Top News:
Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: National Amusements ends talks with Skydance; Shari Redstone will likely seek a sale of just National Amusements, without including Paramount directly — Shari Redstone's NAI decided to stop discussions with Skydance, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Fast Company, New York Times, Deadline, The Guardian, Reuters, New York Post, IndieWire, Variety, The Wrap, Bloomberg, CNBC, CBS News, Los Angeles Times, TrekMovie.com, Quartz, The Information, @megjameslat, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, @philthepill.wtf, @loudmouthjulia, @richlightshed, @mattbelloni, @tim_bays and @jbflint
Laura Wagner / Washington Post:
The Baltimore Sun's union says the paper's new ownership has “tossed aside” ethical standards, reusing a below-standard Sinclair Broadcast Group story and more — “Ethical standards,” the Sun's union says, “have been tossed aside under new ownership.”
Discussion:
Popular Information, Washington-Baltimore …, @strannik_reb45, @jamieson, @jamieson, @tvnuggetfinder, @healthcarerenew and CNN
Washington Post:
Sources: Jeff Bezos has been closely engaged with Will Lewis, as the WaPo's new publisher developed the plan to create a “third newsroom” for new audiences — Critics raise concerns about the values of a new team of executives. Meanwhile, the business woes are real. What does Jeff Bezos want?
Discussion:
@ashleyrparker, @farhip, @washingtonpost, @farhip, @elaheizadi, The Daily Beast, Poynter and MediaPost
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Journalists rejoice after Apple says iOS 18 will support call recording and transcription, and participants will be notified that they're being recorded — “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.” — The word you're looking for is “sherlocked.”
Discussion:
@bourgwick@heads.social, The Verge, AppleInsider, @jherrerx, @jenseniorny, @mishaalrahman, Vered Horesh on LinkedIn, @anne_loreto, The Verge, @josephzeballos, @jasonwilson@mastodon.online, @petersterne, @jasonwilson@mastodon.online, @ursulaperano, @klundster, Fast Company, @joshhterry and @taylorlorenz, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Source: Spotify plans to launch a higher-priced premium plan later in 2024, charging $5+ more per month for better audio, playlist and library tools, and more — The plan will cost at least $5 more per month and include access to high-fidelity audio and new playlisting tools.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
News reader Particle, which uses AI to summarize stories, raised a $10.9M Series A led by Lightspeed and announces Reuters as a news source for its service — Traffic is down, newsrooms are undergoing layoffs, and publishers fear that AI technologies will only make matters worse.
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Comscore: Roku is the most popular CTV OS by time spent, with 49% of the total market, and The Roku Channel is most popular FAST service by total hours — Roku leads Pluto TV and Tubi among free, ad-supported TV streamers — A new report from measurement firm Comscore has shed light …
Discussion:
Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn, David Eilenberg on LinkedIn, The Desk and StreamTV Insider
Alberto Nardelli / Bloomberg:
Docs and sources detail how Russian operative Artem Kureyev helped run influence operations in Europe for years, including contacting journalists about Ukraine — - Agent had frequent contacts with journalists about Ukraine — US and EU are stepping up efforts to combat disinformation
Discussion:
@GaryRLundberg@newsie.social, @rvps2001@mastodon.social, @KimPerales@toad.social and Semafor
Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
The UK's Future launches Elevate, which offers ad-serving tech to publishers and helps them sell their online ad inventory through programmatic and direct sales — Future plc has launched a new brand called Elevate based around selling its own advertising technology to other publishers.
Discussion:
Future, @futureplc, Ad Age and Digiday
Kathryn Lundstrom / Adweek:
The New York Times and Instacart announce a two-year partnership to let users order ingredients for New York Times Cooking recipes with Instacart — It's part of a growing trend of retail media-publisher partnerships — Shoppers can now order ingredients for New York Times Cooking recipes thanks …
Discussion:
Ad Age, Laura Jones on LinkedIn, The New York Times Company and AdExchanger
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
David Nevins has stepped down as CEO of North Road Co., the media venture Peter Chernin launched in 2022 and which has been acquiring production companies — Nevins formally joined North Road Co. company last July. The company's initial focus has been on acquiring distinctive production banners …
Discussion:
Deadline
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Discord music bot Rythm relaunches three years after YouTube forced it offline, with a $4.99/month paid tier and plans to launch a mobile app later this year — Three years ago, YouTube turned its attention to Discord music bots that were using the video service to stream music into Discord voice channels.
Discussion:
@tomwarren, Andrew Kahn on LinkedIn and @discord
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