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%
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, The Desk, @variety, The Information, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Next TV, The Streamable and Variety
Reuters:
Sources: Alphabet has been talking to its advisers about making an offer for HubSpot, an online marketing company with a $32B market value — Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) has been talking to its advisers about the possibility of making an offer for HubSpot (HUBS.N) …
Discussion:
Bloomberg and MarTech, more at Techmeme »
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:
@communitynotes, Livemint, @elonmusk, Inc42 Media and @kcoleman, more at Techmeme »
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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”
Discussion:
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Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
US rock band Kiss sells rights to its music, name, image, and likeness to Swedish entertainment company Pophouse to create a live show, a source says for ~$300M — Sale to Swedish entertainment group Pophouse set to 'fulfil the band's vision to become immortal'
Discussion:
Variety, Forbes, The Wrap, Associated Press, Pophouse, Bloomberg, Rolling Stone, RTÉ and Raw Story, 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:
The Ankler, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, NBC News, Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal, Poynter, @ivanthek, @sherman4949, @xpangler, @tvgrimreaper, @jbflint, @jbflint, @scottgustin, @alexweprin, @lmoses, @jbflint, Next TV, @tvgrimreaper, World of Reel, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, Front Office Sports, Observer, Los Angeles Times, @elonmusk, @billackman, SlashFilm, @annmlipton@esq.social, @annmlipton@esq.social, @annmlipton@esq.social, Financial Times, @annmlipton@esq.social, Yahoo Finance, @passantino@threads.net, Gizmodo, The Information, Forbes, Bill George on LinkedIn, New York Post, The Wrap, The Walt Disney Company, Bloomberg, ComingSoon.net, CNN, Axios, Business Insider, Media Play News, Fox Business, Forbes, Fox Business, New York Times, @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, Reuters, Quartz, New York Post, CNBC, CNN, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider and Reuters
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 …
Samantha Masunaga / Los Angeles Times:
Disney says the standalone ESPN app it plans to launch in 2025 will be available on Disney+ for bundle subscribers — Walt Disney Co. is betting big on ESPN as the Burbank entertainment company bolsters its streaming options and charts its future. — The company said Wednesday …
Discussion:
SportsPro, Hollywood Reporter, The Desk, Cord Cutters News and The Streamable
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
GB News hires Steven Edginton as its first US-based correspondent, part of its plan to expand to the US, after launching a GBN America section in 2023 — Steven Edginton, a former Brexit Party staffer, joins the broadcaster from The Daily Telegraph. — GB News has hired its first correspondent based …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Fox and AEG announce a week-long post-season college basketball tournament starting on March 31, 2025, as media companies devise sports events they control — Does the sports world have room for April Action after weeks of March Madness? — Fox aims to answer the question in 2025 …
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
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 and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
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