Mediagazer: Ormax Media estimates that India currently has 547M streaming users, or 38% of the population, up 14% YoY and driven by ad-supported streaming (Naman Ramachandran/Variety)

7:35 PM ET, August 21, 2024

Top News:

Sources: Edgar Bronfman Jr. raises his Paramount bid to $6B, adding $1.7B to let non-Redstone, nonvoting Paramount shareholders cash out at $16 a share — The bid gives non-Redstone, nonvoting Paramount shareholders an option to sell shares at a premium — Edgar Bronfman Jr. has sweetened …

Discussion: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, IndieWire, The Wrap, Variety, Bloomberg, Deadline, @marvwashere.bsky.social, New York Post, Jessica Toonkel on LinkedIn, Media Play News, Quartz, Ad Age, Music Business Worldwide and Next TV

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

Discussion: Gordon Geist on LinkedIn, TVNewsCheck, Deadline, The Guardian, The Hill and Axios

Politico:

Google and the state of California strike a deal to jointly contribute $125M+ over five years to support local news; it also includes support for an AI project — The agreement includes funding for artificial intelligence, a technology many journalists fear could replace their jobs.

Discussion: a14.asmdc.org, Los Angeles Times, Mercury News, Free Press, CalMatters, @jeffjarvis and @jeffjarvis, more at Techmeme »

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 …

Discussion: KQCA-TV, @bcmerchant, @garrytan, @econliberties, @stevenwaldman, @mattdpearce, @future_of_music, @bcmerchant, Politico, The Wrap, @mattdpearce, @mattdpearce, @bcmerchant, Sarah Kay Wiley on LinkedIn and @researchbuzz@researchbuzz …

Peter White / Deadline:

Sources: Chick-Fil-A plans to launch a slate of original media productions for its own streaming platform and has worked with studios on family-friendly shows — Deadline understands that the fast-food firm has been working with a number of major production companies, including some of the studios …

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Rotten Tomatoes debuts a Verified Hot badge for films that have a Verified Audience Score of 90% or higher, among other requirements — Movies that are ‘Verified Hot’ by filmgoers will join those that are ‘Certified Fresh’ from critics, in a move meant to give more weight to consumer opinions …

Discussion: Rotten Tomatoes, Engadget, Screen Rant, Jason Blagman on LinkedIn, Dan Lee on LinkedIn, AV Club, SlashFilm, Variety, Digital Trends, @jacobtalks4ever, @gigawattconduit, The Playlist, Media Play News, @ellysmelancholy, The Wrap, @screenslate and CBR

Tommy Craggs / Bloomberg:

How the end of a federal ban on sports gambling transformed the way sports media is funded and changed what kind of stories get covered and published — The $10 billion industry transformed how sports media is funded—and written. — Few journalists embody the gambling industry's capture …

Discussion: @ghaleonq, @patrickhayes_13, @tcraggs22, CommonWealth Beacon, @albertburneko, @kevinmdraper and @travis_waldron

Catherine Perloff / Adweek:

Sources and docs: Google sales reps have suggested advertisers target teens on YouTube via an “unknown” category, seemingly violating the company's policies — This activity is broader than the agreement between Google and Meta that the FT reported this month

Discussion: The Verge, @researchbuzz@researchbuzz …, Catherine Perloff on LinkedIn and @marypcbuk.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Naomi LaChance / Rolling Stone:

Fact checkers' reviews of Democrats' statements about Trump have routinely botched the facts, earning one correction so far and an X Community Note — Fact checkers' reviews of DNC speeches about Trump have routinely botched the facts — earning one correction so far and a community note on X

Discussion: Press Watch, Washington Post, @stevehillwriter, @atrupar, @drvolts, @nycsouthpaw, @nycsouthpaw, @nycsouthpaw, @nycsouthpaw, @nycsouthpaw, @nycsouthpaw, @kevinmkruse@threads.net, @brianbeutler, @spockosbrain, CBS News, Mercury News, @epopppp.bsky.social and @juliusgoat.bsky.social

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:

Ormax Media estimates that India currently has 547M streaming users, or 38% of the population, up 14% YoY and driven by ad-supported streaming — The latest edition of Ormax Media's streaming audience research reveals significant growth in India's streaming landscape, albeit driven entirely by ad-supported viewership.

Salman Masood / New York Times:

Pakistan police charge a man who worked for news aggregator Channel3Now with cyberterrorism, accusing him of spreading misinfo about the Southport attacker — Local police sources indicated that the arrest was made at the request of the British authorities, although there was no official confirmation.

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Post, London Evening Standard, UPI, @marcowenjones, Reclaim The Net, @fascinatorfun and Reuters

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:

Paramount and Canal+ unveil an updated deal under which Canal+ subscribers in France get Paramount+ at no additional cost — Under the updated deal, Canal+ subscribers can access Paramount+ at no additional cost, no matter which subscription plan they have.

Discussion: Advanced Television, Marco Nobili on LinkedIn, Broadband TV News, Media Play News, WORLD SCREEN and Engadget

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Disney's board names James Gorman, executive chairman of Morgan Stanley, as chair of a succession planning committee to identify Bob Iger's replacement as CEO — Gorman, who joined the Disney board earlier this year, oversaw the recent succession process at Morgan Stanley, where he had previously served as the firm's CEO.

Discussion: The Desk, The Wrap, Radio & Television …, Next TV, Los Angeles Times, The Information, Deadline and Bloomberg

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More News:

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
The UK's Evening Standard tells staff it will move to a weekly print publishing schedule, starting on Thursday, September 26, and rebrand as The London Standard

Anna Gross / Financial Times:
Ofcom says it has 460+ people working on enforcing the Online Safety Act and plans to grow that by 20% to 550+ by March 2025, or 33% of its 1,500 total staff

Discussion: @jakdaw09 and @paulmarsha11

Tabitha Mueller / The Nevada Independent:
WBD commits $500M+ annually for productions in Nevada over 17 years as part of a UNLV film studio partnership, if the state expands its film tax credits in 2025

Discussion: IndieWire, Next TV, Media Play News, @jeremyrenner, @ralstonreports, @stevesebelius, Channel 13 Las Vegas News KTNV, Commercial Observer, Las Vegas Review-Journal, KLAS, Bloomberg, Fox 5 Las Vegas, KLAS and Reuters

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

Discussion: Conan Gallaty on LinkedIn, Editor and Publisher and MediaPost

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

Discussion: @lukeoneil47, Hell World, @lukeoneil47, @tulikabose_, @tulikabose_, National Union of Journalists …, @lukeoneil47, @lukeoneil47, @jackmirkinson and @sahar_fatima

Daniel Wiessner / Reuters:
A US district judge in Texas strikes down the FTC's ban on worker noncompete agreements, due to start September 4, after temporarily blocking the rule in July

Earlier Picks:

Kate Knibbs / Wired:
Condé Nast agrees a multiyear deal with OpenAI, letting ChatGPT and SearchGPT surface stories from The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Bon Appetit, and Wired

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

Discussion: TechCrunch, Music Ally, The Drum, The Information, New York Post, Plagiarism Today, The Verge, Associated Press and Publishers Weekly, more at Techmeme »

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

Discussion: Aditya Kalra on LinkedIn and Variety

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

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, @tvgrimreaper, @jmrivera02, @rafat, @charlesarthur and The Hollywood Reporter

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

From Techmeme:

Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says that President Trump believes the US has the resources and workforce to build iPhones in the US

Ben Weiss / Fortune:
Internal memo: the US DOJ disbands the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Unit, established by Biden in 2021, as the agency is “not a digital assets regulator”

The Information:
Source: Instagram is working on an iPad app, and Adam Mosseri told staff to be willing to assume more “risk” to take advantage of a TikTok US ban or disruption

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