UK November 18

The Philadelphia Inquirer is hoping it can turn one of its important beats into a launchpad for a new crop of virtual event franchises. ​​Three weeks into the 2021 NFL season, the Philadelphia Inquirer streamed its first installment of Gameday Live, a live video pre-game show designed to get viewers ready for that week’s Philadelphia Eagles game. About a month in, it already attracts thousands of viewers. Read more below.

• The Inquirer’s live pregame shows attract twice as many viewers as its other live programming.
• In this week’s Digiday+ Media Briefing, media reporter Sara Guaglione looks at the trend of publishers adopting a mid-week schedule for employees to be working in the office.
• These days, Roblox no longer acts as the mediator for many of its in-platform brand activations. Instead, brands have started to work directly with developers without ever interacting with Roblox itself.
• As the social commerce arms race heats up, DTC wedding ring company Manly Bands is betting big on TikTok’s shopping capabilities.
• The Working Assembly was born out of Jolene Delisle’s desire to get closer to brands, but also to focus on women- and minority-led ventures.
• Salary transparency may be rare, but businesses like software firm Tandem want to be the exception.