Top News:
Sara Fischer / Axios:
An interview with Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch on the company's expansion into lifestyle verticals, such as outdoors and books, alongside NFTs and betting — Fox Corp. is in the early stages of expanding into lifestyle verticals across categories like outdoors, home and books, CEO Lachlan Murdoch told Axios in an interview.
Discussion:
Axios, The Streamable, Mediaite, ProFootballTalk, @fballgameplan, @sarafischer, @swin24, @ndrew_lawrence, @samyoungman, @oliverdarcy, @xpostfactoid, @markjburns88, @jeremymbarr, @sarafischer, @evale72, @loudmouthjulia, @mattgertz, @loudmouthjulia, @allanmargolin, @sarafischer, @pressgazette and @robtornoe
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Warner Bros. Discovery may be a compelling company, because of its content and a strategy that sees streaming as an addition to the old model, not a replacement — Last week the Wall Street Journal ran a profile of longtime Discovery CEO (now Warner Bros. Discovery CEO) …
Discussion:
Positivity, please and Deadline
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Candle Media, run by ex-Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, will buy Spanish-language studio Exile; a source says Candle is involved in deals worth ~$4B — Candle Media, run by former Disney executives, is buying Exile, which has deals to produce shows for Netflix, HBO and Amazon Prime.
Discussion:
Variety, @exilecontent, Axios, @jczamora, @luisfemiami, @borisgartner and @enrique_acevedo
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Jen Psaki will join MSNBC in the fall, where she will host a new streaming program expected to launch in Q1 2023 and appear on the network's election coverage — One of the news industry's worst-kept secrets is finally seeing the light of day. — Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary …
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Interview with Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie on building “a true alternative to the attention economy” by expanding into podcasts and videos, and more — The newsletter company is on a mission to disrupt the attention economy away from “cheap outrage and flame wars,” …
Discussion:
@mattyglesias, @danfriedman81, @kittypurrzog, @imao_, @mattnippert, @brianstelter, @lulumeservey, @kait_tiffany, @joepompeo, @joepompeo, @helentobin, @joepompeo and @mlcalderone
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Greta Van Susteren will join Newsmax in June to lead its 6pm show, saying all networks she has worked for, including CNN and Fox News, have had controversies — Greta Van Susteren says she just couldn't stay away from the immediacy of cable news. — For the past few years, Van Susteren …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Radio & Television …, thedailybeast.com, Deadline, @franklin_graham, @csymrl, TVNewser, @ericbolling, @bristei, @johnnydollar01, @girljustice_, @heathernauert and Next TV
Rebecca Sun / Hollywood Reporter:
How the new, more diverse editorial leadership in broadcast, cable, digital, and print media is changing newsrooms and guiding coverage to be more inclusive — Following the racial reckoning amid the 2020 protests, heads of broadcast, cable, digital and print media became more diverse.
Discussion:
@javimorgado, @eugene_scott, @jayrosen_nyu, @michellemanafy and @catesevilla
Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:
Spotify is slowly bringing back political ads on podcasts after pausing them in early 2020, and says it has strengthened its advertiser verification system — Spotify stopped hosting political ads on its services in early 2020, citing a lack of “robustness” in its systems …
Discussion:
@issielapowsky and @karynelevy, more at Techmeme »
Reuters:
Denmark passes a law forcing streaming services to pay a levy of 6% of their revenue in the country to support local TV production, following Spain and others — Lawmakers in Denmark have agreed global TV streaming services such as Netflix (NFLX.O), Amazon (AMZN.O) and Disney (DIS.N) …
Discussion:
VideoWeek, Digital TV Europe and @cunninghamjeff
Caleb Pershan / Columbia Journalism Review:
A profile of Twitter account New York Times Pitchbot, run by a math professor mocking the NYT's lazy constructions, half-baked hot takes, and diner interviews — A few weeks ago, the person behind the New York Times Pitchbot—not a bot at all, but a Twitter account whose posts satirize …
Discussion:
American Press Institute, Plain Dealer, @syardi, @ggreenwald, @calaesthetic, @bgrueskin, @patterico, @walldo and @_cingraham
Lara Seligman / Politico:
The US Air Force is reviewing a rule banning foreigners from using electronics on flights and apologizes to Reuters' Idrees Ali for taking his phone on DoD trip — The Pentagon seized a foreign reporter's phone and would not allow him to use his electronics while traveling with the Defense Department's …
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
At the IAB's Podcast Upfront, Mediahub, GroupM, and other ad buyers preferred ads shorter than 60 seconds, while podcasters pitched longer, more expensive ads — Smaller podcast production companies and creative studios are touting the benefits of custom, longer-form podcast ad formats …