Daily 8/10: X rewards original posts, Charter nears Cox deal, Webtoon closes the IP loop

X is ending creator revenue sharing in favor of rewards for original content, Charter's Cox deal would create the largest U.S. cable and internet provider, and Naver Webtoon is folding anime, AI characters, and fan creation into its webtoon platform.

• [The Verge] X Replaces Creator Revenue Sharing With Original Content Rewards ↗

  X will shut down its existing Creator Revenue Sharing program on September 7 and introduce Original Content Rewards on September 8. The new system pays around valid views of original posts by Premium users in the home feed rather than ad impressions alone. It covers self-made video, photography, graphics, reporting, analysis, and meaningful commentary while reducing the incentive to profit from reposts and clickbait. X is redesigning recommendation and monetization incentives around original work instead of pure ad exposure.

• [Los Angeles Times] Charter's $34.5 Billion Cox Deal Nears Finish Line ↗

  Charter Communications' $34.5 billion acquisition of Cox Communications is nearing completion, with final review still pending before California regulators. If the deal closes, the combined company would serve about 37 million customers and become the largest cable and internet provider in the United States, while Cox subscribers would move to Spectrum. Charter already bundles Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, Paramount+, and other streaming services with its connectivity products. The merger would concentrate both traditional cable infrastructure and streaming bundle distribution inside one operator.

• [ZDNet Korea] Naver Webtoon Adds 4,000 Anime Titles, AI Characters, and Fan Creation Tools ↗

  Naver Webtoon's Japanese service Line Manga will offer about 4,000 anime titles inside the app through a partnership with NTT Docomo's d Anime Store. The company is also expanding byUs, its AI character chat service, and Cutsmake, an official IP-based tool for derivative fan creation. According to the company, works using those features saw original webtoon views rise by as much as 67% during hiatus periods. The strategy turns a webtoon app into a loop for watching video, interacting with AI characters, and making fan works inside the same IP environment.