Mediagazer: AT&T officially completes its DirecTV spinoff, of which it still owns 70%; DirecTV will focus on satellite TV and streaming, which it will brand DirecTV Stream (Alex Weprin/Hollywood Reporter)

9:25 PM ET, August 2, 2021

Top News:

Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine has been sold to a company led by ex-Disney execs and backed by PE giant Blackstone, sources say at a ~$900M valuation — Firm led by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs plans to acquire other content companies

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

In an interview, Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, who just bought Hello Sunshine, say Blackstone vowed to provide them with $2B for acquisition of content suppliers — The $900 million acquisition of Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine by private equity giant Blackstone is a big step toward …

Discussion: @jpmanga and @kerrymflynn

Olivia Solon / NBC News:

Female journalists and activists share how they were targeted and harassed by authoritarian regimes through hack-and-leak attacks using the Pegasus spyware — Ghada Oueiss, a Lebanese broadcast journalist at Al-Jazeera, was eating dinner at home with her husband last June when she received …

Discussion: @oliviasolon, @alex, @iyad_elbaghdadi, Beyond Search, @oliviasolon, @drewharwell, @oliviasolon, @evan_greer, @evacide and @kimzetter, more at Techmeme »

Kim Willsher / The Guardian:

French intelligence agency confirms Pegasus spyware was found on the phones of three journalists, at TV station France 24 and investigative outlet Mediapart — Announcement is first time an independent and official authority has corroborated Pegasus project findings

Discussion: @adam_k_levin, @brooklynmarie, @kevincollier, @drewharwell and @davidakaye, more at Techmeme »

Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:

The White House and some states are teaming up with influencers on TikTok and Instagram to encourage vaccine uptake in young people and counter misinformation — The White House has teamed up with TikTok stars, while some states are paying “local micro influencers” for pro-vaccine campaigns.

Discussion: Chicago Sun-Times, @taylorlorenz, @nickcho, @brandonrichards, Breitbart, @taylorlorenz, @berthahidalgo, @taylorlorenz and @saltycracker9

New York Times:
While social media companies attract attention for vaccine misinformation, researchers say local media has been a powerful conduit for anti-vaccine messaging

Discussion: @jkelly3rd, @staceynycdc, @drsherrypagoto, Free Press, Common Dreams, @jkelly3rd, @picardonhealth, @jeremarketer, @stphnfwlr, @brettkelman, @jkelly3rd, @daniel_kraft, @trishathadani and @brianstelter

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Twitter partners with Reuters and the AP, who will provide context and highlight links from trusted sources for Trends, Moments, Search, and more — Twitter announced today it's partnering with news organizations The Associated Press (AP) and Reuters to expand its efforts focused …

Discussion: Twitter, Mediaite, Editor and Publisher, @twittersafety, Social Media Today, Reuters, @jason_kint, Associated Press, @hshaban, @larakate, @christina_ugc, @niketa and @ericzuck, more at Techmeme »

Leonard Greene / New York Daily News:

A staffer sues Fox News saying Andrew Napolitano sexually harassed him and Larry Kudlow made racist and sexist remarks; Fox has “parted ways” with Napolitano — Fox Business host Larry Kudlow repeatedly made racist and sexist remarks during staff meetings and even blocked …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Wrap, Variety, Supreme Court of the State of New York County of New York, The Hill, The Wrap, TVNewser, @nydailynews, The Daily Beast, Deadline, @jaywillis, @jeremymbarr, Law & Crime and @deanobeidallah

Robert Silverman / The Daily Beast:

A deep dive into Tim Pool's career, from livestreaming Occupy to jobs at Vice before spotlighting extremists and white nationalists on YouTube and his website — OFF THE DEEP END … A former darling of Occupy Wall Street, Tim Pool has racked up more than a billion views and millions …

Discussion: @bobsaietta, @jaredlholt, @jaredlholt, @theyoungturks, The A.V. Club, @silvermanjacob, @blackamazon, @rauggmoss, @thedailybeast, @nandoodles, @anthonylfisher, @thetomzone, Today in Tabs, @beccalew, @lukeobrien, @eyesontheright, @mlcalderone, @jasonintrator and @mobute, Thanks:@ants000

Todd Spangler / Variety:

News Corp says it will pay $1.15B in cash to buy the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) from S&P Global and IHS Markit — News Corp, the news and media conglomerate headed by Rupert Murdoch, will pay $1.15 billion in cash for the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) …

Discussion: Business Wire, Too Much TV Newsletter, @rafat, @sarafischer and MediaPost

Nicole Sperling / New York Times:

Profile of Alex Kurtzman, who has a $160M, five-and-a-half-year deal to develop the Star Trek franchise at Paramount+, a key project to boost the small service — “He's our future,” one CBS Studios executive said of Alex Kurtzman, who has a lucrative contract to expand the “Star Trek” …

Discussion: @variety, @viacomcbs, ScreenRant, @startrek, Variety and The Wrap

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:

AT&T officially completes its DirecTV spinoff, of which it still owns 70%; DirecTV will focus on satellite TV and streaming, which it will brand DirecTV Stream — Satellite TV company unveils new corporate branding as it launches as a standalone video company.

Discussion: The Streamable, The Wrap, Adweek, Los Angeles Times, Business Wire and Deadline

Jon Porter / The Verge:

YouTube trials a Premium Lite tier for €6.99/month in Europe, giving viewers ad-free viewing on the web, iOS, Android, smart TVs, and game consoles — Currently being piloted in parts of Europe — Google is piloting a more affordable premium subscription tier for YouTube …

Discussion: ResetEra, ScreenRant, Gizmodo, UPI, @tomwarren, @danishkh4n, Cord Cutters News, The Streamable, Tubefilter, MediaPost, XDA Developers, 9to5Google and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 9:25 PM ET, August 2, 2021.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Output Producer, CA — AP

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Senior Assignment Editor, DC — WaPo

Breaking News Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

Reporter - Ottawa Bureau — Globe & Mail

Local Government Reporter, IA — The Gazette

Research Director, CA — OCBJ

Immigration Enforcement Reporter — Documented

Presque Island Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — SFGATE

AI Content Editor, WA — Outlier

Legislative Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Editorial Assistant, Remote US — Launch Potato

Elon Musk Reporter, NY or CA — The Information

Government & Politics Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Business & GA Reporter. VT — VTDigger

Sports Reporter, WA — Everett Herald

Energy Reporter, TX — Houston Chronicle

Senior Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — FT

Reporter, WI — Racine County Eye

Political Newsletter Writer, CO — The Lever

Jackson Reporter, MS — Verite

Music Editor, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Breaking News Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Fearless Reporter/Producer, IA — BPC

Reporter II - Technology, Remote — NPR

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

City Reporter, WA — Tacoma News Tribune

Executive Editor, OR — Lookout Local

Education & Budget Reporter, CA — Politico

Senior Writer/Editor, FL — Gulfshore Business

Media Editor, Remote — Axios

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Dave Jamieson / HuffPost:
Sources: Washingtonian Media CEO has called staffers, held meetings, and otherwise pressured employees to vote no on the upcoming NLRB election

Discussion: @mattdpearce, @curious_kurz, @hshaban, @jayshams, @abeaujon and @kalinanewman

Business Wire:
Filing: BuzzFeed Q1 revenue grew 14% YoY; ad revenue grew by $7.3M, up 23% YoY; commerce and other revenue grew $6.3M, up 78% YoY; content revenue fell 20% YoY

Discussion: @reckless

Garett Sloane / Ad Age:
Brands and media buyers say they prefer Roku and The Trade Desk to YouTube's CTV ecosystem, which lacks tools to manage ad frequency and traditional metrics

Discussion: @adage

K.J. Yossman / Variety:
Discovery's deal to buy European rights for 2018-2024 Olympics, worth $1.5B, has led to severely limited free-to-air coverage in the UK, Italy, and elsewhere

Discussion: The Guardian

Earlier Picks:

Sam Shead / CNBC:
Blackstone and Hudson Pacific, which own Hollywood's Sunset Studios, are planning a £700M movie studio in Hertfordshire, England, to tempt Netflix and Amazon

Discussion: Bloomberg, Ad Age, Deadline, The Times, BBC, Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian and Reuters

Stitch / The Verge:
Some K-pop stars are bypassing Twitter and Facebook to create platforms for fans, like Universe, which features AI-generated voice calls with the idols

Discussion: @stitchmediamix and Social18

Nieman Lab:
Interviews with 200 news professionals in the US and EU shed light on crime reporting, as US newsrooms embrace empathy toward wrongdoers like some EU newsrooms

Discussion: American Press Institute, @jimmacmillan, @jeffcanoy and @kimbui

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:
YouTube issues strike, suspends Sky News Australia for a week over its videos denying COVID-19 existence, promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Gina Raimondo says holding back China in the chips race is a “fool's errand”, and investment, more than export controls, will keep US ahead of Beijing

Paresh Dave / Wired:
Google says it wouldn't force its device makers, browser, and wireless carrier licensees to distribute Gemini to US users for three years, in a proposed remedy

Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
Exploring the scaling challenges of transformer-based LLMs in efficiently processing large amounts of text, as well as potential solutions, such as RAG systems

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page