Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
News Corp and OpenAI announce a multiyear agreement to bring News Corp's news content to OpenAI; sources: the deal could be worth $250M over five years — Agreement could generate over $250 million over five years for News Corp in cash and credits — Wall Street Journal owner News Corp struck …
Discussion:
News Corp, The Guardian, New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald, The Wrap, Variety, Axios, MediaPost, Columbia Journalism Review, Talking Biz News, VentureBeat, The Verge, The Information, Washington Post, Nicholas Gray on LinkedIn, @marlownyc, Artem Fishman on LinkedIn, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @benny6toes.bsky.social, Benzinga, The Hollywood Reporter and Platformer, more at Techmeme »
Tom Friend / Sports Business Journal:
Sources: the NBA is formalizing deals with Disney, NBC, and Amazon, which may prompt WBD to sue; ESPN may pay $2.8B annually, NBC $2.6B, and Amazon $1.8B to $2B — NEW YORK — The NBA is formalizing written contracts with Disney, NBC and Amazon this week, with sources calling it the final stage …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Deadline, New York Post, The Streamable, @dylanbyers, The US Sun, Sports Media Watch, Next TV, UPROXX, Mediaite, Cord Cutters News and New York Daily News
Amanda Meade / The Guardian:
Sources: News Corp's Rebekah Brooks and Robert Thomson joined Lachlan Murdoch in Sydney for meetings ahead of a major restructuring announcement next week — Staff brace for significant cuts as media giant prepares to make moves to counter decline of print and slow advertising market
Discussion:
Dave Earley on LinkedIn, @onyadon, @mikecarlton01 and @pressgazette
STLPR:
Big Lou Media has sold The Riverfront Times, an alt weekly in St. Louis, Mo, to an undisclosed buyer, and the entire writing and editing staff has been laid off — The Riverfront Times, St. Louis' alt-weekly newspaper, is no more, at least in its current state.
Discussion:
MediaPost, KSDK-TV and @kallieecox
Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
[Thread] In a meeting, Washington Post CEO Will Lewis told staff that the paper lost $77M over the past year, and saw a 50% drop off in audience since 2020 — Washington Post CEO Will Lewis is introing the paper's new “Build It” plan today. In a meeting with staff, he noted that the paper lost $77 million over the past year, and saw a 50% drop off in audience since 2020: “To be direct, we are in a hole, and we have been for some time.”
Discussion:
Washington Post, @atherton.bsky.social, @markshatraw.bsky.social, @vortexegg.regretfully.online, @charles.littlegreenfootballs …, @hammancheez.bsky.social, @wilson__valdez, @macktubs, @maxwelltani, @tomscocca.bsky.social, @tomscocca.bsky.social, @worknowitzki.bsky.social, @alttag.bsky.social, @thatweissguy.bsky.social, @atherton.bsky.social, @jonastraxler.bsky.social, @sarafischer, @852dude.bsky.social, @cfaller96.bsky.social, @andrewsshi.bsky.social, @erinannmcc.bsky.social, @natalieweiner.bsky.social, @maxwelltani, @froomkin, @karlbode.bsky.social, @maxwelltani, @nslayton.bsky.social, @benharris1.bsky.social, @mcoatney, @maxwelltani, @darrylmason, @justicar.xyz, @estarianne.bsky.social, @cocktailhag.bsky.social, @socio-steve.bsky.social, @scarylawyerguy, @tcarmody.bsky.social, @dextrosity.bsky.social, @jaycockburn, @reubenr80027912, @missingthept.bsky.social and @eleanorofs.bsky.social
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
How sending fewer emails and giving paid subscribers early access to content improved The New Yorker's onsite page views and time spent from newsletter users — The New Yorker has refocused its newsletter strategy in an effort to retain its cohort of 1.2 million paid subscribers and grow …
Wall Street Journal:
As TV audiences get older, media executives are focusing more on the mass-market reach of TV, and playing down the importance of age for advertisers — With viewers in their 60s, networks aren't pretending to have youth appeal; they're touting the virtues of older audiences
Discussion:
@jeffjarvis, @jbflint and @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social
Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Sources: Sundance is weighing proposals from 15 locations to move the festival in 2027; a decision is expected internally around the end of September — EXCLUSIVE: The Sundance Film Festival is looking South for a potential new home, as well as in its backyard.
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
WBD and ESPN strike a five-year deal letting WBD's TNT carry two first-round college football playoff games in 2024 and 2025, adding two quarterfinals in 2026 — In a move to strengthen its sports offerings, Warner Bros. Discovery has signed a five-year sublicensing deal with Disney's ESPN …
David Shepardson / Reuters:
US FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposes requiring the disclosure of content generated by AI in political ads on radio and TV, citing the use of deepfakes — U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Wednesday proposed requiring disclosure of content generated …
The New York Times Company:
Puck's Teddy Schleifer, who covers politics, billionaires, and business, has been hired by The New York Times as a correspondent on the Politics desk — Teddy, previously a David Rosenbaum reporting fellow in Washington, will be a correspondent on the Politics desk. — Folks,
Discussion:
@dylanbyers, @shanegoldmacher, @tina_nguyen, @loudmouthjulia, @teddyschleifer and @teddyschleifer
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
SEC filing: Vivek Ramaswamy owns shares and call options worth ~$4M in BuzzFeed, or a 7.7% stake, and seeks a shift in its strategy; BZFD jumps 10%+ — Ramaswamy has acquired just under 8% of BuzzFeed, with plans to push for “a shift in the company's strategy.”
Discussion:
Fast Company, Business Insider, Associated Press, @silviakillings, @tomgara, @qkslvrwolf@mastodon.social, @parkerortolani@threads.net, CNN, @sherman4949, @highyieldharry, CNBC, Mediaite, The Guardian, Axios, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @seangriffey, Bloomberg, Variety, The Wrap and Benzinga