Top News:
Richard Rushfield / The Ankler:
Q&A with FTC Chair Lina Khan on visiting a WGA picket line to hear from “people on the ground”, plus other Hollywood issues like M&A regulation and new tech — The FTC chair and Biden breakout star on her WGA meetings, A.I. and why the agency's keeping an eye on entertainment
Discussion:
Bloomberg
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Gene Maddaus / Variety:
The WGA urges blocking of further M&A for large streaming companies, saying Netflix, Amazon, and Disney have built power that depresses wages and limits choice — The Writers Guild of America issued a report on Thursday calling Netflix, Amazon and Disney the “new gatekeepers” …
Discussion:
IndieWire, The Wrap, @jbflint, @wgawest, Writers Guild of America West, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline
Brian X. Chen / New York Times:
Surveys: over 50% of Americans watch TV with subtitles on most of the time, as sound quality deteriorates due to compressed audio and TV speaker placement — Many of us stream shows and movies with the subtitles on all the time — and not because it's cool.
Discussion:
@voron@mstdn.party and @michellemanafy@journa.host
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Apple says the company removed all episodes of The Glenn Beck Program from Apple Podcasts because of a trademark dispute that has since been resolved — Reached for comment, an Apple spokesman told Variety that “The Glenn Beck Program” was removed from Apple Podcasts because of a trademark …
Discussion:
Mediaite, TheBlaze and Podnews, more at Techmeme »
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Steven McIntosh / BBC:
UK broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson has died at the age of 88; his TV career spanned seven decades, and he interviewed the world's biggest stars on his show — Broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson has died at the age of 88, his family has confirmed. — His TV career spanned seven decades …
Discussion:
Press Association, The Guardian, Financial Times, The Week, @bbcpress, @bbcnickrobinson, @bbcsport, Reuters, @evan_m_g, @lewispringle, The Independent, @crowleyonair, @jayrayner1, Press Gazette, @gatty54, Variety, @bondchris73, @ollymann, @gamesetandmatt, @nrdbrennan, @jontrevithick, @pamayres, @mattyduggan, BBC, @dannews, @scottygb, @ericidle, @therandomswill, The Wrap, @scottygb, @margaretthrosby and @ukads3
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Internal doc: Spotify weighed removing white noise podcasts and redirecting users to “talk” content, which would boost the company's annual gross profit by €35M — An internal document shows that white noise podcasts account for 3 million daily consumption hours on the platform
Discussion:
Music Ally and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Paramount drops its plans to sell a majority stake in BET Media, concluding that a sale wouldn't lead to a meaningful deleveraging of its balance sheet — The entertainment conglomerate concluded a sale wouldn't result in any meaningful deleveraging of its balance sheet.
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
A Revson Foundation report looks at how governments, banks, and philanthropy could help make loans and credit programs more accessible for local news orgs — The precarity of local news outlets has left them with “little to no access to capital.” A new report imagines what state and local government …
Discussion:
The City
Jim Edwards / Press Gazette:
A profile of Fortune EIC Alyson Shontell, two years into her tenure, as she reorients the publication around digital and develops e-commerce as a revenue stream — Fortune's editor-in-chief says print is “an important differentiator” despite digital drive.
Discussion:
@jeffjohnroberts
Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:
USC: the share of speaking female roles in the top 100 grossing films in 2022 was 34.6%, up only 4.7 percentage points since 2007 — Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's annual report comes as studios have seen an exodus of DEI executives — The University of Southern California's Annenberg …
Discussion:
Variety, Associated Press, Deadline, Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter
Vitalik Buterin / Vitalik Buterin's website:
A deep dive into X's Community Notes, including how the algorithm works, whether the feature actually fights polarization, and its use in high-stakes situations — Special thanks to Dennis Pourteaux and Jay Baxter for feedback and review. — The last two years of Twitter X have been tumultuous, to say the least.
Calum Marsh / New York Times:
Documentaries about the annual CrossFit Games from CrossFit's media team have become consistent streaming hits due to their niche fitness community audience — A series of films about the annual CrossFit Games, enthusiastically embraced by the niche fitness community, have become surprise hits on streaming platforms.
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