Mediagazer: Chalkbeat plans to launch Healthbeat, covering public health, this summer; Chalkbeat will be housed under the new Civic News Company with EIC Shani O. Hilton (Sara Fischer/Axios)

1:30 PM ET, July 9, 2024

Top News:

Source: Oracle founder Larry Ellison will invest ~$6B into the Paramount-Skydance deal, with RedBird Capital Partners contributing the remaining $2B — - The Ellisons and RedBird have transactional covenants that require they be consulted on any major business decisions by Paramount in the interim, RedBird's Jeff Shell tells Axios.

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, @tvgrimreaper, @danprimack, The Wrap and Deadline

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Jeff Shell, set to become “New Paramount” president, says Skydance executives have identified $2B+ in cost cuts, much of it from its linear media operations

Discussion: @jbflint, @jbflint, @alexweprin, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Sanjay Raina on LinkedIn, Sportico, Deadline, Next TV, CBS News and IndieWire

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
The Paramount-Skydance deal has a “go shop” policy, where Paramount would pay Skydance a $400M breakup fee if Paramount finds another buyer within 45 days

Dawn Chmielewski / Reuters:
Paramount Global and Skydance Media announce a merger of the two companies, ending months of chaotic talks; a memo says the deal is expected to close in H1 2025

Discussion: Paramount, Paramount, Media Play News, Engadget, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, TrekMovie.com, @pkafka, @aepstein_, @jbflint, @xpangler, @lucas_shaw, @jbflint, @benmullin, Adweek, The Drum, The Desk, @richlightshed, @mattbelloni, StreamTV Insider, @harrisharrisev9, @mattnicholas, @andykleinman, @btmcclure, @xpangler, @benmullin, @loudmouthjulia, SlashFilm, Newser, The A.V. Club, The Streamable, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, CNBC, @lucas_shaw, Fast Company, The Information, Broadband TV News, Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, The Verge, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, The Guardian, The Media Leader, New York Times, CNN, Financial Times, B&T, New York Times, IF Magazine, MediaPost, Deadline, Mumbrella, @lkimmasters@threads.net, CBS News, Sara Fischer on LinkedIn, Axios, Wall Street Journal, Variety, Cord Cutters News, Los Angeles Times, The Information, Variety, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Bloomberg, The Wrap, The Daily Beast, r/boxoffice, r/wallstreetbets, r/MediaMergers and r/startrek

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Chalkbeat plans to launch Healthbeat, covering public health, this summer; Chalkbeat will be housed under the new Civic News Company with EIC Shani O. Hilton — - Chalkbeat, which launched a decade ago by Green and journalist Philissa Cramer, expanded into coverage of voting in 2020 and made …

Aidan Ryan / The Boston Globe:

UVM's Center for Community News receives $7M to expand partnerships between US universities and local news outlets to give students reporting opportunities — As the number of local journalists employed across the country continues to shrink, dozens of colleges are trying to help fill gaps in reporting.

Discussion: vermontbiz.com

Emma Roth / The Verge:

Dish-owned streamer Sling TV plans to show pause ads, which could contain a video or static content; users can turn off pause ads from the settings menu — Sling TV will now put ads on your screen when you pause live or on-demand content, according to an announcement from its parent company, Dish.

Discussion: The Desk, The Streamable, About DISH, Next TV and Cord Cutters News

Levin Stamm / Bloomberg:

Switzerland announces an advertising ban on Russian outlets Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestia, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta, but lets them continue broadcasting — Switzerland will allow four Russian media outlets to continue broadcasting even after they were banned by the European Union.

Discussion: Reuters and NEWS.am

Neel Dhanesha / Nieman Lab:

A look at the Institute for Poetjournalism, which aims to be a wire service for “newspoems” that focuses on the emotion behind events and is courting donors — Institute for Poetjournalism founder Aaron Dworkin hopes a cash prize and a wire service for “newspoems” will help the form take off.

Discussion: @shimmo23, @jester and @spj_tweets

Jay Peters / The Verge:

Spotify adds the ability for users to leave comments on podcasts, expanding on polls and Q&As; comments will be private by default, and creators can opt out — The company already lets Spotify podcasters offer polls and Q&As, so this new feature could give creators new ways to interact with their audiences.

Discussion: Engadget, TechCrunch, Dataconomy, Spotify, WinBuzzer and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:

DreamFlare, a studio where creators make videos using third-party AI tools and distribute them through a subscription service, emerges from stealth with $1.6M — A startup called DreamFlare AI is emerging from stealth on Tuesday with the goal of helping content creators make and monetize short-form AI-generated content.

Elizabeth Dilts Marshall / Billboard:

Filing: Hipgnosis shareholders vote to sell the fund to Blackstone for $1.58B, ending a roller coaster year for shareholders and the fund's board — Six years after going public on the London Stock exchange, a majority of Hipgnosis Songs Fund shareholders voted on Monday (July 8) …

Discussion: CMU, Digital Music News, New York Times and Music Business Worldwide

Nikita Mazurov / The Intercept:

Leaked code: NYT tested using OpenAI tech to generate article headlines and help apply its styleguide; NYT says the “experiment was not taken beyond testing” — In the courtroom, the New York Times has taken a hard line against OpenAI. The newspaper sued the artificial …

Discussion: @florian4gamers, Media Voices and @mvario1

Sherin Shibu / Entrepreneur:
OpenAI last week requested NYT documents, including reporters' notes and interview memos, to show that its articles are original; NYT calls it harassment

Discussion: @bobbyallyn, @loudmouthjulia, @rahll and Ianka Fleerackers on LinkedIn

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Q&A with NYT Executive Editor Joe Kahn about the NYT's Biden age coverage, the WSJ's investigative approach to the story, using anonymous GOP sources, and more — The New York Times executive editor takes on detractors. — In April 2023, President Biden felt comfortable enough …

Discussion: Poynter

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

ABC News names Rick Klein, who has been political director since 2013, as VP and Washington, DC bureau chief, succeeding Jonathan Greenberger who left in April — “As a seasoned and highly respected journalist, Rick is uniquely qualified to lead our Washington bureau at such a pivotal moment …

Discussion: The Wrap, @greta, Next TV, Adweek, ABC News, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline

Financial Times:

How Saudi media group MBC's Shahid has become the biggest streaming service in MENA with a 22% share, ahead of Starz Play Arabia at 18% and Netflix at 17% — Wide range of Arabic-language shows and films helps media group compete with Netflix — Media group MBC is competing hard with Netflix …

Discussion: Maria Rua Aguete on LinkedIn, Natasha Matos-Hemingway on LinkedIn and Johannes Larcher on LinkedIn