Mediagazer: Disney sells out of ad inventory for the 2024 Oscars; a source says Disney was seeking $1.7M to $2.2M for 30-second ads, similar to its 2022 pricing (Bill Bradley/Adweek)

FT executive Alexandra Calinikos says FT Ventures plans to make £30M in initial deployments, investing £500K to £5M in “information, intelligence, media” firms — FT becomes strategic investor in growing media companies. — FT Ventures, the recently-announced venture arm …

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

Q&A with FT Group CEO John Ridding on the benefits of being owned by Nikkei, using AI in the newsroom and for engagement, US growth, and Big Tech's AI missteps — The FT has more than 1.4 million subscribers, including more than 1 million digital subscribers. About 20% are based in the United States.

Discussion: @filip_struharik, @benwhitelaw, The Drum, @worldeditors, @niemanlab and Financial Times

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Temu became Meta's top advertiser by revenue in 2023 by spending nearly $2B, and became one of Google's top five advertisers by spending in 2023 — The e-commerce platform spent nearly $2 billion at Meta and was a top advertiser at Google — Meta Platforms' top advertiser …

Discussion: The Information, @eparody, @timothybucksf@threads.net, @2xaught7.bsky.social, Dylan Jones on LinkedIn, @firstadopter and @firstadopter, more at Techmeme »

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Ben Markus / Colorado Public Radio:

Colorado Public Radio lays off 15, primarily in audio and podcast production, and spares the newsroom of cuts; staff grew from 48 in FY 2006 to 214 in FY 2022 — Colorado Public Radio laid off 15 employees this week, the largest cut to the public broadcaster's payroll in at least a quarter of a century.

Discussion: Inside Radio, The Squeeze, Radio Ink and @oddryhepburn@threads.net

Reuters:

Spotify plans to raise its prices in France due to a new tax law that adds a 1.2% tax on streaming companies' revenue to help finance local music creation — Swedish streaming service Spotify (SPOT.N) on Thursday said it would increase its prices in France due to a new tax, which it argued would fail to accomplish its intended goal.

Discussion: Spotify, Billboard, CMU, TechCrunch, Music Business Worldwide and Music Ally

Bill Bradley / Adweek:

Disney sells out of ad inventory for the 2024 Oscars; a source says Disney was seeking $1.7M to $2.2M for 30-second ads, similar to its 2022 pricing — The ceremony will have a broad range of sponsors across 17 categories

Discussion: The Wrap, MediaPost and The Hollywood Reporter

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Condé Nast reports flat revenue gains YoY in 2023; in a memo, Condé Nast CEO says consumer revenue grew 7% YoY and expects operating costs to remain the same — - Lynch said moving to a place where the company is consistently breaking even has helped it invest in growth areas, particular in digital.

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

A jury finds Rust movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins — Weapons experts and prosecutor witness Bryan Carpenter, explains in court that he found fault with Alec Baldwin's conduct and use of guns.

Discussion: Fox News, Associated Press, Decider, TMZ.com, Variety, The Sun, Us Weekly, Boing Boing, NME, Al Jazeera, NPR, Vanity Fair, The Wrap, Washington Post, E! Online, SlashFilm, The A.V. Club, Rolling Stone, ABC News, NBC News, New York Times, Law & Crime, New York Post, IndieWire, CBS News and Deadline

Nicole Sperling / New York Times:

Netflix plans to livestream a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul in Texas on July 20, part of the company's push into “sports-adjacent programming” — The July bout between Mr. Tyson, the former world champion, and Mr. Paul, the influencer turned boxer …

Tatiana Siegel / Variety:

Sources: Apple spent $700M+ of its reported $1B+ 2023 studio spend on just Napoleon, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Argylle, which earned $466M combined — On March 10, the tech giant has 13 shots to take home an Oscar via two historical epics, “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Napoleon …

Discussion: Screen Rant, 9to5Mac, @tatianasiegel27, @pdergarabedian, Business Insider, GoldDerby and The Information, more at Techmeme »

Variety:

ITV reports 2023 external revenue down 3% YoY to £3.6B, ITV Studios revenue up 4%, digital revenue up 19% to £490M, linear ads down 15%, and ITVX MAUs up 19% — U.K. commercial broadcaster ITV's annual results for 2023 were revealed Thursday. — Total group revenue was down 2% …

Discussion: The Media Leader, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, ITV, Broadband TV News, The Guardian and Advanced Television

Cynthia Kroet / Euronews:

After IAB Europe appealed a 2022 decision, the EU's highest court rules that IAB's online advertising model uses personal data and is therefore subject to GDPR — After clarification from Luxembourg, the Belgian Court of Appeal will now rule on the case. — IAB Europe's online advertising …

Discussion: Irish Council … and @jason_kint, more at Techmeme »