Mediagazer: Sources: Disney is working on features to increase the hours viewers spend on streaming, including pop-up live channels and more-tailored recommendations (Wall Street Journal)

7:25 AM ET, July 17, 2024

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Jennifer Maas / Variety:

Sources: WBD will lay off ~1,000 employees across sectors including finance, business affairs, and production; source: fewer than 10 Max staffers are affected — Sources tell Variety that nearly 1,000 employees will be laid off across a few sectors in a new cost-cutting move at WBD …

Discussion: Deadline, Quartz, @minotimusic, Jon Malone on LinkedIn, @tvgrimreaper, The Desk, Cord Cutters News, IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap

Jack Queen / Reuters:

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Sara Fischer / Axios:

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Discussion: Media Voices, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @sarafischer, The Drum, The Overspill, Jay Friedman on LinkedIn, @counternotions@mastodon …, @thomholwerda@exquisite.social, The Verge, MediaPost, 9to5Mac, @simondowens@threads.net, @benedictevans@threads.net, @crumbler@threads.net and @joesteel@duck.haus, more at Techmeme »

Annie Gilbertson / Proof:

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Tim Reynolds / Associated Press:

The NBA's Board of Governors approves the league's next media rights deals with Disney, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video; WBD could still match one of the deals — The NBA's Board of Governors approved the league's next media rights deals with Disney, NBC and Amazon Prime Video at its meeting Tuesday …

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Elahe Izadi / Washington Post:

Six journalists who worked at DCist, closed by WAMU earlier in 2024, launch the 51st, a worker-run local news site for DC, and a $250K fundraising campaign — The worker-run newsroom will attempt to fill a niche its founders say opened when WAMU closed DCist.

Discussion: @51stnews, @colleengrablick, @taramfrancis, @gaufre, @maustermuhle, @amanduhgomez, @petitephd, @moorehn, @51stnews, @51stnews, @danvock, @alexctaliadoros, @elaheizadi, @jeffjarvis, @ernie@writing.exchange, Ottilie Mitchell on LinkedIn, The 51st and Amy L. Kovac-Ashley on LinkedIn

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

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Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:

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Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough says that he was “surprised” and “disappointed” after NBC leadership pulled his show on Monday — The MSNBC host returned to the channel Tuesday, saying he was “surprised” and “disappointed” by the decision to preempt his show Monday.

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Disney is working on features to increase the hours viewers spend on streaming, including pop-up live channels and more-tailored recommendations — Entertainment giant makes technical improvements meant to retain subscribers and encourage longer viewing sessions

Discussion: Cord Cutters News, Ars Technica, @tvgrimreaper, IndieWire, @wsjbusiness, @gabrielmalor.bsky.social and Quartz

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Nate Silver joins Polymarket, a predictions market startup that has raised $70M since 2020, as an adviser; he'll continue to produce his Substack newsletter — - “Probabilities really matter when you're trying to make plans,” Silver said in a phone interview.

Discussion: @elliosch, @lyingwithstats, @cwarzel, @zbs.bsky.social, @loudmouthjulia, @cwarzel, @tvmojoe and @DemocracyMattersALot …

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

A survey of 1,500 Britons: 7% pay for news subscriptions, 87% say they prefer ads to paying for content; overall, respondents said only 5% of ads were relevant — Two-thirds of Britons expect to access online content about current affairs and their special interests without paying for it, according to new research.

Discussion: Warren Johnson on LinkedIn and TOOLKITS

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Adam Crafton / New York Times:
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Adam Bumas / Wired:
Twitch streamer Ibai Llanos' fourth boxing tournament in Madrid, with matches between influencers, set a record 3.85M+ concurrent viewers at its peak on July 13

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Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
UMG, Sony, and other record labels sue Verizon for $2.6B+ over allegations of violating copyright law by continuing to serve customers accused of pirating music

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Wall Street Journal:
Nullbulge, a hacktivist group critical of AI art, leaks Disney's alleged Slack messages over “how it handles artist contracts” and AI; Disney is investigating

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From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered making a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

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