Top News:


Sources: WBD plans to add live sports to Max at no extra cost for a limited time later in 2023, and start charging a sports fee likely in February or March 2024 — Customers will need to pay an additional amount for sports starting next year, likely around February or March, said the people …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, The Desk, The Verge, Reuters, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei, The Streamable, Front Office Sports, Cord Cutters News and The Messenger


Interviews with 25+ people who worked with Bob Iger and Bob Chapek between 2020 and 2022 detail how Disney's CEO succession plan went awry and brought back Iger — - What did a private bathroom, Oogie Boogie and a hippo have to do with the behind-the-scenes chaos between Bob Iger and Bob Chapek at Disney?
Discussion:
IndieWire, Fox Business, New York Post, @sherman4949, @murraymatt, @mattrosoff, @jbflint, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, The Verge, Awful Announcing and KNSD-TV


Ghostwriter, the anonymous creator who used AI to mimic Drake and The Weeknd, has met with record labels, Grammy organizers, and more, and releases a new song — The anonymous artist, who stirred conversation with the A.I. track “Heart on My Sleeve,” has been quietly consulting with executives, while also gunning for a Grammy.
Discussion:
Billboard, The Verge, Engadget, Forbes, Variety, Deadline, Futurism, The Fader, Gizmodo, TMZ.com, The A.V. Club, UPROXX, Consequence, The Messenger and ET Canada


How Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer, an important metric in entertainment, became erratic and reductive as some PR firms hack its score by paying obscure “critics” — In 2018, a movie-publicity company called Bunker 15 took on a new project: Ophelia, a feminist retelling of Hamlet starring Daisy Ridley.
Discussion:
The Wrap, IndieWire, SlashFilm, IGN, @stevenrosenthal …, ComingSoon.net, @samuelaadams, @projectseestra, @huginspl, @_zeets, @leask, @sicrook, @milkman__dead, @mikeryan, @tomilaffly, @luke_winkie, @nathanpester, @chrisecrowley, @moviedeathblows, @hamrahrama, @seanmburns, @mattzeitlin, @boringdrew, @ipreferpi314, @sonnybunch, @nick_field90, @walthickey, @katiewalshstx, @beatonna and @themanfromrio2


Some small independent publishers struggle after Amazon ended Kindle Periodicals on September 4; Fantasy Magazine said its last issue will be in October 2023 — I like short stories. I read them, and I write them. I grew up subscribing to and reading The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction …
Discussion:
MediaPost and Fantasy MagazineRSS


How the NFL conquered Hollywood via $110B in deals for exclusive live games with broadcasters and streamers, producing scripted and unscripted content, and more — To the tune of $110 billion, the league has shrewdly leveraged the fact that media — whether NBC, CBS, Fox and ESPN or Amazon and YouTube …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, @alexweprin and @alexweprin


Roku plans to lay off 300+, or 10% of its staff, close offices, and take an up to $65M impairment charge in Q3 2023 for cutting some content; ROKU jumps 5%+ — Roku will cut more than 300 staffers — laying off 10% of its workforce — as the streaming-platform company continues its battle to control costs.


A Burmese court sentences photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike to 20 years in prison, the longest known prison term given to a media employee since the 2021 army coup — A court in military-ruled Myanmar on Wednesday sentenced a photojournalist to 20 years in prison, his employer said …
Discussion:
Fox News and Committee to Protect …


Google started rolling out Chrome's Enhanced Ad Privacy, part of its Topics API, via a popup; some say the Got It button is misleading for leaving tracking on — YMMV, based on where you are — Google has been gradually rolling out Chrome's “Enhanced Ad Privacy.”
Discussion:
Neowin, @jon@henshaw.social, The Verge, @nixCraft@mastodon.social and The Messenger, more at Techmeme »


A look at Netflix's success-based residuals in France, Germany, and Scandinavia, driven by laws about authors' rights, as some in the US debate such metrics — Since the outbreak of the dual Hollywood labor strikes, the issue of residuals has risen to the fore as a key battleground dividing …


Spotify is testing making song lyrics a Premium-only feature, currently “with a limited number of users in a pair of markets” — A number of Spotify users began to notice something strange over the last day or so: the in-app lyrics, which typically pop up under the currently playing song …
Discussion:
9to5Mac, @jon_speaks_, @realjoseph123, Gizmodo, @thequietkid4l, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally, Billboard, TechCrunch and Engadget, more at Techmeme »


Google plans a November policy update requiring election advertisers to prominently disclose when their ads contain generative AI-based images, video, or audio — Audio, images and video on political advertising will need to be labeled … The policy update, which applies starting mid-November …
Discussion:
The Verge, The Hill and The Messenger, more at Techmeme »