Top News:
Emma Roth / The Verge:
WBD's Max is adding a live sports tier, Bleacher Report Sports, in the US on October 5 for $9.99/month, or free to current Max subscribers through February 2024 — Max, the streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, is adding a live sports tier in the US on October 5th.
Discussion:
Pressroom, Adweek, Awful Announcing, CNET, TVLine, Ad Age, Bloomberg, The Wrap, Variety, Deadline, The Streamable, Next TV, Los Angeles Times, Sportico, CNBC, @tim_bays, The Messenger, The Information, Bleeding Cool News and Barrett Media
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with Matthew Panzarino, who recently stepped down as TechCrunch EIC after 10 years, on the site's Silicon Valley relationship, the future of media, and more — It's been a rocky and chaotic decade — and now digital media is on the brink of yet another existential crisis thanks to generative AI.
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Reflections on three years of Platformer: 155,355 free subscribers, up from 75,000 in 2022, planning to experiment with ads, 95% of readers do not pay, and more — Has the Substack revolution come and gone? PLUS: What's changing in year four — I. State of the union
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
The BBC and Channel 4 remove TV and audio shows featuring Russell Brand; the BBC did not say which shows while Channel 4 removed GBBO and Big Brother episodes — - ‘The Madigan Chronicles’ Optioned By Particle6; London Film Festival Jury; MBC's Arabic-Language Feature - Global Briefs
Discussion:
BBC, The Guardian, @TomSwirly@toot.community, Bleeding Cool News, The Hollywood Reporter, The Sun, The Guardian, @marinahyde, The Messenger and UPROXX
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Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
YouTube suspends ads on videos by actor Russell Brand to “protect” its users, citing his “off-platform behavior”, after allegations of rape and sexual assault
Discussion:
BBC, Associated Press, New York Times, NBC News, TMZ.com, New York Daily News, UPI, Mediaite, The Sun, @hugorifkind, @thomas_violence, Forbes, Billboard, Reuters, CNN, NME, Breitbart, Newser, The Wrap, @jeremydboreing, The A.V. Club, The Hill, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, Boing Boing, New York Post, IGN, Deadline, HuffPost, IndieWire and Rolling Stone
Emily Dugan / The Guardian:
The BBC is “urgently” investigating Russell Brand's behavior while he worked on its radio shows, after allegations of rape and sexual assault from 2006 to 2013
Discussion:
@rustyrockets, inews.co.uk, Deadline, NME, @timesradio, @jake_kanter, @adambienkov, @timesradio, @rosamundurwin, @elonmusk, @esqueer_, @deitaone, @ryzo_11, @casparsalmon, Us Weekly, New York Daily News, Global News, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, The Daily Beast, The Independent, BBC, Metro.co.uk, The Hollywood Reporter, The Sun, Press Gazette, The Hollywood Reporter, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Times, Sky News, New York Post, The Guardian, The Guardian, Vanity Fair and Deadline
Eshe Nelson / New York Times:
How the SAG-AFTRA strikes are impacting the UK, where Barbie, Mission: Impossible, Indiana Jones, and more were filmed, as many now find themselves out of work — Many U.S. studios' blockbusters are filmed in Britain, so the walkouts by actors and screenwriters have caused thousands of U.K. film crews to lose work.
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Angela Fu / Poynter:
A Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter faced a pile-on of social media harassment when users including Elon Musk distorted her coverage of a fatal hit-and-run — The Las Vegas Review-Journal is facing a harassment campaign stoked by Elon Musk, one year after a reporter was killed for his coverage.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Las Vegas Review-Journal, @ralstonreports, @ttangap and @emilymiller
Gretel Kahn / Reuters Institute:
How Russia spreads pro-Kremlin messages in Africa through local journalists and media outlets like Afrique Média, a Cameroon-based, pro-Wagner Group TV channel — This Cameroon-based outlet reaches millions through linear TV and boasts over one million followers on their social channels
Discussion:
GitHub and Washington Post
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Advance Local is building GulfLive, a New Orleans-based sports and news website, four years after Advance sold the Times-Picayune, the area's biggest newspaper — - All of the Times-Picayune's 161 staffers were let go in 2019 amid that sale. … - The creation of GulfLive suggests Advance …
Discussion:
@sarafischer
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Mark Thompson is set to begin as CNN's CEO on October 9; sources say CNN's 2023 EBITDA is expected to bounce back closer to $1B after falling to $750M in 2022 — - Mark Thompson, the former New York Times CEO, will begin as CNN's CEO on Oct. 9. — In his new role, Thompson will focus …
Discussion:
@sherman4949, @sherman4949 and TVNewsCheck
Bobby Hristova / CBC News:
The Hamilton Spectator, one of Ontario's longest-running newspapers, plans to close its office in October; last week, Torstar's owner Nordstar cut 605 staff — Meanwhile, several area weeklies are going online only and their reporters will be let go — The Hamilton Spectator is losing …
Discussion:
@mollyhayes, @terrycookehcf, @fallonhewitt_, @bobbyhristova and @charlizealcaraz
Patrick Frater / Variety:
Filing: Alibaba Pictures plans to acquire Alibaba-owned Damai, a major provider of live entertainment in China, for $167M, signaling a move into live events — Alibaba Pictures, the separately-listed film investment and distribution unit of China's tech giant Alibaba behind recent box office hit “Lost in the Stars,” is to buy Damai.
K.J. Yossman / Variety:
BBC Studios forms a Global Entertainment division, led by Matt Forde, to oversee its production bases in Los Angeles, India, Australia, South Africa, and Europe — BBC Studios has merged three areas of its formats business to create a new global entertainment division led by Matt Forde.
Discussion:
Media Play News
Kerry Flynn / Axios:
Electrify Video Partners, whose model is to acquire 50% to 100% of a YouTube creator's business, raised $85M from Capital D and says the startup is profitable — - Kerry Flynn, author of Axios Pro: Media Deals — Exit Content Preview — Electrify Video Partners has raised $85 million …
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