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
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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:
@variety, The Information, New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Next TV, The Streamable and Variety, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
Sources: Apollo Global Management told Paramount over last weekend that Apollo was interested in acquiring the full company for $26B+; Paramount did not engage — Paramount's board of directors, which was already deep into talks with the media company Skydance, didn't engage with the offer.
Discussion:
Variety, Deadline, Cord Cutters News and The Wrap
Amrita Khalid / The Verge:
X adds blue checks to some accounts, including journalists, as part of its plan to give free Premium status to those with 2,500+ “verified subscriber followers” — Just as Elon Musk said, X is doling out free Premium and Premium memberships to accounts with a high number of verified followers.
Discussion:
The Desk, Engadget, 9to5Mac, Rolling Stone, @jason_kint, @inafried, @pilgrimaltsburg.bsky.social, @evacide, Raw Story, @jason_kint, @mattbinder, @inafried, @angie_rasmussen, @natesilver538, @willoremus, @johnonolan, @tomwellborn3@threads.net, @brandyzadrozny, @harrymccracken, @seungminkim, @monaeltahawy, @radleybalko, @sethabramson, @jason_kint, @sarahspain, @holy_schnitt, @aodespair, @mattdpearce, @timnitgebru, @alexeheath, @alexrkonrad, @kevinmkruse.bsky.social, @radiofreetom.bsky.social, @w7voa@journa.host and Deadline, more at Techmeme »
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Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
X rolls out support for posting Community Notes in India ahead of the 2024 general elections and says the program now has contributors in 69 countries — Weeks before the national elections in India, Elon Musk-owned X said it is rolling out support for posting Community Notes — the company's crowd-sourced fact-checking program.
Discussion:
Popular Information, Livemint, @communitynotes, @elonmusk, Inc42 Media and @kcoleman, more at Techmeme »
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:
NBC News, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal, World of Reel, @ivanthek, @alexweprin, @sherman4949, Fortune, @scottgustin, @tvgrimreaper, @xpangler, Next TV, @jbflint, @jbflint, @lmoses, The Desk, @jbflint, @tvgrimreaper, Variety, Los Angeles Times, Observer, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, SlashFilm, @annmlipton@esq.social, @annmlipton@esq.social, @annmlipton@esq.social, Financial Times, @annmlipton@esq.social, Yahoo Finance, @passantino@threads.net, @elonmusk, @billackman, Associated Press, Gizmodo, Forbes, Bill George on LinkedIn, New York Post, The Wrap, The Walt Disney Company, Bloomberg, CNN, Axios, Forbes, New York Times, Fox Business, @josie.zone, Advanced Television, Fortune, Variety, @sinboy.bsky.social, @mousterpiece.bsky.social, @vossbrink.bsky.social, @thielman.bsky.social, @alishagrauso.bsky.social, @blackamazon.bsky.social, Deadline, Quartz, New York Post, CNBC, CNN, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, Reuters and W Media Research
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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
Discussion:
Quartz, @naterattner, The Information, Deadline, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, Business Insider, Media Play News, Fox Business, New York Post, CNN, Deadline, Financial Times and Bloomberg
Andrea Grimes / Home With The Armadillo:
Substack's new emphasis on followers, not subscriptions, and its opaque steps to migrate paid subscriptions off the platform make leaving harder for writers — And it'll be worse this time around! — The writing life, which has never exactly been a picnic for independent journalists and freelancers …
Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Apple resolves an outage impacting some of its online services, including the App Store, Apple TV, Podcasts, and Music, that lasted for over an hour on April 3 — Apple's online services were hit with an outage that cut many of us off from the App Store, Apple TV, and Apple Music on Wednesday night.
Discussion:
The Desk, @glyph@mastodon.social, MacRumors, IGN and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Shannon Ryan / ABC13:
US Sen. Ted Cruz pushes back against reports that iHeartMedia, which hosts his podcast, gave $630K+ in 2023 to a PAC that exists solely to ensure his reelection — Sen. Ted Cruz is facing questions over a tangled web of political contributions involving the company that airs his podcast.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and Mediaite
Devin Leonard / Bloomberg:
A look at the success of Bluey, the hit Australian animated TV show for kids estimated to be worth $2B, whose future is uncertain after the third season ends — The Australian children's show auteur Joe Brumm is at a crossroads: Keep growing, or end one of the best runs on TV.
Discussion:
@derekeb, @bradstone, @daniellesacks, @business and @timsteno
Adam Morgan / Literary Hub:
Small book publishers worry following the abrupt closure of Small Press Distribution, which was one of the last independent book distributors in the US — Adam Morgan Talks to Small Press Publishers About What Happens Next — Last week, Diane Goettel was on vacation in Florida when she saw an alarming email on her phone.
Discussion:
Mary Gannon on LinkedIn, @megireid, @adamm0rgan, @grammargirl@zirk.us, bookforum.com and Publishers Weekly
Dave McKinney / WBEZ Chicago:
Chicago Public Media, which bought the Sun-Times in 2022, announces layoffs, cutting nearly 15% of 62 unionized content creators at public radio station WBEZ — The move to terminate nearly 15% of 62 unionized content creators at WBEZ and four people at the Chicago Sun-Times comes amid …
Discussion:
Inside Radio, @reclaimedsoul, @bpopetv, @pksmid, @pksmid, RADIO ONLINE, @laurenchooljian, @pksmid, @marieannmendoza and Current
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