Mediagazer: Don Lemon sues Elon Musk and X, arguing Musk refused to pay him after a $1.5M/year exclusive X content deal fell apart; Lemon did not sign a formal contract (Kate Conger/New York Times)

2:05 PM ET, August 1, 2024

Top News:

Russia frees Evan Gershkovich, RFE/RL reporter Alsu Kurmasheva, and others as part of a prisoner swap involving 24 prisoners and at least six countries — Release of 32-year-old American from Russia secured as part of largest East-West prisoner swap since Cold War

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, New York Times, Mediaite, The Guardian, Voice of America, ABC News, Reuters, BBC, Bloomberg, The White House, HuffPost, CBS News, The Guardian, @katie_robertson, Variety, New York Post, The Independent, The Atlantic, Deadline, Washington Post, Reporters Without Borders, NPR, The Hill, Maura Webber Sadovi on LinkedIn, Lisa Barnhart on LinkedIn, Fox News, @byrontau, Washington Post, The Reporters Committee …, Poynter, @annielinskey, @vp@threads.net, @potus@threads.net, Politico, @yonetteajoseph@threads.net, WFLA, @potus@threads.net, @edokeefecbs@threads.net, Hani Durzy on LinkedIn, @benjaminwittes@threads.net, Mother Jones, Associated Press, @paulwsj, Committee to Protect …, Emma Tucker on LinkedIn, New York Times, Elayne Gan on LinkedIn, Foreign Policy, @mattdpearce, @brianbeutler, USAGM, Forbes, @potus, Boston Herald, ABC7, @potus, @terellwright2, @natashabertrand, @paulwsj, @peterbakernyt, @jaketapper, @joannastern, @nicktimiraos, @abarbashin, UPI, Rolling Stone, Metro.co.uk, KUSA-TV, CNN, The Mirror, @jamesrbuk, @ishaantharoor, @silviakillings, Meduza.io, @conorsen, TVNewsCheck, @srabil, @noahcrothman, Telegraph, @samberkhead, @ianbremmer, The i Paper, @hadas_gold, News/Media Alliance and ABC Columbia, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

A detailed timeline of Evan Gershkovich's arrest and release and the months of negotiations involving spy agencies, billionaires, politicians, and his mother — The secret negotiations to free The Wall Street Journal's Evan Gershkovich unfolded on three continents, involving spy agencies …

Discussion: @davidgura@threads.net, Reuters, Talking Biz News, New York Times, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Semafor, NPR, ABC7, Slate, @mikeisaac, Associated Press and @efindell

Wall Street Journal:

WSJ Editor Emma Tucker thanks the Biden administration, other governments, especially Germany's, and Evan Gershkovich in the effort to release him and others — Today is a joyous day for the safe return of our colleague Evan Gershkovich, who left a Russian aircraft moments ago in Turkey's capital …

Discussion: Press Gazette, Talking Biz News, New York Post, Gordon Friedrich on LinkedIn, Nikhil Deogun on LinkedIn, @jbillinson@threads.net, Fox News, @edmundlee@threads.net, TMZ.com, The Guardian, The Hill, CBS News and Politico

Kate Conger / New York Times:

Don Lemon sues Elon Musk and X, arguing Musk refused to pay him after a $1.5M/year exclusive X content deal fell apart; Lemon did not sign a formal contract — The former CNN reporter said in a lawsuit that X had refused to pay him after a testy interview with its billionaire owner.

Discussion: Business Insider, The Hill, TVLine, The Wrap, Reuters, Mediaite, CNN, Variety, CBS News, The Verge, Engadget, Rolling Stone, TVNewsCheck, Bloomberg, TMZ.com, Quartz, Newser, @kurtwag8@threads.net, Page Six, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Barrett Media, more at Techmeme »

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

WBD, Disney, and Fox plan to launch their joint sports streaming venture Venu for $42.99 per month initially, with a seven-day free trial, expected in fall 2024 — Streaming sports on a stand-alone basis won't be cheap. … The service is expected to debut in the fall in conjunction with the start of the next NFL season.

Jesse Whittock / Deadline:

Ligue de Football Professionnel confirms a five-year deal with DAZN to broadcast the majority of France's Ligue 1 soccer; BeIN has rights to one match per week — Sports streamer DAZN is the new home of top-division soccer in France after tying up a five-year deal worth a reporting €500M ($540M).

Discussion: Advanced Television

John Koblin / New York Times:

CBS News names John Dickerson, its lead political analyst, and Maurice DuBois, an anchor for an NY affiliate, as Evening News anchors replacing Norah O'Donnell — The pair are part of a broader shake-up at the show, which includes the addition of Lonnie Quinn as a regular weather anchor.

Discussion: Mediaite, Variety, Radio & Television …, TVLine, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, Next TV, CBS News, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Paramount Press Express and TVNewsCheck

Alyssa Boyle / AdExchanger:

Outbrain confirms plans to acquire Teads from Altice, in a transaction valuing the SSP and video monetization company at ~$1B; Outbrain will pay $725M in cash — The rumors are true: Outbrain is buying Teads. — On Thursday, the content recommendation platform announced it will acquire Teads …

Discussion: MediaPost, The Media Leader, Adweek, Bloomberg, Digiday, Axios and Outbrain Inc., more at Techmeme »

Natalie Korach / The Wrap:

SiriusXM plans to launch a premium podcast subscription service through Apple Podcasts for $5.99 per month or $44.99 annually, starting August 5 — The offering is intended to diversify the platform's podcast revenue stream while expanding the listener base

Discussion: Reuters, Digital Music News, Engadget, Radio Ink and The Hollywood Reporter

Anna Washenko / Engadget:

A group of US senators unveils the NO FAKES Act, which would make individuals and companies liable for producing, hosting, or sharing unauthorized AI deepfakes — OpenAI joined several entertainment industry groups in backing the NO FAKES Act. — Today, a group of senators introduced the NO FAKES Act …

Discussion: Human Artistry Camp, Publishers Weekly, CMU, U.S. Senator Christopher Coons …, 9to5Mac, Inside Radio, @amyklobuchar@threads.net, Variety, Rolling Stone, Consequence, Billboard and Music Business Worldwide, more at Techmeme »

Tales Azzoni / Associated Press:

The Premier League, Bundesliga, DAZN, Sky, UEFA, CONMEBOL, and others write to X CEO Linda Yaccarino demanding more action against illegal soccer content on X — Some of Europe's main broadcasters and top soccer leagues have sent a letter to the CEO of social media platform X, Linda Yaccarino …

Mark Kleinman / Sky News:

Sources: hedge fund tycoon and GB News shareholder Paul Marshall is close to a deal to buy The Spectator, separate from The Telegraph, as soon as this month — The GB News shareholder is now the frontrunner to buy one of Britain's most influential political magazines amid an ongoing auction …

Discussion: City A.M., @markkleinmansky, @janemartinson and @markkleinmansky

Dan Sabbagh / The Guardian:

In a letter to ex-prime minister Gordon Brown, the UK's Met police say a special team is examining claims that Will Lewis helped cover up phone hacking claims — Exclusive: Scotland Yard move on complaint by ex-PM Gordon Brown, who accuses Will Lewis of phone hacking ‘cover-up’ in 2011

Discussion: Washington Post, @heerjeet, @davidfolkenflik, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @bgrueskin, @jackshafer, @davidfolkenflik, @froomkin, CNN, The Daily Beast, @jeffjarvis, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik, @heinendevon@threads.net, New York Times, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social and NPR

David Folkenflik / NPR:
Lawyers for Prince Harry and others accused WaPo CEO Will Lewis of fabricating a fake security threat 13 years ago in order to delete emails at Murdoch tabloids

Discussion: The Guardian, @northernlights@mstdn.ca, Media Nation and MediaPost

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More News:

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
RAJAR: in Q2, GB News Radio reached 518K people per week on average, overtaking Times Radio for the first time; BBC Radio 2 had a weekly reach of 13.3M people

Discussion: adambowie.com and Press Association

Jem Aswad / Variety:
Midia Research: songwriters average 9.5% of the $0.004 Spotify pays per stream, and of the over 300 songwriters surveyed, only 10% earn over $30K annually

Discussion: MIDiA Research Blog and Music Ally

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
Global Project Oasis study: the number of launches of digital news startups has been slowing since 2022 in Europe, Latin America, and North America

Discussion: @joao_f_pinto, @mattdpearce, @niemanlab, Global Project Oasis, @mattdpearce@threads.net and LatAm Journalism Review

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Sports rights deals are moving money out of Hollywood to leagues: sports make up 40% of Disney's content budget, NBC's NBA deal will replace 150+ hours of shows

Discussion: @tvgrimreaper, @alexweprin, TVNewsCheck and Associated Press

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity need to pay to scrape Reddit's data, and blocking them has been “a real pain in the ass”

Discussion: Quartz, Engadget, Search Engine Land, Business Insider, Bloomberg, @jwherrman, @jwherrman, Ars Technica and Prof. Ahmed Banafa on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
A press release, now killed, said “Apex Capital Trust” put in a bid for Paramount, prompting multiple news stories, but background info on the org looks sketchy

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Disney is cutting about 140 jobs at Disney Entertainment Television, or about 2% of staff; cuts will fall hardest on NatGeo, Freeform, and ABC stations

Discussion: The Wrap, Cord Cutters News, New York Post, Reuters, Deadline, Quartz, AV Club, Adweek, The Desk, Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, Los Angeles Times and TVNewsCheck

Ted Johnson / Deadline:
In a Q&A at the NABJ convention, Trump questions Kamala Harris' racial identity, calls ABC News' Rachel Scott “very rude”, and complains about audio problems

Discussion: Mediaite, Chicago Sun Times, HuffPost, ComingSoon.net, @abbydphillip, The TRiiBE, Fox News, The Hollywood Reporter, TheGrio, @jeffstorobinsky, Axios, Vibe, @kamalahq, The Nation, @natashasalford, ABC News, New York Times, New Republic, NPR, @cd_hooks, @moniquepressley, @chenueher, Poynter, PinkNews, @aprildryan, TV Insider, @graceokoro2, @cbcpac, @sulliview, @errinhaines, @noahcrothman, @willsommer, @brianstelter, @kamalahq@threads.net, @abcworldnewstonight …, TIME, @griffinkyle@threads.net, @griffinkyle@threads.net, @keithedwards@threads.net, @emoltzen@threads.net, @steven_beschloss@threads.net, @corbinbolies, @brianstelter, @semaforben, @acyn, @parkermolloy, @trumpstaxes, @hadas_gold, @hadas_gold, @hadas_gold, @hadas_gold, @mossbergwalt@threads.net, Washington Post, PolitiFact, CBS News, @timothystamm101@threads.net, @kenpopehat@threads.net, @kbode@threads.net, WXIA-TV, @goodyk@threads.net, @dkiesow@threads.net, The Daily Beast, Iowa Capital Dispatch, Axios, The Guardian, Slate, The 19th, Media Matters for America, New York Daily News, Shari Dunn on LinkedIn, Mother Jones, TMZ.com, Rolling Stone, The Wrap, Variety, Barrett Media, Semafor, Associated Press, NABJ and ABC7

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Gina Raimondo says holding back China in the chips race is a “fool's errand”, and investment, more than export controls, will keep US ahead of Beijing

Paresh Dave / Wired:
Google says it wouldn't force its device makers, browser, and wireless carrier licensees to distribute Gemini to US users for three years, in a proposed remedy

Reuters:
Albania bans TikTok for a year from January 2025, part of a broader plan to make schools safer following the killing of a 14-year-old near a school in November

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