Mediagazer: Channel 4 says its internal investigation found “no evidence” to suggest its staff knew of sexual assault and misconduct allegations against Russell Brand (Etan Vlessing/The Hollywood Reporter)

Reddit opens up 38%, at $47 per share, in its New York Stock Exchange debut, valuing the company at about $9B on a fully diluted basis — The San Francisco-based company's stock began trading on Thursday at $47 each, above the offering price of $34 per share.

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

How advertisers are trying to tie their ads to business outcomes, like a purchase, instead of ratings: in November, Fox guaranteed Netflix social media activity — Nearly every commercial that runs on TV is backed by a guarantee of how big an audience will watch it.

Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:

How The Intercept, Alternet, and Raw Story are using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in suits against OpenAI, possibly serving as a model for other sites — Raw Story, AlterNet, and The Intercept are among the first smaller publications to go up against the AI goliath for copyright violations.

Discussion: @laureneheuser, @laureneheuser, @ben@werd.social, @laurahazardowen and @sarahscire

Molly Bohannon / Forbes:

A super PAC backing Ted Cruz got ~$215K from iHeartMedia, earned from selling ads for Cruz's podcast; Cruz had likened his show to cable news appearances — A super PAC affiliated with Sen. Ted Cruz reported receiving $215,000 in “digital revenue” from iHeartMedia on Wednesday …

Discussion: Zach Everson on LinkedIn

Adam Chitwood / The Wrap:

WBD plans to launch Max in Europe starting on May 21 in the Nordics, Iberia, and Central and Eastern Europe, in time for the Olympics, included in all plans — The rollout is also timed to the second season of “House of the Dragon” — Max will begin its launch in Europe on May 21 …

Discussion: Variety, Reuters, Engadget, Next TV, Media Play News, Advanced Television, Screen and Deadline

Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:

Channel 4 says its internal investigation found “no evidence” to suggest its staff knew of sexual assault and misconduct allegations against Russell Brand — The British network that helped drive Brand's early fame, after an internal probe, did conclude a former employee made a …

Discussion: Channel 4, The Independent, Sky News, Irish Examiner, BBC, @ohrhealy, Decider and Deadline

Caitlin Huston / Hollywood Reporter:

Audacy rebrands its podcast division as Audacy Podcasts, sunsets Cadence13 and 2400Sports brands, and moves their content and staff to Audacy Podcasts — There are no layoffs as part of the move, nor any changes to the content slates. … As part of the move, the company will be sunsetting …

Discussion: Inside Radio

Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:

YouTube TV gets multiview support on iOS and iPadOS, letting users watch up to four TV channels at once; Android support is set to arrive “in the coming months” — Google has confirmed that YouTube TV is now rolling out support for Multiview on the iPhone and iPad, but the feature won't arrive on Android for a while.

Discussion: The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Sources: the BBC plans to build its own AI models, and is holding talks with tech companies, including Amazon, about selling its content for AI training — UK broadcaster seeks to build artificial intelligence models and negotiates with companies on content deal

Discussion: Reuters, more at Techmeme »

Jason Koebler / 404 Media:

Deadspin's new owner Lineup outlines plans to publish with support “via partnerships within the sports betting industry” and to keep all old Deadspin's content — Join the newsletter to get the latest updates. — Success — Great! Check your inbox and click the link. — Error

Discussion: @_zeets, @josephfcox, @ericgarland, @kyliebytes, @timothypmurphy, @jason_koebler, @josephcox@infosec.exchange, @lukeoneil47.bsky.social, @ernie@writing.exchange and @josephfcox

Benoit Berthelot / Bloomberg:

France's TF1 plans to expand its streaming platform to Belgium and Luxembourg in June 2024, and to French-speaking African countries in the next 18 months — - TF1+ will expand to more French-speaking markets this year — CEO Belmer aims to grow base of advertisers for platform

Discussion: Variety, Deadline, Broadband TV News and Advanced Television

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

A US federal judge dismisses DirecTV's lawsuit from March 2023 that accused Nexstar of engaging in price-fixing activity around the retransmission consent fees — A federal judge has dismissed the antitrust lawsuit that DirecTV filed against Nexstar last year accusing the TV station giant …

Discussion: The Wrap, Deadline, Radio & Television …, The Desk and Cord Cutters News