Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Paramount has held talks with Comcast about Paramount+ and Peacock joining forces through a partnership or a joint venture — The two companies have recently discussed a streaming partnership or joint-venture for Paramount+ and Peacock — Paramount has held recent talks with Comcast …
Discussion:
The Desk, Next TV, Variety, World Soccer Talk, The A.V. Club, @danspeerin, Quartz, ComingSoon.net, Reuters, Mike Richter on LinkedIn, @stuffsomerssays, The Verge, The Wrap, @2xaught7.bsky.social, TechHive, @richlightshed, @danackerman, Media Play News, Jessica Toonkel on LinkedIn, UPROXX, @ernie@writing.exchange, 9to5Google, TrekMovie.com, The Streamable and @great_katzby
David Pierce / The Verge:
A look at robots.txt, a goodwill-based social contract that has governed the behavior of web crawlers, as more publishers block AI crawlers from their sites — For decades, robots.txt governed the behavior of web crawlers. But as unscrupulous AI companies seek out more and more data …
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
How Paramount became a cautionary tale of the streaming wars, as the Viacom merger, a lack of investment, and other issues left it with $16B+ in debt — Shari Redstone inherited her father's storied media empire and tried to take on Netflix. Now it's looking for a buyer.
Discussion:
Business Insider and Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn
Amy Or / Bloomberg:
Sources: Reddit signed a deal early in 2024, worth ~$60M on an annualized basis, allowing a large unnamed AI company to train its models on Reddit's content — - Social media firm agrees $60 million deal with AI company — Reddit advised to seek at least $5 billion IPO valuation
Emily Glover / Forbes:
Survey of 2K US streaming users: 33% created their own accounts due to password crackdowns, 45% canceled services due to cost, 49% subscribe to three services — In an age where the digital world is our primary source of entertainment, the streaming service market is more competitive and complex than ever.
Discussion:
The Streamable, Martin Toha on LinkedIn and Media Play News
Chris Welch / The Verge:
NBCUniversal rebrands video streaming service Vudu to Fandango at Home, more closely aligning it with its Fandango movie ticketing business — Fandango has decided to completely rebrand Vudu, a streaming video service that's been around for over a decade, to Fandango at Home.
Discussion:
Variety, 9to5Google, The A.V. Club, @vudufans, Cord Cutters News and Media Play News
The Wrap:
Nexstar is developing a weekly political talk show in collaboration between the CW and The Hill; it will air on Sundays on local CW stations — The series would be similar in concept to “Face the Nation,” CW president of entertainment Brad Schwartz tells TheWrap
Discussion:
Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
The Wire:
Vanessa Dougnac, South Asia correspondent for four French publications, says India's government is forcing her to leave because of her “malicious” reporting — New Delhi: French journalist Vanessa Dougnac, who had been the longest serving foreign correspondent in India …
Discussion:
Agence France-Presse, Hindustan Times, The Indian Express, Committee to Protect …, Reuters and Newslaundry
Alex Hern / The Guardian:
Google stopped notifying publishers of “right to be forgotten” removals, after a Swedish court ruled that informing webmasters is a breach of privacy — Move comes after Swedish court rules that informing webmasters about delisted content is breach of privacy
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Private equity firm RedBird IMI finalizes a £1.15B deal to acquire UK TV and film producer All3Media from Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Media — The production powerhouse, led by CEO Jane Turton, is behind the likes of ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ and owns more than 50 banners, including ‘The Tinder Swindler’ maker Raw.
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Guardian, Axios, Variety, Deadline, Advanced Television, Financial Times, Bloomberg and WORLD SCREEN
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Sources: Paramount is winding down Noggin, its streaming service for 2- to 7-year-olds that was launched in 2015, and has laid off its entire team — Noggin, Nickelodeon's interactive learning platform for preschool-age kids, is shutting down after almost 10 years, Variety has confirmed.
Discussion:
Observer, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, The Desk, Advanced Television, The Wrap, Deadline, The Streamable and Cord Cutters News
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
TVNewsCheck Editor Michael Depp says the outlet needs 1,500 subscribers at $199/year to restart its news operations, which were suspended on February 12 — The lead content editor of the popular broadcast publication TV NewsCheck says the company needs to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars …
Discussion:
Michael Depp on LinkedIn
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