Mediagazer: A group of 50+ Marvel VFX employees votes to be represented by IATSE, marking the first time VFX professionals have banded together to form a union in the US (Chris Lee/Vulture)

7:30 PM ET, August 8, 2023

Top News:

ESPN and Penn Entertainment unveil a deal to launch ESPN BET, as Penn rebrands its sportsbook in the 16 US states where it is licensed; PENN up ~15% after hours — Sports betting deal to include a streamlined experience for sports fans — ESPN today announced an agreement with PENN Entertainment …

Axios:

Penn Entertainment is selling Barstool Sports back to founder Dave Portnoy, who has accepted certain noncompete agreements; Penn had bought Barstool for $551M — - Tim Baysinger- Kerry Flynn- Sara Fischer — ESPN on Tuesday announced a betting joint venture with casino operator PENN Entertainment …

Luke Bouma / Cord Cutters News:

Dish reports Dish TV lost 197K subscribers in Q2, leaving 6.9M, Sling TV lost 97K subscribers, leaving 2M, and total pay TV subscribers fell 11% YoY to 8.9M — Today DISH announced its 2nd quarter 2023 earnings and reported that DISH and Sling TV lost 294,000 subscribers.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Media Play News, The Streamable, The Desk and @tvgrimreaper

Wall Street Journal:

Charlie Ergen strikes a deal to merge Dish and EchoStar, as he shifts away from the shrinking pay-TV network to compete with wireless giants like AT&T — Deal aims to give Dish the financial flexibility it needs to compete in the next generation of wireless

Natalie Korach / The Wrap:

BuzzFeed misses with Q2 revenue down 27% YoY to $77.9M, ad revenue down 33% YoY to $35.4M, and a net loss of $27.8M vs. $23.6M in Q2 2022 — The struggling media company reports a net loss Tuesday for the second quarter of $27.8 million — BuzzFeed ended June with $41.3 million in cash …

Discussion: BuzzFeed Inc., The Hollywood Reporter, @ckrewson, @baekdal, @jordannovet, @matthewkeyslive and Business Wire

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Puck raised a $10M+ Series B led by J Rothschild Capital Management and plans to hire 8 to 10 people in 2023; the outlet has 31 employees and is not profitable — Puck, the buzzy media startup that covers the intersection of Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Wall Street and Washington …

Discussion: The Wrap, The Information and @sarafischer

Sara Fischer / Axios:

OpenAI plans to offer a $395K grant to fund a new initiative at New York University's journalism school that will provide workshops on journalism ethics issues — OpenAI, the parent company to ChatGPT, will fund a new journalism ethics initiative at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute …

Discussion: @tonyajoriley, Shelly Palmer, @_felixsimon_, @ingrid@everything …, @dicktofel and @jackmirkinson.bsky.social

Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:

YouTube will stop showing users recommended videos in some places, including the homepage, when watch history is turned off entirely — Recommended videos keep users engaged on YouTube, but starting today, YouTube will stop showing recommended videos in some places, such as the homepage, if your watch history is turned off entirely.

Discussion: The Verge, TechCrunch, Engadget, @sportstvratings and @carnage4life@mas.to, more at Techmeme »

Jeff Kosseff / Wired:

Unlike in Gonzalez v. Google, SCOTUS in the next year can't just punt the NetChoice cases challenging social media content moderation laws in Texas and Florida — Forget Gonzalez v. Google. There's another dispute that will come before the justices in the next year and this time they will …

Discussion: @joeo10@mastodon.sdf.org and @PrivacyDigest@mas.to, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson says the outlet hopes to be profitable in 2024, plans to seek higher-margin ad deals, and has 925K subscribers — The Atlantic has booked $19.5 million in advertising and events revenue so far this year, according to data shown to staff during …

Discussion: @sarafischer

Mark Hicks / The Detroit News:

Bob Giles, who led two newsrooms to Pulitzers, oversaw Nieman Journalism Lab's launch, and selected and hosted hundreds of Nieman Fellows at Harvard, dies at 90 — Former Detroit News editor and publisher Bob Giles ― who led the paper to a Pulitzer Prize, the highest honor in journalism …

Discussion: Nieman Foundation, Detroit Free Press, @jodeet, @erniesuggs, @tommytomlinson and @bethelmckenzie

Agence France-Presse:

News Media Canada, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, CBC, and Radio-Canada ask Canada's competition watchdog to investigate Meta's news article blocking — Media on Tuesday asked Canada's competition watchdog to investigate Meta's blocking of news articles on Facebook and Instagram …

Discussion: Al Jazeera and Canadian Association …

Jane Friedman:

An author finds “garbage books”, most likely AI-generated, uploaded to Amazon under her name and added to Goodreads; both services have since removed the titles — Update (afternoon of Aug. 7): Hours after this post was published, my official Goodreads profile was cleaned of the offending titles.

Discussion: Gizmodo, The Daily Beast, @erikbryn, @janefriedman, @thesarahrose, @janefriedman, @mariavalewrites.bsky.social, @tylerking.bsky.social, @jenhoward.bsky.social, @lilithsaintcrow …, @edsermark.bsky.social, @jasonsanford.bsky.social and Decrypt, more at Techmeme »

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Prosecraft, which compiled 27K+ books to compare their language's “vividness”, shuts down after a writer backlash over the site's potential generative AI uses

Discussion: @pronounced_ing, @benji_smith, @kaylaancrum, @zachrosewriter, @bibliogato, @pronounced_ing, @lindaholmes, @harikunzru, @pronounced_ing, Philosophy bear, CityLife, The Shaxpir Blog, The A.V. Club and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

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Commissioning Editor - Practical Law — Reuters

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Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

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Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

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More News:

Financial Times:
Sources: Google and UMG are in talks to license artists' melodies and voices for AI-made songs; goals include making a tool for fans and paying copyright owners

more at Techmeme »

Sam Roberts / New York Times:
Rhoda Karpatkin, the former executive director and president of Consumer Union who doubled Consumer Reports subscriptions to 4.3M, died on August 4 at 93

Discussion: @mltellado, @jimshultz, TACD and @chrishendel

Max Kim / Los Angeles Times:
The Korea Broadcasting Actors Union says Netflix is not responding to calls to meet, as the union asks for the same residuals that US actors get under SAG-AFTRA

Discussion: New York Post, Rolling Stone, @aliciadcarroll, @wgawest, @sev___, @ingloriousgigi.bsky.social, @oriana_banana, @carriecnh12, @judyberman.bsky.social, @elisewho, @lawoftd, Inverse, @dasgoot1, Screen Rant and Collider

Jon Lafayette / Next TV:
Nexstar reports Q2 net revenue down 0.4% YoY to $1.24B, adjusted EBITDA down 32% YoY to $331M, a $78M loss for the CW, and core TV ad revenue down 2.2% to $404M

Discussion: Nexstar Media Group, Inc., MediaPost, The Desk, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, TVNewsCheck and The Wrap

Reuters:
Sources: earlier in 2023, before the writers' strike, Disney created a task force to study how to apply AI, develop AI apps in-house, and partner with startups

Discussion: IndieWire, Breitbart, New York Post, Gizmodo, Fortune, @chris@mastodon … and Collider

Wesley Hilliard / AppleInsider:
Apple Music launches Discovery Station, akin to Spotify's algorithmic track recommendations, available via the Listen Now tab in the Stations for You category

Discussion: ZDNet, Android Police, Music Ally, @HilliTech@techhub.social, TechCrunch and The Verge

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:
Spotify expands its AI-powered DJ beta, available in the app's Music feed, to ~50 markets, six months after debuting the English-only feature in North America

Discussion: Engadget, Spotify, Gizmodo, @eldsjal, AppleInsider, Bloomberg and Digital Music News, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
Fox Corp reports Q4 revenue flat at $3.03B and net income up 20% YoY to $369M; FY 2023 revenue rose 7% YoY to $14.91B and net income rose 2% YoY to $1.25B

Discussion: Reuters, @bristei, The Desk, PR Newswire, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, @bristei, @bristei and Deadline

Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The New York Times reports Q2 revenue up 6% YoY to $590.9M, $92.2M adjusted operating profit, 9.88M subscribers, and subscription revenue up 7% YoY to $409.6M

Discussion: The Wrap, @loudmouthjulia, @newspaperworld, @azagata.bsky.social, Front Office Sports, @loudmouthjulia, Poynter and Yahoo Finance

Casey Newton / Platformer:
Given the countless times Elon Musk has walked back announcements, the business media must rethink its coverage of X, Musk, and the fight with Mark Zuckerberg

Killian Faith-Kelly / Press Gazette:
An interview with The Times obituary writer Damian Arnold on his workday, stock obituaries, the right way to die, writing his first obituary in 2008, and more

Alex Webb / Bloomberg:
How Lionel Messi coming to MLS may help Apple attract international TV+ subscribers, as the service has almost no content made for non-English-speaking markets

Discussion: @karissabe, @fos, @messiquote, @pkedrosky, Awful Announcing, The Ringer and The Athletic

Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
After social media upended the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle magazine industries, some women turn to Facebook Groups and Substack for curated recommendations

Chris Lee / Vulture:
A group of 50+ Marvel VFX employees votes to be represented by IATSE, marking the first time VFX professionals have banded together to form a union in the US

From Techmeme:

Gavin Anderegg / anderegg.ca:
Bluesky is working to become fully decentralized but it could take years amid financial concerns as it makes money only by selling domains for usernames

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: ByteDance is valuing itself at about $300B as part of a recent buyback offer, one of its highest valuations ever

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: T-Mobile's network was among the systems hacked by the China-linked Salt Typhoon group, and some foreign telecommunications firms were also compromised

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