Mediagazer: Pixis, which sells AI tools that help marketers run and monitor campaigns, raised an $85M Series C1 led by Touring Capital, taking its total funding to $209M (Kyle Wiggers/TechCrunch)

Top News:

Sources: Disney held talks exploring selling its ABC network and TV stations to Nexstar Media Group, which has 200 owned or partner TV stations in 116 markets — Walt Disney Co. has held exploratory talks about selling its ABC network and TV stations to local broadcaster Nexstar Media Group Inc. …

Discussion: The Desk, Reuters, The Verge, Deadline, Insider, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, 9to5Mac, The Hill, Bleeding Cool News, Sports Media Watch, Next TV, TVLine, Variety, Cord Cutters News, The Messenger, Deadline, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:

Source: Byron Allen submits a preliminary $10B offer to Disney to acquire its ABC TV network, local stations, and the FX and National Geographic cable channels — - Disney said it hasn't made any decisions on sale of properties — Media mogul has made unsuccessful offers for other assets

Discussion: CNN, Next TV and Reuters

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

Sources including ABC News staffers describe a feeling of dread and trepidation inside ABC; employees say they heard news of a possible sale from the press — Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.

Emma Roth / The Verge:

TikTok and Billboard launch the TikTok Billboard Top 50 Chart to track the most popular songs on the app each week in the US, refreshed every Thursday morning — TikTok is partnering with Billboard to launch a top 50 chart that tracks the most popular songs on the platform.

Discussion: Billboard, TikTok, CNET, The Messenger, Billboard, MediaPost, Forbes, TMZ.com, TechCrunch and Variety

Joe Otterson / Variety:

Study: US major streamers canceled TV series at a combined average rate of 12.2% from 2020 to 2023; Max had the highest rate at 26.9%, Apple TV+, the lowest — WBD's Max wielded the heaviest ax from 2020 to 2023 while Apple TV+ was most merciful — The Streaming Era began with a promise …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Josef Adalian / Vulture:

Hulu launches Top 15 Today, updated daily to list trending movies and TV shows; source: the list uses a formula weighing viewership, popularity surges, and more — Hulu is finally getting into the numbers game — but on its own terms. Vulture has learned that the Disney-owned streamer …

Discussion: Variety, The Verge, The Streamable, Decider, 9to5Google, The Walt Disney Company and Cord Cutters News

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:

Pixis, which sells AI tools that help marketers run and monitor campaigns, raised an $85M Series C1 led by Touring Capital, taking its total funding to $209M — Pixis, an AI-powered platform for brands to monitor and orchestrate their marketing campaigns, today announced that it raised $85 million …

more at Techmeme »

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:

The WGA and studios agree to resume labor negotiations next week, in a meeting that would be their first since August 22 — Date for discussions has yet to be determined, AMPTP says — The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have agreed to resume negotiations next week.

Discussion: Variety, GLAAD, @lucas_shaw, Los Angeles Times, Bleeding Cool News, Deadline, TVLine, IndieWire, @slack2thefuture, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter

Bloomberg:

Sources: Disney expects to fall far short of its Disney+ subscriber target for 2024, set in mid-2022; its Charter deal will add millions, at a reduced price — Walt Disney Co. expects to fall tens of millions of subscribers short of its last publicly stated 2024 target for the Disney+ streaming service …

Discussion: New York Times and The Wrap

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

X CEO Linda Yaccarino hires media executives to lead sales teams, including former TNT and TBS GM Brett Weitz as X's head of content, talent, and brand sales — Yaccarino also unveiled a new sales leadership team, including former NBCUniversal and Dow Jones executives.

Discussion: MediaPost, The Messenger, Variety, The Wrap, Deadline and The Information

Axios:

Source: audience and ad measurement company VideoAmp laid off ~10% of its workforce last week, or 40+ people, just before announcing raising a $150M Series G — Media measurement firm VideoAmp quietly laid off about 10% of its workforce last week, Axios has learned. … VideoAmp now has about 400 employees.

Discussion: VideoAmp, @sarafischer and Ad Age

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Automattic releases ActivityPub 1.0.0 for WordPress, letting fediverse users follow WordPress blogs on apps like Mastodon and receive replies as blog comments — In March, WordPress.com owner Automattic made a commitment to the fediverse — the decentralized social networks that include …

Discussion: @chikorita157@sakurajima.moe and @chrismessina@mastodon.xyz, more at Techmeme »