Top News:
Pete Brown / Columbia Journalism Review:
An overview of existing deals between news publishers and AI companies and the questions they raise regarding long-term costs, the selection process, and more — In the past few weeks, News Corp, the Financial Times and Dotdash Meredith became the latest news organizations to strike licensing deals …
The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount and Charter reach a new multiyear carriage deal, adding the ad-supported versions of Paramount+ and BET+ for free to Charter subscribers later in 2024 — The news comes at a critical moment for the entertainment company.
Discussion:
Reuters, Variety, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Charter Communications, Inc., Deadline, Media Play News and Cord Cutters News
CNBC:
The DOJ and 30 state AGs sue Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation to break it up, alleging “anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control” — The U.S. Department of Justice is suing to break up Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, over alleged antitrust violations.
Discussion:
Live Nation Entertainment, Variety, The Verge, Gizmodo, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Associated Press, The US Sun, Digital Music News, Nate Dorough on LinkedIn, The Register, NPR, Semafor, New York Post, Metro.co.uk, The Hollywood Reporter, UPI, Consequence, New York Times, Wired, Wall Street Journal, Clayton Durant on LinkedIn, masslive.com, @eriqgardner, @tracyalloway, TechCrunch, Politico, CMU, @evacide, Fast Company, Washington Post, UPROXX, Vibe, New York Daily News, Benzinga, Music Business Worldwide, Fortune, DC News Now, Reuters, The A.V. Club, CBS News and RTÉ, more at Techmeme »
Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
A bill strengthening the CMA, UK's competition watchdog, heads toward approval; the CMA could push tech giants to pay publishers for news linked on their sites — The UK has paved the way for Australia-style payments to news publishers from tech giants as the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill was passed by Parliament.
Discussion:
TechCrunch and Game Developer, more at Techmeme »
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Lionsgate Q4: a net loss of $39.5M vs. a loss of $96.8M a year ago, overall revenue of $1.117B; Starz had 12.59M streaming subscribers, down from 12.63M in Q3 — The latest quarterly earnings follows a spin of its studio business into a separately traded company, Lionsgate Studios.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, Deadline, Media Play News and Lionsgate
Wall Street Journal:
Trump says that if he's elected, Russia would release WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich; the Kremlin denies any contact between Putin and Trump on the matter — Kremlin says Russian leader isn't in contact with former U.S. president about journalist — Former President Donald Trump …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Washington Post, Mediaite, New York Times, Reuters, Metro.co.uk, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, New Jersey Online and The Hill
Selena Kuznikov / Variety:
Hollywood Commission, an advocacy organization chaired by Anita Hill, launches MyConnext, a website for entertainment industry workers to report workplace abuse — Since the #MeToo movement began gained momentum in Hollywood back in 2017, entertainment workers have voiced concerns …
Discussion:
IndieWire, The Wrap, Rolling Stone, Deadline, Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Alphabet and Meta have talked to Hollywood studios about licensing content for AI video generation tools; Disney and Netflix aren't willing to license — - Studios seek to harness AI's promise without losing control — Warner weighs licensing content; Disney, Netflix say no
Discussion:
The Information, @lucas_shaw and Sydney Morning Herald, more at Techmeme »
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Ben Smith and Nayeema Raza plan to launch Mixed Signals, a podcast about media, on May 31, sponsored by Google and available as audio-only and on YouTube — Sponsored by Google, the show will be available as an audio-only production and as a video offering on YouTube — Welcome back to Soundbite.
Discussion:
@mattdpearce@threads.net, @semafor@threads.net, @brianstelter and Billboard
Kat Abu / @abughazalehkat:
A Media Matters staffer says the outlet has laid off about a dozen staffers — Bad News: I've been laid off from @mmfa, along with a dozen colleagues. There's a reason far-right billionaires attack Media Matters with armies of lawyers: They know how effective our work is, and it terrifies them (him).
Discussion:
New York Post, Deadline, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, @revrrlewis, @ahmedbaba_, @nikkimcr, @abughazalehkat, @mount_bees, @jaredlholt, @joekatz45, @alexpattyy, @mollytaft, @bad_takes and @taylorlorenz
Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
TikTok limits the spread of videos from state-affiliated media outside their home countries and disrupted 15 influence operations in 2024, including from China — The platform will keep state-affiliated media accounts out of users' feeds if they “attempt to reach communities outside …
Discussion:
The Verge, Washington Post, TikTok and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
WaPo CEO Will Lewis outlines plans for Post Pro and Post Plus subscriptions, and “flexible payments” to let readers make a one-time payment for reading a story — On Wednesday, Will Lewis, the newly minted publisher and chief executive of The Washington Post …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Breitbart, Washington Post, Poynter, @sarafischer, @oliverdarcy@threads.net and @maxwelltani
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