Mediagazer: Grupo Televisa plans to buy out AT&T's stake in Sky Mexico, payable in 2027 and 2028; Sky CEO Luis Malvido will leave on April 15, replaced by Francisco Valim (Andrea Navarro/Bloomberg)

5:52 PM ET, April 3, 2024

Top News:

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Shari Redstone, Paramount Global's controlling shareholder through National Amusements, reaches a tentative deal to sell her stake to Skydance Media — - Redstone is the controlling shareholder of Paramount — Ellison's Skydance has partnered with Paramount on films

Discussion: The Wrap, Variety, MediaPost, New York Times, Deadline, Media Play News, New York Post and The Hill

Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:

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

Andrea Navarro / Bloomberg:

Grupo Televisa plans to buy out AT&T's stake in Sky Mexico, payable in 2027 and 2028; Sky CEO Luis Malvido will leave on April 15, replaced by Francisco Valim — - Companies did not disclose an amount for the transaction — The stake will be paid in 2027 and 2028, Televisa added

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

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

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

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

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 »

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, @tim_bays, @danprimack, The Wrap, 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.

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

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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

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

Mia Sato / The Verge:
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Lachlan Cartwright / New York Times:
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Earlier Picks:

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

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

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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

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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