Top News:
The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount CEO Bob Bakish steps down; Brian Robbins, Chris McCarthy, and George Cheeks will run Paramount on an interim basis as an “Office of the CEO” — The entertainment company, in the midst of a sale process, has tapped Brian Robbins, Chris McCarthy and George Cheeks to run Paramount on an interim basis.
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Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount Q1: revenue of $7.69B, up 6% YoY, and operating loss of $417M, down from $1.2B YoY; Paramount+ reached 71M+ global subscribers with revenue up 51% YoY — The studio unveiled its first quarter earnings amid talk of deal-making options and a CEO shake-up.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Bloomberg, Deadline, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @jbflint, @sherman4949, Paramount and Media Play News
Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times:
The Financial Times signs a deal with OpenAI to train AI models on the publisher's archived content and to let ChatGPT reply with short summaries of FT articles — Agreement comes as Microsoft-backed start-up seeks data from reliable sources to train latest artificial intelligence models
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Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: Shari Redstone agreed to take less than $2B for her Paramount stake as part of Skydance's “best and final” offer, lower than what was initially offered — Bob Bakish, CEO of Paramount, speaks with CNBC's David Faber on Sept. 6, 2023. — In what could easily be a plotline …
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CNN, Fast Company, Financial Times, The Verge, Los Angeles Times, Variety, @sherman4949, Caroline Giegerich on LinkedIn, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, The Streamable, Broadband TV News, @alexweprin, Next TV, Deadline, IndieWire, Cord Cutters News, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter
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Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Paramount is planning for what happens if no big deal happens, mulling cutting $2B in costs, selling BET and TV stations, starting a streaming JV, more — The storied Hollywood company behind ‘The Godfather’ faces its biggest battle yet as Shari Redstone's merger plans collide with shareholder fury and a CEO on the outs
Discussion:
New York Times, The Streamable, CBS News, Bloomberg, Deadline, New York Post, @jtoonkel, @waystarcroixco, Awful Announcing and CNBC
New York Times:
Sources: in a revised bid, Skydance offered Paramount shareholders a larger stake in the combined company and a $3B cash infusion to pay debt and buy back stock — The terms of the new deal would provide Paramount shareholders with an investment to pay down debt and buy back stock.
Discussion:
New York Post, The Desk, @sherman4949, The Hollywood Reporter, @benmullin, The Wrap, @benmullin and Wall Street Journal
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Sources: Nicholas Carlson, who has been the global editor-in-chief of Business Insider since 2017, is expected to leave the publication later this summer — After a nine-month span in 2020, in which social media furors forced the resignations of editors at Condé Nast titles …
Discussion:
@maxwelltani, @semaforben, @akarl_smith and Talking Biz News
New York Times:
OAN retracts a story that said Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen had an affair with Stormy Daniels, apologizes as part of a settlement with no monetary damages — Michael D. Cohen's lawyers took on OAN over the false story. The settlement came as right-wing news outlets face a barrage of defamation suits.
Discussion:
One America News Network, CNN, Mediaite, The Hill, @nycsouthpaw, The Daily Beast and Deadline
Laura Wagner / Washington Post:
Over 50 journalism professors call on the NYT to address questions on its report that described a “pattern of gender-based violence” in Hamas' October 7 attack — A major investigative report into sexual violence in the Hamas attack on Israel has drawn criticism inside and outside the newspaper
Discussion:
@thrasherxy, @peterkirstein, @matteomedia, Amal Ghandour on LinkedIn, @bazzinyu and @jayrosen_nyu
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NBCUniversal hikes Peacock Premium with ads price by $2 to $7.99/month and Peacock Premium Plus price by $2 to $13.99/month, the second price hike in two years — NBCUniversal is looking to wring more money out of Peacock subscribers, with the streamer set to raise prices this summer — one year after its last fee hike.
Discussion:
CNBC, The Streamable, Screen Rant, The Desk, Adweek, TVLine, IndieWire, UPROXX, The Wrap, ComingSoon.net, The Verge, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, @xpangler and Media Play News
Benjamin Hart / New York Magazine:
Q&A with Axios CEO Jim VandeHei on AI, “smart brevity” bullet point format, Puck's and Punchbowl's business models, his new book Just the Good Stuff, and more — Jim VandeHei has a knack for being ahead of the curve. In 2006, he bolted from the Washington Post with John Harris …
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A Media Operator
Leila Abboud / Financial Times:
French production group Mediawan acquires German rival Leonine for €500M; Mediawan is unaffected by streaming cuts due to EU quotas on locally produced content — French TV and film company Mediawan is benefiting from EU quotas on locally produced content
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