Mediagazer: 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 (Blake Brittain/Reuters)

2:35 PM ET, August 9, 2023

Top News:

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

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 later on August 23 — It's now two-for-two for the Murdoch empire when it comes to presidential candidate forums. — The Republican National Committee …

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

Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:

RTL Deutschland launches a €12.99 per month “all-in-one” streaming bundle with 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, podcasts …

Discussion: The Desk

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:

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

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

Joe Otterson / Variety:

Wonya Lucas, who became the president and CEO of Hallmark Media in 2020, plans to depart the company at the end of 2023 but will continue on its board — Hallmark Media president and CEO Wonya Lucas will depart the company at the end of the year. Upon her departure, Lucas will continue …

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

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 …

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%

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

Reuters:

The WGA strike hits 100 days: negotiations with major studios are stalled and writers are protesting 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 what they describe as a disregard for their demands.

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 more — The iconic cinema will be able to screen 70mm film for the first time in years and also has a new Dolby Atmos system.

Lara O'Reilly / Insider:

Private equity firm Novacap acquires TV adtech company Cadent from Lee Equity Partners, a source says for $600M — - PE firm Novacap has acquired TV adtech company Cadent. — The deal is valued at around $600 million, according to a source. — Cadent now plans an acquisition spree to bolster the platform's growth.

Discussion: Axios, AdExchanger, Next TV and Advanced Television

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 — After a 20-year pact, the Oscars will no longer broadcast on Sky in the U.K., Variety has confirmed.

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

Elizabeth de Luna / Mashable:

X begins making ad revenue payouts to smaller creators, after releasing payments to thousands of select accounts; how payouts are calculated remains unclear — ‘$8 to make $370 is a fantastic ROI for something I do anyway,’ one creator tweeted. … X is finally paying smaller creators …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Engadget, MarTech, @support, Digiday, 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 — At least 23 people have reportedly been killed as crowds oppose proposed tax increases. — • NAIROBI, KENYA

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

Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:

A look at Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang's “transparency portal”, launched to improve audience trust after facing criticism for a botched story — Readers “have to see this again and again and again, I think, before you really make an impact.”

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 — What was once in-stream ads are now skippable ads — Google removed “in-stream” …

more at Techmeme »

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

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

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 2:35 PM ET, August 9, 2023.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Commissioning Editor - Practical Law — Reuters

Energy Markets Reporter, London — WSJ

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — Toronto Star

Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — Newcomer

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

News Reporter, MA — Berkshire Eagle

Multimedia Journalist, PA — Observer-Reporter

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

Senior Media Editor — Digiday

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Staff Reporter, CA — Daily Kos

Data Editor, NY — ProPublica

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Gavin J Blair / The Hollywood Reporter:
Sony Pictures reports Q1 profit down 68% YoY to $115M, revenue down 6% YoY to $2.3B, and forecasts unchanged FY 2023 profit; Music profit rose 20% YoY to $86M

Discussion: The Wrap, Associated Press, Sony, Sony, Deadline and Variety, more at Techmeme »

Committee to Protect Journalists:
A look at the increasingly hostile environment for journalism in the Netherlands, where the 2021 killing of journalist Peter R de Vries has had ripple effects

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

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

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

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

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

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Endeavor says the ongoing Hollywood strikes are expected to the cost the company ~$25M per month in revenue, but the company will stand with its clients

Discussion: Deadline and The Wrap

Earlier Picks:

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 a net loss of $27.8M vs. $23.6M in Q2 2022

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Media Voices and @sarafischer

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

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
How Tim Cook may navigate Trump's presidency, a closer look at Apple's upcoming smart home command center, sources detail a new AirTag coming in 2025, and more

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

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page