Mediagazer: RTL Deutschland launches a €12.99/month “all-in-one” streaming service bundle, offering video, live sports, music, podcasts, audiobooks, and digital magazines (Scott Roxborough/The Hollywood Reporter)

4:20 PM ET, August 9, 2023

Top News:

Steven Waldman / The Atlantic:

Funding US local news, which may cost ~$1.5B per year to sustain 25,000 local reporter positions, would more than pay for itself and “save American democracy” — The decline of local journalism isn't just a threat to democracy. It's also costing us money. — Zak podmore did not bring down a corrupt mayor.

Discussion: Media Nation, @jrussellmi, @stevenwaldman, American Press Institute, @mckaycoppins, @dlberes and @bykenarmstrong

Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:

Q&A with Mark Rasch, lawyer for Tim Burke, whose equipment was seized in a probe of video leaks from Fox News, on the case's implications for journalists — In May, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation showed up at Tim Burke's home in Tampa, Florida, and seized several computers …

Matt Levine / Bloomberg:

The Penn-Barstool deal made sense for Penn and Dave Portnoy when he sold Barstool in 2020, and the Penn-Disney deal makes sense now as Portnoy regains Barstool — Also WeWork's decline, Yellow's equity value, Target as a securities-fraud target and a Reata M&A typo. — Barstool

Discussion: Vox, Variety, The Athletic and Barrett Media

Axios:
Penn Entertainment is selling Barstool Sports back to founder Dave Portnoy, who has accepted certain noncompete agreements; Penn had bought Barstool for $551M

Katherine Sayre / Wall Street Journal:
ESPN's deal allowing Penn to use its brand for ESPN Bet is worth $2B over 10 years: $1.5B in cash plus warrants worth about $500M to purchase shares in Penn

Discussion: Financial Times, Front Office Sports, Barrett Media, CNN, The Streamable, New York Post and Awful Announcing

ESPN Press Room U.S.:
ESPN and Penn Entertainment announce a deal to launch ESPN Bet, as Penn rebrands its sportsbook in the 16 US states where it is licensed; PENN jumps ~15%

Blake Brittain / Reuters:

Gizmodo EIC Dan Ackerman sues Apple, the Tetris Company, and others, accusing them of adapting his book about Tetris into a feature film without his permission — Dan Ackerman, editor in chief of the tech-news website Gizmodo, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court on Monday accusing Apple …

Discussion: Plagiarism Today, New York Post, PC Gamer, IndieWire, Metro, @xpangler, @reedalbergotti, @11thjeff, The Verge, Engadget, Talking Biz News, The Wrap, Variety, 9to5Mac and AppleInsider, more at Techmeme »

Yuvraj Malik / Reuters:

The world's largest media orgs, including the News Media Alliance, sign an open letter calling for collective negotiation over AI operators' use of their IP — A group of the world's biggest news media organizations called for revised regulations on the use of copyrighted material by makers …

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

The RNC picks Fox Business to host the second GOP presidential primary debate on September 27, after Fox News hosts the first debate on August 23 in Milwaukee — It's now two-for-two for the Murdoch empire when it comes to presidential candidate forums. — The Republican National Committee …

Discussion: UPI, @brianstelter, @politicoalex, @joelmathis.bsky.social, Deadline, The Hill, @wlabovitz, @jeremymbarr, The Wrap, New York Daily News and Semafor

Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:

RTL Deutschland launches a €12.99/month “all-in-one” streaming service bundle, offering video, live sports, music, podcasts, audiobooks, and digital magazines — The new “all-inclusive” platform is promising German subscribers a one-stop-shop for video, live-sports, music …

Discussion: The Desk

Joe Otterson / Variety:

Wonya Lucas, who became Hallmark Media's president and CEO in July 2020, plans to depart the company at the end of 2023 but will continue on the company's board — Hallmark Media president and CEO Wonya Lucas will depart the company at the end of the year.

Discussion: TheBlaze, The Desk, Cord Cutters News, The Wrap, Advanced Television, Next TV, WORLD SCREEN, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek and Deadline

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:

Australia's ABC shuts down all but four of its X accounts, citing “toxic interactions” and the cost, after shifting resources to TikTok and Instagram — The public broadcaster says interactions on the platform are ‘toxic’ as it closes almost all its Twitter accounts

Discussion: TechCrunch, New York Daily News, New York Times, @qanda, Reclaim The Net, @archcontext, The Desk, @markdistef, @zachvat@newsie.social, @sirsteven, @markdistef and @Greguti@pouet.chapril.org, more at Techmeme »

Pamela McClintock / Hollywood Reporter:

Netflix reopens NYC's iconic Paris Theater after major upgrades with plans to screen its original movies and host special events, retrospectives, and filmmakers — The iconic cinema will be able to screen 70mm film for the first time in years and also has a new Dolby Atmos system.

Discussion: The Wrap

Lara O'Reilly / Insider:

Canadian private equity firm Novacap acquires US TV adtech company Cadent from Lee Equity Partners, a source says for close to $600M — - PE firm Novacap has acquired TV adtech company Cadent. — The deal is valued at around $600 million, according to a source.

Discussion: Axios, AdExchanger, Next TV and Advanced Television

Reuters:

The WGA strike hits 100 days: negotiations with major studios have stalled as picketing writers protest what they describe as a disregard for their demands — The Hollywood writers' strike marks 100 days on Wednesday with contract talks stalled and people on the picket lines protesting …

Discussion: Forbes, The Wrap, Variety, Deadline, @warrenleighttv, The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck, Vanity Fair, @deggans, @wgawest, @lisacullen, @wgastrikeunite, @prismreports, @davidhsteinberg, @carolinerenard_, @officermankorn, Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Times

Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:

YouTube plans to stop showing recommended videos in some places, including on the homepage, if a logged-in user's watch history feature is turned off entirely — Recommended videos keep users engaged on YouTube, but starting today, YouTube will stop showing recommended videos in some places …

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

Catherine Perloff / Adweek:
Google renames “in-stream ads” to “skippable ads”, to “more accurately describe the ad format”, after an Adalytics report accused YouTube of misleading buyers

more at Techmeme »

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More News:

Variety:
Source: Comcast-owned Sky, the UK's largest pay TV broadcaster, gives up the rights to broadcast the Oscars, acquired from the BBC in 2004, as ratings decline

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, @goldbart1, Deadline and Advanced Television

Elizabeth de Luna / Mashable:
X begins making ad revenue payouts to smaller creators, after issuing payments to select accounts in July 2023; how X calculates the payouts remains unclear

Discussion: TechCrunch, Insider Intelligence, Engadget, MarTech, @support, Techlusive, The Information, Forbes, Adweek and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Martin K.N Siele / Rest of World:
In Kenya, TikTok's most active African country, creators make money hosting protest livestreams, which protesters say help them stay safe from police violence

Discussion: Fox News and Reuters Institute, more at Techmeme »

Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
A look at Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang's “transparency portal”; the newsroom was galvanized to improve audience trust after criticism over a botched story

Committee to Protect Journalists:
A look at the increasingly hostile environment for journalism in the Netherlands, and the ripple effects of the 2021 killing of crime reporter Peter R. de Vries

Discussion: @pressfreedom, @cpj_eurasia, @pressfreedom, Voice of America, @naomizeveloff and @pressfreedom

Earlier Picks:

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
An analysis of Paramount's $1.62B deal to sell Simon & Schuster to private equity firm KKR, in which Simon & Schuster employees get an ownership company stake

Discussion: @mariskreizman, @vanityfair, Yahoo News, Los Angeles Times, Publishers Weekly, Fast Company and ScheerPost.com

Kate Harloe / Popula:
The Albany Public Libraries partnered with the city's local newspaper, the Times Union, to write a series of articles and examine what kind of news locals need

Discussion: @brad262run@mastodon.online, @sleslie@mastodon.social, @maria@thelife.boats, @philmeyer@newsie.social and @shannonmattern.bsky.social

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Endeavor CFO Jason Lublin expects the Hollywood strikes to cost the company ~$25M per month in revenue, but Endeavor stands with its writer and actor clients

Discussion: Deadline and The Wrap

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

Discussion: @joeo10@mastodon.sdf.org and @PrivacyDigest@mas.to

Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
BuzzFeed misses with Q2 revenue down 27% YoY to $77.9M, ad revenue down 33% YoY to $35.4M, and net loss up 18% YoY to $27.8M; BZFD drops 10%+

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

From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Anthropic raised another $4B from Amazon, will make AWS its primary training partner, and is working with Annapurna Labs to develop new Trainium accelerators

Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
A UK CMA report finds that Apple's policies hold back innovation in mobile browsers and recommends investigating Apple and Google's mobile ecosystem activities

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Researchers detail a “nearest neighbor attack” by Russia's APT28, which remotely breached a target's Wi-Fi by hijacking a laptop in a building across the street

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