Top News:
New York Times:
Sources: if Sony and Apollo acquire Paramount Global, they plan to sell off CBS, cable channels like MTV, and Paramount+, while keeping Paramount Pictures — CBS and other well-known properties would be sold if Sony and Apollo are able to buy Paramount. But the new owners would keep the movie studio.
Discussion:
The Desk, Reuters, Media Play News, @benmullin and @ernie.tedium.co
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Disney and WBD announce a streaming bundle of Disney+, Hulu, and Max, with ad-supported and ad-free plans, beginning this summer in the US, with pricing to come — Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are breaking ground in streaming with a bundled offering featuring Disney+, Hulu and Max in a single package.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Screen Rant, SlashFilm, Awful Announcing, The Desk, New York Times, TVLine, IndieWire, The Streamable, Scott Bishoff on LinkedIn, Tara Sigaroudi on LinkedIn, Gene Miller on LinkedIn, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Adweek, Reuters, Next TV, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, Emily Chau Dea on LinkedIn, BGR, The Walt Disney Company, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @rfaughnder, @sherman4949, @jw@threads.net, @counternotions@mastodon …, @thekenyeung@threads.net, @trustedsystem.bsky.social, The A.V. Club, TV Insider, Media Play News, Bloomberg, Consequence, WORLD SCREEN, Cord Cutters News and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »
Maggie Harrison Dupré / Futurism:
An investigation into AdVon, the company behind Sports Illustrated's fake writers, finds its AI content and fake authors at the LA Times, Miami Herald, and more — A few years back, a writer in a developing country started doing contract work for a company called AdVon Commerce …
Discussion:
Salon, @willyblackmore, Christopher Rice on LinkedIn, @shwinyo, @newsguild, Jacob Hurwith on LinkedIn, @natematias@social.coop, @johnmcquaid@threads.net, @jtlg@mastodon.lawprofs.org, @jvagle@mastodon.lawprofs.org, @mags_h11, @bcmerchant, Sean Blanda on LinkedIn, @gaufre, @mags_h11, @taylorlorenz, @mags_h11, @knibbs, @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org, @noellemitchell@mstdn.social, @newsguyusa@threads.net, @mattzollerseitz, @nxthompson, @caleweissman, @weareyourfek, @mattdpearce, @pkafka and @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social, more at Techmeme »
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
The New York Times Games rolls out a Wordle archive with 1,000+ past puzzles for “Games” and “All Access” subscribers, and adds its WordleBot to NYT Games app — The New York Times Games announced on Tuesday that it's launching a Wordle archive …
Discussion:
The New York Times Company, Fast Company, Gizmodo and The Verge
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: WBD plans more cost cutting to hit financial targets for next year, including the possibility of more layoffs, and has decided to raise Max prices — - Job cuts are possible as executives look for more savings — CEO eyes streaming operations' marketing, technology costs
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
The NYT added 210,000 digital subscribers in Q1, for 10.5M subscribers in total, up 8% YoY, and ad revenue fell 2.4% YoY to $103.7M; the OpenAI lawsuit cost $1M — Adjusted operating profit was $76.1 million, an increase of about 41 percent from a year earlier.
Discussion:
Engadget, @benmullin, Charles Miller on LinkedIn and The Wrap
RELATED:
Nik Roseveare / Advanced Television:
Sky announces Sky Sports+, a new service starting in August that will increase coverage of the English Football League and more, as part of its EFL partnership — Sky has announced it will launch Sky Sports+ this August, a service it says will be “transformational in the amount of choice sports fans …
Discussion:
The Athletic, Daily Mail, The Desk, WORLD SCREEN and The Guardian
Jamie Dettmer / Politico:
How investigative journalists in Ukraine face increasing intimidation, as some worry outlets are censoring themselves, seeing patriotism as trumping journalism — Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe. — KYIV — “I ran investigations for 15 years before the war, and it was always hard and risky.
Discussion:
@hanse_mina@mastodon.social
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Researchers: Meta's Canada news ban resulted in news outlets posting much less on Facebook, and posts with screenshots of news stories increasing dramatically — “We observe a dramatic increase in posts containing screenshots of Canadian news stories in the post-ban period.”
Kathryn Lundstrom / Adweek:
Disney Advertising strikes a deal with Walmart Connect to let advertisers target Disney's streamers, including Disney+ and Hulu, using Walmart's shopper data — The new retailer-CTV partnership promises detailed sales attribution data — Disney Advertising struck a deal with Walmart Connect …
Discussion:
Julia Thornton on LinkedIn, The Desk, Dana McGraw on LinkedIn, MediaPost, AdExchanger and The Verge
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
EchoStar reports losing ~348K net pay TV subscribers in Q1, vs. a 552K drop in Q1 2023, and revenue down 8% YoY to $2.7B; Sling TV subscribers fell 135K to 1.9M — Telecom mogul Charlie Ergen's EchoStar is led by Hamid Akhavan as president and CEO, with Ergen serving as executive chairman.
Discussion:
The Desk, The Streamable, Deadline and Streaming Better
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: last month, Sundial Media bought Refinery29 for ~$30M, or roughly its 2023 revenue; Refinery29 buys trade beauty show Beautycon to move away from ads — - The company bought Refinery29 for roughly the same amount that the publisher made in top-line revenue in 2023, which was $30 million, a source told Axios.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NBCUniversal signs deal to make iHeartMedia the exclusive audio partner for the 2024 Paris Olympics; iHeartMedia will create an original iHeartPodcast — Pact includes new podcast from ‘Las Culturistas’ hosts Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers — NBCUniversal inked a deal with iHeartMedia making …
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