Top News:
Reuters:
Sources: Comcast is preparing an all-cash bid for 21st Century Fox's media assets which it has agreed to sell to Disney, but bid is dependent on AT&T case — (Reuters) - U.S. cable operator Comcast Corp is asking investment banks to increase a bridge financing facility by as much as $60 billion …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, /Film, UPROXX, Variety, Mediawire, Light Reading, Media Star, @escoblades, Fortune, C21Media, The Hill, CNBC, Financial Times and Multichannel News
Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:
NewsWhip data shows Facebook's algorithm changes have adversely affected the engagement rates of quality news sources like the NYT and NBC — Some recent data on the best-performing news brands on Facebook seems to show that high-quality new sources are getting less engagement on Facebook …
Discussion:
@kevinroose, @astroehlein, @altrabbi, @jacobwe, @caseynewton, @davidfrum, @danpfeiffer, NewsWhip, Fast Company and Mashable
Special Projects Desk:
Univision has been in decline for years, with a shark-obsessed boss, millions wasted on consultants, and an executive who insisted on publishing softcore porn — This is the story of how corporate raiding, complacency, excess, and incompetence are gutting a media company that matters to tens of millions of people.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, The Wrap, @hadas_gold, @hadas_gold, @traciemorrissey, @ftrain, @mattdpearce, @mattdpearce, @lifehacker and @verambergen
Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
Liberal publications like The Atlantic can have ideological diversity without hiring sub-standard conservative writers with ideas that are demonstrably false — Donald Trump's election exposed the irrelevance of conservative intellectuals — and thereby, the incoherence of many a liberal publication's mission statement.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, @seanmcelwee, @seanmcelwee, @johnosullivannr, @robbysoave, @monachareneppc and @brithume
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
CNN is currently battling to keep its editorial guidelines secret, as part of a legal battle over an investigative piece from June 2015 — The New York Times puts its editorial guidelines on the Internet, for all to sample. So does The Post. BuzzFeed published its “News Standards And Ethics Guide” …
Politico:
Scott Pruitt fast-tracked a water district in California for clean-up at the personal request of conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt — EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt placed a polluted California area on his personal priority list of Superfund sites targeted for “immediate and intense” …
Shan Wang / Nieman Lab:
In an experiment to connect with readers, the New York Times hosts conference calls for subscribers that feature reporter interviews and audience questions — “We weren't sure how they would work out initially — the format sounded a little analog to us...As we've continued to do them, we noticed momentum building."
Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:
Alden plans 10-15% budget cuts at the Denver Post and other DFM properties; sources say at least one lender to withdraw financing after editorial resignations — Former Denver Post owner Dean Singleton is upset that the paper he built “has been totally gutted of news coverage...It is breaking my heart.”
Discussion:
Media Nation, Democracy Now, Denverite, @vosdscott, @kevinmodesti, Columbia Journalism Review, Denver Westword and @niemanlab
RELATED:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Following its merger with Scripps Networks, Discovery posted an $8M loss in its Q1 but revenue soared 43% YoY to ~$2.31B — The acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive is likely to be a boon to the new Discovery Inc., which has swelled in size thanks to the companies' recent merger.
Discussion:
MediaPost
Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:
ESPN has agreed to a deal with UFC to broadcast 15 matches on its newly-launched streaming service beginning in 2019, source say for $150M — ESPN has agreed to a deal with UFC for a portion of its TV rights that will put 15 matches on its newly-launched streaming service beginning in 2019.
Discussion:
Adweek, Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable
Peter Kafka / Recode:
YouTube reached an agreement with Vevo last year, in an unannounced deal, to sell Vevo's clips directly to advertisers as part of Google Preferred — Good for YouTube and for the music labels. What about for Vevo? — The world's biggest video site is also the world's biggest music video site.
Discussion:
Fast Company and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
A look at what Hollywood insiders are using cryptocurrencies for: investing, financing and distributing films, and, in one instance, a plot point in a romcom — It's little shock the volatile virtual currency has the attention of entertainment industry speculators (and their wary business managers) …
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