Top News:
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
NBC News hires former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel as an on-air contributor for NBC and MSNBC; her NBC debut will be on the March 24 edition of Meet the Press — Her new role as a commentator on NBC and MSNBC programs comes shortly after she stepped down as the leader of the Republican National Committee.
Discussion:
Fox News, New York Post, CNN, Media Matters for America, Adweek, New Republic, Newser, Axios, Mediaite, The Wrap, Politico, @pirahnabrother1@threads.net, @tonyheyl, @atrupar, @richarddeitsch, @timothypmurphy, @lispower1, @igorbobic, @maxwelltani, @mattmfm, @mattmfm, @asfried, The Hill, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, @thetnholler@threads.net, @mmfa.bsky.social, Deadline, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, @tvaziri@mastodon.social, @kevincollier@mastodon.social, @ajbl.bsky.social, @karlbode.bsky.social and The Hollywood Reporter
Isaac Schorr / Mediaite:
The Daily Wire and right-wing commentator Candace Owens end their relationship after months of controversy over her antisemitic comments — The Daily Wire and controversial right-wing commentator Candace Owens parted ways on Friday, according to CEO Jeremy Boreing.
Bloomberg:
Sources: OpenAI is meeting with Hollywood studios, media executives, and others to form partnerships to encourage filmmakers to integrate Sora into their work — - Startup pitching its new AI video generation tool, Sora — CEO Altman attended LA parties during Oscars weekend
Discussion:
The Hill, The Wrap and Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »
Brent Lang / Variety:
Imax partners with NBC to air live coverage of the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony at US Imax locations on July 26 — The television network, which broadcasts the games, will air its live coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony across Imax locations nationwide on Friday, July 26.
Discussion:
NBC Sports Pressbox, Deadline, Abdul Rehman on LinkedIn, Media Play News, The Hollywood Reporter and CNBC
Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology:
Sources describe Google's generative AI tools for publishers, intended to be used for simple write-ups; Google is paying small publishers for feedback — Google wants to help journalists write stories with generative AI. Will it succeed? — ∙ Paid
Discussion:
Journalism.co.uk, MacRumors and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
Antenna:
Seven weeks after the AFC Wild Card NFL game, 71% of the 3M people who subscribed to Peacock for the game remained subscribed — The first two months of 2024 brought some big moments for streaming and sports: in January, Peacock's exclusive broadcast of the NFL AFC Wild Card Game and Paramount+'s broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, MediaPost, The Streamable, Sportico and Next TV
Dan Primack / Axios:
Donald Trump's Truth Social is going public via a SPAC merger after DWAC shareholders approved the move; TMTG will be listed on the Nasdaq as early as next week — - As Axios reported earlier today, this ends a multiyear saga that's included civil lawsuits, criminal lawsuits, closing extensions and vote postponements.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Fast Company, The Hill, Financial Times, CNN, New York Times, El País, Quartz, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Breitbart, Associated Press, Reclaim The Net, New York Post, Gizmodo, Rolling Stone, New Republic, Wired, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, @jlazarus.bsky.social, @thestalwart, @alex, @dylanmatt, The Verge, CBS News, The Guardian and WBUR, more at Techmeme »
Lance Whitney / ZDNet:
Meta is rolling out a political content option in the Threads app for iOS and Android, letting users choose between “limit” or “don't limit” — With the 2024 US presidential election coming up, you can expect to see a lot more political posts on social networks, including Meta's Threads.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Ars Technica, Mashable, Music Ally, Gizmodo and @peterfeld.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
The UK government sets a panel to assess the BBC's current licensing model, examine alternate funding options, and find ways to grow commercial income — Former ITV and Channel 5 bosses will examine the future funding model of the BBC. — The UK government has just set out the panel …
Discussion:
Advanced Television
The Associated Press:
The AP and Texas Tribune enter a content sharing agreement; AP will distribute Tribune reporting on Texas and Tribune will get access to AP immigration coverage — The Associated Press and The Texas Tribune today announced a content sharing agreement, in which both organizations will benefit from each other's journalism.
Discussion:
@fbajak and Julie Pace on LinkedIn
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Martin Sorrell's ad company S4 rejected merger offers from Stagwell, including one worth $700M in fall 2023; S4's stock price fell 75% in the last year — Madison Avenue titan Martin Sorrell has rebuffed merger offers for S4 Capital, the firm he founded after exiting WPP
Discussion:
David Armano on LinkedIn and @davidorr_31
Janko Roettgers / Lowpass:
A look at Redbox's decline, as it faces several lawsuits after it stopped paying many bills around the time it sold to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment — Chicken Soup in the hole … “We still exist. Thanks for asking.” … These days, however, the word “still” is doing a lot of work.