Top News:
The Wrap:
Document: Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s Paramount bid is backed by a group of 19 investors including Fortress, Brock Pierce, and producer Steven Paul — Kazakh investor Nurali Aliyev joins Fortress and producer Steven Paul in the last minute $4.3 billion bid — Cryptocurrency mogul Brock Pierce …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck
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Wall Street Journal:
Sources: former Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. has submitted a $4.3B offer for National Amusements and a minority stake in Paramount Global — Bronfman is looking to scuttle a previous agreement to merge Paramount with David Ellison's Skydance Media — Media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr …
Discussion:
The Wrap, New York Post, New York Times, Reuters, Front Office Sports, Ad Age, The Streamable, Lauren Thomas on LinkedIn, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Media Play News, Quartz, The Media Leader, Jessica Toonkel on LinkedIn, Music Business Worldwide, Deadline, Variety, Next TV, Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter and @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: Edgar Bronfman Jr. has raised $5.5B for a bid for National Amusements, and plans to submit a bid higher than his initial $4.3B offer in the coming days
Discussion:
Reuters, AV Club, @sarafischer, Deadline, Gordon Geist on LinkedIn, Financial Times, The Hill, The Desk and The Wrap
Editor and Publisher:
A draft plan circulating among California lawmakers and media leaders would create a Local News Fund with Google and state money, run by a board at UC Berkeley — Following years of legislative work, a draft deal between Google, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks …
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
Condé Nast makes a multiyear deal with OpenAI, letting ChatGPT and SearchGPT surface stories from The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Bon Appetit, and Wired — The media company joins The Atlantic, Axel Springer, Vox Media, and a host of other publishers who have partnered with OpenAI.
Daniel Tencer / Music Business Worldwide:
The AGs of 10 states join the US DOJ's antitrust lawsuit seeking to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster; 39 states, plus DC, are now part of the lawsuit — The attorneys general of 10 states have joined the US Department of Justice (DoJ)'s antitrust lawsuit seeking to break off Live Nation …
Discussion:
US Department of Justice, TechCrunch, KOB.com, @justiceatr, @baddcompani, NOLA.com, @pgunigantiat, @tessaduvall, @paulhammelne, @yahoofinance, The Hill, @future_of_music, @edbott.com, KTIV-TV, @agtennessee, Tennessee State Government, Music Ally, 9to5Mac, WOWT-TV, @newyorkstateag, @moetkacik, Fast Company, The Verge, Quartz, Billboard, Rolling Stone and Reuters, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Alex Cooper reaches a multiyear agreement with SiriusXM, replacing Spotify; source: the deal is for a little more than 3 years and is worth as much as $125M — Alex Cooper, host of the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast, reached a multiyear agreement with SiriusXM that encompasses exclusive programming …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Axios, The Hollywood Reporter, Sirius XM Holdings Inc., Bloomberg, Billboard, Natalie Wellens on LinkedIn, Tubefilter, Leigh Fulton on LinkedIn, The Information, The Hill, @maxwelltani, The Wrap, Digital Music News, CNN, Hollywood Life, Deadline, Barrett Media and The Verge
Omar Oakes / The Media Leader:
Paramount says it will rebrand the UK's Channel 5 as just “5” and no longer merge My5 with Pluto TV, as part of plans to relaunch under one name by April 2025 — Paramount is rebranding Channel 5 to just 5 as part of plans to relaunch the public-service broadcaster across linear …
Discussion:
The Desk, @sphilsmith, Broadband TV News, @scottygb, Cord Busters, @thesimonc90, Metro.co.uk, Broadcast, Advanced Television, WORLD SCREEN, Deadline and TVNewsCheck
Dan Sullivan / Tampa Bay Times:
Bala Sundaramoorthy, ex-GM of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will become president and COO of Tampa Bay Times' parent on October 1, succeeding Joe DeLuca — Bala Sundaramoorthy, former general manager of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will serve as the company's president and chief operating officer.
Discussion:
Conan Gallaty on LinkedIn and Editor and Publisher
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
Writers and journalists Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson sue Anthropic, saying it misused their books and others' to train Claude — Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has been hit with a class-action lawsuit in California federal court by three authors …
CNN:
Disney says a wrongful death lawsuit can now proceed to court, after initially arguing that the widower's Disney+ trial contract prohibited him from suing — Disney has reversed course on a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the widower of a woman who died after eating at a resort restaurant, saying the matter can now proceed to court.
Discussion:
IndieWire, Ars Technica, The Verge, Inside the Magic, @itsmattslaw@threads.net, New York Times, Forbes, BBC, TVNewsCheck, KHOU-TV, Law & Crime, @discussingfilm, @culturecrave, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, The Guardian, @carnage4life, @bajablastoise.bsky.social, @scottgustin, CBR, Daily Mail, Cord Cutters News, @spavel.bsky.social, @cdavidnorris, @privacat.bsky.social, Reuters, CBS News and Deadline
Hoda Sherif / The Nation:
Four journalists discuss how their reporting on Gaza was restricted, bias in newsrooms they worked in, and how being Palestinian impacted their work — There is often a high price to be paid when journalists try to tell Palestinian stories. — Pocket — In the heart of Gaza's ruins …
Discussion:
@sahar_fatima and @jackmirkinson
Aditya Kalra / Reuters:
Sources: India's antitrust body reaches an initial assessment that the $8.5B merger of Reliance and Disney harms competition due to their cricket rights — India's antitrust body has reached an initial assessment that the $8.5 billion India merger of Reliance and Walt Disney media assets …
Discussion:
Variety and Aditya Kalra on LinkedIn
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