Top News:
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Netflix says it has agreed to acquire the entire Roald Dahl Story Company catalog, expanding on a three-year deal to make animated shows, for an undisclosed sum — Netflix has acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company and will expand their existing deal to create a universe spanning several formats.
Discussion:
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The Information:
Sources: The Athletic has hired an investment bank to find a buyer at a price of $750M+, though the pub could still raise more money instead of selling — If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. — That appears to be the motto of The Athletic in its efforts to sell itself.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @amir, @edmundlee and @lucas_shaw
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CBS News will phase out the name CBSN for its news streaming service later this year as it brings its broadcast and digital efforts under the CBS News brand — CBSN represented the first effort by one of the traditional broadcast networks to get into the news streaming game, and its name was meant to evoke digital concepts.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Facebook says Apple's ATT changes will continue to cause headwinds in Q3 and reveals it under-reported iOS web conversions by 15% on average — Facebook said Wednesday that changes to Apple's new privacy terms will continue to cause headwinds for its ads business in the third quarter.
Discussion:
Facebook, Insider, Ad Age, Social Media Today, @sarafischer, @grahammudd, Reuters, TechCrunch, @lagana, @eric_seufert, @chrismartin17, CNBC, @glynmoody, @sarafischer, @madelineashby, 9to5Mac and @sarthakgh, more at Techmeme »
Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:
Leaked email: Tim Cook says recent leakers of info about Apple products and internal meetings “do not belong here” and the company is tracking them down — The CEO says the company is doing everything in its power to track down workers — Tim Cook sent an email …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, Insider, Bloomberg, The Week, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, @emilyjnicolle, @kyle_ocker, @chrishardie, @juddlegum, @lewis_crofts, @kurtgessler, iMore and AppleInsider, more at Techmeme »
The Daily Beast:
Trump sues NYT, three of its reporters, and his niece, Mary Trump, claiming they hatched a plot to obtain his private records for a story about his tax history — The ex-president claims there was an “insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly-sensitive records.”
Discussion:
New York Times, Metro.co.uk, Politico, @susannecraig, @latenightseth, Deadline, NPR, @brianrayguitar, @jswatz, @vabvox, Columbia Journalism Review, @nycjim, @oliverdarcy, @bradmossesq, @swin24, @nycjim, @keitholbermann, The Indian Express, Al Jazeera, HuffPost, The Guardian, @normative, @popehat, @katiephang, @maddowblog, @jessefferguson, @parismartineau, @garylegum, @garylegum, @briankarem, @zoetillman, @adamparkhomenko, @jeremymbarr, @maxwelltani, Washington Post, The Week, Insider, WBRZ, New York Post, UPROXX, The Wrap, The Hill, Axios, The Sun, Mediaite and Rolling Stone
David Pierce / Protocol:
Read-later apps, pioneered by Instapaper and Pocket, are having a resurgence led by Matter, Upnext, and others, which improve discoverability and other features — The internet, as a reading experience, is mostly terrible. The heavy pages riddled with ads and trackers, the unexpected pop-ups …
Discussion:
@getmatterapp, @dlberes, @pierce, @shiraovide and @navalang, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast unveils XiOne, its first streaming device, available to Sky Q customers in Italy and Germany and rolling out to Xfinity Flex customers in the US — Comcast has launched a new wireless streaming device — the XiOne — that will become the company's standard platform across the globe.
Michael Crider / Android Police:
YouTube is testing letting Premium subscribers download videos from its desktop site through October 19 — Downloading content for playback later is most useful on mobile, where your connection quality is determined by your location. But there are plenty of us whose home connection isn't so great either …
Discussion:
Engadget, The Verge and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »
Corin Faife / The Markup:
Analysis: Facebook appears to be adding code to interfere with automated data collection of News Feed posts by journalists and researchers — The tweak, which targets the code in accessibility features for visually impaired users, drew ire from researchers and those who monitor the platform
Discussion:
New York Times, @mattblaze, @beep, @tonyromm, @juliaangwin, @lauraedelson2, @suryamattu, @corintxt, Engadget and Gizmodo
Kerry Flynn / CNN:
NewsGuild says it is investigating the workplace culture at Gannett, starting with the issue of unpaid overtime work — New York (CNN Business)The NewsGuild, a labor union that represents thousands of journalists, is investigating the workplace culture of US newspaper conglomerate Gannett …
Financial Times:
Sony Pictures India agrees to invest $1.6B in a merger with Zee Entertainment, which would create one of India's biggest media conglomerates — Non-binding deal comes as India's biggest listed media group faces shareholder revolt — Sony Pictures Networks India has proposed a deal …
Discussion:
Business Standard, Reuters, @rutujax, The Hindu BusinessLine, IGN India, NDTV.com, Broadband TV News, Hindustan Times, TechCrunch, Livemint, Al Jazeera, MediaNama and Deadline