Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Red Ventures sells CNET, an early pioneer of online tech coverage, to Ziff Davis, which owns Mashable, PC Mag, Lifehacker, and others, a source says for $100M+ — Ziff Davis is acquiring CNET for more than $100 million. Its chief executive thinks more acquisitions are on the horizon.
Discussion:
The Desk, Deadline, Lauren Newman on LinkedIn, @jeffjarvis, @saschasegan, @photomatt, Lindsey Turrentine on LinkedIn, @dctrjack, @film_girl, @rhunwords, Roger Cheng on LinkedIn, @ldignan, @benmullin, @felixsalmon, @rafat, Connie Guglielmo on LinkedIn, @seangriffey, @rafat, @tsuvik, The Wrap, @sjvn@mastodon.social, @tvgrimreaper, @rogerwcheng, @bombur, MediaPost, Variety, Axios, Adweek, @danackerman, The Verge and TVNewsCheck, more at Techmeme »
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Charles Barkley, a mainstay of TNT's Inside the NBA, reverses plans to retire and says he will keep working with WBD, which is fighting to keep NBA media rights — Charles Barkley says he isn't getting out of Warner Bros. Discovery's sports game. — The roundball great …
Discussion:
New York Times, Fox News, Awful Announcing, Pressroom, Sportico, Brian Steinberg on LinkedIn, CNN, Associated Press, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Deadline, CNBC, Front Office Sports, TVLine, The Wrap, Awful Announcing, Barrett Media, New York Post, New York Daily News and The Hollywood Reporter
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Wall Street Journal:
Sources: the NBA's deal with Amazon has several provisions that WBD can't match, including promotion of the NBA during Amazon's NFL streaming telecasts — League's media deal with tech giant included provisions Warner couldn't match, setting stage for legal fight
Discussion:
Sports Media Watch and USA Today
Sara Fischer / Axios:
X sues the World Federation of Advertisers, GARM, and GARM members CVS Health, Mars, Orsted, and Unilever over what Linda Yaccarino calls an “illegal boycott” — Members include major tech companies, advertisers, agencies, ad tech firms and advertising coalitions.
Discussion:
@lindayax, @elonmusk, Awful Announcing, Mediaite, Adweek, PRWeek, The Verge, Fast Company, MediaPost, Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, The Media Leader, Rumble, CNN, Reclaim The Net, The Verge, AV Club, New Republic, @fmanjoo, @catthekin, @allahliker, @silvermanjacob, @tracybeanz, @chrispavlovski, @joshtpm, @kyliebytes, @digiphile@threads.net, @lorakolodny@threads.net, @mac_ryan_@threads.net, @kateaconger@threads.net, @elonmusk, Reuters, @dankennedy_nu@threads.net, @theliamnissan, The Wrap, Ars Technica, The Drum, Deadline, Variety, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Wired, @baekdal, Financial Times, @jesse_brenneman, The Information, @bobbyallyn, Bloomberg, @stopfundinghate, @rumblevideo, New York Times, Greg Glenday on LinkedIn, @chrispavlovski, Ruben Schreurs on LinkedIn, @rstephens@threads.net, Futurism, Quartz, @elizspiers@threads.net, @katieeyton, @sarafischer, @bobbyallyn, @lindayax, TechCrunch, TVNewsCheck, Engadget, Fox Business, Barrett Media, Digiday and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »
Next TV:
Future plans to end Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News, and NextTV in print and as newsletters, replacing them with one newsletter and revamping NextTV.com — By B+C Staff( Broadcasting & Cable ) published — Charlie Weiss will take on chairman role for B+C Hall of Fame, with Bill McGorry moving into chairman emeritus role
Discussion:
Variety, Bob Gold on LinkedIn, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, @michaelsocolow, @jbflint, The Hollywood Reporter, The Desk and Talking Biz News
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Internal memo: Axios CEO Jim VandeHei says the company is laying off about 50 employees, or ~10% of the company, due to “changes in the media business” — Jim VandeHei, the company's chief executive, said in an email that the cuts were necessary to adapt to “changes in the media business.”
Discussion:
Fast Company, New York Post, Fox Business, The Wrap, @danprimack, @nickicamberg, @tim_bays, @ruhlmuk, @smtology, @ryanabest, @daniellealberti, @simranparwani, @simranparwani, @samueljrob, @katie_robertson, Nieman Lab, @selenesanfelice, @loopemma, @daniellealberti, Deadline, @ethangach, @ethanscorey, @billygribbin, @chrisjollyhale, @benkesslen, @aulia@threads.net, @justinbaragona, @chaykak, @redsteeze, @keitholbermann, @sophiacai99, @brandyljensen, @chriscillizza, @tblysik, @mikebrice, Erin Hulliberger on LinkedIn, @sarafischer, @katie_robertson, @jdawsey1, TVNewsCheck and @sopandeb
Joe Lucia / Awful Announcing:
Fubo's CEO blasts Venu, the Disney/Fox/WBD sports JV, saying it gives them control of 80% of the premium market and curbs competition, as he seeks an injunction — The new Fubo logo. — Fubo's earnings call was on Tuesday. Unsurprisingly, CEO David Gandler used part of his opening remarks …
Discussion:
IndieWire, Deadline, The Streamable, Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg, Deadline, Next TV, Sportico and Cord Cutters News
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Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
FuboTV reports Q2 North America revenue up 26% YoY to $383M vs. $368M est., North America paid subscribers up 24% to 1.45M, rest of world revenue up 2% to $8.3M
FuboTV reports Q2 North America revenue up 26% YoY to $383M vs. $368M est., North America paid subscribers up 24% to 1.45M, rest of world revenue up 2% to $8.3M
Discussion:
Fubo, Media Play News, The Desk, Advanced Television, @fubotv_pr, Next TV, The Streamable and Cord Cutters News
Justine Fisher / CNBC:
Starting October 17, Disney will raise the cost of most plans for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ by $1 to $2 more per month, as it pushes customers to bundles — Disney is raising prices on its streaming platforms. — Starting mid-October, most plans for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ will cost $1 …
Discussion:
The Walt Disney Company, Axios, The Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, New York Post, The Media Leader, TechRadar, The Streamable, Kotaku, Decider, Fox Business, IndieWire, CNN, New York Daily News, Engadget, The Desk, Quartz, Cord Cutters News, 9to5Mac, Digital Trends, The Information, TVLine, @2xaught7.bsky.social, BGR, Variety, Bloomberg, Ars Technica, The Wrap, Deadline and Consequence
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Amazon Music debuts Maestro, an AI-powered playlist generator, and Topics, which helps users find podcast episodes by topic and is powered by both AI and humans — Amazon Music announced Tuesday the launch of its new AI-powered feature, “Topics,” which allows users to explore podcast episodes …
Discussion:
About Amazon and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Reddit Q2: revenue rose 54% YoY to $281.2M, vs. $254M est., Daily Active Uniques increased 51% YoY to 91.2M, and net loss dropped from $41.1M to $10.1M YoY — Reddit reported second-quarter results on Tuesday that topped analysts' estimates. — Here are the key numbers:
Discussion:
TechCrunch, The Information, Gordy H. on LinkedIn and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Jake Offenhartz / Associated Press:
The NYPD arrests independent videographer Sam Seligson on felony hate crime charges after he documented a pro-Palestinian protest in June — A New York City journalist was arrested on felony hate crime charges Tuesday after filming a pro-Palestinian protest earlier this summer …
Catherine Perloff / Adweek:
Some ad buyers say Netflix is now charging CPMs between $20 and $30, after originally seeking $65 in 2022 and a reported $39 to $45 in 2023 — The streaming platform initially came to the market with $65 CPMs in 2022 — Netflix is further lowering the prices of its ads …
Discussion:
Gabriela Domanico on LinkedIn, Catherine Perloff on LinkedIn, TVNewsCheck, @catherineperlo1 and The Sun
Sara Fischer / Axios:
ProRata, which aims to attribute and share AI chatbot subscription revenue with content owners, raised a $25M Series A and inks deals with major media companies — A handful of major news and music companies have agreed to license their content to ProRata.ai, a generative AI startup that claims …