On Wednesday morning, Biden's campaign proposed two presidential debates outside the traditional nonpartisan organization that has scheduled such contests for decades. Their suggestion includes an unprecedented June debate, which would easily be the earliest major presidential debate. Biden quickly accepted CNN's proposed date for a June 27th showdown.
I’ve received and accepted an invitation from @CNN for a debate on June 27th. Over to you, Donald. As you said: anywhere, any time, any place.
Biden's reelection team is selling a "Free on Wednesdays" shirt to tout their debate proposal, a not-so-subtle reference to Trump's ongoing Manhattan criminal trial. Trump is in court most of the week, and has sometimes fallen asleep throughout the trial. One of the few exceptions is Wednesdays when Justice Juan Merchan has scheduled breaks in the proceedings.
"Trump's acting like he wants to debate the President," the item's description reads. "We hear he's free on Wednesdays. Let's do it!"
The shirt costs $32 and is the latest example of a burgeoning trend where campaigns try to make money from merchandise to meet short-lived trends. Non-traditional merchandise can be lucrative to campaigns; Trump's 2020 reelection famously made more than $450,000 from plastic straw sales alone.
Trump quickly accepted Biden's offer, though he added that the pair should meet up more than twice. Traditionally, presidential candidates square off three times, which includes a town hall-style debate.
"I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds – That's only because he doesn't get them," Trump wrote on Truth, his social media platform. "Just tell me when, I'll be there. 'Let's get ready to Rumble!!!;'"
The biggest shake-up to presidential debates in decades
Biden's proposed debates would be in June and early September. His camp has also proposed a vice-presidential debate in late July after the Republican National Convention.
In addition, Biden proposed greater restrictions on when a candidate's microphone is live, an almost certain nod to the debacle that ensued during the first 2020 presidential debate when Trump continued to interrupt Biden.
Biden's campaign also moved to effectively block third-party candidates from participating in the debate. Under the commission's rules, candidates must reach a polling threshold to make the stage. Since the imposition of that requirement, no third-party hopeful has made a commission-hosted debate. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate, is the closest long shot to meeting that threshold.
Biden campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon wants to go a step further.
"The debates should be one-on-one, allowing voters to compare the only two candidates with any statistical chance of prevailing in the Electoral College – and not squandering debate time on candidates with no prospect of becoming President," Dillon wrote in her letter outlining the proposal.
Trump and Biden agree on very little, but their respective campaigns have signaled they are ready to move beyond the nonpartisan nonprofit that has scheduled presidential debates since George H.W Bush's reelection campaign in 1988. The organization, the Commission on Presidential Debates, has faced criticism in recent years, especially from Republicans, over its selection of moderators.
In a message to the commission, O'Malley Dillon echoed her Trump counterparts' previous statements that the commission's currently scheduled debates are too late in the calendar. The first debate is scheduled for September 16, with the last set to conclude on October 6, a slate that would end long after millions of Americans have already voted early in the contest. O'Malley Dillon also took issue with the way the commission chooses its venues.
"The Commission's model of building huge spectacles with large audiences at great expense simply isn't necessary or conducive to good debates," she wrote in a letter to the group. "The debates should be conducted for the benefit of the American voters, watching on television and at home– not as entertainment for an in-person audience with raucous or disruptive partisans and donors, who consume valuable debate time with noisy spectacles of approval or jeering."
In response to Trump's previous concerns, the commission said it picked its schedule carefully.
"The first debate, scheduled for September 16, will be the earliest televised general election debate ever held," the commission said in a statement earlier this month.
"As it always does, the CPD considered multiple factors in selecting debate dates in order to make them accessible by the American public. These factors include religious and federal holidays, early voting, and the dates on which individual states close their ballots."
A worker collects shopping carts from the parking lot of a Walmart store in Chicago.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Walmart has announced closures for nine locations across five states in 2024 so far.
The company cited financial underperformance as the reason for the decisions.
The company plans to open or begin construction on 14 new locations this year.
Walmart will close Neighborhood Markets in Aurora, Colorado, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as a Bay Area store, bringing the number of confirmed closures so far this year to nine.
Layoff notices filed with the states of Colorado, Wisconsin, and California follow the closures earlier this year of four stores in California, one in Maryland, and one in Ohio. In those cases, the company said the stores were not meeting financial performance expectations.
"We are grateful to the customers who have given us the privilege of serving them at our San Diego and El Cajon stores," Walmart spokesperson Brian Little said in a statement to Business Insider in January. "We look forward to continuing to serve them at any of our many locations across the area, on Walmart.com, and through delivery to their home or business."
In each case, the company said workers are eligible for transfer to another location, and Walmart will continue to operate over a dozen stores and warehouse clubs in each local market.
Walmart had over 4,600 retail locations in the US as of February, a figure that includes 3,560 supercenters, 360 discount stores, and 675 neighborhood markets. It also owns nearly 600 Sam's Club warehouses.
The company said in January it will build or up-size over 150 stores in the next five years, starting with 14 new locations this year. Four of the new locations will be in Texas, with three in the Dallas area and one near Houston, the Dallas Morning News reported.
In addition, some 650 locations will be renovated to the brand's "Store of the Future" concept.
Last year, Business Insider tracked the closures of at least 22 Walmart locations across the US, including four in Chicago. Financial performance was cited in those cases as well.
Here are the latest Walmart closings:
California:
2121 Imperial Ave. in San Diego
605 Fletcher Parkway in El Cajon
2753 E. Eastland Center Dr. in West Covina
4080 Douglas Blvd in Granite Bay (Neighborhood Market)
40580 Albrae St. in Fremont
Colorado
10400 E Colfax Ave. in Aurora
Maryland:
1238 Putty Hill Ave in Towson
Ohio:
3579 S. High St. in Columbus
Wisconsin
7025 W Main St. in Milwaukee (Neighborhood Market)
Here are the confirmed new locations:
Georgia:
Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Atlanta (Neighborhood Market)
Florida:
U.S. Highway 98 East in Santa Rosa Beach (Neighborhood Market)
Texas
Preston Road in Celina (Dallas area)
16600 FM 423 in Frisco (Dallas area)
McKinney Street in Melissa (Dallas area)
8927 Fry Road in Cypress (Houston area)
8 additional locations are planned to be announced this year.
Do you work or shop at one of the Walmart stores above and want to share your thoughts? Contact reporter Dominick Reuter from a non-work email at dreuter@businessinsider.com or call/text/Signal at 646.768.4750.
Employee sentiment toward senior leadership is a big factor in attracting and retaining talent. So which companies are doing the best job of leading their businesses in their employees' eyes?
A new Glassdoor ranking published Wednesday sought to find out. It's based on reviews submitted between March 1, 2023, and Feb 29, 2024, by current employees as well as former employees who left in 2023 or 2024.
To be eligible, companies needed to have at least 100 ratings across each of two leadership attributes — CEO job performance and senior management rating — from US-based employees. They also needed at least 1,000 employees at the end of the eligibility period.
The best-represented industry in the list was tech, followed by finance, consulting, and retail. Glassdoor also analyzed 5-star senior management reviews from the US in that time period and found several keywords repeatedly popped up: collaborative, supportive, flexible, inclusive, passionate, and culture.
The report found that ads appearing next to so-called hard-news stories didn't reflect negatively on brands.
Eric Cox / Reuters
Stagwell, a marketing group, is challenging the idea that running advertising next to so-called hard news hurts brands.
A study by the firm found brand perception seemed largely unaffected by the content of stories ads ran against.
Perceptions about "unsafe" topics to run ads with could make news a cost-effective opportunity for marketers.
The news industry has long faced a particular financial dilemma.
Much of news organizations' money has traditionally come from advertising, but a lot of the biggest news isn't the kind of thing that advertisers want their ads to appear alongside.
The idea is that placing ads next to coverage of polarizing topics such as war, politics, and crime might negatively affect brand perceptions, whereas placing them next to so-called safe subjects like entertainment and sports will not.
A new report, "The Future of News: Ad Adjacency Study," challenges this conventional wisdom and indicates the focus on brand safety in news advertising might be misguided.
"Too much emphasis has been put on regulating the environment or discriminating against certain environments that are very important for the development of news," said Mark Penn, the CEO and chairman of the marketing agency Stagwell.
Breaking down concerns over brand safety
For its study, Stagwell partnered with media publishers including Axel Springer and its brands Business Insider and Politico, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post to conduct a study of 50,000 American adults on the effects of ad adjacency for news articles dealing with "unsafe" subjects.
The study used a range top-of-mind topics for the American public, as indicated by a monthly Harvard/Harris Poll survey, including crime, inflation, conflict in the Middle East, and political stories about Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
The sample also included "safe" topics like entertainment and sports, for comparison. Real stories from the publisher partners were shown to participants with 10 actual advertisements from well-known companies across a range of products (with the publishers' names removed as a control).
Those surveyed were asked to indicate how likely they would be to purchase from the selected brands and how favorably they viewed the companies, along with several other questions about their opinions on the brands' reputations.
The research found that the type of story shown with the ad did not appear to affect purchase intent and favorability toward the brand.
"There are some minor differences across, but nothing that I would consider significant enough to do what I think many advertisers are doing, which is to stay away from letting their ads appear in important news stories," Penn told BI.
Mark Penn, the CEO and chairman of the marketing agency Stagwell.
The Stagwell Group
Crucial advertising demographics are being overlooked
Penn said one of the most surprising findings was that news had a minimal effect on the perception of brands by Gen Z participants and mothers, two desirable demographics for ad targeting that are thought to be more sensitive to content.
The 2024 presidential election still might be a topic marketers will want to consider carefully, however. Republicans in the survey had reflected lower favorability and purchase intent for brands that advertised on stories related to Biden than other groups by a difference of 1%-10%. A similar, though less dramatic difference was reflected on stories about Trump viewed by Democrats.
But Penn said the findings are not indicative of a major concern for brand safety, even around the election. "If there really was a brand-safety thing," he explained, "you'd see 20- or 30-point differences, not 2- or 3-point differences."
The report also sought to measure how large an audience advertisers might be missing out on by advertising alongside only certain topics. It estimated that 11% of people read only the kind of news stories traditionally considered "unsafe" for advertisers.
News is a cost-effective and socially responsible investment
The report has encouraging potential for advertisers. Ad rates run much higher on sports and entertainment stories, and so if it is indeed the case that hard news doesn't actually hurt brands, then advertisements on news would be a cost-effective addition to a portfolio.
At a time when journalism is facing numerous financial and institutional challenges, Stagwell argues that its report's findings show that advertisers can consider supporting news as a social good without affecting their reputation. "Advertisers are looking to be socially responsible," Penn said. "Brand safety — or at least when it comes to news advertising — really doesn't promote desirable social goals because it defunds the ability to report news."
Maggie Milnamow, the chief revenue officer at Business Insider and the senior vice president of Axel Springer, was also encouraged by the study's findings. "Stagwell's new research demonstrates that partners can confidently and safely place advertisements alongside news coverage," she said. "In fact, it shows that it's a smart investment with clear positive returns."
Penn told BI he was hopeful the report would help create a more productive relationship between media publishers and advertisers. "Instead of talking about brand safety," he said, "they should be talking about how we have to support unbiased news, and that it's really important to support quality journalism on difficult topics."
Netflix has inked a three-year deal to show certain NFL games.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Netflix announced a three-season deal with the NFL.
The streamer will show two NFL games on Christmas this year.
There's a simple reason Netflix now wants to get into live sports programming.
No more wondering if Netflix is going to show real live sports: The streamer now has a three-season deal with the most popular sports league in America — the NFL.
Netflix will show two NFL games on Christmas Day this year, plus "at least one" game on Christmas in 2025 and 2026, the company and the NFL announced Wednesday.
The deal will cost Netflix "less than $150 million per game," Bloomberg reports.
As we've discussed before, the logic for Netflix is simple here: While Netflix spent years insisting it didn't want to be in live sports, that was before it had an ad business, and live sports — particularly the NFL — are considered the best way to aggregate an audience of ad-watchers. Not coincidentally, Netflix is making its pitch to advertisers Wednesday in New York as part of the annual "upfront" pitch cycle.
And if you don't care about Netflix's ad sales and only care about watching NFL games, this simply means you need to have yet another network to watch games this fall. The league, which has become expert at getting multiple media companies to pay it for games, already had deals with CBS, Fox, NBC, Disney/ESPN, and Amazon. Add another to the list.
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The best Dolby Atmos soundbars feature up-firing speaker drivers to simulate sounds above your head.
Ryan Waniata/Insider
The best Dolby Atmos soundbars can surround you in a dome of 3D audio, delivering an experience that traditional soundbars simply can't match. Dolby's popular spatial audio format is designed to elevate your home theater experience by swirling sound around and above the listening position. Soundbars that support this tech use a mix of targeted speakers and advanced software to bounce audio effects off your ceiling when listening to Dolby Atmos content.
After years of testing and living with the best Dolby Atmos soundbars, we've rounded up our top five picks for various budgets and spaces. The Samsung HW-Q990C earns our highest recommendation. It's a premium setup with multiple speakers, delivering a powerful 11.1.4-channel experience. At the other end is Bose's Smart Soundbar 600, a standalone bar that offers immersive performance in a more affordable, pint-sized package.
Whether you're just looking to dip your toes in the Atmos water or go all-in on a high-end soundbar system, our well-rounded list has you covered with the top options in multiple categories. And if you're still new to Dolby Atmos, scroll down to browse our list of frequently asked questions to help guide your decision.
Samsung's HW-Q990C is an easy choice for the best Dolby Atmos soundbar thanks to its immersive audio performance and seamless fluidity. The impressive system features the bar itself, along with two wireless satellites and a wireless subwoofer. Together, these components create an expansive array of 22 speakers, including four up-firing and four side-firing drivers to bounce sound around your listening space.
This 11.1.4-channel setup sounds fantastic for everything you listen to, not just Dolby Atmos movies and shows. During our review, we heard remarkable subtlety and detail for dialogue across genres, from sitcoms to prestige dramas. Turning to music reveals rich resonance in midrange instruments like guitar and horns, plenty of thump in the bass register, and lyrical treble above that makes floaty effects and instruments sparkle as intended.
Samsung's Q990C includes a soundbar unit (pictured above) as well as two satellite speakers and a wireless subwoofer.
Ryan Waniata/Insider
With four different components, including the bar, subwoofer, and two surround speakers, the system takes some time to set up but is refreshingly simple to navigate. Once connected to your network, you can easily control the bar using the included remote or Samsung's SmartThings app.
On the feature front, you get just about the full lot here, with support for multiple formats (including Atmos rival DTS:X), real-time sound optimization, and multiple HDMI inputs with 4K HDR passthrough to connect components like a streaming box or Blu-ray player. The only missing piece is HDMI 2.1 support, which means the system can't pass through advanced gaming features like a 120Hz signal or variable refresh rate (VRR) when paired with a console like a PS5.
Buyers should note that Samsung now sells a slightly updated version of this soundbar called the Q990D. The new model is very similar but adds support for HDMI 2.1. We think the Q990C remains a better value for most users since it's often on sale for less, but the Q990D is an excellent alternative if HDMI 2.1 passthrough is an essential feature for you.
Vizio is no stranger to our best soundbar guides thanks to its ability to squeeze out mighty performance from small packages at competitive prices. The Vizio Elevate 5.1.4 system fully embodies this philosophy, with some cool mechanical trickery lumped in for good measure.
The Elevate is so named because the bar's front speakers rotate upward when needed to create the "height" element of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio tracks and roll forward again for stereo or traditional surround sound mixes. The way Vizio's engineers figure it, why have extra speakers that are only in use with select content? The design pays off with strikingly powerful and cinematic sound and, when called for, stirring spatial audio immersion.
The Vizio Elevate soundbar has a rotating speaker driver that can transition from pointing forward to upward.
Steven Cohen/Insider
The Elevate sometimes sounds aggressive in lighter dialogue or brighter music, but there are plenty of ways to configure the sound to taste, including the ability to adjust EQ and individual surround channels. To do so, you'll need to familiarize yourself with Vizio's unique interface, which integrates many controls and even a digital interface into the system's handy remote.
Connecting the included subwoofer and surround speakers requires old-school physical wires, which could limit placement options in some setups. That said, most so-called "wireless" subwoofers and surround speakers still require a power outlet, so to some degree, you're trading one constraint for another. If your house doesn't have a lot of outlets, Vizio's design could even be the friendlier option.
On the downside, the Elevate eschews Apple AirPlay support (Chromecast streaming is supported) and has no built-in microphones for integrated digital assistant voice control. But there are still many ways to connect components, including dual HDMI inputs, an analog audio port, and even a USB input for hi-res audio files. Support for DTS:X (among other formats) completes the package for a well-rounded Dolby Atmos system that's big on sound and easy on your wallet.
Bose's minimalist Smart Soundbar 600 doesn't look like much of a player from the outset, but behind its perforated grille there's some magic going on. The system provides clear and focused sound for everything from music to dialogue, even amid chaotic action scenes. The bar is surprisingly good at providing immersive Dolby Atmos audio from its small frame, using a mix of targeted speakers and excellent software to surround you with subtle effects like buzzing insects or strafing starships.
The Smart Soundbar 600 can connect to your local network to mingle with other Bose speakers, letting you create a multi-room audio setup or add auxiliary speakers for a true surround sound configuration. And unlike the similar Sonos Beam, Bose's model employs dedicated up-firing drivers to bounce sound off your ceiling, creating a more effective and expansive Dolby Atmos soundstage.
The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is one of the most compact and affordable soundbars you can buy that still has up-firing Atmos drivers.
Ryan Waniata
The 600 is easy to control with your TV remote over HDMI eARC/ARC and includes app support for fine-tuning audio and for streaming music from various services. Wireless playback over Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, and Bluetooth are also available. Built-in microphones let you control basic playback and smart commands with your voice via integrated Amazon Alexa, and you can get Google Assistant capabilities if you pair the bar with a separate device.
Without a wireless subwoofer, the sound signature is light on low-frequency impact, meaning the Smart Soundbar 600 won't be the best option for bass heads or those looking to blast sound across large listening spaces. You can add a separate Bose Bass Module, but that doubles the price of this system. The bar is also limited to just one HDMI and optical port, and it doesn't support Dolby's primary format rival, DTS, though the latter likely won't come up much unless you own a sizable Blu-ray collection.
For smaller setups, the Smart Soundbar 600 is a brilliant fit. You won't find a Dolby Atmos bar that matches its mix of poise, clarity, immersion, and style without spending more.
If you like the sleek, single-unit design of Bose's Smart Soundbar 600 but want more gravitas and overall immersion, the Sonos Arc is the best Dolby Atmos soundbar for your needs. From the moment you press play, this multi-channel system defies expectations with its warm and detailed sound, impressive immersion, and surprisingly potent bass response from a standalone soundbar.
Sonos rolls a clever collection of speakers into this tubular bar, including both up-firing and side-firing drivers, powerful woofers, and precision tweeters. The result is an expansive yet decidedly inviting soundstage with more punch than you'd expect, letting the system flex its skills across different formats and genres with remarkable ease. You can get better performance from more expensive single-unit soundbar models, like the Sennheiser Ambeo Max, but at $2,500, that model is tougher to justify for most buyers.
The Sonos Arc delivers impressive performance without a separate subwoofer or surround speakers.
Tyler Hayes/Business Insider
As a Sonos speaker, the Arc isn't just a self-contained soundbar but can also be part of a larger wireless speaker ecosystem. Sonos' app lets you navigate a variety of add-on Sonos speakers either throughout your home or arranged with the bar in a multi-piece surround configuration.
With add-on options like the Sonos Era 100, Atmos-blasting Era 300, and powerful Sonos Sub, the Arc can be the centerpiece of a pricey but strikingly immersive system. We sampled a scene from "Top Gun: Maverick" using the Arc, two Era 300s, and a Sub, and it blew us away. Though we still think the Arc offers the best value as a standalone bar, you always have the option to upgrade with extra components later on.
However, Sonos being Sonos, the Arc has some odd quirks for a soundbar in this price range. Sonos makes it easy to play content from many of the best music streaming services and supports Spotify Connect and Apple AirPlay 2, but basic Bluetooth isn't offered. Also notable is the bar's large size (it sits over three inches tall) and lack of physical inputs, with only a single HDMI port for connecting to your TV. Unlike similarly priced rivals from Samsung and LG, the Arc lacks support for DTS:X, Dolby's primary 3D audio rival, but it does support standard DTS 5.1 sound.
On the other hand, there are few more malleable systems available, even well above the Arc's price point, as long as you're content to stay firmly grounded within the Sonos family. The Arc is an enticing Atmos accessory that seamlessly integrates with your TV and blows your display's onboard sound away.
Sony's HT-A7000 is pricey for a soundbar that doesn't include satellite speakers or a subwoofer, but its singular design is also what makes it so impressive. This elegantly styled slab of sound offers the best virtual surround sound we've heard at this class and well above, providing immersion that's nearly as convincing as similarly priced multi-speaker soundbars. As a Sony bar, it's also particularly handy for gaming, especially if you own a PS5.
With Sony's reputation in the space, it's no surprise that the HT-A7000 sounds great for music, with clear and full audio across registers and notably robust bass response. It even has an analog port among its many inputs, an increasingly rare inclusion for soundbars, letting you plug in legacy audio devices like a powered turntable.
The bar's loaded input section includes dual HDMI 2.1 ports with passthrough support for VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), and a 4K/120Hz signal. This lets you plug in gaming consoles like a PS5 and Xbox Series X without sacrificing any features, saving your TV's onboard inputs for other outboard devices. PlayStation 5 users also get support for passing through unique features like Auto Tone HDR Mapping and Auto Genre Picture Mode when paired with a compatible Sony TV.
Sony's HT-A7000 is one of the only soundbar systems with full HDMI 2.1 passthrough support to pair with a PS5 or Xbox Series X.
Steven Cohen/Insider
Support for multiple hi-res audio formats and streaming over Spotify Connect, Chromecast, Apple AirPlay 2, and Bluetooth make it easy to play virtually anything in your collection. Along with Dolby Atmos, you'll also get support for DTS:X and Sony's music-focused 360 Reality Audio. Like other 3D sound formats, 360 Reality Audio creates an immersive dome of sound, and you can find several albums mixed in the format on services like Amazon Music Unlimited and Tidal.
Like many soundbars, Sony also lets you add a wireless subwoofer and/or surround speakers later, though they add a significant investment on top of the bar's already high price. But if you can afford it, the results are mightily impressive and really help to expand the system's soundstage.
With all its modern amenities, the HT-A7000's app is surprisingly limited. It is designed more as an add-on to the old-school on-screen interface that pops up on your TV. Since the bar doesn't have built-in microphones, you'll also have to add a smart speaker to access digital assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. It's clear that Sony's focus here is squarely on home theater applications over smarts, but the upshot is premium performance and many ways to play.
Sony will release a new flagship soundbar, the Bar 9, later this year to replace the HT-A7000. The Bar 9 has a more compact design and two additional speaker drivers built-in, but its launch price is about $400 more than what the HT-A7000 currently sells for. For now, we think the HT-A7000 remains the better value of the two.
How we test Dolby Atmos soundbars
We evaluate several key factors through hands-on testing when choosing the best Dolby Atmos soundbars.
Ryan Waniata/Insider
We tested for various factors to find the best Dolby Atmos soundbars, including general sound performance, virtual surround and spatial audio immersion, format support, connection options, smart features, and general value.
We also evaluate usability factors like ease of setup, size (does the bar block your TV screen?), and aesthetics. The best Dolby Atmos soundbars should look stylish and modern without calling undue attention. For instance, a white soundbar might look great in the light of day but could be distracting when the lights go down for movie night.
For Dolby Atmos bars, we explore a wide variety of content. We evaluate basics like dialogue clarity, as well as overhead immersion, bass, midrange, and treble registers, including how well the bar transitions between each. We also test Dolby Atmos content from various sources, including Blu-rays, streaming services, and Dolby Atmos demo discs, the latter of which help to isolate key strengths and weaknesses.
We live with these bars for multiple days, playing all our media on them. We also listen to a wide selection of music genres and formats, including applicable sources like WiFi, Bluetooth, and, whenever possible, analog sources like turntables.
What to look for in a Dolby Atmos soundbar
Support for DTS:X, a rival format similar to Atmos, is a nice bonus to look for when shopping for a soundbar.
Ryan Waniata/Insider
Many factors make for a good Dolby Atmos soundbar, but few are more important than dedicated Dolby Atmos up-firing speaker drivers. While that may sound obvious, plenty of so-called Dolby Atmos soundbars can decode the format but don't include up-firing drivers. Without them, soundbars have difficulty delivering convincing 3D audio and overhead effects. With this in mind, we've only included models with true up-firing drivers in our guide to the best Dolby Atmos soundbars.
However, it's not just the height element that provides good Dolby Atmos performance. Side-firing speakers and, whenever possible, separate rear satellite speakers help a soundbar deliver not only convincing Dolby Atmos immersion but also convincing surround sound for traditional film and TV soundtracks.
You'll also want to pay attention to other factors, from support for competing 3D audio formats like DTS:X to conveniences like WiFi for high-resolution audio streaming. Spotify Connect and Apple AirPlay 2 support are nice perks, too, as is a dedicated mobile app to adjust sound settings and controls.
The best Dolby Atmos soundbars will include an HDMI ARC connection, while newer ones will have HDMI eARC, designed to provide improved bandwidth and efficiency for HDMI eARC-ready TVs (which include many of the best TVs released over the last few years). If you have multiple devices to connect to your TV, spare HDMI pass-through ports are handy, as are ports for legacy devices like optical and analog. If you're a gamer, you may want a soundbar that supports HDMI 2.1 with features like VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode).
Finally, if smart home features are important to you, you'll want to look for a bar that offers built-in support for Amazon Alexa and/or Google Assistant via onboard microphones.
Dolby Atmos soundbar FAQs
Some Dolby Atmos soundbars include separate subwoofers and satellite speakers to provide a more convincing sense of surround sound.
Ryan Waniata/Insider
What is Dolby Atmos?
Dolby Atmos is a 3D sound format incorporating object-based audio mixing, ground-level surround sound channels, and height elements. When Dolby Atmos-supported content is played through a Dolby Atmos device, the resulting soundstage provides a sense of immersion and realism designed to mimic how we hear sound in real life, with effects coming from the front, side, rear, and overhead.
In addition to height channels, Dolby Atmos mixes use "sound objects" that allow sound mixers to move singular effects like a buzzing insect or strafing jet in a three-dimensional plane. This type of sound mixing helps to create a more natural sense of movement and immersion than traditional surround sound techniques.
Dolby Atmos devices and sources are designated with an additional number in their surround sound channel listing. So, instead of a 5.1-channel surround sound configuration, you might see 5.1.2 or 5.1.4-channel audio (and so on). In the examples provided, the ".2" or ".4" represent two and four dedicated Dolby Atmos height channels, respectively.
Dolby Atmos is best represented in movie theaters, where dozens of speakers can be placed around and above the listener to reproduce sound objects across an expansive three-dimensional plane. Atmos speaker systems are more compact for home theaters, often incorporating two or four height speakers that can be mounted on a wall or ceiling. Meanwhile, Dolby Atmos soundbars generally use virtual height channels or up-firing speakers that bounce sound off your ceiling and back down. While less effective than ceiling-mounted speakers, up-firing drivers can still work well when properly utilized.
For more information about Dolby Atmos, check out our complete "What is Dolby Atmos?" guide.
Where can I find Dolby Atmos content?
Dolby Atmos movies, TV shows, and music are available through various sources. Many of the best streaming services offer titles with Dolby Atmos mixes, including Netflix, Disney Plus, and Paramount Plus. Dolby Atmos is also a popular format on Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray releases. Dolby Atmos music is available through platforms like Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, and Tidal.
What is DTS:X?
DTS:X is a rival audio format that uses techniques similar to Dolby Atmos, such as object-based sound with height elements for three-dimensional immersion when listening to DTS:X-supported content. Unlike Dolby Atmos, DTS:X is largely confined to physical mediums, namely Blu-ray discs, and isn't supported by many streaming services.
This may be changing, however, as Disney Plus launched DTS:X sound support on select Marvel Cinematic Universe and concert movies in May 2024. Disney is calling the update "IMAX signature sound by DTS." The format is still harder to find and may only be available for devices that support IMAX Enhanced content.
For most applications, DTS:X is essentially tied to Blu-ray discs and is not nearly as widespread as Dolby Atmos.
Are Dolby Atmos soundbars better than TV speakers?
In a word, yes. While the increasing proliferation of multi-channel, multi-speaker sound systems in premium TVs has improved their performance, physics still plays a factor. Even the best 4K TVs use small speaker drivers to keep their screens thin (and prices down), while soundbars, especially well-engineered models, can utilize larger and more efficient speakers and acoustically superior cabinets. This results in better clarity, dimension, and power than TVs alone.
Do I need a subwoofer?
As noted above, physics is always an obstacle when reproducing powerful, high-quality sound from small speakers. This is most evident in the lower bass frequencies. Generally, the bigger the speaker, the better it can reproduce powerful and convincing bass that's also musical and agile enough to support high-quality music, movies, and TV sound.
That's why many soundbars include a dedicated subwoofer. Even a smaller subwoofer cabinet can usually outdo a soundbar without a subwoofer, though some exceptions exist. Check out our guide to the best soundbars with subwoofers for our top recommendations.
If you'd rather go without a subwoofer due to space or noise concerns but still want some cinematic punch, we recommend looking for a larger soundbar with its own dedicated woofers built in. The Sonos Arc and Sony HT-A7000 are both capable of reproducing convincing bass on their own. In addition, both options allow you to add a proprietary subwoofer later if needed.
Melissa Hedden's household income is above the poverty line, but she struggles to afford housing and healthcare.
Courtesy of Melissa Hedden
Melissa Hedden, 41, struggles to afford housing and moves between Airbnbs and hotels.
Hedden's family are ALICEs — Americans who are asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed.
Pandemic unemployment checks briefly helped Hedden, but her financial stability was short-lived.
Melissa Hedden has been living in an Airbnb in Wilmington, North Carolina for over a month. It's a studio-size garage apartment that she shares with her partner, her 11-year-old daughter, and their dog. The space is cramped, but they make it work the best they can.
The Airbnb is the third place in southeastern North Carolina where Hedden and her family have lived since mid-January. The 41-year-old said she was evicted from her apartment at the end of last year after the landlord raised the rent and she could no longer afford it. Since then, Hedden and her family have been staying in a hotel or spending between $900 and $1,200 a week for vacation rentals like Airbnb. It's expensive — probably more expensive than a monthly rent payment — but she said they can't afford the fees, utilities, or security deposit needed to lease a new apartment.
"My biggest fear is that I'm never going to get that small little break that my family needs," she told Business Insider.
Hedden feels trapped. Her household brings home about $3,300 a month, according to documents reviewed by BI,and it isn't enough to cover her family's daily expenses. Hedden was previously employed as a bartender, but she hasn't worked since quitting her job to care for her children during the pandemic. Her partner works full-time, and if he misses even a few hours of work, she said the couple won't be able to make their Airbnb payment.
"I'm not homeless enough to get certain help because I have a roof over my head," she said. "But I'm too homeless to get a job because I don't know where I'm going to live in three weeks. What do you do?"
Her experience mirrors that of many Americans living paycheck to paycheck. A growing number of households, like Hedden's, are also ALICEs — people who are asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed.
Twenty-nine percent of US households are ALICEs, compared to 13% of Americans who live below the federal poverty level, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey data and cost-of-living estimates analyzed by United Way's United For ALICE program.
ALICEs often make too much money to qualify for government assistance, but not enough to comfortably afford food, housing, medicine, or transportation. They live just above the federal poverty line — which is $31,200 a year for a family of four and is not adjusted based on cost of living or location.
Pandemic funds helped Hedden find stability, but the help was short-lived
Before moving to North Carolina in March 2023, Hedden lived inBradenton, Florida. She spent most of her life there, growing up with a single mother.
Heddensaid she was raised in poverty and remembers being housing insecure in her childhood while her mother worked multiple jobs. As an adult, Hedden was also struggling to make ends meet, until the pandemic started.
Because Hedden's son and daughter needed support during online school, she quit her job to stay with them. She said she began receiving pandemic reemployment assistance checks in May 2020. The checks totaled $15,901 that year, according to documents reviewed by BI, and Hedden said it was more than she would have earned if she stayed at her job.
The money offered her a financial safety net: she was able to start repairing her credit, go back to school, and become thevaledictorian of her GED program. Shewasevenon the path to a college degree.
Hedden's family benefited, too. She said they were able to start going to the doctor when they needed it and could afford more nutritious food at the grocery store.
"I feel like my story is proof that, with just a little bit of help, people can reach their potential," Hedden said.
But, when the checks stopped coming in July 2021, Hedden said she became less housing secure and stressed about family medical bills. Although Hedden had been a straight-A student, she later failed out of her college program in the fourth semester.
Her daughter was recently suspended from school because her medical records weren't up to date — Hedden couldn't afford to take her for a routine physical at the doctor's office. Her daughter was previously on Florida Medicaid but Hedden doesn't have health insurance in North Carolina.
She's also worried her car will be repossessed soon becauseit broke down and she can't pay for repairs. Her family has been taking Ubers when necessary, which she said has set them back even further financially.
"Just one thing can bring down your entire house of cards," Hedden said. "The life that you thought you were building where you're doing good — it can all come crashing down."
Hedden is anxious about the future
In early May, Hedden said she checked with the owner of her Airbnb about a longer-term rental. She was hoping to keep her family in one place for a few more months. But again, Hedden can't afford the utilities and fees necessary to sign for a long-term lease.
She doesn't know what will happen next. Without help, Hedden said she's "trying not to drown."
"Right now, $1,000 a month for even 12 months would literally put me back to being a straight-A college student," Hedden said. "It would mean not having to cry because I don't know how to tell my daughter that I don't know if we're gonna be here in two weeks."
Are you making above the poverty line but still struggling to afford daily life? Are you open to sharing your story? Reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@insider.com.
US President Joe Biden (R) and China's President Xi Jinping (L) meet on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on November 14, 2022.
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
Biden's tariffs on China are a gesture to show the US will not accept another wave of Chinese imports, Paul Krugman wrote in an op-ed.
The previous "China shock" was damaging to US employment, given the localized nature of US industry.
China is relying on heavy production to manufacture its way out of an economic slump.
President Biden's fresh set of China tariffs are a signal to show that the US will not absorb another flood of Chinese products, top economist Paul Krugman wrote for The New York Times.
"Biden's moves are more than a symbolic gesture," the Nobel-prize winner said Tuesday. "They're a shot across the bow — a signal that the United States won't accept a second so-called China shock, a surge of imports that could undermine crucial parts of the administration's agenda."
The administration's recently announced tariffs target $18 billion worth of Chinese goods, taking aim at products from solar cells to semiconductors. To protect the US auto industry, these measures go as far as a 100% tax on electric vehicle imports.
It's all to avoid a reiteration of the trade imbalance that cropped up in the 1990s, when massive inflows of cheap manufactured goods from China eroded US employment through the next decades, Krugman explained.
By one estimate, 1.5 million jobs were eliminated between 1990 and 2007, he cited. While this isn't much in the grand scheme of the US economy, those job losses were highly localized and wreaked havoc on individual communities.
Now, a second China shock is mounting as Beijing looks to escape domestic economic turmoil, Krugman wrote.
While the original shock was a sign of the country's strength, today, sending products abroad is a sign of low domestic demand and a lack of sustainable investing.
"China was able to mask these problems for a while with a huge housing bubble and a bloated real estate sector, but that game appears to be up," Krugman wrote, referencing the massive property market fallout that's sent Chinese developers into default.
To the economist, a simple solution would be to provide households with more income, boosting domestic demand. But Krugman notes that Chinese leadership remains inexplicably averse to direct payments to consumers, which he's previously explained as an ideological dislike for welfare and stimulus.
Instead, the country remains focused on boosting advanced manufacturing and unloading the product onto the global market. Other analysts have similarly warned that this is likely to spur protectionism, and could eventually lead to a trade war.
"What the Biden administration is basically saying is: No, you don't get to do that. You're too big a player in the world economy to dump the results of your policy failures in other countries' laps," Krugman wrote.
Chinese automaker BYD briefly eclipsed Tesla as the world's top seller of electric vehicles.
Even without access to the American market, BYD's affordable EVs are popular in China.
Here's how a little-known Chinese brand proved it could go toe-to-toe with an industry giant.
BYD may not be a household name in America, but it recently made itself known in a big way.
For a brief moment earlier this year, the Chinese automaker unseated Tesla as the world's top seller of electric cars.
Even though you won't see a BYD car in America (yet), the company has built an affordable brand that's popular in China and elsewhere.
It also just announced a Cybertruck competitor, the BYD Shark.
Here's the story of the company that proved it could outsell Elon Musk.
BYD doesn't stand for anything — officially.
The BYD nameplate is associated with the slogan "Build Your Dreams," but that came after the company was formed.
picture alliance
Wang Chuanfu and a cousin founded BYD in 1995. Then a 29-year-old government researcher, Wang came from a family of rice farmers. He earned a university scholarship and eventually moved to the Special Economic Zone in Shenzhen to start his new company.
The "YD" in the name comes from Yadi, the village in Shenzhen where the company was originally located, according to one South Korean newspaper. The "B" was added later, supposedly as a promotional tool. Wang has said in interviews that, taken together, the "BYD" name didn't stand for anything in particular.
It was only later that Wang derived the slogan "Build Your Dreams." The company has also acquired another nickname: "Bring Your Dollars."
The company was originally a cell phone battery manufacturer.
Hu Jintao, China's vice president in the 1990s, tests a Samsung cellphone. Samsung was one of BYD's earliest customers.
Kim Jae-Hwang/AFP via Getty Images
The company's original business wasn't cars. It was cellphone batteries. BYD challenged established Japanese suppliers Toyota and Sony by providing a cheaper alternative. By 2002, companies like Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung were all using BYD batteries.
They started making cars in 2003.
Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images
BYD moved into the car business after buying Xi'an Tsinchuan, a failing state-owned automaker that was then an arm of defense contractor Norinco, according to the South China Morning Post.
The company launched its first car in 2005. The BYD F3 was a compact sedan that resembled the Toyota Corolla. It sold for as little as 40,000 yuan, or about $5,850.
Warren Buffett was a key early booster.
Wang Chuanfu (left) welcomed investors Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates to celebrate the launch of the BYD M6 in 2010.
Visual China Group via Getty Images
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett was one of the high-profile names to take interest in BYD early on. Looking to invest in China's booming car market, Buffett toured BYD's headquarters.
While the Berkshire Hathaway tycoon was there, Wang reportedly took a sip of battery fluid to prove how clean his batteries were, according to The Wall Street Journal. Buffett was so impressed by the experience, he offered to buy 25% of the company.
Wang declined that offer, but Buffett was not deterred. Berkshire Hathaway acquired a 10% stake in BYD — for $232 million — in 2008.
Their first electric car drew scorn from Elon Musk.
Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images
The company debuted its first fully electric vehicle, the e6, in 2010. Benefiting from Chinese government subsidies, it was able to compete with its Japanese counterparts.
But not everyone was impressed. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in a 2011 interview, laughed when he was asked whether he considered BYD a serious rival to Tesla.
"Have you seen their car?" he said. "I don't think they make a good product. I don't think it's particularly attractive. The technology is not very strong."
BYD's hybrid cars turned it into a titan of Chinese automakers.
Wang Chuanfu introduced the BYD Qin in 2012.
AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan
BYD established itself as one of the top automakers for hybrid vehicles in China in the 2010s. Its most popular offering was the Qin, introduced in 2012, which became one of the bestselling cars in China.
That wasn't the only offering that propelled BYD to prominence, however. The company also released the Tang, a hybrid SUV, and partnered with Daimler AG (now Mercedes-Benz) to make its Denza line.
BYD took the EV crown from Tesla — briefly.
A BYD ATTO 3 in Bangkok.
Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
Even though most of its sales in the fourth quarter of 2023 came from the Chinese market, BYD made headlines across the globe when it seemingly did the impossible — it unseated Tesla as the world's top seller of electric cars.
The Chinese automaker rode the EV wave on the back of its new Seagull, which debuted for 73,000 yuan (about $10,000), as well as its Song, Qin Plus, Dolphin, Yuan Plus, and Han EVs.
Tesla reclaimed the crown in the first quarter of 2024, though both companies saw steep declines in their sales.
BYD's Shark takes aim at Tesla's Cybertruck
The BYD Shark is supposed to represent an actual shark, according to the launch event.
BYD Auto México
The Shark, unveiled on May 14, is the latest model offered by BYD.
BYD's Shark is a mid-size hybrid pickup truck. The cabin's design fuses outdoor functionality with modern style and durability.
The truck has over 430 horsepower, or 170 less than Tesla's all-wheel-drive Cybertruc. BYD says it can accelerate from zero to 100 kilometers per hour, or about 62 miles per hour, in about 5.7 seconds. The vehicle has five seats and a maximum towing capacity of 2500 kg, which is just over 5,500 lbs. That's about half of the Cybertruck's towing capability.
Designed for everyday trips and off-road driving, the Shark has three terrain modes: sand, mud, and snow.
The Shark also has built-in features to make camping and off-roading more accessible. The vehicle offers bidirectional charging according to BYD's site.
While the Shark isn't in direct competition with the Cybertruck as a hybrid model that doesn't sell in the US, it might entice EV fans looking for a more traditional pickup design. It's also priced competitively at about $53,451, which is lower than Cybertruck's $60,990 starting price tag.
Don't expect to see a BYD car on American roads anytime soon.
New BYD cars wait to be loaded onto a ship in China's Shandong province.
Future Publishing
For a time, it looked like we were just a few years away from getting Chinese electric cars in the United States. A BYD executive said as much in 2017, and the company even hired Leonardo DiCaprio as a brand ambassador for English-speaking customers.
But the company says it has abandoned its plans of selling its EVs to Americans. Analysts have pointed to geopolitical tensions and trade barriers between the two countries, as well as the slumping demand for EVs in the United States.
Bluey and Bingo at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.
Jerod Harris/Getty Images
"Bluey" fans are worried the series could end with its third-season finale on Sunday.
The "Bluey" brand is worth an estimated $2 billion but faces some challenges going forward.
The kids TV show ranked among the most-watched streaming series in America last year.
Fans of the children's TV sensation "Bluey" feared the season three finale in April would mark the end of their favorite show.
Those fears proved unfounded, but the show does face some challenges down the line.
"Bluey" is an Australian preschool show that features a family of Australian Cattle Dogs or "Blue Heelers": Bluey, her younger sister Bingo, and their parents, Bandit and Chilli.
The show has become wildly popular in the US, where it was the top children's show last year, and the second-most streamed series after "Suits," per Nielsen data.
That popularity was underlined by a recent event held by a Las Vegas restaurant that offered fans the chance to meet "Bluey" — except the character was played by a man in a onesie, or a "Temu 'Bluey' costume" as one disgruntled customer put it.
Relatable
The show has taken off because it's funny, has wide appeal, and tackles real issues that many families face. Episodes focus on how children learn about the world through play, and how parents can join in the fun and help their kids navigate challenges while also dealing with their own issues.
"Bluey is relatable to both parents and kids and uses humor and realistic situations in its storytelling," Yalda Uhls, the founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA, told Business Insider.
"'Sesame Street' is similar in that parents don't mind watching that with young children."
The show's creator and writer is Joe Brumm, a father of two young girls. It's produced by Ludo Studio, its distributors include the commercial arm of Britain's BBC, and it's available on Disney+.
"Bluey" creator Joe Brumm accepts an award in Sydney in 2019.
Brendon Thorne/Getty Images
The latest episode centered on Bandit preparing Bluey and Bingo to move home, and concluded with the appearance of a foreboding "For Sale" sign on the lawn of their family home.
The season finale, titled "The Sign," is 28 minutes long compared with the usual seven minutes. The episodes's length and game-changing subject matter fueled speculation that "Bluey" might be coming to an end.
However, producer Sam Moor told BBC Radio 4 it was "not the end for 'Bluey'" and there were "many more surprises in store."
Twenty new "Bluey Minisodes" are on the way, per the show's blog. They're billed as a collection of funny and sweet moments with the Heeler family and feature some new characters alongside fan favorites including Unicorse, Nana and Bob Heeler.
The first batch of minisodes will air on ABC Australia in June, followed by Disney+, "Bluey" website and YouTube channel later this year.
Making money and growing up
"Bluey" has become a big business. One valuation expert told Bloomberg that the brand is worth an estimated $2 billion. Another source claimed Disney had explored acquiring the property.
Those behind "Bluey" have leveraged its immense popularity by licensing its characters. There's now endless amounts of merchandise — this father of a toddler already owns "Bluey" books and toys and has been eyeing a "Bluey"-themed doctor play set — if only he could trust the family dog not to chew the stethoscope.
Disney monetizes smash hits like "Frozen" by releasing sequels and spin-off TV shows, and by featuring characters like Elsa and Olaf across toys, books, clothing, video games, theme parks, cruises, and resorts.
Despite "Bluey" living on, it faces the challenge of capturing fresh viewers as existing ones move on.
"As with any show related to kids, the audience will grow up, and if it doesn't create storylines that hold the attention of a new audience, it may lose viewership," Uhls said.
The show's reliance on Brumm could also make it tricky to scale, and limit how much a buyer will pay for it. Too much success, too fast, might cause the show to lose its way.