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Wall Street Journal:
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
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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 …
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 …
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.
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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.
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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.
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
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The Streamable, Reuters, Digital Music News, Radio Ink, Engadget and The Hollywood Reporter
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 …
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MediaPost, The Media Leader, Adweek, Bloomberg, Axios, Outbrain Inc. and Digiday, 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:
Financial Times, City A.M., @markkleinmansky, @janemartinson and @markkleinmansky
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 …
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
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