Top News:
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Eight CW stations plan to go independent in September, carry Paramount content, and pursue sports deals akin to Scripps — CW stations in Philadelphia, Seattle, Atlanta, Detroit and other major markets will drop their affiliation and go independent.
Discussion:
The Desk, The Streamable, Next TV, Deadline, @snoodit and @alexweprin
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John Ourand / Sports Business Journal:
Scripps signs a multiyear deal to carry the games of the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, another team bypassing RSNs — For the second time in a week, a local broadcast channel picked up the rights to a professional sports team. Scripps has signed a multiyear deal to carry all Golden Knights games …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Next TV, @just1nbruce, NHL.com, @506sports, The Desk, @ourand_sbj, Sports Media Watch, Barrett Media, Front Office Sports, Sportico and Awful Announcing
Washington Post:
Sources: Tucker Carlson aspires to move into a larger role that doesn't limit him to a single medium and wants to moderate a GOP candidates' forum for 2024 — The fired Fox host, hoping for a next act bigger than podcasting, would forfeit millions owed to him in his network contract …
Cristina Criddle / Financial Times:
A journalist recounts discovering she'd been surveilled by ByteDance in 2022 after reporting on TikTok's difficulties in London and wonders why she was targeted — The FT's Cristina Criddle on discovering she'd been surveilled by the controversial social media company
Discussion:
CNN, Gizmodo, BBC, @robertscammell, @henryjfoy, @cristinacriddle, @_andyburrows and Verdict
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Vice Media is nearing a deal to be acquired out of bankruptcy by lenders including Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management for ~$400M — The media business is in talks to sell itself to top lenders Fortress Investment and Soros Fund Management through a reorganization that would wipe out other investors
Discussion:
Variety, The Guardian, The Information and Talking Biz News
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD Q1: revenue of $10.7B and a loss of $1.07B, $2.46B in streaming revenue with a $50M profit, up from a $217M loss in Q4 2022, and 97.6M streaming subscribers — The company, led by CEO David Zaslav, reported negative free cash flow in the first quarter due to interest and sports rights payments …
Discussion:
Adweek, MediaPost, Wall Street Journal, Ad Age, CNBC, The Wrap, Variety, @robsforman, WORLD SCREEN, The Information, @pateduncan, Deadline, IndieWire, @jtoonkel, @marinafang, @blackmajikman90, @thr, @sailorsctaustin, @carlos_cisco and Cord Cutters News
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Apple reports Q2 revenue for its Services segment, which includes Apple TV+, Apple News+, and Apple Music, grew 5.5% YoY to $20.9B — But the tech giant topped Wall Street expectations and its services business hit a new record for sales, while iPhone revenue also increased year-over-year.
Discussion:
Apple, Reuters, Deadline, Digital Music News, @xpangler, The Hollywood Reporter, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, Reuters and Billboard, more at Techmeme »
Colby Hall / Mediaite:
Fox News sends Media Matters a cease and desist letter over a series of stories featuring leaked footage of Tucker Carlson, claiming it is proprietary material — Fox News has sent a cease and desist letter to Media Matters and its president and CEO Angelo Carusone over a series of stories posted …
Discussion:
@maxwelltani, Insider, The Hill, Deadline, @bgrueskin and @jeremymbarr
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Fox launches Fox Local, a free streaming app with local news, weather, and programming in three markets, with plans to roll out to 14 others soon — The Fox Local app offers live access to news feeds from three Fox-owned stations; the other 14 will be added at a later date.
Discussion:
Next TV, TVNewsCheck, Cord Cutters News and Tv Technology, Thanks:@thedeskdotnet
Janko Roettgers / Lowpass:
Sources: Pluto TV co-founder Ilya Pozin is working on Teevee, a company that builds free TV sets monetized through advertising via a second screen — Free TVs, anyone? … Pluto TV co-founder Ilya Pozin is giving ad-supported TV viewing another stab: Pozin has been quietly working …
Discussion:
The Verge, IGN, @tvgrimreaper, AdExchanger, @davezatz, Digital Trends and Cord Cutters News
Aisha Majid / Press Gazette:
Chartbeat data for 1,350 publishers: Facebook drove 27% of page views coming from external, search, and social in January 2018, falling to 11% in April 2023 — Data from Chartbeat and Similarweb shows how news publisher Facebook traffic has fallen. — Facebook referral traffic has plummeted …
Discussion:
@rasmus_kleis, @chrismsutcliffe, @otienoc and @rasmus_kleis
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Fox opposes news outlets' efforts to unseal Dominion's redacted lawsuit material, saying the company settled the case in large part to end the “media spectacle” — Fox said in a court filing Wednesday that it settled the monster defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, The Hill, @cfidd, Mediaite, Variety and TVNewsCheck
Tim Baysinger / Axios:
CEO Bob Bakish says Paramount restarted the process to sell Simon & Schuster, after US regulators blocked selling the publisher to Penguin Random House in 2022 — Paramount Global has restarted the sale process for book publisher Simon & Schuster, CEO Bob Bakish said this morning during the company's earnings call.
Discussion:
Associated Press
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Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount CEO Bob Bakish says consumers won't notice the WGA writers' strike “for a while”, citing unscripted content, a large library, and offshore production
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, @verymimi, @marisatomay, @thisiskaia, @kirkwrites79, @coelasquid, @elplethora, @tinseltownpr, @tvgrimreaper, @merrillbarr, The Wrap, Deadline and IndieWire
David Robb / Deadline:
The AMPTP pushes back on the WGA's demands, saying writers have “almost nothing in common” with gig jobs, commits to more discussion about AI material, and more — The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers struck back today, providing answers to the WGA's talking points …
RELATED:
Ross A. Lincoln / The Wrap:
In a show of solidarity, members of six guilds including the DGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, and Teamsters joined the Writers Guild of America at a Los Angeles rally
Discussion:
Variety, Variety, Breitbart, New York Times, @teamsters_399, @johncusack, @chasemit, @mattgoldich, @theferocity, @caityweaver, Deadline, @mattbelloni, @mediumsizemeech, @wgangelinab, @wgangelinab, @samthielman, The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, Above the Line, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Ars Technica
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