Mediagazer: 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 (Aditya Kalra/Reuters)

12:00 PM ET, August 20, 2024

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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 Streamable, Ad Age, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Reuters, Quartz, Deadline, Media Play News, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Lauren Thomas on LinkedIn, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, Variety, Music Business Worldwide, Next TV and Associated Press

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: The Media Leader, The Hill, Reuters, @sarafischer and The Desk

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 …

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, Advanced Television, WORLD SCREEN, Metro.co.uk, @sphilsmith, Broadband TV News, @scottygb, Cord Busters, @thesimonc90, Deadline, Broadcast and TVNewsCheck

Stephania Taladrid / New Yorker:

An interview with Univision's Jorge Ramos on his start at Univision, his evolving philosophy of interviewing, how his audience has changed, and more — The legendary newscaster on how the U.S. has changed—and how it has changed him. — For decades, his voice was omnipresent in Latino households.

Discussion: New York Daily News and @jorgeramosnews

Radhika Anilkumar / Reuters:

The UK CMA accepts Meta's changes to its ad rules to ensure Marketplace advertisers' data is not used to improve Marketplace, without having to opt in or out — Britain's competition watchdog said on Tuesday it has accepted Meta's (META.O) proposed changes to the way it uses the data …

Discussion: @cmagovuk and GOV.UK, more at Techmeme »

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, The Verge, KHOU-TV, @carnage4life, @privacat.bsky.social, New York Post, @spavel.bsky.social, Cord Cutters News, BBC, Daily Mail, Reuters, @discussingfilm, @culturecrave, @scottgustin, CBR, Deadline and @cdavidnorris

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:

Memo: Time CEO announces that the company is laying off 22 employees across several departments, including editorial, citing decreased ad budgets and more — In a memo to staff, Time magazine CEO Jess Sibley announces that the company is laying off 22 staff. Says the business is still struggling due to decreased ad budgets, drastic shifts in consumer behavior, changes to search and social algorithms, and overall economic uncertainty. [image]

Discussion: @tvgrimreaper, @jmrivera02, @rafat and @charlesarthur

Mike Barnes / The Hollywood Reporter:

Phil Donahue, a pioneering talk show host whose novel issue-oriented show lasted 29 years, dies at the age of 88 — The 11-time Daytime Emmy winner presided over his program for 29 years and forged a path for Oprah Winfrey and others to follow. — Phil Donahue, the talk show innovator …

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

ABC News names Almin Karamehmedovic, executive producer of ABC's top rated World News Tonight, as its next president, succeeding Kim Godwin — ABC News has tapped Almin Karamehmedovic, executive producer of its top rated World News Tonight, as its next president.

Discussion: @bristei, @jbflint, Los Angeles Times, Inside the Magic, The Daily Beast, New York Post, New York Times, Mediaite, Radio & Television …, TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Next TV, Barrett Media, Associated Press and Reuters

Dominic Patten / Deadline:

A New York judge allows Julia Ormond's lawsuit against Disney, CAA, and Miramax over an alleged 1995 sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein to move forward — “Upon the foregoing documents, and oral argument having been held before the court on May 20, 2024, it is ordered that the motions …

Discussion: The Wrap, @davidandrews808, The Hollywood Reporter, Inside the Magic, @effoff1988, Variety, @charterhousesq, @kevinmintzer, @rkylesmith, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, @mattbelloni and Associated Press

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: The Wrap, Sirius XM Holdings Inc., @maxwelltani, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Barrett Media

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Netflix says it has recorded a 150%+ YoY increase in upfront ad sales commitments, in line with the company's expectations, including deals around live events — Netflix said it has wrapped up its upfront ad negotiations, posting a 150% increase in sales commitments over 2023, in line with company expectations.

Discussion: The Media Leader, About Netflix, Advanced Television, AdExchanger, Adweek, Variety, Reuters, The Wrap, MediaPost, Next TV, TVNewsCheck and Media Play News

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More News:

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

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:
Up to 85 employees from outlets including the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, and the AFR have taken voluntary redundancy after Nine announced a cut of 200 jobs

Discussion: @gingergorman, @earleyedition and Crikey

Jack Reid / Next TV:
Cox asks SCOTUS to overturn a lower court's 2018 ruling that held the ISP liable for its subscribers' copyright infringements in case brought by Sony and others

Discussion: Music Business Worldwide, TVNewsCheck, Plagiarism Today, Cord Cutters News and Music Business Worldwide

Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple debuts a web app for Podcasts, letting users log in to listen to podcasts, view the Up Next queue and library, and browse new shows, at podcasts.apple.com

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Procreate CEO James Cuda says the iPad illustration startup is “not going to be introducing any generative AI into our products”, drawing praise from creatives

Discussion: @procreate, PhoneArena, Macworld, Neowin, MacRumors, @davidtoons_, @mkbhd, @voiddebris, @nellucnhoj, @jam_etc_art, Gaurav P. on LinkedIn, @sdw, @harrymccracken@mastodon …, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, @anildash@threads.net and MacStories

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
The Athletic launches a trading card and sports memorabilia vertical as part of a partnership with eBay, a major marketplace for collectibles

Discussion: New York Times, @rafat, The New York Times Company, Awful Announcing, Trevor Gibbons on LinkedIn, Craig Custance on LinkedIn and MediaPost

Judd Boaz / ABC:
Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen claims their Australian visa application has been denied over Russia's criminal charges of spreading false information

Discussion: @matthew_sussex, @groberts_83, @jamesmassola, The Guardian, @mrseankelly, The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald and Crikey

Gregory Meyer / Financial Times:
Walmart says its US ad business grew 30% in the past year from Q2; eMarketer says Walmart will claim 6.8% of 2024 US retail media spending, for $3.7B in revenue

Discussion: Ryan Mayward on LinkedIn and @simondowens@threads.net

Earlier Picks:

Giulia Segreti / Reuters:
Italian state broadcaster RAI says two journalists who angered Moscow with a TV report from Ukrainian-held parts of Russia's Kursk region will return to Italy

Discussion: Committee to Protect …

Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:
After the 5,000-strong Animation Guild started negotiations with Hollywood studios on August 12, outsourcing jobs and AI are the major points of contention

Discussion: Boing Boing and The Wrap

Tabby Kinder / Financial Times:
Arize AI: 56% of Fortune 500 companies cited AI as a “risk factor” in their recent annual reports, up from 9% in 2022; 90%+ of media firms cited AI as a risk

Discussion: Observer, Quartz, Semafor and Fortune

Justine Fisher / CNBC:
Legacy media companies, which entered the streaming market with a focus on gaining subscribers, now are raising prices to earn a return on their investments

Discussion: Deadline, Streaming Better and @tvgrimreaper

Max Tani / Semafor:
A look at Ezra Klein's rise during this election cycle, from his early call for Biden not to run to his increasingly popular podcast, now #8 on Apple Podcasts

Discussion: @emilybellnyc@threads.net, @jeffnesbit, @awprokop, @matthewstoller, @semaforben, @mcopelov, @ajlamesa, @mattzeitlin, @jptormey, @nick_field90, @alexparkerdc, @tomphilpott and Columbia Journalism Review

Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The Star Tribune renames to The Minnesota Star Tribune, and plans to expand its statewide coverage, as part of an effort to boost its paid digital subscriptions

Discussion: Star Tribune, MediaPost, Media Nation, What Works, Minneapolis Star Tribune, @sarabethberman, @derushaj, @martajewson, @dicktofel, @mehta_gautama, @mees_greg, @alexmahadevan, @corybe@threads.net, @miaq@threads.net and Steve Grove on LinkedIn

Liam Reilly / CNN:
Some local news radio stations, like New York's WCBS, face an existential threat as listeners and revenue shift, forcing outlets to cut staff and abandon news

Discussion: Barrett Media, @alexanderrusso, @dicktofel and @tamerspotlight

From Techmeme:

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company sue Pocketpair, accusing the Palworld developer of infringing on “multiple patent rights”

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Joe Warminsky / The Record:
The FBI says it disrupted a botnet of “hundreds of thousands” of devices worldwide last week that was operated by the China-linked hacking group Flax Typhoon

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