Mediagazer: Twitter removed the verified badge from The New York Times' main account after Elon Musk responded to a meme taunting the outlet's decision not to pay for Blue (Drew Harwell/Washington Post)

9:50 PM ET, April 3, 2023

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Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:

Endeavor acquires the WWE in a deal that values Vince McMahon's company at $9.3B including debt; Endeavor CEO Ariel Emanuel will lead the combined $21B+ company — Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. has agreed to buy World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. in a deal that values the company at $9.3 billion including debt.

Discussion: Axios, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Bloomberg, Variety, New York Times, CNBC, @sarafischer, Investis Digital, Endeavor, @business, Sportico, The Week, Sportico, Fox Business, Financial Times, The A.V. Club, @jonalba, The Comeback, @sherman4949, Associated Press, Awful Announcing, @claytravis, Pro Wrestling Torch, @sherman4949, Reuters, @sherman4949, Reuters, @fightoracle, Media Play News, @benmullin, Yahoo Finance, @sherman4949, @alexweprin, Front Office Sports, @abrahamjoseph, Observer, Forbes, @lucas_shaw, The Information, @dennyburkholder, @lanceulanoff, Deadline, @jimpethokoukis, CNBC, Barrett Media, New York Post, New York Post, @brentsobleski, Variety, MediaPost, ClutchPoints, The Wrap, @chrisvannini, Gadgets 360, Wall Street Journal, Popverse Latest, Front Office Sports, New York Daily News, The FADER and IGN

Sara Fischer / Axios:

An interview with WWE President Nick Khan on the WWE and UFC pursuing separate linear TV rights negotiations, continuing the WWE's Saudi relationship, and more — WWE and UFC will pursue separate media rights negotiations for linear TV, but there could be an opportunity to pursue a combined streaming deal …

Discussion: Awful Announcing, Sportico, OutKick, Barrett Media, Front Office Sports, Los Angeles Times, @brandonthurston, @sarafischer, Financial Times, @aaronbronsteter, The Streamable, @sarafischer and Pro Wrestling Torch

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:

Twitter removed the verified badge from The New York Times' main account after Elon Musk responded to a meme taunting the outlet's decision not to pay for Blue — The Times and other news organizations say they won't pay for the icon, which is designed to protect against impersonation

Aaron McDade / Yahoo Finance:

In a now-deleted tweet, Elon Musk said Twitter would give verified accounts “a few weeks grace” but take away their checkmarks if “they tell they won't pay now” — - The first day of Twitter's previously announced axing of “legacy” verified checks nearly passed without incident.

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Email: The White House will not pay for Twitter Blue for its staff; the White House and top officials' accounts like POTUS will likely maintain gray checkmarks

Discussion: @kingjames, @nathanchubbard, Vox, @sarafischer, @om, @karaswisher, Engadget, Fox Business, CNN, The Future, Now and Then, Variety, Reuters, The Wrap, @nathanchubbard, @govmikehuckabee, @kyleynfl, @jemelehill, @bendreyfuss, @jayzawaski, @glen_mcgregor, @mikeisaac, @robl_l, @mollyjongfast, @bmkibler, @toluogunlesi, @elienyc, @itsborys, @derushaj, @niubi, @saskiapopescu, @clarajeffery, @noclador, @keithedwards, @nathanchubbard, @nathanchubbard, @nathanchubbard, @nathanchubbard, @doctoryasmin, @realrclark25, @estellecostanza, @mariedenee, @sahilkapur, @taylorrooks, @digiphile, @dan_bernstein, @lawrencehurley, @keithedwards, @edzitron, @mattdizwhitlock, @bobcesca_go, @ashleygjovik, @wutangkids, @iamsophianelson, @reichlinmelnick, @fordm, @broderick, @evanmcmurry, @danpfeiffer, @pkafka, @delpercios, @rory_johnston and @rob_sheridan

Remy Tumin / New York Times:

Nielsen: the 2023 NCAA women's basketball tournament final averaged 9.9M viewers, up 103% YoY; ESPN says it was the most viewed college event ever on ESPN+ — The average 9.9 million viewers for Louisiana State topping Iowa was significantly more than the previous record of 5.7 million …

Discussion: @espnpr, Awful Announcing, Axios, @deadline, @richarddeitsch, The Comeback, ClutchPoints, Sportico, Deadline, Sports Media Watch, @richarddeitsch, Awful Announcing, @richarddeitsch, @richarddeitsch and NBC News

Karl Rasmussen / Sports Illustrated:
Nielsen: the NCAA women's basketball tournament semifinals averaged 4.5M viewers on ESPN's platforms, the highest average on record for the Women's Final Four

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

A Meta-commissioned report argues Facebook is not a “must-have” for publishers, saying news links account for less than 3% of posts users see in their feed — News links account for less than 3% of posts people see in their Facebook feeds. — A report commissioned by Meta …

Discussion: @dkiesow@social.kiesow.net, @jamesrbuk, @jeffjarvis and Nieman Lab

Thomas E. Patterson / Nieman Lab:

A survey of 253 NPR member stations finds that 60% have 10 or fewer news staff and average just over one hour of locally produced news programming per day — “Local public radio has a staffing problem. Stations have considerable potential but aren't yet in a position to make it happen."

Discussion: @kennedy_school, @dhiott, @stphnfwlr, @johnupton, @stevenwaldman, Journalism.co.uk, @anelsona, @jimallthetime, @lauren_bavis, @niemanfdn, @spj_tweets and @stphnfwlr

Wall Street Journal:

A profile of Evan Gershkovich, the 31-year-old WSJ reporter detained by Russia whose parents fled the USSR for the US and who later made Moscow his second home — The Wall Street Journal correspondent, whose parents fled the Soviet Union, made Moscow a second home.

Discussion: New York Times, @facethenation, Insider, @nickkristof, @wsjpr, The Moscow Times, The Atlantic, @nickkristof, @yarotrof, Talking Biz News, New York Post, @felix_light, @tggrove, @mtthwrose, @chrislhayes, Fox News, @williamyang120, @nytimes, @w7voa, @repmiketurner, @katie_robertson, @picardonhealth, @dreamgirls, @_karenhao, @benmullin, @vmsalama, CBS News, Al Jazeera, @biettetimmons, @maxseddon, @lindsayaellis, The Comeback, @paulsonne, @isabelcoles, CNN, @tggrove, @mjluxmoore, @fatmafaizi, @cliffordlevy, @mjluxmoore, @cgrantwsj, @piperk, @antontroian, @stephenkalin, @emilyzfeng, @mollyjongfast, @jrezaian, @mtthwrose, @jrezaian, @cathyarnst, @rohded, The Guardian, @biannagolodryga, @peterbakernyt, @nicktimiraos, @alecmacgillis, @mims, @srussolillo, @davidenrich, @drewhinshaw, @geraldfseib, @reevellp, @jmalsin, @austinramzy, @joewsj, @dinasrinivasan, @mjluxmoore, @georgikantchev, @pjotrsauer, @gtcost, @joshkraushaar, @_silversmith, @wsj, @bychunhan, @alanmillernlp, @mikevorkunov, @elizacollins1, @daiwaka, @aosipovich, @johnwest, @benpershing, @shalini, @nickkristof, @sgurman, @maxseddon, The Guardian, @laobserved, @joelsimonsays, @dabeard, New Yorker, NBC News, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Reuters

Stuart Dredge / Music Ally:

Spotify shuts down its Clubhouse-style audio app Spotify Live, previously called Locker Room, acquired as part of its €57M Betty Labs acquisition in March 2021 — Spotify is shutting down its live-audio app Spotify Live, but says it will continue experimenting with live features in its main service.

Discussion: The Verge, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, @billboard, Engadget, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac, @andysternberg, @glenngabe, TechCrunch and @pjbrown_iii, more at Techmeme »

Peter White / Deadline:

Vice Media signs a deal with Fox-owned Tubi to make eight documentaries for the ad-supported streamer, starting with The Cult of Elon, set to debut on April 24 — EXCLUSIVE: Vice Media has a new partner in the documentary space. — The youth-media company, which recently saw …

Discussion: The Wrap, The Desk, The Streamable, The Hollywood Reporter, Broadband TV News, Fox Corporation, Cord Cutters News and Media Play News

Max Tani / Semafor:

A look at the fissures within The Guardian after years of infighting over its trans coverage, as the anti-trans wing is widely viewed internally as ascendant — The wars at The Guardian reached one of their periodic peaks in September of 2021, when the philosopher Judith Butler said in an interview …

Discussion: @maxwelltani, @paulduanefilm, @transscribe, @brokenbottleboy, @semaforben, @rswirling, @ginarush, @bigmeaninternet, @jbenton and @mattzeitlin

Nicole Sperling / New York Times:

How Netflix, which long thought ad spending doesn't increase viewers, shifted its strategy under new marketing chief Marian Lee to push content that can “pop” — The streaming service long thought spending on ads didn't result in more viewers. That has subtly changed under the marketing chief Marian Lee.

Discussion: @raypride, @papi_thegreat, @mediasnarking, @thealikarimi, @snyderqueen_ and @rachelmercer

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The Financial Times acquires a majority stake in Kansas-based medical news publication Endpoints News, which launched in 2014 and has over 163,000 subscribers

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Perry Michael Simon / AllAccess.com:
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The judge in the $1.6B Fox-Dominion case denies Fox's summary judgment motions and partially grants Dominion's motions ahead of the trial scheduled for April 17

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