Top News:
New York Times:
Sources: Barry Diller is exploring a bid to take control of Paramount; his digital media conglomerate, IAC, has signed NDAs with National Amusements — Mr. Diller, a digital media pioneer, lost a bidding war for Paramount Pictures decades ago. Now, he's making a run at its parent company.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @benmullin, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, @jbmp51, @webbarr, Forbes, @jgdean14, @davidgura, @davidkeithlaw, Los Angeles Times, @davidpoland, IndieWire, @susanlitv, TVNewsCheck, Deadline and Bloomberg
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Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: Paramount Global is in discussions with other companies about merging Paramount+ with their streamers; WBD is interested in merging Max and Paramount+ — Paramount Global is holding talks with other entertainment companies about merging its Paramount+ streaming service with an existing platform.
Melanie Goodfellow / Deadline:
VFX company DNEG raised $200M from Abu Dhabi's UASG at a $2B valuation, to expand its division Brahma, which is developing an AI-powered, photo-real CGI creator — London-based The DNEG Group has secured a $200M capital injection from Abu Dhabi investment firm United Al Saqer Group (UASG).
Discussion:
Proactive, Business Standard, @dneg, DNEG, @malhotra_namit and Financial Times
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Imagine Entertainment, led by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, is seeking a buyer after receiving some inbound interest from a potential suitor — Production company behind ‘Apollo 13’ is working with bankers to explore a sale — Imagine Entertainment, the Hollywood production company known …
Discussion:
Deadline, Variety, The Wrap and TVNewsCheck
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Terence Samuel, the editor-in-chief of USA Today, leaves the role after a year; Caren Bohan, the executive editor of politics, is named interim EIC — Terence Samuel, a veteran journalist, had been in the role for a year. — Terence Samuel, the editor in chief of USA Today …
Discussion:
USA Today, Poynter, @tatecurtis, @deggans, @dankennedy_nu, The Wrap, @davidfolkenflik, TVNewsCheck, @katie_robertson, MediaPost, The Hill and Deadline
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Ampere Analysis: in Q1 2024, Netflix and Amazon commissioned 53% of all original streaming titles globally, spurred by increased investment outside of the US — The growth comes from increased investment in international territories, according to Ampere Analysis
Paresh Dave / Wired:
Some YouTube employees detail internal deliberations about content relating to the Israel-Hamas war and accuse the company of inconsistent moderation — Insiders have shared YouTube's playbook for handling the Gaza crisis. They argue that it shows inconsistent enforcement.
The Moscow Times:
Spotify has removed the songs and profiles of pro-war Russian artists sanctioned by the EU; their profiles remain accessible on Apple Music and YouTube — Music streaming service Spotify has removed the songs and profiles of pro-war Russian artists sanctioned by the West, the Sweden-based company told The Moscow Times on Thursday.
Discussion:
Music Ally, Breitbart, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, @moscowtimes, @irgarner, Stereogum, Hotpress, The Kyiv Independent, Billboard, Consequence and Digital Music News
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Meta changes its “Made with AI” label to “AI info”, to indicate images were not necessarily created with AI but that AI editing tools may have been used — After Meta started tagging photos with a “Made with AI” label in May, photographers complained …
Discussion:
The Verge, Fast Company and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube rolled out a policy change that will let people request the takedown of AI-generated or other synthetic content that simulates their face or voice — Meta is not the only company grappling with the rise in AI-generated content and how it affects its platform.
Discussion:
MEDIANAMA, @baekdal, Engadget, Mashable and The Register, more at Techmeme »
Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:
A look at WSJ's rocky reboot under Emma Tucker, who addressed editing bottlenecks and pushed for ambitious stories, while unnerving the newsroom with layoffs — The British-born editor has injected America's business paper of record with ambition and verve, while unnerving the newsroom with unapologetic cuts.
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @mlcalderone and @charlottetklein
CBS News:
SCOTUS orders lower courts to take another look at Texas' and Florida's social media laws, saying neither lower court conducted proper analysis of 1A challenges — Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday ordered lower courts to take another look at a pair of laws from Florida and Texas …
Discussion:
Engadget, @nicoperrino, New York Post, Quartz, @jordanonrecord, @steve_vladeck, @sandeepvaheesan, @daphnehk, @mjs_dc, @ishapiro, @joshgerstein, @anupamchander, @jamescz19, MediaPost, @attorneynora, @bykatiebuehler, @neil_chilson, TechCrunch, @willoremus, @sdkstl, @zephyrteachout, NPR, @thomas_a_berry, @jeffjarvis, @crumbler@threads.net, @jameeljaffer, @tracethelaw, @mjs_dc, News/Media Alliance, @aricohn, @mjs_dc, @jess_miers, @pat_hedger, @zephyrteachout, Forbes, Reason, @robpwj, CNBC, @robertfreundlaw, @matthewstoller, Reuters, Media Play News, TVNewsCheck, Politico and Semafor, more at Techmeme »
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