Happy Olympics Day, FutureParty people! If you’re a little confused or overwhelmed about how to watch the 7,000+ hours of programming tied to the Games, here’s a little guide to make things easier. What event(s) are you looking forward to the most?

In other news… de-influencers hold serious sway, NASA beams a new communications system, and Rupert Murdoch sets the sibs squabbling.

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• YouTube – Bad Monkey

• X (Twitter) – Ryan Reynolds 

• Google – Hugh Jackman 

• Reddit – George Lazenby

• TikTok – “Just for Now” - Imogen Heap

• Spotify – “House Parties” - Dawes

.ECOMMERCE.

“De-influencing” is influencing people

The Future. Talking people out of buying new products may be the hottest new trend. De-influencing videos, which took off roughly 16 months ago after a makeup influencer was caught faking the effect of a product, have racked up hundreds of millions of views and are now having a real economic impact. If the trend continues at the same pace, expect several social media-focused DTC brands to close up shop.

Anti-ambassadors
A Harris Poll/Credit Karma survey of 2,042 US adults found that 69% of social media users say they have chosen not to buy products on TikTok, Instagram, or any other platforms.

• 32% said they haven’t because they don’t trust the influencers hawking the product.

• 28% said they didn’t believe the products to be “authentic” or “functional.”

• 26% said the sheer volume of products being influenced has created an environment of “overconsumption.”

The kicker is that these stated reasons are exactly what de-influencers are sharing. Not wanting to overconsume is especially popular with Gen Z, 88% of whom say they’ve been de-influenced. 38% say that wanting to lower their consumption, whether for financial or sustainability reasons, is their main reason for opting not to buy stuff.

That’s not to say a lot of people aren’t buying stuff off social platforms — 38% of Americans did so over the past year. However, those respondents say that they may opt not to this year.

77.9% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Do you have a go-to platform for watching sports?

“Sports... I don’t know him.”

“DIFFERENT SPORTS, DIFFERENT NETWORKS. SOME BETTER THAN OTHERS.”

“No single platform does it all effectively. Vive la différence, baby.”

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT TIEGE HANLEY.

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Media, Music, & Entertainment

• Real-life Succession: Rupert Murdoch is changing the family’s trust to ensure that his son Lachlan gets sole control of his media empire after he dies… and Murdoch’s three other kids are not happy about it. [Read More]

• Universal Music Group, the biggest record label in the world, saw its stock drop 30% after investors were turned off by the company’s muted streaming and subscription revenue growth. [Read More]

• Veep, the hit HBO comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus that ended in 2019, has seen its viewership skyrocket 350% on Max after VP Kamala Harris became the favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination. [Read More]

Fashion & E-Commerce

• One of the most competitive events at the Summer Olympics may be the BTS battle of footwear brands for the attention of roughly three billion viewers. [Read More]

• TAG Heuer is angling to take Rolex’s spot as the official watch sponsor of F1. [Read More]

• Chain, the fast-food dining concept founded by actor BJ Novak and chef Tim Hollingsworth, has added Chrissy Teigen as an advisor and strategic investor. [Read More]

Tech, Web3, & AI

• Wiz has decided not to take Google’s $23 billion acquisition offer and instead plans to go public. [Read More]

• Entertainment law firm Venable LLP is releasing a new tool called “Takedown” that proactively searches for and removes deepfakes of clients. [Read More]

• Startup PsiQuantum has received funding from DARPA and the state of Illinois to build the most powerful quantum computer in the world at a facility on the South Side of Chicago. [Read More]

Creator Economy

• YouTube execs said that the company is “closing the gap” between how much ad revenue it makes from short-form content compared to long-form videos. [Read More]

• Cameo, once valued at a billion dollars, now can’t afford a $600,000 fine from the FTC. [Read More]

• TikTok is letting users post custom thumbnails for the first time. [Read More]

.SPACE.

NASA powers up space lasers to chat with astronauts

The Future. NASA has successfully streamed 4K video footage from the Earth to astronauts in the International Space Station. It’s a game changer for galactic communication and the ability to send data back and forth during missions. Don’t be surprised if NASA makes the next lunar mission a ticketed IMAX event.

Live-beaming
NASA is taking some cues from Star Trek for its latest communications technology.

• The space agency successfully tested laser communications in orbit by streaming 4K video to the ISS from an in-flight airplane.

• Granted, the process was actually far more complicated — the plane flying over Lake Erie sent the data stream to a facility in Ohio, which sent the data to a facility in New Mexico, which sent the data to a satellite, which then sent that data to the ISS.

• Lasers, which use infrared light, can transmit data 10x to 100x faster than radios, which NASA has historically used to chat with astronauts from the Earth’s surface.

The tech could ensure that Americans will be able to livestream NASA’s Artemis mission to the Moon in 2028 in crisp 4K, notes The Verge. Additionally, it lays the groundwork for talking with astronauts during a potential Mars mission.

Talk about good coverage.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT STATUS.CO.

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• Listen: The Town sits down with NBCUniversal Media chairman Mark Lazarus about every aspect of broadcasting the Olympics to traditional TV and streaming via Peacock.

• Read: Anaïs Guillemané Mootoosamy, the Strategy Director at Conran Design Group, chats with Fast Company about how the agency branded the Olympics across Paris.

• Watch: Complex debuts the trailer for an interview between Eminem and his alter ego Slim Shady about how Gen Z keeps trying to cancel the rapper.

Disneyland is officially rated R.

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE

Today, on an extra special bonus episode of Future Forecast, our hosts Boye and Chris sit down with Andrew Kenward, the President and COO of Almost Friday Media. Andrew was an agent at WME in the digital media department at WME before being brought into the Almost Friday universe in 2021. We chat with him about his career, his goals for the brand moving forward, and what it's like working in media today.