Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
In a letter, Skydance lawyers accuse Paramount's special committee of breaching its terms with Skydance by extending the time it can talk with other bidders — In a letter from its lawyers, Skydance accuses Paramount's committee of directors of violating the terms of its deal
Discussion:
The Streamable, The Media Leader, Variety, Deadline, The Desk, Media Play News, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, TrekMovie.com and The Verge
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New York Times:
Sources: Paramount extends its deadline for sales talks until early September to evaluate Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s new bid, which could shake up the Skydance deal
Discussion:
Reuters, Axios, The Streamable, Vulture, The Information, CBS News, Quartz, The Guardian, The Media Leader, Variety, Business Insider, CNBC, Media Play News, The Desk, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, IndieWire, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Deadline, Wall Street Journal and Advanced Television
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion, and Danielle Strle, chief product officer, on how they bought the outlet, why they're making a print version, and more — The new owners of the satire site rescued it from content farm hell. Now, they're relaunching its newspaper.
Liam Reilly / CNN:
Unions and some state senators criticize Google's plan for a California local news fund, which stalled bills that would have forced Big Tech to fund journalists — New York CNN — — Google struck a first-in-the-nation deal with California lawmakers on Wednesday to fund newsrooms …
Discussion:
MEDIANAMA, @bcmerchant, @mattdpearce, @jeffjarvis, Raw Story, @spj_tweets, Associated Press, @bcmerchant, @jeffjarvis, Society of Professional …, @tvgrimreaper, The Desk, @mattdpearce, @ddayen, The Wrap, The Drum, Observer, Media Guild of the West, Ars Technica, Fast Company, @jeffjarvis, Inside Radio, LION Publishers, New York Post, The Verge, CalMatters, @passantino@threads.net, KQED, a14.asmdc.org, Editor and Publisher, UPI, Media Nation, New York Times, The Information, MediaPost, Engadget, Free Press and Politico
Hayden Field / CNBC:
In a pitch deck, AI search engine Perplexity told advertisers it plans to start running ads in Q4; a source says Perplexity's CPM prices will be $50+ — Perplexity AI, the artificial intelligence startup that's been embroiled in controversy due to accusations of plagiarizing content from media outlets …
Colin Mann / Advanced Television:
Liberty Media announces plans to sell F1 shares worth $825M to partially fund its 86% stake in Dorna Sports, the MotoGP commercial rights holder valued at $4.2B — Liberty Media has revealed plans to sell F1 shares worth $825 million (€742m) in order to ‘partially fund’ its planned acquisition of MotoGP.
Discussion:
Sports Illustrated, PlanetF1, Motorsport Week and Motorsport.com
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
A look at the fading dominance of Apple Podcasts, as a study of 603 weekly podcast consumers finds 31% use YouTube, followed by Spotify at 21%, and Apple at 12% — Hello! Welcome back to Soundbite. Today we're looking at the fading dominance of Apple Podcasts.
Discussion:
MacRumors and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Aisha Counts / Bloomberg:
Reddit is winning over advertisers with interest-based targeting via subreddits, instead of personal data; analysis: Reddit's ad revenue to reach $1.1B+ in 2024 — Without as much personal information, Reddit lures marketers by touting interests and conversations
Discussion:
Social Media Today, more at Techmeme »
Pete Brown / Columbia Journalism Review:
Star Spangled Media, behind websites posing as news outlets, such as The Morning Mirror, appears to have close ties to pro-Democratic super PAC Forward Majority — A quasi-local news site whose operators sought a news media exception to dodge campaign finance regulators has emerged as a vehicle …
Discussion:
Sinclair Cornell on LinkedIn
Lacey Rose / The Hollywood Reporter:
Study: women accounted for 23% of creators working on original programs on TV and streaming in the US in 2023-24, down from 26% in 2022-23 and 30% in 2021-22 — The latest “Boxed In” report, now in its 27th year, offers grim findings for female representation across broadcast and streaming.
Maria Iu / The Media Leader:
WARC: global ad spending will grow by 10.5% to $1.07T in 2024; Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta will account for 43.6% of global ad spending in 2024 and 46% by 2026 — Global adspend will grow by 10.5% to $1.07tn this year, crossing the $1tn mark for the first time, according to Warc's Global Ad Spend Outlook 2024/25.
Discussion:
Inside Radio, Media Makers Meet, Radio & Television … and Advanced Television
Advanced Television:
Survey: 66% of US TV viewers use FAST platforms, 53% of them have cut down on paid streaming, and 43% signed up to a pay service to continue watching a show — Two in three (66 per cent) TV viewers in the US are using free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) platforms in a typical month …
Evelyn Okakwu / Committee to Protect Journalists:
In Nigeria, Kenya, and Senegal, journalists have been targeted, assaulted, and detained by security forces as they covered anti-government protests — “He hit me with a gun butt,” Premium Times newspaper reporter Yakubu Mohammed told the Committee to Protect Journalists …
Discussion:
Freedom of the Press …, Voice of America, The Intercept and Reporters Without Borders
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