Mediagazer: Michael Leidig's news agency network, which employs 30 and includes Newsflash, CEN, AsiaWire, and Clipzilla, shuts down, citing a fall in commissioning budgets (Dominic Ponsford/Press Gazette)

4:45 PM ET, April 3, 2024

Top News:

Sources: Paramount's board and Skydance Media agree to exclusive merger discussions, and Paramount will pause talks with other bidders; PARA rises ~15% — Agreement paves the way for an exit by controlling shareholder Shari Redstone — A deal between Paramount and Skydance is potentially one step closer to happening.

Discussion: Variety, New York Times, Bloomberg, New York Post, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, @variety, The Streamable, Next TV, The Hill and The Wrap

CNBC:

Disney prevails in the proxy fight with Nelson Peltz's Trian Partners as shareholders vote to reelect its full board, a stamp of approval for Bob Iger's efforts — (L to R) Chief executive officer and chairman of The Walt Disney Company Bob Iger and Mickey Mouse look on before ringing …

Discussion: Variety, SlashFilm, Business Insider, Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Front Office Sports, Financial Times, Yahoo Finance, Gizmodo, @ivanthek, @annmlipton@esq.social, @annmlipton@esq.social, @annmlipton@esq.social, @annmlipton@esq.social, Forbes, @passantino@threads.net, Bill George on LinkedIn, @sherman4949, @xpangler, @tvgrimreaper, Deadline, Bloomberg, Next TV, Axios, @jbflint, Forbes, Fox Business, @sherman4949, @alexweprin, New York Post, @blackamazon.bsky.social, @tvgrimreaper, The Walt Disney Company, Quartz, CNBC, @scottgustin, @alishagrauso.bsky.social, Advanced Television, CNN, @jbflint, @mousterpiece.bsky.social, @thielman.bsky.social, @sherman4949, @josie.zone, Variety, @lmoses, Fortune, @vossbrink.bsky.social, @billackman, Los Angeles Times, @elonmusk, Business Insider, @sinboy.bsky.social, @jbflint, New York Times, W Media Research and Puck

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

Discussion: The Guardian, The Hill, Business Insider, Reuters, TVNewsCheck, The Information, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, Media Play News, New York Post, @naterattner, CNN, Fox Business, Deadline, Financial Times 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

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

Michael Leidig's news agency network, which employs 30 and includes Newsflash, CEN, AsiaWire, and Clipzilla, shuts down, citing a fall in commissioning budgets — Michael Leidig blames fall in commissioning budgets and newsroom AI for difficulties. — A news agency network that employs 30 people …

Discussion: @semaforben

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

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: Stability AI, Digital Music News, Engadget, Music Ally and Billboard, more at Techmeme »

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.

Discussion: The Verge, @brianstorms@mastodon.social, David Tokarz, PhD on LinkedIn, American Press Institute, Media Voices and @noondlyt@mastodon.social

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: MediaPost, TechCrunch, Meta, Search Engine Land and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

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: Front Office Sports, The Wrap, @tim_bays, @danprimack, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

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.

Discussion: The Desk, Nielsen, Media Play News, Next TV and Cord Cutters News

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Spotify unveils Live Experiences, letting brands sponsor Spotify events for the first time, and plans five to 20 free Live Experiences in the first year — Spotify's latest advertising product, Live Experiences, lets brands integrate with and sponsor its events for the first time.

Discussion: Alex Rose on LinkedIn, Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn and @markstenberg3

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, Erika Shaffer on LinkedIn, @truemediadotorg, @timfinin, GeekWire, TrueMedia.org and TrueMedia.org, more at Techmeme »

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More News:

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

more at Techmeme »

Lachlan Cartwright / New York Times:
An ex-editor of The National Enquirer recalls the tabloid's notorious “catch and kill” campaign that is now at the heart of Donald Trump's first criminal trial

Discussion: @seth_hettena, @benmullin, Keith Fitzgerald on LinkedIn, Lisa Michele Vallee-Smith, APR on LinkedIn, @jeffjarvis and @lachcartwright

Carly Sauvageau / The Nevada Independent:
A look at The Ely Times and The Eureka Sentinel, among Nevada's oldest surviving papers, which announced a deal in January to go online-only under a new owner

Discussion: @progressfornv and @howardstutz

Adrian Carrasquillo / Vanity Fair:
Sources: Biden plans an April 4 interview with Univision's Enrique Acevedo; Acevedo was broadly criticized after his November 2023 “softball” interview of Trump

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill, Fox News, @bsdtectr.bsky.social and CNN

Jef Feeley / Bloomberg:
Donald Trump sues two co-founders of Trump Media & Technology Group, claiming they set the company up wrong and shouldn't get stock; the two earlier sued Trump

Discussion: Fox Business, CBS News, CNN, Quartz, Mediaite, New York Post, Associated Press, The Wrap, Wccftech, WFLA, Boing Boing, The Daily Beast and Rolling Stone

Earlier Picks:

Reuters:
Sudan's state news agency says the information ministry has suspended Saudi state-owned broadcasters Al Arabiya and Al Hadath, and UAE-owned Sky News Arabia

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, JURIST, @patrickheinisc1 and @hassanahmedberk

Christopher Kuo / New York Times:
George Carlin's estate settles with the makers of Dudesy, who agree to remove their YouTube video and podcast they originally claimed used an “AI” George Carlin

Discussion: The Verge, Plain Dealer, IGN, Fox News, Engadget, CMU, Ars Technica, Maryland Daily Record, Deadline, Rolling Stone, Variety, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter, 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

Tyler Jett / Des Moines Register:
Iowa officials settle a suit with independent political blogger Laura Belin, who was denied a press pass to the legislature; Iowa will pay her attorneys $49K

John Hanna / Associated Press:
The Marion County Record's parent and Eric Meyer, its editor and publisher, file a federal lawsuit over police raids of its offices and Meyer's home in 2023

Discussion: Law & Crime, The Wrap, Kansas Reflector and Media Nation

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
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The Information:
Sources: in recent months, Nvidia has asked its suppliers to change the design of server racks for Blackwell GPUs several times to overcome overheating problems

Reuters:
Sources: Tata Electronics agrees to buy a 60% stake in Pegatron's iPhone plant in Tamil Nadu, India, forming a joint venture, and will run the daily operations

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