Top News:
Reuters:
Sources: Disney secures enough shareholder votes to defeat Trian Partners' attempt to put Nelson Peltz and ex-Disney CFO Jay Rasulo on Disney's board — Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) has secured enough shareholder votes to defeat a challenge against its board mounted by Nelson Peltz's hedge fund …
Discussion:
Variety, Forbes, @tvgrimreaper, Fox Business, @josie.zone, Fortune, Deadline, @sherman4949, @blackamazon.bsky.social, Quartz, @alishagrauso.bsky.social, @mousterpiece.bsky.social, @thielman.bsky.social, @sherman4949, @vossbrink.bsky.social, @billackman, @elonmusk, @sinboy.bsky.social, Business Insider, New York Post, CNN, CNBC and Los Angeles Times
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Wall Street Journal:
How Disney repeatedly extending Bob Iger's contract, including five extensions between 2011 and 2017, became a key criticism of Nelson Peltz's Trian Partners — Trian Partners, pushing for board seats, has criticized Disney's past handling of Iger's tenure and succession
Discussion:
Reuters, CNN, Financial Times, Deadline, @naterattner and Bloomberg
Bloomberg:
Sources: Spotify plans to raise prices by $1 to $2 per month in the UK, Australia, Pakistan, and two other markets by the end of April, and the US later in 2024 — - The audio service will raise prices in a few major markets — Spotify will create new plan that doesn't include audiobooks
Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:
NewsGuard: 1,197 partisan news websites in the US masquerade as local news outlets as of April 1, compared to ~1,200 genuine local newspaper websites — Dark money-funded outlets that mimic regional news sites are becoming more sophisticated ahead of November election
Discussion:
MIT Technology Review
Amrita Khalid / The Verge:
Facebook updates its mobile video player with a TikTok-like vertical look and new controls for Reels, Live, and longform videos, starting with the US and Canada — Facebook is launching an updated mobile video player that will bring the vertical look made ubiquitous by TikTok and Reels …
Discussion:
TechCrunch and Meta
David Satin / The Streamable:
Roku partners with the NBA to launch the first-ever NBA-branded FAST channel, and a NBA Zone content hub with access to basketball content — Fans will be able to watch classic games, see highlights, originals, documentaries and more on the first-ever NBA FAST channel.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: Endeavor's Patrick Whitesell plans to launch a media company with a $250M investment from Silver Lake, as part of the deal to take Endeavor private — Patrick Whitesell, executive chairman of WME parent Endeavor, is launching a new media company backed by Silver Lake as part …
Discussion:
The Wrap, @danprimack, @tim_bays, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The NYT plans to make most of its articles available as narrations read via an automated voice, rolling out to 10% of website, app, and audio app users — - The company published 2,300 audio recordings, including podcasts, in 2023 with more than 600 Times reporters contributing.
New York Times:
An interview with Oren Etzioni, the founder of nonprofit TrueMedia.org, which has released free AI tools for reporters and fact checkers to identify deepfakes — Oren Etzioni worries A.I.-generated fakes could overwhelm upcoming elections.Kyle Johnson for The New York Times
Discussion:
The Information, @toddbishop, @truemediadotorg, TrueMedia.org, TrueMedia.org, @truemediadotorg, GeekWire and @timfinin, more at Techmeme »
Financial Times:
US-based hedge fund Hunterbrook launches its newsroom, Hunterbrook Media, after raising $100M to make trades based on scoops uncovered by its reporters — Target of Hunterbrook's first story questions ethics of it taking a short position in its stock — A US hedge fund has raised $100mn …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Talking Biz News, @zachcrenshaw, @readdanwrite, @danielmcglynn, @geraldbourguet, @bondhack, @pablofindsout, @sammykoppelman, @bondhack, @osinttechnical, @archiehall, @hntrbrkmedia, @matt_termine, @hntrbrkmedia, @hntrbrkmedia, @baileycarlin, @eisingerj, @hntrbrkmedia, @zachcrenshaw, @jsphctrl, @arashmassoudi, @lawindsor, @hntrbrkmedia, @hntrbrkmedia, @osinttechnical, @hntrbrkmedia, @hntrbrkmedia, @matt_levine, Hunterbrook, Hunterbrook and Hacker News
Emilia David / The Verge:
Stability AI releases Stable Audio 2.0, which lets users create three-minute sound clips from copyright-free audio samples, available for free via its website — Stable Audio 2., an audio generation model for Stability AI, now lets users upload their own audio samples which they can then …
Discussion:
Billboard, Engadget, Stability AI and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Patreon rolls out a Reddit-like community moderation feature that lets podcasters, artists, writers, and other creators assign community members as moderators — Patreon is taking a page out of Reddit's book. Now, podcasters, artists, writers, and other creators on the subscription-focused creator platform …