Top News:
Tom McArthur / BBC:
RSF publishes its World Press Freedom Index and places Norway, Denmark, and Sweden in the top three, the US down 10 spots at 55, and Eritrea in last place — Gaza is one of the deadliest places in the world to be a journalist, according to Reporters Without Borders
Discussion:
Voice of America, Press Gazette, The Guardian, Euractiv, Al Jazeera, @emilybell, @farhip, Reporters Without Borders, Journalism.co.uk and Newslaundry
New York Times:
Sources: Sony Pictures and Apollo Global formally express interest in acquiring Paramount for ~$26B; Paramount's negotiating period with Skydance ends May 3 — Paramount has been exploring a potential deal for months, talking to suitors including Skydance, producer of “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, CNBC, Quartz, Los Angeles Times, LightShed Partners, @sherman4949, Reuters, The Guardian, Associated Press, Yahoo Finance, Liz Spaulding on LinkedIn, Inside Radio, ComingSoon.net, The Information, Media Play News, Financial Times, The Streamable, Deadline, The Desk, Radio & Television …, Bloomberg, Business Insider, Variety, Next TV and Cord Cutters News
Financial Times:
An interview with UK culture secretary Lucy Frazer on blocking RedBird IMI's Telegraph takeover bid, plans to cap foreign state ownership at 5%, and more — Culture secretary says UK ‘not stopping’ foreign investment as she defends blocking sale to Abu Dhabi-backed company
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
The Guardian outlines plans for a “small number of voluntary redundancies”, says it is 60% funded by readers, and had a £39m loss in the year to March 2024 — Editor Katharine Viner said the business foresees revenue pressures continuing into the next year at least.
Andrew Marchand / The Athletic:
Sources: MLB is in advanced talks to make Roku the new home for Sunday morning baseball this season, in what would be Roku's first major live rights deal — Major League Baseball and Roku are in advanced talks to make the service the new home for Sunday morning baseball this season …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Awful Announcing, @andrewmarchand, @keshavbhat, @svg_brandon, @tvmojoe, The Desk, Bleacher Report, Barrett Media and Sports Media Watch
Steven Levy / Wired:
Jeff Lawson's Global Tetrahedron plans membership tiers for the Onion and doesn't plan to put up a hard paywall as it moves away from G/O's ad-focused approach — Entrepreneur Jeff Lawson's plan to revive venerable satirical outlet The Onion involves borrowing from the playbook of the founders of WhatsApp.
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Fubo reports 1.51M FuboTV subscribers at the end of Q1, down from 1.61M in Q4, revenue up 24% YoY to $394M, and a $56.1M loss, down from $83.6M a year ago — The streaming platform shrunk its losses on higher subscription and advertising revenue. — Sports streaming platform FuboTV …
Discussion:
Next TV and The Streamable
Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:
For weeks, grad students at The Columbia Journalism School have chronicled protests, and professors worked to ensure access and safety as the campus locked down — They've gotten a crash course in breaking news, capturing the Hamilton Hall occupation and the NYPD's crackdown, while surviving on pizza and operating on little sleep.
Discussion:
NBC News, Free Press, @charlottetklein, @jordangreennc, @misstessowen, @mathewi, The Intercept, Slate, Poynter, New Yorker, Media Nation, The Hill, Associated Press and Rolling Stone
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: the NBA is close to signing deals that would pay the league ~$76B over 11 years, including $2.6B and $1.8B a year from Disney and Amazon, respectively — The National Basketball Association is close to signing new long-term broadcasting agreements that would pay the league …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Sports Media Watch, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw and @dylanbyers
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
A look at 2023 media CEO pay amid industry contraction: Charter CEO Chris Winfrey, $89M; Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, $84M; WBD CEO David Zaslav, $49.7M; and more — It was a year of pain for the entertainment industry and shareholders of (many) media companies with months-long Hollywood strikes and layoffs.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Apple reports Q2 revenue from Services, which includes Apple TV+ and Apple Music, up 14% YoY to $23.9B, vs. $23.12B estimated, an all-time record — The Apple Services segment generated $23.87 billion, up 14.2%, for the quarter ended March 30, topping analyst forecasts of $23.12 billion.
Discussion:
New York Post, 9to5Mac, Media Play News, Neowin, CNBC and BGR, more at Techmeme »
Sohee Kim / Bloomberg:
Indonesia's Vidio, a local streaming competitor to Netflix, aims to double its paid subscribers to 8M in the next two to three years ahead of an IPO — - Youthful population of over 270 million a draw for streamers — Low 5G penetration remains an obstacle to increasing customers
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw and Sohee Kim on LinkedIn
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