Top News:
Angela Fu / Poynter:
Texas Tribune CEO Sonal Shah announces layoffs, blaming a weakened economy and more; the outlet's copy desk chief posted that the copy desk had been laid off — CEO Sonal Shah told staff that 2023 has been uniquely challenging for the outlet, which many have come to see as a model for nonprofit journalism
Discussion:
Austin Chronicle, @editwithemily, @davidpasztor, @keribla, The Texas Tribune, @mcgeereports, @joelmathis.bsky.social, @joshuafechter, @kherman, @andreagrimes.bsky.social, @maxwelltani, @amzam, @carla_astudi, @stevanzetti.bsky.social, @nbj914, @korruptednerves.bsky.social and @chucklindell
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Sources: former New York Times CEO and BBC Director-General Mark Thompson is a leading candidate to head CNN; Thompson left The New York Times in 2020 — The Scoop — The former New York Times and BBC chief Mark Thompson is a leading candidate to lead CNN, according to people familiar …
Discussion:
Financial Times, New York Post, @tvgrimreaper, @edmundlee, @edmundlee, New York Times and @richlightshed
Washington Post:
Fox News staff and Donald Trump advisers detail how Tucker Carlson's pre-recorded interview came about; Trump had wanted to post the interview on Truth Social — The on-again, off-again partnership found mutual benefit in a pre-recorded interview to air during the first Republican presidential debate
Discussion:
Variety, The Hill, New York Magazine, TVLine, TIME, Slate, Associated Press, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, The Hollywood Reporter, Politico, Advocate, Los Angeles Times, Deadline, @brianstelter, @sarahellison, Mediaite, Semafor, Rolling Stone, @blackamazon, CBS News, @pkafka, @alexthomp, Daily News, The Week, Vanity Fair, Media Matters for America, Columbia Journalism Review, The Wrap, Financial Times, The Desk, Axios and Adweek
Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Email: the WGA says AMPTP's August 11 proposal failed to sufficiently protect writers and the meeting with studio CEOs was an attempt to make the WGA “cave” — - TV Talk Podcast: Strike-Delayed Emmys Risk Getting Lost In Awards-Show Pileup & That's A Damn Shame
RELATED:
NewsGuard:
An analysis finds 37 sites that are using AI chatbots to rewrite news articles, which first appeared in outlets like CNN, the NYT, and Reuters, without credit — NewsGuard has identified 37 sites that use artificial intelligence to repackage articles from mainstream news sources without providing credit …
Discussion:
Bloomberg
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Nielsen plans to incorporate Amazon's viewership data for Thursday Night Football; last season, Amazon's internal numbers were nearly 18% higher than Nielsen's — The move is expected to boost ratings of games; Amazon's own numbers were nearly 18% higher than Nielsen's last season.
Discussion:
Variety, The Desk and Media Play News
Todd Shields / Bloomberg:
The FCC invites comment on a request to deny a license renewal for Fox TV's WTXF in Philly, after a group challenged the renewal due to Fox News' legal history — - Participation would serve public interest, agency says — Group challenged Fox renewal over 2020 election coverage
Discussion:
d2384, Radio & Television …, FCC and The Desk
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Antenna: Netflix added ~2.6M new US users in July, more than any other paid streaming service but down 26% from June 2023; ~23% signed up for Netflix's ad tier — - The streaming service had more sign-ups than any other in July — Netflix user growth in the US had stopped in recent years
Discussion:
Reuters, Deadline, Insider, The Verge, Neowin, @loudmouthjulia, @russellhfilm, @df2506, PYMNTS.com, Antenna, @lucas_shaw, The Streamable, Media Play News and Cord Cutters News
Bloomberg:
Sources: Amazon, WBD, and a third broadcaster are competing for the rights to six to eight summer races from NASCAR, which is trying to add more media partners — - Racing league looks to boost revenue with multiple partners — Fox and NBC are still in position to renew their deals
Discussion:
Sports Media Watch and WGN-TV
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: WBD plans to launch new original programs from CNN that will stream on Max, hosted by Jim Sciutto, Bianna Golodryga, Christiane Amanpour, and others — Jim Sciutto, Bianna Golodryga, Rahel Solomon and Christiane Amanpour are among the CNN journalists who have been tapped to take part in the effort …
Discussion:
@bristei
Clare Malone / New Yorker:
A profile of WBD CEO David Zaslav after the company's rocky first year, as some doubt that he is up to the task of building a new entertainment industry power — The C.E.O. of a huge conglomerate takes on an entertainment business in turmoil. — In 1941, a couple from New York bought …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Yahoo acquires CommonStock, launched in 2020 to let retail investors share insights based on their brokerage account information; CommonStock had raised ~$34M — Yahoo has acquired CommonStock, a social platform designed for retail investors to share insights based on information linked directly …
Discussion:
Mediaweek, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify introduces new podcaster tools, including customized pages, new impression analytics, preview editing controls, and a dashboard for Megaphone publishers — Following Apple's announcement of podcast creator tools for subscriptions on Monday, Spotify today also introduced …
Discussion:
Spotify for Podcasters, RAIN News and The Verge, more at Techmeme »