Top News:


Letterboxd's founders sell a majority stake to Canadian company Tiny; a source says the deal values the film-focused social network with ~10M users at $50M+ — Two designers from New Zealand built a wildly popular social network for movie buffs. Now, they're cashing in (and sticking around for the sequel).
Discussion:
Letterboxd, Variety, Netflix Tudum, Business Wire, @benmullin, Deadline, @joelevard, The Verge, @alexkehr, @chronotope, @smuiux, @labuzamovies, The Wrap, @scottemovienerd, @_sparling_, @tvaziri@mastodon.social, @awilkinson, @notbigracks, @letterboxd, The Hollywood Reporter, Gizmodo, @bkwelles, @thefilmdrunk, @simli.bsky.social, Engadget and @qburns@mas.to, more at Techmeme »


Source: Diamond Sports is seeking to cut the broadcast fees it pays to the NHL and NBA by up to 20%; Diamond pays NBA teams about $600M a year — Bankrupt broadcaster Diamond Sports, the nation's largest regional sports network, has made a take-it-or-leave-it offer to cut rights fees …
Discussion:
@tvgrimreaper, Radio & Television …, Next TV, Twin Cities, Barrett Media, Awful Announcing, The Streamable and Cord Cutters News


A history of Vine's failure to build relationships with its top creators, who Vine leadership resented for gaming the app's ranking algorithm and their humor — The wildly popular video app's contentious relationship with its own power users offers a cautionary tale for social platforms
Discussion:
Tubefilter, @katienotopoulos, @nitashatiku, @iamasarch and @willoremus


One of India's largest music labels Saregama acquires a 51.82% stake in Pocket Aces, which produces short-form video content aimed at young Indians, for ~$20M — Saregama has acquired a 51.82% stake in the digital entertainment startup Pocket Aces as the oldest Indian music label makes a deeper push into videos.


Ed Fancher, one of the founders of the alternative weekly newspaper The Village Voice and its publisher for 19 years, died on September 27 at age 100 — A psychologist, he started the alternative weekly with Dan Wolf and Norman Mailer in 1955. “We were crazy enough to think it would succeed,” he said.
Discussion:
@tromano, @joeconason and @johnk77t


Ofcom launches an investigation into the Dan Wootton Tonight show on GB News after Laurence Fox insulted journalist Ava Evans, sparking 7,300 complaints — Media regulator Ofcom has launched an investigation into the Dan Wootton Tonight show on GB News after a sexism row sparked 7,300 complaints.
Discussion:
New York Times, @ofcom, The Drum, Deadline, Ofcom, The Sun, NME, The Guardian, Advanced Television, Financial Times, Reclaim The Net, The London Economic, Sky News, Broadband TV News and The Independent
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FilmRise acquires the worldwide digital media rights to 1,200+ hours of BuzzFeed Studios' library of content, including past episodes of Hot Ones and Worth It — Older episodes of Sean Evans' “Hot Ones,” the hit YouTube series in which celebs try to ingest increasingly spicy buffalo wings, has a new home.
Discussion:
Media Play News, The Wrap, @xpangler and The Hollywood Reporter


Amanda Zamora says she will step down as publisher of The 19th at the end of 2023 and continue working on The 19th News Network in an advisory director capacity — After more than four and a half years with The 19th, Amanda Zamora will step down as publisher at the end of this year.
Discussion:
@amzam, @amzam, @juliachanb, @mathewi, @amzam, @soljourno, @errinhaines, @amzam, @niketa, @mitrakalita, @cande313, @ramsammy and @eramshaw


The Marshall Project launches its second local news operation in Jackson, Mississippi, where two reporters are set to start on October 2 — Two journalists will produce enterprise and investigative journalism for audiences across Mississippi, including those affected by its criminal justice system.
Discussion:
@calebbedillion, @marlonawalker and New York Amsterdam News


Podcast company Pushkin Industries lays off 17 of its 54 employees, or 30%+ of its staff in its second round of cuts in 2023, and changes its leadership team — ‘The Tipping Point’ author will step into editorial director role as part of executive shakeup — Bestselling author Malcolm …


X CEO Linda Yaccarino says that the company has paid out nearly $20M to creators; Elon Musk said in July 2023 that the first payments totaled $5M — The company formerly known as Twitter has paid out nearly $20 million to creators, according to a post from X CEO Linda Yaccarino.
Discussion:
@lindayax, @lhamadopagode, @rakeshlobster, Fortune, @jboorstin, MediaPost and The Verge on YouTube, more at Techmeme »


A look at Agenda Watch, built by Stanford's Big Local News and which scrapes public agencies' documents to help city hall, police, and school beat reporters — A journalist's job can be exciting: uncovering a critical lead for a new story or elbowing aside a gaggle of other media pros to question a government official.


The Supreme Court agrees to hear two cases concerning whether Florida and Texas can restrict social media companies from removing political posts or accounts — The justices announced Friday which cases they will add to their calendar for the term that begins Monday
Discussion:
Engadget, New York Times, SCOTUSblog, Gizmodo, Reuters, UPI, @thefireorg, Associated Press, Politico, @mjs_dc, SCOTUSblog, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, The Messenger and The Nation, more at Techmeme »