Top News:
Hope King / Axios:
Marginal MediaWorks agrees to acquire Fresno Unlimited, which wants to use AI trained on public consumer interest data to help studios green light projects — A new tie-up between a startup content studio and a data science startup aims to flip the way Hollywood green lights movies and shows.
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Former BBC presenter Emily Maitlis calls BBC board member Robbie Gibb an “agent of the Conservative party” who is “acting as the arbiter of BBC impartiality” — Former Newsnight presenter says former No 10 communications chief Sir Robbie Gibb on board acting as ‘arbiter of impartiality’
Discussion:
@alextaylornews, @naj562, @johnbarnesuk, @mrjamesob, @colin1866, @phelpsiesarah, @chakrabortty, @annettedittert, @louiserawauthor, @fitzpas, @jonsopel, @jamesoflynn, @nigella_lawson, @jayrosen_nyu, @shahmiruk, @brianukulele, @georgiebingham, @mattthr, @dminghella, @tomlondon6, @chakrabortty and @jeffreynewman
RELATED:
Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:
Rotten Tomatoes: among 100+ critics it added over the past year, 74% are from underrepresented groups, 48% are women, 38% PoC, and 34% from new media platforms — Rotten Tomatoes will expand its efforts to increase diversity among film and TV critics, with the review website announcing …
Chris Quinn / Plain Dealer:
A DeSantis and Vance rally barred reporters from interviewing attendees not approved by organizers and claimed a right to use any recordings for promotional use — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely presidential candidate in 2024, scheduled a trip to Ohio Friday to stump for Senate candidate J.D. Vance …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Columbia Journalism Review, @jayrosen_nyu, @bgrueskin, @therickwilson, @freedomofpress, @cirincione, @joshuahol, WOSU News, @adriennelaf, @aymanm, @lydiadepillis, @joshuahol, @agarrettabj, Progress Report, @pashulman, @robpegoraro, @jordanzakarin, @jason_a_w, @mmasnick, @jayrosen_nyu, @electproject, @caseyseiler, @juliewestfall, @owillis, @claire_goforth, @scenesallard, @sabrinaeaton, @fixmedianow, Mediaite and The Guardian
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Subscription management platform Zuora reaches a deal to acquire Zephr, which provides paywall software to News Corp, Tribune Publishing, and others, for $44M — Zephr will bring its dynamic paywall technology to the subscriptions company — The subscription management platform Zuora …
Discussion:
Business Wire, @markstenberg3 and @bmorrissey
Adam Kovacevich / Chamber of Progress:
The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would support Breitbart, Newsmax, and hedge funds; other bills may help local journalism without paying for hate — Bill would require Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft to pay and link to right-wing news — Congressional Democrats are in array.
Discussion:
Poynter, Adweek, @newsalliance, @pilhofer, @rickedmonds, Deadline, @wexler, @wexler, @newsalliance, @newsalliance, @kombiz, @newsalliance, @newsalliance, @wexler, @adamkovac, @mmasnick, @blakereid, @m_ccuri and Bloomberg Government
Andrew Kersley / Press Gazette:
An interview with NowThis' president on how the outlet became the largest news brand on TikTok with ~9M followers, developing original programming, and more — The president of US-based brand Now This has spoken to Press Gazette about how it became the most-viewed US-based news and politics brand on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.
Discussion:
@mediaguy19, @michellemanafy, @pressgazette, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @pressgazette and @simonowens
Joe Coscarelli / New York Times:
Capitol Music Group severs ties with FN Meka, a virtual “robot rapper” powered partly by AI with 10M+ TikTok followers, after backlash over racial stereotypes — The record company apologized to “the Black community” for insensitivity in promoting an AI-backed artist that critics said was …
Discussion:
Variety, UPROXX, Vibe, The FADER, @modernistwitch, @passionweiss, @mrchuckd, Complete Music Update, @reptilianhybrid, @natealyn, @billboard, @fakeshoredrive, Music Ally, @eileenguo, @jherskowitz, @heranmamo, @joecoscarelli, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Music Business Worldwide, The FADER, Hip-Hop Wired, AfroTech, Input, Fortune, Pitchfork, Stereogum, UPROXX, Yahoo News, The A.V. Club, The Hill, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Insider, Rolling Stone, Billboard, PAPER and Consequence
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NBCU says current seasons of NBC shows will stream on Peacock Premium the day after airing starting September 19, after it reclaimed rights from Hulu — Fans of NBC current-season shows will no longer find them on Hulu as of next month — they'll be flying over to NBCUniversal's Peacock.
Discussion:
TVLine, Deadline, The Verge, Decider, The Wrap, UPROXX, UPI, @tvgrimreaper, CNET, The Streamable, Media Play News, Next TV and MediaPost
Dan Misener / Bumper:
Study of Spotify's podcast recommendations finds white noise episodes are among top recs and 14% of recommended episodes are Spotify originals and exclusives — I've long been interested in Spotify's podcast recommendation system, mostly because it uses a different strategy than its competitors.
Discussion:
@michellemanafy, @evoterra, Reclaim The Net and Remote Notes
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
India's richest man, Gautam Adani, acquires a ~29.18% stake in NDTV using decade-old options and plans to acquire another 26%; NDTV says it did not give consent — Adani Group said Tuesday it will buy a majority stake in NDTV, a high-profile Indian news organization, in an apparent hostile takeover …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Scroll, Forbes, @mkvenu1, @ensaluja, @blitzkreigm, Variety, The Hindu, Livemint, The New Indian Express, The Signal, Financial Times and Bloomberg
Manori Ravindran / Variety:
Sources: Soumya Sriraman, who led Amazon's US Prime Video Channels business, steps down after two years; Sriraman was formerly the CEO of BritBox — Soumya Sriraman, the former BritBox CEO who joined Amazon to lead its Prime Video Channels business in the U.S., is stepping down after two years at the SVOD.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Media Play News and The Streamable
J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:
iHeartMedia launches iHeartLand, its first virtual world, on Fortnite, with plans to host concerts, album release parties, and more — The in-game effort, which includes a main stage and mini-games, will kick off with a Charlie Puth concert on Sept. 9.
Discussion:
iHeartMedia, Digital Music News, RADIO ONLINE, @lanceulanoff, RadioInsight, Billboard, Inside Radio, MediaPost and Music Business Worldwide
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