Mediagazer: A £350M bid for The Telegraph by ad mogul Maurice Saatchi and Lynn Forester de Rothschild fails to make it to a second round in the auction run by RedBird IMI (Charlotte Tobitt/Press Gazette)

5:20 PM ET, August 9, 2024

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Yasmin Rufo / BBC:

The BBC asks Huw Edwards to return the £200K+ in salary he made between his November arrest and his April resignation; BBC Chair says he “behaved in bad faith” — Huw Edwards has been asked to return his salary paid since his arrest, with the BBC chair telling staff the ex-presenter acted in “bad faith”.

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Natalie Korach / The Wrap:

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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Paramount Global says it will cut 15% of its US workforce, or about 2,000 employees, in the next few weeks, after cutting about 800 positions in February

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

A £350M bid for The Telegraph by ad mogul Maurice Saatchi and Lynn Forester de Rothschild fails to make it to a second round in the auction run by RedBird IMI — Sir Paul Marshall reported to be the frontrunner for The Spectator. — Former advertising mogul Lord Saatchi has had a £350m bid to buy The Telegraph rejected.

Discussion: Sky News and Financial Times

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:

Sources: Hearst Television lays off dozens of employees working for its free streaming service Very Local, which launched in 2021, serving 26 US markets — Hearst Television has let go of dozens of employees working for its streaming service Very Local, sources tell Deadline.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck

Rani Molla / Sherwood News:

A Q&A with Wikimedia Foundation executives on how AI could make knowledge more accessible to people, the possibility that it discourages volunteers, and more — We spoke with Wikipedia executives who told us AI could jeopardize the encyclopedia's connection with the volunteers who create it.

Discussion: Diff

Reuters:

Rappler wins an appeal to restore its corporate license as a court rules that the Philippines' SEC overstepped in ordering the outlet's shutdown in 2018 — Philippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa's news website Rappler won an appeal to restore its corporate licence after a court overturned …

Discussion: The Guardian, Rappler, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Reporters Without Borders and Committee to Protect …

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

President of Disney EMEA Jan Koeppen says the company plans to spend at least $5B on content production in the UK and continental Europe in the next five years — Regional chief says UK and continental Europe will play a big role in future box office and streaming hits

Discussion: Variety, Craig Higgins on LinkedIn, John Mahtani on LinkedIn, Deadline, Reuters, Deadline and TVNewsCheck

Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:

AMC Networks reports Q2 net loss of $29.2M, revenue down 7.8% YoY to $625.9M, streaming subscribers up 5% YoY to 11.6M, and streaming revenue up 9% YoY to $150M — The company recorded $97 million in impairment charges related to the devaluation of its international business and BBC America

Discussion: Deadline, Media Play News, Variety, Advanced Television and Next TV

Reuters:

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blocks X in the country for 10 days, accusing Elon Musk of using X to incite hate after Venezuela's disputed election — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday took tensions with social media platform X and its owner Elon Musk to new heights …

Discussion: Financial Times, CNN, CNBC, UPI, Engadget, @kennysmith.bsky.social, Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera, Xataka On, TechRadar, Deutsche Welle and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »

The Hollywood Reporter:

A look at the battle among streamers for stand-up comic specials, as Amazon, Hulu, and Max challenge Netflix's dominance of the genre — What industry contraction? Platforms from Hulu to Amazon are spending wildly to woo comedians like Nate Bargatze and Bill Burr and put a dent in Netflix's dominance.

Discussion: AV Club and TVNewsCheck

Rishav Chatterjee / Reuters:

News Corp puts its 65% interest in Australian pay TV company Foxtel up for sale, citing third-party interest and a strategic review — Australian pay television company Foxtel, controlled by the Murdoch family and partly by local telecom firm Telstra (TLS.AX), has been put …

Discussion: Sydney Morning Herald, Deadline, Advanced Television, Broadband TV News, RTÉ, The Desk, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, ABC, Australian Financial Review and Mumbrella

Jaspreet Singh / Reuters:
News Corp reports Q4 revenue up 6% YoY to $2.58B vs. $2.49B est., net income of $71M, Dow Jones revenue up 4% to $566M, and book publishing revenue up 15%

Discussion: News Corporation, New York Post, Talking Biz News and The Wrap

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Bloomberg:
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Emilia Otte / CT Examiner:
Hearst Connecticut Media Group workers plan to form a union; despite support from some politicians, management said it would not voluntarily recognize the group

Discussion: The NewsGuild, @ctnewsguild, The Boston Globe, @davidfolkenflik, @ctsenatedems, @bostonglobe, @newsguild, @juliann_ventura and The NewsGuild

Thomas Hunter / Press Gazette:
Victoria Newton, editor of The Sun, defends her outlet's early coverage of the BBC's Huw Edwards and criticizes the Met's delay in revealing charges against him

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