Mediagazer: 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 (Matt Levine/Bloomberg)

10:00 PM ET, August 9, 2023

Top News:

Kayla Cobb / The Wrap:

Bob Iger says cord-cutting trends are “unmistakable” and Disney is considering “a variety of strategic options” for its linear TV assets such as ABC — Bob Iger says the company is “considering a variety of strategic options” for assets like ABC

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Awful Announcing, New York Times, TVNewsCheck, The Information, Reuters, @zdarsky.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter and CNN, more at Techmeme »

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Disney reports Q3 revenue up 4% YoY to $22.3B, a $460M net loss, down from a $1.41B net income YoY, and India's Disney+ Hotstar service losing 12.5M subscribers — Disney+ loses 300K customers in U.S. and Canada while streaming-only Hulu gains 300K — The Walt Disney Co. saw …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Forbes, The Wrap, Collider, IndieWire, Axios, CNBC, Media Play News and The Walt Disney Company

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Disney plans to raise US prices of Disney+ Premium, Hulu without ads, and ESPN+, and to expand Disney+ ad-supported plans to Canada and nine European countries — Ad-supported Disney+ tier to expand to Canada, U.K. and eight other European countries this fall

Adam Chitwood / The Wrap:

Bob Iger says Disney is “actively exploring ways” to crack down on password sharing and “will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024” — Disney+ will begin cracking down on password-sharing in 2024 in an effort to drive monetization …

Discussion: CNET, The Verge, Insider, IndieWire, Breitbart, ComingSoon.net, WHNT.com, @carnage4life@mas.to and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

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, @theuncharles, The Atlantic, Axios, Variety, Poynter, The Athletic, New York Times, Barrett Media and Axios

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:

Filing: Dave Portnoy acquired Barstool Sports for $1 from Penn Entertainment, which says it expects to record a loss of between $800M and $850M on the deal — Penn Entertainment estimates that it will take a loss of as much as $850 million on Barstool. — Just how much did Dave Portnoy pay …

Discussion: Awful Announcing, Sportico, Bloomberg, Variety, Fortune, New York Post, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Barrett Media

Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:

Q&A with Mark Rasch, a lawyer for Tim Burke, whose PCs and equipment were seized in a probe of Fox News video leaks, 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 …

Discussion: Mediaite, @urbanachievr, @sally_yachts, @matthewkeyslive, @aaschapiro, @bubbaprog.ilovecitr.us, @matthewkeyslive, @aaschapiro, @mathewi and @aaschapiro

Thomas Germain / Gizmodo:

CNET is deleting older posts, calling such cuts a best practice for sites “primarily driven by SEO traffic”; Google says purging to improve SEO is “not a thing” — Google says deleting old pages to bamboozle Search is “not a thing!” as CNET erases its history.

Discussion: The Verge, @searchliaison, @searchliaison, @dannyjpalmer@infosec.exchange and Search Engine Roundtable

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:

Podcast revenue at iHeartMedia, Spotify, and Acast grew between 12% and 31% YoY in Q2; PwC projects total podcast ad revenue to grow 25% YoY to $2.28B in 2023 — iHeartMedia, Spotify and Acast reported revenue growth between 12% and 31% year over year in their podcast businesses during …

Discussion: Podnews, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and Inside Radio

Scott Mendelson / The Wrap:

Lionsgate reports Q1 revenue up 1.6% YoY to $909M vs. $893M est., a $70.7M net loss, and Motion Picture revenue up 46% to $406.5M driven by John Wick: Chapter 4 — Strong holdover box office from “John Wick: Chapter 4” and consistently strong TV and library business help the mini-major come out on top

Discussion: Variety, Deadline, Lionsgate, The Hollywood Reporter and Media Play News

Steven Waldman / The Atlantic:

Funding US local news, which could mean ~$1.5B per year to sustain 25K 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, @mckaycoppins, @dlberes, @bykenarmstrong and American Press Institute

Yuvraj Malik / Reuters:

The world's largest news media organizations sign an open letter calling for a framework to “collectively negotiate” use of their IP with AI model operators — A group of the world's biggest news media organizations called for revised regulations on the use of copyrighted material …

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More News:

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

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

Discussion: Next TV, Axios, AdExchanger and Advanced Television

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

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

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

Discussion: CNET and The Desk

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

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

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

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

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: @goldbart1, The Hollywood Reporter, 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, MarTech, Insider Intelligence, @support, Engadget, Techlusive, The Information, Forbes, Adweek and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

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

Discussion: New York Post, @xpangler, IndieWire, PC Gamer, Plagiarism Today, @reedalbergotti, @11thjeff, Metro, The Verge, Talking Biz News, Engadget, The Wrap, Variety, 9to5Mac and AppleInsider, 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, @pressfreedom, @cpj_eurasia, @pressfreedom, @naomizeveloff and Voice of America

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 and Fast Company

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

Discussion: Mumbrella, Mediaite, ZDNet, @qanda, @sirsteven, Reclaim The Net, @archcontext, @markdistef, @markdistef, @zachvat@newsie.social, The Desk, @Greguti@pouet.chapril.org and TechCrunch

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

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

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered developing a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

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

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