Top News:


Netflix acquires the global rights to Seinfeld for five years, starting in 2021 when Amazon and Hulu's rights expire; Hulu was paying $150M a year for US rights — Netflix has fired back in the battle for popular network sitcoms by landing the global streaming rights to “Seinfeld.”
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Ars Technica, Ad Age, /Film, New York Times, Broadcasting & Cable, TVWeek.com, CNN, Business Insider, The Streamable, The Wrap, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, Vox, Vanity Fair, IndieWire, @sherman4949, The A.V. Club, The Week, @megancgraham, The Ringer, @gerryfsmith, @damianholbrook, @sherman4949, The Playlist, @ballmatthew, The Verge, Slate, Engadget and CNET


A well-reported book offers a thoughtful exploration of the Kavanaugh saga, but its newsworthy information is lost in the furor over a botched NYT excerpt — If you happened to see the excerpt of a new book on Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh in print, you might have flipped right past it.
Discussion:
@baseballcrank, @heerjeet, @mccormackjohn, @kerrylauerman and @pauldemko
RELATED:


NYT corrects story with new Kavanaugh allegation, says full account from upcoming book notes that friends of woman involved say she does not recall the incident
Discussion:
The Hill, Vox, New York Times, @alxthomp, NPR, New York Post, @normative, New York Magazine, Mediaite, @howardkurtz, @sulliview, @daviduberti and The Wrap

New York Times gets heavily criticized over a now-deleted tweet that described sexual assault as “harmless fun”
Discussion:
Politico, @dkiesow, @nytimespr, Fox News, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, @erickfernandez, Raw Story, @jeannakadlec, @jeffjarvis, @lindseyadler, @thebestjasmine, @jeremymbarr, Fortune, @adamparkhomenko, @cliffschecter, @yashar, @atrupar, @schemaly, @atrupar, @brianbeutler, @3vansutton, @turtletears, @drmistercody, @realsaavedra, DNA India, Daily Mail, BizPac Review, Boing Boing, Fox News, New York Post and Raw Story


The dearth of TikTok videos on Hong Kong protests offers a glimpse of how China could shape the perception of real-world events by US and global audiences — Hong Kong unrest features prominently on most social media, but not on TikTok — A search for “#hongkong” on Twitter reveals …
Discussion:
@maryhui, @yaqiu, @laurahelmuth, @craigsilverman, @profcarroll, @sarahfrier, @jorge_guajardo, @matthewstoller, @jchengwsj, @jchengwsj, @mattdpearce, @markseibel and @parmy, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:


A look at TopBuzz, the English version of ByteDance's Chinese AI-powered news aggregator Toutiao, that rose from 1.8M MAUs in Nov. 2017 to 23M MAUs by Oct. 2018 — The MIT Technology Review called it “the insanely popular Chinese news app that you've never heard of.”
Discussion:
@mattnavarra and @rkellett, more at Techmeme »


SNL says Shane Gillis will not join its cast and that its vetting process was “not up to our standard”, after clips surface of him using racist language — “Saturday Night Live” is officially cutting ties with Shane Gillis. — “After talking with Shane Gillis …


Since CJR and The Nation announced Covering Climate Now in July to spur focused climate crisis coverage, over 250 news outlets have committed to the effort — New York (CNN Business)More than 250 news outlets around the world have committed to Covering Climate Now. — What is it?


The Guardian apologizes for publishing an editorial that originally said that ex-UK PM David Cameron had only felt “privileged pain” over the death of his son — The Guardian has apologised for saying David Cameron had only felt “privileged pain” over the death of his son.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, The Guardian, @alexmassie, @paulwaugh, @markdistef, The Times & The Sunday Times, The Week, @markdistef, @markdistef, @markdistef, Bookseller News and HuffPost UK


Filing: Endeavor, Ari Emanuel's entertainment company, seeks to raise $600M+ at a valuation of ~$8B in its IPO — The entertainment company's IPO is now expected this fall. — Endeavor hopes to raise $600 million-plus in its initial public offering, according to a filing with the Securities …
Discussion:
SEC.gov, Variety, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, @alexweprin, @edmundlee, Financial Times and Deadline


Facebook says it is planning changes to tool allowing advertisers to rewrite news story headlines after UK's Conservative party altered a BBC headline in an ad — BBC article used in ad with a changed headline that contradicted article content — Advertisers on Facebook are able …
Discussion:
CNET and @mattnavarra, more at Techmeme »


Following Twitter and Facebook, Snapchat launches a library of political ads on its platform from 2018 and 2019, available as downloadable spreadsheets — New York (CNN Business)Snapchat launched a political ads library as the mobile app becomes a campaign tool for 2020 candidates.
Discussion:
MediaPost and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

FCC votes 3-2 to approve the $7.1B merger of Nexstar and Tribune Media, 214 days after it was announced, in a deal creating the largest US TV station group — Meld creates nation's largest broadcast group — The FCC has approved the merger of Nexstar and Tribune, essentially putting …
Discussion:
MediaPost, The Streamable, Radio & Television …, The Wrap, Variety, Radio & Television …, Reuters, @matthewkeyslive, Engadget and @tvnewscheck


The Daily Beast says cutting the cost of Beast Inside by 65% over the past 15 months to $35/year has led to conversion rates 5x that of initial $100/year — Since The Daily Beast launched its membership program, Beast Inside, last summer, the IAC-owned news brand has managed to improve …