Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SEC filing: Lionsgate plans to explore spinning off its studio business, not Starz; its international streamer StarzPlay will be rebranded as Lionsgate+ — Lionsgate is now looking at spinning off its studio business — rather than kicking out the Starz premium network and streaming business.
Deadline:
Sources: in a WBD town hall, CEO David Zaslav denied rumors of a merger or a sale: “We are not for sale, absolutely, not for sale”; rumors point to Comcast — The top brass at Warner Bros Discovery held a company-wide town hall Wednesday over Zoom in which they laid out the current state …
Discussion:
Variety, The Streamable, The Wrap, Vanity Fair, @deadline, @great_katzby, @tvgrimreaper and The Hollywood Reporter
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Fast Company took its website offline after a hacker used its Apple News account to send two obscene push notifications; Apple disabled the outlet's channel — It's been a little while since we had a high-profile media feed hijacking, but tonight someone sent an Apple News notification …
Discussion:
@fastcompany, @applenews, MediaPost, Washington Post, CNN, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, RestorePrivacy, @rjcc, @matthewkeyslive, TechCrunch, @racheltobac, @oliverdarcy, @joncappetta, @fastcompany, @matthewkeyslive, Metro.co.uk, Newser, The Desk, Engadget, Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, The Wrap, Insider, The Hill and New York Daily News, more at Techmeme »
Lesley Goldberg / The Hollywood Reporter:
Epix plans to rebrand as MGM+ on January 15, 2023; Epix 2 will become MGM+ Hits, Epix Hits will become MGM+ Marquee, and Epix Drive-In will become MGM+ Drive-In — The linear network as well as its streaming offering will be rebranded starting in January. — Epix is joining ABC Family …
Discussion:
Variety, Ad Age, Next TV, The Desk, Adweek, The Streamable, The Wrap, Deadline, Media Play News, @drewkerr, TVLine, The A.V. Club, @xpangler, @sherman4949, @billsimmons, @loudmouthjulia and IndieWire
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
How The Telegraph and Reach are using personalized newsletters to improve page visits, while The Toronto Star says most users want “what everyone else got” — As companies like The New York Times and The Washington Post experiment with personalizing their homepages to get readers …
Eamon Lynch / Golfweek:
Sources: Saudi-backed LIV Golf is nearing a deal to purchase Fox Sports 1 airtime for its tournaments; source: Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch told Fox to get involved — LIV Golf is nearing a deal to purchase air time for its tournaments on U.S. cable television, multiple sources have told Golfweek.
The Daily Beast:
Sources: CNN laid off the last remaining CNN+ employees, around 20 people, on September 28, a few days after laying off eight staff from CNN's audio division — Five months after the network axed its much-hyped but short-lived streamer, it gave pink slips to the remaining staffers on the failed endeavor.
Discussion:
@justinbaragona, New York Post and Deadline
Reuters:
Sources: Vietnam prepares rules to limit which social media accounts can post news content, expected by the end of 2022, expanding on media guidelines from July — Vietnam is preparing new rules to limit which social media accounts can post news-related content, three people familiar with the matter said …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @f_potkin and @kenli729
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon updates its Fire TV lineup with a new $140 Fire TV Cube media player, Fire TV Omni QLED Series starting at $800, and a new $35 Alexa Voice Remote Pro — Amazon today introduced two new Fire TV devices designed to cater to customers seeking a more premium experience.
Discussion:
CNET, The Streamable, Gizmodo, Cord Cutters News, ZDNet, Engadget, The Shortcut, The Verge, Engadget and @reckless, more at Techmeme »
Josh Dickey / The Wrap:
A pension fund and Warner Bros. Discovery shareholder sues the company, saying Warner Bros. inflated HBO Max subscribers by up to 10M amid the Discovery merger — Warner Bros. cooked its HBO Max subscriber numbers by as many as 10 million and misled shareholders in other ways that violate …
Discussion:
Observer, The Hill, @tvgrimreaper, @matthewkeyslive, @slack2thefuture, @theculturednerd, @whenbatmenfly, @culturecrave, The Desk and Vulture
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google search results will show machine-translated news coverage in early 2023 and a “Discussions and forums” section, rolling out today on mobile in the US — At Search On 2022, Google announced that “Discussions and forums” will be getting their own sections in results …
Discussion:
CNET, TechCrunch, The Verge, @cmcloutier, Search Engine Journal and The Keyword, more at Techmeme »
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
A profile of Creative Artists Agency co-chairman Bryan Lourd, who Ted Sarandos and other executives say has become one of the most powerful people in Hollywood — After shocking the corporate world last year with the news Discovery Communications would merge with WarnerMedia …
Discussion:
@sarthakgh, @mattrosoff, @kimmasters, @mgsiegler, @sherman4949, @sherman4949 and @sherman4949
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