn commitment to the brand. “I am bullheaded about sticking to the tenets that made Donut successful in the first place,” Sykes said. “At the end of the day I want everything to be funny, informative and entertaining. I also want to go fast.”
When approached for a comment, Donut cofounder and former CEO Matt Levin said, “I’ve had the privilege of working with all these brilliant, creative folks, and it’s wonderful to see them all growing into the next phase of their careers. I’m loving what Jeremiah and Zach are doing on Big Time, I’m super excited to see what James and Jesse have cooked up with Speeed, and of course I’m thrilled to see Nolan and Max finally get their chance to step into the spotlight and usher in a new era of Donut. As a fan of all of them, I’ve got three times as many videos to watch.”
Other perspectives
Donut isn’t the only automotive property owned by Recurrent Ventures. It also acquired The Drive, which launched with a splash as part of Time Inc. in 2015, along with an extensive portfolio of non-automotive media brands like Bob Vila and Popular Science.
It’s the state of Donut under the brand’s leadership that has raised the most ire among fans, many of whom claim they’ll never watch another of the channel’s videos now that their favorite hosts have departed. Despite those protests, the Donut YouTube channel currently stands at 8.8 million subscribers, up from the roughly 5 million subscribers the brand had when it was acquired by Recurrent Ventures.
“As a fan of all of them, I’ve got three times as many videos to watch.”
Mike Spinelli, a former VP of content at Recurrent Ventures and current head of content at Motorsport Network, says that these new media brands have a lot to learn about managing talent.
“In TV and movies, talent is everything,” he said, where contract renegotiations are commonplace. “But I don’t know whether these sort of kinds of media companies we’re talking about really understand or are used to dealing with talent in that way.”
Claims of pressure and interference are a common refrain by anyone who’s ever worked for a brand owned by private equity. Alanis King has. King, now editor-at-large for Motorsport Network (owned by GMF Capital), was previously an editor at Jalopnik when it was acquired by Great Hill Partners. King made a remarkably balanced video detailing her perspective on the current situation in automotive media.

“It’s not possible, really, ever, to grow at the rates that investment firms want,” King said. “The people creating stuff say, ‘Hey, that’s not possible.’ The people funding the stuff say, ‘We don’t really care. Do more.’ And you just end up with this conflict of ideas and expectations.”
This nonstop pressure also contributes to automotive media’s notable lack of diversity. When there’s always pressure to perform, there’s less time to groom new talent or perspectives.
“I don’t know whether these sort of kinds of media companies we’re talking about really understand or are used to dealing with talent in that way”
King, who cohosted the Donut Racing Show podcast with Elizabeth Blackstock, US editor at Planet F1, constantly found herself defending the podcast’s existence: “You have two female hosts on this show. It doesn’t do as well as the main show that’s been around a lot longer, but you have voices here that you don’t have on camera in a lot of other areas of your business. That’s a big deal,” King said.
Donut Racing Show was canceled in 2023 after one year.
The bigger picture
King believes there is a bigger movement at play. “I do think it’s a broader trend because we’ve seen so many people leave big platforms to start their own thing and be pretty successful. I think it will continue happening elsewhere,” she said. “It’s just one of those things where you see other people being successful, and you go, ‘I can do that too.’”
But not everybody can. YouTube paid out an astonishing $70 billion to creators in the past three years. However, it has 113.9 million active channels, according to Global Media Insight. That works out to roughly $200 per creator per year if you portion it out evenly — but of course, it’s the top channels earning the vast majority of that revenue.
Even those who find true success may be a little less free than they’d hoped, trading one corporate devil in a suit for another more nebulous one: the algorithm.
“It’s not possible, really, ever, to grow at the rates that investment firms want.”
Full-time YouTubers love to complain about how YouTube’s mysterious algo is constantly keeping them down, an ever-evolving set of largely unpublished rules and word-of-mouth guidelines any creator must follow, lest they be deranked.
Ever wonder why so many videos have big pictures of people making shocked expressions? YouTube Face is a thing, proven to drive higher engagement. There’s also pressure to make videos at least eight minutes long, the minimum length for a mid-roll ad.
There’s pressure to constantly grow, too. Hot channels get promoted, while anything that plateaus will struggle. “The good thing about YouTube is you can do it at any level. The problem is, you kind of always have to move forward, or else you fall,” Spinelli said. “I wish there were more opportunities for YouTubers to do whatever content they want, but the reality of getting surfaced to an audience is that you have to serve the algorithm to a certain extent.”
There are endless rules written lightly on the shifting sands of the YouTube platform, and it’s now up to those creators to figure it out themselves.
To A.I., dealing with the pressures and whims of a platform is preferable. “Every decision that I make is not because I’m at the mercy of an algorithm. It’s because I’m at the mercy of an audience, and that’s not really a new phenomenon,” he said.
But it comes with additional pressures. “Before I left, I didn’t realize how much stuff I didn’t know. I think, honestly, I was a bit arrogant about it,” A.I. said. “And so now I’m running two YouTube channels [Overdrive and AutoTea] where I’m pretty much doing everything.”
It’s fun to hate on private equity and venture capital, but being part of a larger enterprise has benefits, like dedicated SEO experts, established sales teams, and photographers who’ve been briefed on the ins and outs of perfect YouTube Face.
“Every decision that I make is not because I’m at the mercy of an algorithm”
Spinelli believes it’s time for equity firms to recalibrate these relationships. “I think there’s an opportunity for larger media companies to be able to help creators do the things that they don’t want to do, or that aren’t creative,” he said. “The sales side, the business side, but then leave them to be able to create the kind of content they want to create.”
Too often, it doesn’t happen that way. “If they are trying to conform the channel to their existing business model, it’s not going to end well for either,” he said.
Pointing fingers
At the end of the day, is there truly something going on? Yes, there’s clearly momentum here, but the causes are nothing new, and pointing the finger at investment firms is missing the bigger picture.
Simply put, these channels are maturing. When brands get as big as Donut or Hoonigan, they almost always evolve. Whether they sell out or simply ossify into their own corporate structures, the net result will be similar: more pressure to do better than last week. With or without equity investment, this cycle is inevitable.
It also comes down to ownership stakes. Many of those departure videos call out a lack of payouts during acquisitions of the brands they helped to grow. That they didn’t get a piece of the pie is not the fault of private equity; it’s the fault of the channel creators.
Lately, these departures seem to be less about struggling against corporate oppression and more about peer pressure. Whenever you’re in a frustrating situation professionally, if you see a friend or colleague pull the proverbial rip cord and go off to do something different, it’s increasingly tempting to deploy your own parachute.
Not all will have soft landings. The creator economy can only support so many. But in a new age of media driven by individual personality and unconstrained voice, it’s increasingly clear that traditional investment arrangements and the expectations they bring are past due for some evolution.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images

From Car Throttle to Donut, countless YouTube creators are fleeing. But is this a new trend or a tale as old as venture capital?

Where people once got their car news, reviews, and opinions from a few recognizable media empires, today, that’s all changing. An explosion of YouTube channels has been seeing momentum as brands that aren’t just covering car culture but defining it.

This has caused no shortage of consternation for those older, established brands, but lately, even upstart car YouTube channels have had troubles. They’re suffering through a phenomenon playing out across countless “Why I Quit” videos that have collectively served up more beef than the combined discographies of Drake and Kendrick Lamar.

Many of the world’s most popular creators are fleeing the channels they helped make famous. They’re going solo, often not long after those former channels received high-dollar acquisitions. According to endless ponderings and pontifications from YouTubers, influencers, and commenters, profit-minded venture capitalists are sucking the life out of some of the internet’s most popular channels.

Private equity certainly has been blamed for destroying some of our most beloved things over the years, from RadioShack to Toys R Us, but is there something special afoot here in the world of automotive media? Or is this just a new chord added to a familiar and unpleasant tune?

Early momentum

Much of the talk lately has been about Donut Media, a YouTube channel launched by Matt Levin in 2015 that’s been shedding talent left and right. Boasting nearly 9 million subscribers, Donut has had numerous one-off viral videos over the years, but its ongoing series “Up to Speed,” hosted by James Pumphrey, has been a consistent hit. Donut Media was acquired by private equity firm Recurrent Ventures in 2021.

But this trend, such as it is, reaches far beyond that one channel. It’s a little tricky to say exactly when this all kicked off, but according to Tiernan A.I., former technical producer at Donut, the canary in the coal mine was Alex Kersten.

Kersten was a major contributor at Car Throttle, an automotive website that launched in 2009 and, since kicking off its YouTube channel in 2011, has grown to over 3 million subscribers.

But Kersten left the site back in 2022, after a decade there, to launch his own YouTube channel, Autoalex Cars. Two other popular hosts, Ethan Smale and Jack Joy, also left Car Throttle quite publicly in April of this year.

“I feel like that was kind of the first big one, where it was someone who not only left but is also publicly expressing some of the reasons why they left,” A.I. said.

Kersten’s departure came three years after Car Throttle was acquired by Dennis Publishing, which, at the time, also owned major British motoring publications Auto Express and Evo. In 2023, Car Throttle was acquired again, this time by Crash Media Group.

“Then there’s sort of like this slow percolation until you get the situation at Hoonigan,” A.I. said. Hoonigan, the brand made famous by Ken Block, was acquired by aftermarket wheel company Wheel Pros in 2021, itself backed by the private equity group Clearlake Capital. Two years later, after pruning away much of the enthusiast-minded content that formerly defined Hoonigan, Wheel Pros rebranded itself as Hoonigan.

“I think a lot of us were sort of appalled by that,” A.I. said.

If there was a key moment in this evolving landscape, it was the appointment of Vance Johnston as president of Hoonigan. That announcement, featuring Johnston wearing a shirt and tie, was seen by many as being emblematic of Hoonigan truly losing touch with its audience. The news was shared to the /r/Hoonigan subreddit in a thread sarcastically calling Johnston “a true Hoonigan.”

The top-voted comment reads: “The only tyres hes slaying is office seat wheels on carpet.”

The knee-jerk treatment of Johnston by the internet at large was vastly unfair (enthusiasts wear uniforms of all sorts), but by the same token, Hoonigan’s PR team clearly could have read the room a little better before signing off on that release. (Hoonigan did not respond to a request for comment.)

Donut departures

While there have been dozens of departures at many brands in the time since, few have set tongues wagging like the very public departures of Jeremiah Burton and Zach Jobe from Donut Media.

In June, the pair announced their departure with a YouTube video that launched their new channel, BigTime, while simultaneously throwing shade at Recurrent Ventures, the private equity firm that acquired Donut Media back in late 2021.

Burton and Jobe expressed frustration about how the creative process changed, from experimenting and failing fast to constantly having to make hits. “We just got to where we were trying to make videos that we knew would do well,” Burton said in the video. “Instead of making videos that we just wanted to do. And when you have to convince people who are paying for it to do the videos you want to do, it gets old fast,” Jobe said.

Though perhaps the most public, those were far from the only departures, following that of Jesse Wood, the brand’s CCO, who left in February after eight years at Donut.

“The early people who were there eight or nine years ago, probably the only one left is James Pumphrey,” A.I. said.

Since I last spoke with A.I., Pumphrey confirmed months of speculation by bowing out of Donut. Pumphrey issued a lengthy video, which includes the usual explanations and well-wishings to those who remain, before introducing his new brand, Speeed, launched with Wood.

A.I. left Donut in January, putting his own video on YouTube last month with his take on what’s happening in automotive media. Even automotive creator heavyweight Doug DeMuro, who has nearly 5 million subscribers on his automotive channel, has weighed in.

To address all the angst, Donut Media’s new editor-in-chief, Nolan Sykes, and creative director Max Maddox hosted a Reddit AMA to discuss the extensive changes, promising a stubborn commitment to the brand. “I am bullheaded about sticking to the tenets that made Donut successful in the first place,” Sykes said. “At the end of the day I want everything to be funny, informative and entertaining. I also want to go fast.”

When approached for a comment, Donut cofounder and former CEO Matt Levin said, “I’ve had the privilege of working with all these brilliant, creative folks, and it’s wonderful to see them all growing into the next phase of their careers. I’m loving what Jeremiah and Zach are doing on Big Time, I’m super excited to see what James and Jesse have cooked up with Speeed, and of course I’m thrilled to see Nolan and Max finally get their chance to step into the spotlight and usher in a new era of Donut. As a fan of all of them, I’ve got three times as many videos to watch.”

Other perspectives

Donut isn’t the only automotive property owned by Recurrent Ventures. It also acquired The Drive, which launched with a splash as part of Time Inc. in 2015, along with an extensive portfolio of non-automotive media brands like Bob Vila and Popular Science.

It’s the state of Donut under the brand’s leadership that has raised the most ire among fans, many of whom claim they’ll never watch another of the channel’s videos now that their favorite hosts have departed. Despite those protests, the Donut YouTube channel currently stands at 8.8 million subscribers, up from the roughly 5 million subscribers the brand had when it was acquired by Recurrent Ventures.

Mike Spinelli, a former VP of content at Recurrent Ventures and current head of content at Motorsport Network, says that these new media brands have a lot to learn about managing talent.

“In TV and movies, talent is everything,” he said, where contract renegotiations are commonplace. “But I don’t know whether these sort of kinds of media companies we’re talking about really understand or are used to dealing with talent in that way.”

Claims of pressure and interference are a common refrain by anyone who’s ever worked for a brand owned by private equity. Alanis King has. King, now editor-at-large for Motorsport Network (owned by GMF Capital), was previously an editor at Jalopnik when it was acquired by Great Hill Partners. King made a remarkably balanced video detailing her perspective on the current situation in automotive media.

“It’s not possible, really, ever, to grow at the rates that investment firms want,” King said. “The people creating stuff say, ‘Hey, that’s not possible.’ The people funding the stuff say, ‘We don’t really care. Do more.’ And you just end up with this conflict of ideas and expectations.”

This nonstop pressure also contributes to automotive media’s notable lack of diversity. When there’s always pressure to perform, there’s less time to groom new talent or perspectives.

King, who cohosted the Donut Racing Show podcast with Elizabeth Blackstock, US editor at Planet F1, constantly found herself defending the podcast’s existence: “You have two female hosts on this show. It doesn’t do as well as the main show that’s been around a lot longer, but you have voices here that you don’t have on camera in a lot of other areas of your business. That’s a big deal,” King said.

Donut Racing Show was canceled in 2023 after one year.

The bigger picture

King believes there is a bigger movement at play. “I do think it’s a broader trend because we’ve seen so many people leave big platforms to start their own thing and be pretty successful. I think it will continue happening elsewhere,” she said. “It’s just one of those things where you see other people being successful, and you go, ‘I can do that too.’”

But not everybody can. YouTube paid out an astonishing $70 billion to creators in the past three years. However, it has 113.9 million active channels, according to Global Media Insight. That works out to roughly $200 per creator per year if you portion it out evenly — but of course, it’s the top channels earning the vast majority of that revenue.

Even those who find true success may be a little less free than they’d hoped, trading one corporate devil in a suit for another more nebulous one: the algorithm.

Full-time YouTubers love to complain about how YouTube’s mysterious algo is constantly keeping them down, an ever-evolving set of largely unpublished rules and word-of-mouth guidelines any creator must follow, lest they be deranked.

Ever wonder why so many videos have big pictures of people making shocked expressions? YouTube Face is a thing, proven to drive higher engagement. There’s also pressure to make videos at least eight minutes long, the minimum length for a mid-roll ad.

There’s pressure to constantly grow, too. Hot channels get promoted, while anything that plateaus will struggle. “The good thing about YouTube is you can do it at any level. The problem is, you kind of always have to move forward, or else you fall,” Spinelli said. “I wish there were more opportunities for YouTubers to do whatever content they want, but the reality of getting surfaced to an audience is that you have to serve the algorithm to a certain extent.”

There are endless rules written lightly on the shifting sands of the YouTube platform, and it’s now up to those creators to figure it out themselves.

To A.I., dealing with the pressures and whims of a platform is preferable. “Every decision that I make is not because I’m at the mercy of an algorithm. It’s because I’m at the mercy of an audience, and that’s not really a new phenomenon,” he said.

But it comes with additional pressures. “Before I left, I didn’t realize how much stuff I didn’t know. I think, honestly, I was a bit arrogant about it,” A.I. said. “And so now I’m running two YouTube channels [Overdrive and AutoTea] where I’m pretty much doing everything.”

It’s fun to hate on private equity and venture capital, but being part of a larger enterprise has benefits, like dedicated SEO experts, established sales teams, and photographers who’ve been briefed on the ins and outs of perfect YouTube Face.

Spinelli believes it’s time for equity firms to recalibrate these relationships. “I think there’s an opportunity for larger media companies to be able to help creators do the things that they don’t want to do, or that aren’t creative,” he said. “The sales side, the business side, but then leave them to be able to create the kind of content they want to create.”

Too often, it doesn’t happen that way. “If they are trying to conform the channel to their existing business model, it’s not going to end well for either,” he said.

Pointing fingers

At the end of the day, is there truly something going on? Yes, there’s clearly momentum here, but the causes are nothing new, and pointing the finger at investment firms is missing the bigger picture.

Simply put, these channels are maturing. When brands get as big as Donut or Hoonigan, they almost always evolve. Whether they sell out or simply ossify into their own corporate structures, the net result will be similar: more pressure to do better than last week. With or without equity investment, this cycle is inevitable.

It also comes down to ownership stakes. Many of those departure videos call out a lack of payouts during acquisitions of the brands they helped to grow. That they didn’t get a piece of the pie is not the fault of private equity; it’s the fault of the channel creators.

Lately, these departures seem to be less about struggling against corporate oppression and more about peer pressure. Whenever you’re in a frustrating situation professionally, if you see a friend or colleague pull the proverbial rip cord and go off to do something different, it’s increasingly tempting to deploy your own parachute.

Not all will have soft landings. The creator economy can only support so many. But in a new age of media driven by individual personality and unconstrained voice, it’s increasingly clear that traditional investment arrangements and the expectations they bring are past due for some evolution.

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Disney’s streaming business has finally become profitable. In its Q3 earnings results released on Wednesday, the company reported making $47 million off Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus.
Like other streamers, Disney has struggled with making its streaming business profitable. At the same time last year, Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and Hulu recorded a $512 million loss. Things started to turn around last quarter when both Disney Plus and Hulu posted a profit, but losses at ESPN Plus prevented Disney’s overall streaming business from crossing the line into profitability.
“This was a strong quarter for Disney, driven by excellent results in our Entertainment segment both at the box office and in DTC, as we achieved profitability across our combined streaming businesses for the first time and a quarter ahead of our previous guidance,” says Disney CEO Bob Iger in a statement.
Meanwhile, Disney Plus added just under 1 million subscribers in the US and Canada, bringing its total to 54.8 million. Hulu subscribers also grew to 51.1 million, compared to 50.2 million last quarter. Even though its subscriber growth remained relatively flat, Disney is still looking for ways to make more money off its existing user base.
On Tuesday, Disney announced a surprise price hike affecting plans across Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus. Disney has consistently raised the prices of its streaming services over the past couple of years, with Disney Plus and Hulu going up in price around the same time last year and in 2022. Disney is also planning a crackdown on password sharing.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Disney’s streaming business has finally become profitable. In its Q3 earnings results released on Wednesday, the company reported making $47 million off Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus.

Like other streamers, Disney has struggled with making its streaming business profitable. At the same time last year, Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and Hulu recorded a $512 million loss. Things started to turn around last quarter when both Disney Plus and Hulu posted a profit, but losses at ESPN Plus prevented Disney’s overall streaming business from crossing the line into profitability.

“This was a strong quarter for Disney, driven by excellent results in our Entertainment segment both at the box office and in DTC, as we achieved profitability across our combined streaming businesses for the first time and a quarter ahead of our previous guidance,” says Disney CEO Bob Iger in a statement.

Meanwhile, Disney Plus added just under 1 million subscribers in the US and Canada, bringing its total to 54.8 million. Hulu subscribers also grew to 51.1 million, compared to 50.2 million last quarter. Even though its subscriber growth remained relatively flat, Disney is still looking for ways to make more money off its existing user base.

On Tuesday, Disney announced a surprise price hike affecting plans across Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus. Disney has consistently raised the prices of its streaming services over the past couple of years, with Disney Plus and Hulu going up in price around the same time last year and in 2022. Disney is also planning a crackdown on password sharing.

Read More