Top News:
ESPN Press Room U.S.:
ESPN and Penn Entertainment unveil a deal to launch ESPN BET this fall; Penn plans to rebrand its current sportsbook in the 16 US states where Penn is licensed — Sports betting deal to include a streamlined experience for sports fans — ESPN today announced an agreement with PENN Entertainment …
Discussion:
Business Wire, The Streamable, The Hill, CNBC, Variety, Awful Announcing, Sportico, Deadline, MarketWatch, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @lucas_shaw, @loudmouthjulia, @semaforben, @loudmouthjulia, @tim_bays, @mattbelloni, @bennyjohnson, @barstoolsports, @barstoolsports, @sherman4949, The Hollywood Reporter, @jbflint, Forbes, For The Win and The Athletic
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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 …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Next TV, Bloomberg, @stoolpresidente, New York Post, @kerrymflynn, @tomgara, @esaagar, @neilcybart, @joepompliano, Front Office Sports, @sarafischer, @jswartz, @barstoolhubbs, @lizrhoffman, @tomaxwell, @darrenrovell, @markstenberg3, @barstoolbigcat, @tomscibelli and @trungtphan
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
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
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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
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:
TechCrunch, The Verge, Engadget, @sportstvratings and @carnage4life@mas.to, more at Techmeme »
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
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 — After a weekend of whoppers about X and fighting Mark Zuckerberg, the press should take a more skeptical approach
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, The Wrap, Forbes, New York Post, @jkohlmann@mastodon.social, @niedermeyer.io, @chargrille@progressives …, @karlbode, @blackamazon, Android Police, Insider, ET Canada, TheBlaze, Techlusive, New York Magazine, New York Daily News, Mediaite, Variety, CBS News, Associated Press, The Hill, Gizmodo, Fortune, Fox News, The Guardian, Digital Journal and Politico, 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
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 — Walt Disney (DIS.N) has created a task force to study artificial intelligence and how it can be applied across the entertainment conglomerate …
Discussion:
IndieWire, New York Post, Gizmodo, Fortune, @chris@mastodon … and Collider
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:
@jodeet, @bethelmckenzie, @erniesuggs, @tommytomlinson, Detroit Free Press and Nieman Foundation
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.
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