Mediagazer: Stingray Digital Group of Canada announces bid to buy rival Music Choice, which has multiple owners including Comcast, Charter, Cox, and WarnerMedia, for $120M (Todd Spangler/Variety)

1:00 PM ET, August 3, 2018

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Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast and Amazon reach a deal to integrate Prime Video into Comcast's Xfinity X1 service; Comcast expects to launch Prime Video on X1 later this year — Comcast and Amazon reached a deal to bring Prime Video to the cable company's Xfinity X1 service — the first time Amazon's premium …

Discussion: corporate.comcast.com, Broadcasting & Cable, Fast Company, MediaPost, SlashGear, Fortune, Adweek, Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check, The Verge and Multichannel News, more at Techmeme »

Jordan Valinsky / CNNMoney:

Good Media Group confirms it laid off over 30 people from Upworthy/Good, citing “an increasingly challenging media environment” — Media layoffs pile up — Viral news website Upworthy has laid off a significant chunk of its staff. — More than 30 people were let go from the whole company …

Discussion: Press Gazette, The Wrap, @elipariser, MediaPost, @lheron, @parkermolloy, @mshrayber, @robbie_couch, @lheron, @clareamurphy and @anamariecox

The Verge:

Editors of The Verge, where Sarah Jeong works now, stand by her and blast harassment over old tweets: “This is not a good-faith conversation; it's intimidation” — Newsrooms must stand up to targeted campaigns of harassment — Since announcing her new job with The New York Times …

Discussion: The Wrap, Poynter, @anildash, @hshaban, CNNMoney, HuffPost, Hollywood Life, Fast Company, The Federalist, New York Times, @charlesarthur, @chillmage, @lpolgreen, @mmasnick, @poniewozik, @hels, @loudmouthjulia, @ericajoy, @mat, @mattdpearce, @megan_nicolett and @laura_hudson

Jon Levine / The Wrap:
The New York Times issues a statement standing by Sarah Jeong, its new editorial board hire, after criticisms arise of her old tweets blasting “white people”

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, Fortune, @ekp, Splinter, @juliacarriew, Mediaite, @hirokotabuchi, @reckless, @laura_hudson, The Mary Sue, @mollycrabapple, @sonyaellenmann, @trevortimm, @pennyred, @motherjones and @sarahjeong, more at Techmeme »

Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:

New York Daily News fires five more staffers, bringing the total number of employees laid off to 98 people — The Daily News quietly showed five more staffers to the door, pushing the number hit by the devastating mass layoffs to 98 people. — A New York state WARN notice filed …

John Haltiwanger / Business Insider:

In response to a question from CNN's Jim Acosta, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders refuses to say “the press is not the enemy of the people” — - White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to answer a question from CNN's Jim Acosta about whether …

Jason Schwartz / Politico: In July, the White House held three press briefings, totaling 56 minutes altogether, a continuation of a declining trend with five in June, and nine in May

Alex Yablon / The Trace:

In court filing, NRA says it may be forced to close NRATV since it's been unable to get media liability insurance due to pressure from Cuomo on insurance firms — The National Rifle Association typically portrays itself as an indomitable force. But an ongoing court case has the gun group taking inventory of its wounds.

Discussion: Rolling Stone

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Stingray Digital Group of Canada announces bid to buy rival Music Choice, which has multiple owners including Comcast, Charter, Cox, and WarnerMedia, for $120M — Stingray Digital Group, a Canadian music and video content provider, announced an unsolicited offer to acquire rival Music Choice for $120 million.

Discussion: Multichannel News and Billboard

TIME:

Time and the Texas Tribune form a three-month editorial partnership to cover the US-Mexico border starting August 3 — TIME and The Texas Tribune are forming an editorial partnership to report from the U.S.-Mexico border The Texas Tribune — TIME and The Texas Tribune are forming …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune

Sahil Patel / Digiday:

The top five online TV services in the US are owned by big corporations like Google and AT&T that can afford to lose money as they try to reach profitability — YouTube TV reportedly has 800,000 subscribers, but by paying $9 more for programming costs than the $40 it charges subscribers every month, it loses money.

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Disney has tried without success yet to buy back TV rights to Star Wars movies from Turner Broadcasting for use on its upcoming streaming service — - Cable programmer would want compensation, replacement content — Walt Disney Co. is suffering from seller's remorse.

Discussion: /Film, ScreenRant, GeekTyrant, Gizmodo, Engadget, Vanity Fair, TV Tattle and CinemaBlend

Sahil Patel / Digiday:

Sources: Awesomeness' value plunge was caused by the loss of $150M-$180M in Go90 revenue and an ownership structure that made unilateral decisions difficult — Subscribe to Digiday's weekly video briefing email, written by senior reporter Sahil Patel, for more exclusive coverage and analysis around …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter and @petersontee

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:

Q&A with researchers Fiona Morgan and Jay Hamilton on information needs of low-income communities, newspaper consolidation, and shrinking local news — “There is no Wirecutter for low-income individuals.” Fiona Morgan and Jay Hamilton talk about their research into information ecosystems and the media market.

Discussion: @adrienneleigh, @niemanlab and @shansquared

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