Top News:
Sam Thielman / FOREVER WARS:
Sam Thielman, a freelancer Substack hired to edit several writers, says he was fired in retaliation against a writer he edited who chose to move to Ghost — Edited and With a Coda by Spencer Ackerman — IN JULY, Spencer took this blog off Substack immediately after his contract with the newsletter company expired.
Discussion:
@samthielman, The Future, Now and Then, @attackerman, @holdenthepage, @nikostratis, @uribram, @zinoman, @bilgeebiri, @davekarpf, @athertonkd, @adamweinstein, @mmoyr, @s_m_i, @thrasherxy, @lainnafader, @petersterne, @samthielman, @alissamarie, @adamserwer, @ashleyfeinberg, @justinhendrix, @jaredlholt, @nicholasrfish, @alicedreger, @moorehn, @thomdunn, @adamgurri, @andrewliptak, @aricohn, @jbouie, @samthielman, @maxkennerly, @lmlauramarsh, @juliacarriew, @nathantankus, @mikeduncan, @josephfcox, @mattbors, @schwarz, @johnknefel, @shortformernie, @katzonearth, @jordanzakarin, @crosberg, @jeremylittau, @athertonkd, @alexhern, @caseyjohnston, @mmasnick and @simonowens
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Nexstar plans to buy a 75% stake in The CW from Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery, both of which will retain 12.5% stakes and supply scripted content — The CW is about to enter a new ownership era, as local TV giant Nexstar Media Group has confirmed a pending deal to acquire …
Discussion:
Variety, Radio & Television …, TVSpy, Ad Age, Adweek, The Hollywood Reporter, @kristenhaynes_, @film_girl, @emilylongeretta, @kaludiasays, @quartzen, @benfritz, @jbflint, @jbflint, @jbflint, @jbflint, @tvgrimreaper, Axios, The Streamable, SlashFilm, Media Play News, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Digital TV Europe, Wall Street Journal, Next TV and Reuters
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Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Nexstar will absorb The CW's debt but won't pay any cash or stock up front for its stake and wants to make The CW profitable by 2025, partly through cost cuts — As it transitions to new ownership, the CW will likely not look dramatically different in the near term, but Nexstar Media Group intends …
Discussion:
Too Much TV Newsletter, @pathryn34, @automaticzen, @kendrawrites, @laynemorgan, @fourhman, @maxjgao, The A.V. Club and Next TV
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Mark Hoffman, CNBC's president since 2005 and chairman since 2015, will step down on September 12; KC Sullivan will return to CNBC to replace him as president — - Mark Hoffman told CNBC employees he is stepping down next month. — Hoffman has increased CNBC profitability in 16 of his 17 years running the business media division.
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Canadian broadcaster CTV's chief news anchor Lisa LaFlamme says she has been forced out of the network; CTV parent Bell Media cites “changing viewer habits” — LaFlamme announced on her Twitter account that Bell Media had made a “business decision” to replace her with Omar Sachedina as host of ‘CTV National News.’
Discussion:
@lisalaflamme_, Bell Media, @jessebrown, @polakottawa, @brenttoderian, @brandongonez, @tanyatalaga, @perrinbeatty, @studiojude, @davidcommon, @consumersos, @brittlestar, @danalbas, @craigsilverman, @kamilkaramali, @ianhanomansing, @gmbutts, @dtapscott, @iancapstick, @lisakirbie, @kvickers, @robertfife, @jbenton, @taraslone and Barrett Media
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Jesse Brown / CANADALAND:
Sources: Bell Media's VP of News Michael Melling fired CTV's Lisa LaFlamme for pushing back against his ideas; Melling also interfered with CTV's news coverage — “He doesn't like it when women push back.” — Lisa LaFlamme, chief anchor of CTV National News, was unceremoniously …
Discussion:
@brandongonez, @fatimabsyed, @sarahboesveld, @daviddoel, @tanyafusco and @consumersos
Reuters:
Walmart partners with Paramount to include the $4.99/month ad-supported tier of the Paramount+ streaming service as part of its Walmart+ subscription — U.S. retailer Walmart Inc (WMT.N) on Monday struck a deal with Paramount Global (PARA.O) to offer Paramount+ streaming service to the subscribers …
Discussion:
Walmart Inc., Axios, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, MediaPost, Variety, Gizmodo, WGN-TV, @loudmouthjulia, @lucas_shaw, @sherman4949, @markdistef, @sherman4949, @anthony, @tjamesnd, @bjmendelson, The Wrap, @bryandfischer, @pkafka, @davidlaz, @tvgrimreaper, @robnashville, @aagave, Broadband TV News, Digital TV Europe, Adweek, Deadline, Media Play News, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, The Hollywood Reporter and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »
Lesley Goldberg / The Hollywood Reporter:
HBO Max lays off ~14% of its staff, or ~70 people, impacting reality, casting, international, and acquisitions, as part of leadership changes — An estimated 70 staffers have been let go as Sarah Aubrey adds international but loses comedy oversight.
Discussion:
Deadline, Variety, New York Times, MediaPost, Gizmodo, Bloomberg, @snoodit, Digital TV Europe, @whenbatmenfly, @deggans, @jmaasaronson, TechCrunch, Los Angeles Times, CNBC and The Wrap
Erik Hayden / The Hollywood Reporter:
Dan Loeb's Third Point increases its stake in Disney and calls on the company to cut costs, explore spinning off ESPN, and integrate Hulu into Disney+ — The billionaire's Third Point firm is building its stake in the Hollywood giant.
Discussion:
Axios, CNBC, The Streamable, Reuters, The Wrap, Fortune, @sportstvratings, Light Reading, Insider, Digital TV Europe, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Variety and Bloomberg
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Nielsen strikes a deal with Amazon to measure Thursday Night Football, the first time a streaming service will be included in Nielsen's weekly TV viewing report — Three-year deal marks first time ratings firm will include viewership of a streaming service's programming in traditional TV report
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Jezebel, The 19th, The Cut, and other women-centric publications that support abortion rights have seen a surge in readership since SCOTUS reversed Roe v. Wade — The surge of readers has buoyed a part of the digital media world that has gradually declined in recent years.
Discussion:
@katie_robertson, @robinmarty, @spj_tweets, @angryblacklady, @rewirenewsgroup and CNN
New York Times:
Penguin Random House CEO Madeline McIntosh defends the Simon & Schuster acquisition in the DOJ antitrust trial, arguing the industry is vast and varied — Madeline McIntosh argued that the publishing industry extends far beyond its biggest players, and that the government has focused on a tiny sliver of deals.
Discussion:
Publishers Weekly, The Bookseller, @glecharles, @danielle_binks, Courthouse News Service, @minjinlee11, MCCM Quarterly and Law360
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Patrick Frater / Variety:
Tencent Music reports Q2 net profit of $133M, down 8.3% YoY, on total revenues of $1.03B, down 13.8% YoY; paying users for music grew 24.9% YoY to 82.7M — A long-term shift towards subscriptions can't come fast enough for Tencent Music Entertainment, China's largest digital music company …
Discussion:
Tencent Music, Reuters, Music Ally and @variety
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