Top News:


Sources: Paramount Global is in exclusive talks to sell BET for $1.6B-$1.7B to buyers that include BET CEO Scott Mills and Chinh Chu, who runs CC Capital — - Discussing offer from BET CEO and CC Capital's Chinh Chu — New interest after Paramount talks with Skydance fell apart
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Desk, Variety, The Streamable, New York Post, @mattbelloni and The Hollywood Reporter
RELATED:


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.


EverPass Media, which has commercial rights to NFL's Sunday Ticket, acquires UPshow, a service that enables live sports streaming at commercial establishments — A satellite dish is no longer the only way bars and restaurants can air the National Football League's package of “Sunday Ticket” games.
Discussion:
EverPass Media, Awful Announcing, The Media Leader, The Hill, Sportico, Deadline, Barrett Media and The Hollywood Reporter


The London Stock Exchange Group partners with Dow Jones to share news and data; the companies plan a curated news space in LSEG's Workspace platform in 2025 — The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L) announced a multi-year news and data partnership with Dow Jones that will include content …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Talking Biz News and Dow Jones Newswires


Following Paramount's takedown of MTV News, the Internet Archive has assembled a searchable index of 460,575 web pages earlier published at MTV.com/news — MTV News lives! Well, sort of. … You can search the MTV News archive on the organization's Wayback Machine at this link.
Discussion:
Deadline, Rolling Stone, Internet Archive Blogs, @internetarchive, POP!, @jillpantozzi, @center4popmusic and @variety


CNBC launches a sports vertical as part of its broader plan to shift its editorial and business focus to cross-platform verticals led by subject-matter experts — - The company is expected to make more announcements about other topic areas soon. … - CNBC has hired sports valuation expert …
Discussion:
@bmccandless, NewscastStudio, @sherman4949, CNBC Press Releases, Variety, Talking Biz News and TVNewsCheck


VFX company DNEG raised $200M from Abu Dhabi's UASG at a $2B+ valuation to expand its Brahma division, 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:
The Wrap, @dneg, Business Standard, Proactive, DNEG, @malhotra_namit, The Hollywood Reporter and Financial Times


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.
Discussion:
The Guardian, more at Techmeme »


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:
@irgarner, @moscowtimes, Music Ally, Stereogum, The Kyiv Independent, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Hotpress, Breitbart, Consequence, Billboard and Digital Music News


AI spam still sometimes ranks higher than original reporting in Google Search despite Google's adjustments to target AI spam in March 2024 — Google adjusted its policies to target AI spam earlier this year, but plagiarizing content still comes up higher in search results months later—and SEO experts aren't sure why.
Discussion:
Quartz, @wired, @wired, @wired and Beyond Search, more at Techmeme »


Source: Runway, a startup focusing on generative AI video for Hollywood and other filmmakers, is in talks to raise $450M at about a $4B valuation — Runway, already the best funded among a cluster of startups developing artificial intelligence software to generate videos for Hollywood …
Discussion:
@steph_palazzolo, more at Techmeme »


Generative AI music service Suno launches its iOS app in the US, with plans for a global rollout and an Android app — An AI studio in your pocket. — You're in luck if you've ever wanted to make music using Suno while away from your computer. It is now available on iOS — at least, it is if you're in the U.S.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »