Mediagazer: Kevin Mayer's and Tom Staggs' Candle Media acquires ATTN:, a profitable digital content publisher focused on social change content, sources say for ~$150M (Sara Fischer/Axios)

9:15 AM ET, May 18, 2022

Top News:

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Sources: Disney will not accept ads about alcohol, politics, or rival studios on its cheaper ad-supported Disney+ tier, and will not show ads to young children — Not every marketer is likely to get its commercials on a new ad-supported version of Disney+.

Discussion: Digital TV Europe, Fast Company, Digiday, The Desk, Too Much TV Newsletter, New York Post, @annehummert, Protocol, SlashFilm, IndieWire, The Wrap, CNET, Ad Age and MediaPost

Wall Street Journal:

Disney plans to carry four minutes of commercials per hour on Disney+'s ad-supported tier; Hulu has nearly eight, Peacock has five, and HBO Max will have four — Total ad load to be limited to four minutes an hour; preschool children won't see any ads — Walt Disney Co. DIS 2.69%▲ …

Discussion: @patiencehaggin, The Verge, ScreenRant, Hollywood Reporter, Ad Age, Engadget, @mulvihill79, @richlightshed, @tsoh_investing, TechCrunch, TVLine and The Streamable

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:

Netflix cuts 150 jobs out of 11K across departments in a new round of layoffs, mostly in the US, as the company reins in costs amid slowing revenue growth — EXCLUSIVE: Layoffs are underway at Netflix today. About 150 positions out of the streamer's workforce of 11,000 are being eliminated amid …

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

Senator Chuck Schumer urges Rupert Murdoch to stop amplifying “replacement theory” on Fox News; Lachlan Murdoch said Tucker Carlson “decried” the theory in 2021 — Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, urged Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

At its Brandcast presentation, YouTube unveils ad frequency limits across YouTube and connected TV apps, letting marketers using Google Ads to set weekly caps — The TV upfronts are usually a dog-and-pony show where networks unveil their new content slates.

Discussion: Ad Age, MediaPost, Tubefilter and @xpangler

Ariel Shapiro / The Verge:

Internal Gimlet memo: Reply All podcast co-hosts Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi will be leaving next month — It is unclear whether the show will continue after they leave — Reply All co-hosts Alex Goldman and Emmanuel Dzotsi will be leaving the show next month, according to an internal memo obtained by The Verge.

Discussion: @dcseifert and @taylorlorenz

J. Clara Chan / Hollywood Reporter:

An interview with Audible's Rachel Ghiazza and Zola Mashariki, who lead its original content business, on eyeing the long game with top Hollywood talent — The subscription platform, now powered by Amazon, is bolstering stars' production shingles and boasts a greater degree of creative freedom …

Discussion: @nwquah and @jclarachan

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Apple debuts Apple Music Live, a concert livestreaming series for Apple Music subscribers starting with Harry Styles on May 20, but doesn't share other events — Apple is launching a new concert livestreaming series called “Apple Music Live” that will showcase performances from …

Discussion: iMore, Music Ally, 9to5Mac, Engadget, MacRumors, Billboard and AppleInsider

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Kevin Mayer's and Tom Staggs' Candle Media acquires ATTN:, a profitable digital content publisher focused on social change content, sources say for ~$150M — It gives Candle access to a brand that has expertise in reaching a younger, socially-active audience.

Discussion: @sarafischer, The Wrap, @candlemedia, @kevinmayer, @tomstaggs, Variety, @ashkan, @jtoonkel, @richlightshed, @mikehadgis, TechCrunch, Tubefilter, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Realscreen

Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:

Filing: in Q1 2022, Berkshire Hathaway bought a $2.6B Paramount stake and boosted its Activision Blizzard and Apple positions; Paramount stock closes up 15.35% — UPDATED with closing price: Shares of Paramount Global shot up more than 15% to close at $32.32 Tuesday after Berkshire Hathaway …

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

An analysis of nine US local TV stations' top Facebook posts: 9.9% had a video, community stories were popular, sports posts performed below average, and more — In a typical American city, the local daily newspaper is the outlet producing the most news day after day.

Discussion: @kimwilson, @niemanfdn, @adriana_lacy, @spj_tweets and @mattnavarra

Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:

LimeWire, the music sharing service that relaunched as an NFT music marketplace, strikes a deal to launch NFT projects with Universal Music Group's artists — LimeWire, a former file-sharing platform recently relaunched as a digital collectibles marketplace, has struck its first major label partnership …

Discussion: Digital Music News, Billboard, Music Ally and City A.M.

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Antoinette Siu / The Wrap:
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Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
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New York Times:
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From Techmeme:

Alex Heath / The Verge:
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Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, saying it was ordered to do so by China's cyberspace officials citing national security concerns

Ryan Morrison / Tom's Guide:
Microsoft researchers introduce VASA-1, an AI model that creates a realistic talking face video from a portrait photo and an audio file, in research preview

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