Mediagazer: Sean Combs has sold his majority stake in Revolt, the media company he founded; the largest shareholder group of the company is now made up of employees (Julia Jacobs/New York Times)

3:40 PM ET, June 4, 2024

Top News:

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

In a company-wide email, G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller announces the sale of Gizmodo to European digital media company Keleops — ANOTHER ONE — The sale will keep the tech website's entire staff intact, G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller wrote in a company-wide memo obtained by The Daily Beast.

Discussion: New York Times, The Wrap, Adweek, Talking Biz News, @ernie@writing.exchange, @pkafka, @jaycodon, @tomgara, @danackerman, @asilbwrites and @justinbaragona

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:

TuneIn partners with Discord, bringing TuneIn's full free live radio and podcast library to Discord's Activity app directory — Audio streaming service TuneIn is teaming up with Discord to bring free live radio to the platform. This is TuneIn's first collaboration with a social platform …

Discussion: Sherri Hendrickson on LinkedIn, @discord, RadioInsight, @buckwilson and Richard Stern on LinkedIn

Sara Fischer / Axios:

The WSJ introduced a multimillion-dollar brand advertising campaign on June 3, its first major brand campaign in years, focused on broadening subscriber appeal — - This is the Journal's first major brand campaign in years. … - The campaign tagline, “It's Your Business,” is meant to …

Discussion: Press Gazette, Talking Biz News, @ericnewcomer, @pressgazette, @samueljscott, @jpodhoretz, @sarafischer, @kantrowitz, @bobbybigwheel, @stevenjduffield, @mattrosoff and @jaycodon

CNBC:

Paramount leadership presents a plan that includes job cuts, a potential streaming JV, and divesting non-core assets if a sale of the company doesn't happen — The current leadership of Paramount Global presented a go-forward plan at the company's annual shareholder meeting Tuesday in the event a sale of the company doesn't happen.

Discussion: Financial Times, IndieWire, Richard King on LinkedIn, Los Angeles Times, The Information, Axios, @allie_canal, The Hollywood Reporter, Alex Sherman on LinkedIn, Reuters, @sherman4949, @allie_canal, Fast Company and New York Post

Emily Baker-White / Forbes:

Sources: TikTok accounts, including brands and celebrities like CNN and Paris Hilton, are getting hacked via a zero-day exploit that only requires opening a DM — The compromised accounts include CNN and Paris Hilton — and all users have to do to be hacked is open a DM, according to company sources.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Engadget, New York Post, Wired, @ebakerwhite, BGR and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »

Jennifer Maas / Variety:

WBD increases the price for Max's ad-free version from $15.99 to $16.99 per month and the Ultimate ad-free tier from $19.99 to $20.99 per month — Warner Bros. Discovery has increased the price for its ad-free versions of streamer Max just ahead of HBO's “House of the Dragon” Season 2 premiere on June 16.

Julia Jacobs / New York Times:

Sean Combs has sold his majority stake in Revolt, the media company he founded; the largest shareholder group of the company is now made up of employees — After a wave of lawsuits accusing Mr. Combs of sexual assault, the two are “completely separated and dissociated from each other,” the company's chief executive said.

Discussion: New York Post, Variety, Business Insider, Billboard, Vibe, Andre Woolery on LinkedIn, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline

Sara Fischer / Axios:

CNN has started testing a registration wall that requires users to create an account or log in after they've read around 10 articles in a day — CNN has begun testing an expanded registration wall that requires heavy site users to create an account with a username and password …

Discussion: @jackmarshall, @davidclinchnews and @davidclinchnews

Rob Rose / Financial Times:

South Africa's MultiChoice recommends that shareholders accept Canal+'s buyout offer that values the company at $2.9B and will remain open until April 2025 — Takeover of Africa's largest pay-TV operator must overcome regulatory hurdles — Africa's largest pay-TV operator, MultiChoice …

Discussion: WORLD SCREEN, Reuters, Business Insider, Bloomberg and Advanced Television

Wayne Ma / The Information:

Sources: Apple was in talks last year to debut Apple TV+ in China via a deal with China Mobile, which would make it the only US video streaming service in China — Apple was in talks last year to launch its Apple TV+ video streaming service in China via a deal with China Mobile …

Discussion: AppleInsider, @waynema, @scotian.bsky.social, 9to5Mac and @niubi, more at Techmeme »

Paul Vieira / Dow Jones Newswires:

Canada's broadcast regulator orders foreign streaming services with C$25M+ in sales to contribute 5% of Canadian sales to help fund local content from Sept. 1 — OTTAWA—Canada's broadcast regulator on Tuesday said foreign streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Spotify and Amazon Prime Video …

Discussion: Reuters, @jackshafer, CBC News and Media Play News

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:

Memo: Ben Sherwood says Daily Beast EIC Tracy Connor is leaving; Hugh Dougherty, most recently New York Post's deputy editor, will be the new executive editor — NEW: In a note to Daily Beast staff, Ben Sherwood announces that EIC Tracy Connor is leaving. Hugh Dougherty is the publication's new executive editor. [image]

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

A profile of Robert Winnett, the low-key, scoop-obsessed UK editor who will take charge of WaPo's newsroom this fall after 17 years at The Telegraph — Robert Winnett is virtually unknown in the U.S. and keeps a low profile in his native Britain, too. This fall, he will oversee the newsroom of Woodward and Bernstein.

Discussion: The Guardian, Washington Post, @benmullin, @grynbaum, The Media Leader, The Desk, Press Gazette and Washington Post

New York Times:
Source: Will Lewis told Sally Buzbee she could run one of the new WaPo divisions, in what would've been an effective demotion for her; Buzbee chafed at the idea

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Antenna: Spotify users are the least likely to cancel among major video or audio streaming services in the US, with a ~2% monthly churn rate, similar to Netflix — Its customers are the least likely to cancel among major video or audio streaming services. — Good afternoon from Chicago …

Discussion: Deadline, Sara G. Walker on LinkedIn, Music Ally, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw and The Information

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Spotify plans to raise US prices: Premium from $10.99 to $11.99 per month, Duo from $14.99 to $16.99, and Family from $16.99 to $19.99, after a July 2023 hike

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More News:

Brody Ford / Bloomberg:
Shutterstock CEO Paul Hennessy says the company's licensing business with AI companies made $104M in revenue in 2023

Discussion: @webjournalist.bsky.social, Jessica April on LinkedIn and Brody Ford on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »

Max Goldbart / Deadline:
Disney EMEA President Jan Koeppen says Disney spent £3.5B on production in the UK since 2019, including on 29 films; Netflix spent $6B in the UK in 2019 to 2023

Discussion: Variety and The Hollywood Reporter

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Dinesh D'Souza's 2000 Mules, which Salem Media pulled from distribution only last week, is a case study in how appealing, lucrative falsehoods endure

Discussion: @pbump, @w7voa@journa.host and Inside Radio

Earlier Picks:

Jane Croft / The Guardian:
UK broadcasters like Channel 4 and ITV are taking stakes in early-stage digital companies, often by providing advertising airtime in return for equity

Discussion: Diana Florescu on LinkedIn

New York Times:
The Monday night shows of Rachel Maddow and Jon Stewart are luring viewers back to basic cable, a sign of the staying power of established TV personalities

Discussion: Rolling Stone, @johnnydollar01, @johnnydollar01, HuffPost, Liza Burnett Fefferman on LinkedIn and LateNighter

Matt Stieb / New York Magazine:
US prosecutors charge The Epoch Times' CFO Bill Guan with conspiracy to commit money laundering for allegedly moving at least $67M in illegally obtained funds

From Techmeme:

Financial Times:
Sources: the US FTC plans to investigate allegations that Microsoft is abusing its market power in productivity software to prevent customers from leaving Azure

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
OpenAI says the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS can now read code from some developer-focused apps, including VS Code, Xcode, TextEdit, Terminal, and iTerm2

Decrypt:
Eighteen US states, led by Kentucky, sue the SEC and its commissioners, including Chairman Gary Gensler, over its crackdown on the crypto industry

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