Mediagazer: A profile of WSJ's Evan Gershkovich, with interviews with his family, friends, and US officials, as negotiations to free him from Russia have not made progress (Charlotte Alter/TIME)

Sources: Temu became Meta's top advertiser by revenue in 2023 by spending nearly $2B on ads, 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: MediaPost, Quartz, The Information, @eparody, @firstadopter, @nathandgregory, @timothybucksf@threads.net, @firstadopter, @2xaught7.bsky.social and Dylan Jones on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

Analysis: Temu and Shein are spending heavily on Facebook, X, and YouTube ads in the US; Temu placed ~1.4M ads globally on Google services in the past year — Temu, Shein, and streaming and gaming apps looking to break into the U.S. market are spending huge sums to get their wares in front of American consumers.

more at Techmeme »

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

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: @pressgazette and Talking Biz News

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

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, RAIN News, Digital Music News, Engadget, CMU, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Warner Bros. Discovery plans to overhaul its TruTV cable network with a new nightly block of sports programming, including a show focused on betting — The media company intends to create a new nightly sports block for TruTV, the reality-series cable network that has largely been left …

Discussion: The Streamable, Awful Announcing, The Wrap, TVLine, Bloomberg, Deadline, Barrett Media, @tim_bays, @alexweprin and The Hollywood Reporter

Charlotte Alter / TIME:

A profile of WSJ's Evan Gershkovich, with interviews with his family, friends, and US officials, as negotiations to free him from Russia have not made progress — Growing up in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and '70s, Mikhail Gershkovich and Ella Milman learned to be careful.

Discussion: @maxseddon, @natalieandrews, @jsibo, @jaketapper, @charlottealter and Talking Biz News

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: The Squeeze, Inside Radio, Radio Ink, Current, @alexscoville, @cprmarkus, @coreyhutchins and @oddryhepburn@threads.net

Reuters:

Russian news outlet RusNews says its reporter Roman Ivanov was sentenced to seven years in prison for articles about alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine — A reporter for an independent Russian news outlet was sentenced to seven years in prison on Wednesday for articles he wrote …

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, @globalfreemedia and Committee to Protect …

Jem Aswad / Variety:

In a letter to members, the National Music Publishers Association says it doesn't expect to renew its TikTok license when the deal expires on April 30 — The standoff between Universal Music Group and TikTok took another turn on Wednesday when the trade group National Music Publishers Association sent …

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, CMU, Billboard, Music Ally, Digital Journal, Digital Music News, CBS News, The Information and Music Business Worldwide, more at Techmeme »

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.

Discussion: MediaPost and @mediaevan

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

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 …

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Pro Shop, founded by a Full Swing producer and an ex-Puck CEO, raised $19.25M from the PGA Tour and others, to expand golf's presence in entertainment — The company, founded by ‘Full Swing’ EP Chad Mumm and former Puck CEO Joe Purzycki, has raised nearly $20M from the PGA Tour and Powerhouse Capital …

Discussion: Sports Business Journal, David Miller on LinkedIn, Chris Wandell on LinkedIn, @chadmumm, @chadmumm, @chadmumm, @chadmumm and @chadmumm