Top News:
New York Times:
Sources: talks between Skydance and Shari Redstone's National Amusements resume, just weeks after the parties called off initial negotiations — Just weeks after the Paramount's controlling shareholder and Skydance scuttled their talks about a potential deal, the two media companies have tentatively agreed to a merger.
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Bloomberg:
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:
Variety, The Streamable, The Wrap, The Desk, New York Post, @mattbelloni and The Hollywood Reporter
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
Sources: Barry Diller is exploring a bid to take control of Paramount; his digital media conglomerate, IAC, has signed NDAs with National Amusements
Discussion:
The Ankler, Fast Company, Axios, Cord Cutters News, The Wrap, The Streamable, NewscastStudio, CNBC, @webbarr, @davidkeithlaw, @jbmp51, @jgdean14, @davidpoland, @susanlitv, @davidgura, @benmullin, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, Variety, IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter, Alex Sherman on LinkedIn, TVNewsCheck, Deadline, Bloomberg, Media Play News and CNBC
Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
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, Deadline, Barrett Media, Sportico and The Hollywood Reporter
Reece Rogers / Wired:
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 »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
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
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Snapchat adds new features, including letting Snapchat+ subscribers design a personalized house on Snap Map and send Snaps that last less than .5 seconds — Snapchat is introducing new ways for users to personalize their accounts, the company announced on Tuesday.
Discussion:
Snap Newsroom and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Eugen Rochko / Mastodon Blog:
Mastodon adds clickable bylines under article links, pointing to the author's fediverse account; The Verge and MacRumors are among the pubs using the feature — A new feature for media organizations, journalists and bloggers — To reinforce and encourage Mastodon as the go-to place for journalism …
Discussion:
The Verge, TechCrunch, @Mastodon@mastodon.social, Melanie Sill on LinkedIn, @frozencanuck@mas.to, @dimillian@mastodon.social, @nileane@nileane.fr, J. Nathan Matias on LinkedIn, @btp@fosstodon.org, @Edent@mastodon.social, @ernie@writing.exchange, @seanfobbe@fediscience.org, @amberage@eldritch.cafe, @IceCubesApp@mastodon.online, @mho@social.heise.de and @buddiesofbudgie@floss.social
Sara Fischer / Axios:
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, TVNewsCheck and Talking Biz News
Stephanie Palazzolo / The Information:
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 »
Lloyd Coombes / Tom's Guide:
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 »
Yadarisa Shabong / Reuters:
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
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Candle Media plans to split into two divisions: animation will be folded into Moonbug and the rest will move into a live-action division called Candle Studios — The Scoop — Candle Media, the Blackstone-backed firm rolling up Hollywood production companies, is moving to slash costs …
Discussion:
Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, @semaforben and The Wrap