Top News:
New York Times:
Edgar Bronfman Jr. drops his 11th-hour bid to take control of Paramount and buy National Amusements; sources: Bronfman couldn't offer proof of financing in time — Mr. Bronfman has frantically put a bid together over the last week even as Paramount raised questions about his financing.
Discussion:
The Streamable, Business Insider, The Media Leader, Advanced Television, Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Media Play News, WORLD SCREEN, Broadband TV News, Business Insider, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, Cord Cutters News, @benmullin, Variety, @benmullin, @royprice, @sarafischer, The Wrap, Screen, The Desk, Wall Street Journal, Deadline, @mediaevan, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, Axios, @beckyquick and TVNewsCheck
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Paramount is moving ahead with asset disposals, including a potential sale of 12 TV stations that it considers non-core, which could fetch $500M to $1B — - Independent stations could fetch $500 million to $1 billion — Paramount remains the subject of an ongoing takeover saga
Discussion:
The Desk, Cord Cutters News, @matthewkeyslive, The Wrap and @michellef_davis
Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:
In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, Mark Zuckerberg says he regrets Meta wasn't more outspoken about Biden administration pressure to restrict some COVID-19 content — Meta CEO also says he won't repeat 2020 efforts to fund local elections, which Republicans criticized as ‘Zuckerbucks’
Discussion:
@judiciarygop, The Wrap, HuffPost, Financial Times, TMZ.com, The Information, ComingSoon.net, Social Media Today, Fortune, @richardgrenell, @nicksortor, @stevesi, @mdbreathe, New York Post, @realalexjones, @pattyisright, The Daily Beast, @joshuasteinman, Silicon Republic, @geoffmanne, @johnny_joey, @nicoperrino, @judiciarygop, Politico, @chrispavlovski, Raw Story, @loganclarkhall, @jeffereyjaxen, BGR, Bloomberg, Reclaim The Net, Mediaite, @shaunmmaguire, @mtaibbi, @nic__carter, The Hill and Semafor, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Jason and Travis Kelce sign a deal with Amazon's Wondery for rights to their popular New Heights podcast; a source says the three year deal is worth $100M+ — Three-year pact gives Wondery rights to ad-sales, distribution and more to NFL stars' weekly show
Discussion:
The Media Leader, The Ankler, Awful Announcing, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Sportico, E! Online, USA Today, TMZ.com, UPROXX, Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, @highyieldharry, @vinny_daniel0, @adamsinger, @deadline, New York Daily News, Maggie Clifton on LinkedIn, The Verge, Page Six, Deadline, New York Post and The Hollywood Reporter
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Gannett is shutting down its product reviews site Reviewed, sources say on November 1; staff previously accused Gannett of publishing AI-generated reviews — Newspaper giant Gannett is shutting down Reviewed, its product reviews site, effective November 1st, according to sources familiar with the decision.
Discussion:
@jeremymbarr, @ckrewson, @andyorin, Dan Ackerman on LinkedIn, Marshall Nyman on LinkedIn, @danack@threads.net, @miarsato, @loudmouthjulia, NewsGuild of New York, @jaronschneider@threads.net, The Overspill, @daveleebbg@threads.net, @baekdal, @loudmouthjulia, @michaelbishop.me, @thomasgermain and @jhilburg, more at Techmeme »
Politico:
Sources: the Harris-Trump negotiations for the ABC debate on September 10 have hit an impasse; the Harris campaign says they want open mics during the debate — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — SCOOP: IS THIS THING ON?
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fox News, Mediaite, @nbcpolitics, @brianefallon, The Hill, Poynter, KVUE-TV, Media Play News, CNN, @katesullivandc, Raw Story, @yair_rosenberg, Black America Web, @tommyxtopher, emptywheel, @blueboxdave, @vincecoglianese, The Daily Beast, @scarylawyerguy, @keithboykin, Mother Jones, @kneerecon, @selinawangtv, @kaitlancollins, @maxkennerly, @selinawangtv, @skylerforny, @metzgov, @sahilkapur, New York Times, @samstein, @eugenedaniels2, @justinbaragona, @brianefallon, Al Jazeera, New Jersey Online, New Republic, Vanity Fair, HuffPost, New York Post, The Wrap, Fortune, CBS News, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Deadline and Forbes
Variety:
Sony India and Zee Entertainment reach a comprehensive, non-cash settlement to resolve all disputes related to their planned $10B merger, halted earlier in 2024 — The agreement brings an end to the legal proceedings that had been ongoing at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre …
Discussion:
Reuters, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline
Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Sources: Disney is in contract renewal talks with DirecTV that could see ABC, ESPN, and other channels blacked out as early as September 1 if no deal is reached — DirecTV is looking to ease contract terms that have long required cable and satellite-TV distributors to charge customers …
Discussion:
Business Insider, @sctvman, @ourand_puck, Benzinga, Cord Cutters News, TVNewsCheck, The TV Answer Man!, Reuters and What's On Disney Plus
Christine Murray / Financial Times:
How Mexico became one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalism, as crime groups grow and President López Obrador fuels hostility towards reporters — Crime groups collude with local authorities as leftist leader López Obrador fuels hostile environment for reporters
Discussion:
@gideonrachman, Voice of America, Washington Post and European Federation …
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
A judge reverses a jury's $600K verdict that Disney misused Rearden's tech in Beauty and the Beast, saying it couldn't have known its contractor was misusing it — Disney (DIS.N) convinced a federal judge in California on Monday to reverse a jury's $600,000 verdict that it misused another …
Reuters:
Reuters says a strike on a hotel in eastern Ukraine killed Ryan Evans, who was a safety adviser for the agency, and two journalists were hospitalized — Ryan Evans, a member of the Reuters team covering the war in Ukraine, was killed and two Reuters journalists were injured in a strike …
Discussion:
Reuters, Washington Post, European Federation …, pravda.com.ua, Press Gazette, @mjluxmoore, @nsc_spox, Byline Times, London Evening Standard, @zelenskyyua, @tggrove, Al Jazeera, TVNewsCheck, Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect …, BBC, New York Post, @reuterszengerle, @beaking_news, @christopherjm, CBS News, @marikakatanuma, @kyivindependent_official …, @williamsjon, Associated Press, Deadline, The Wrap, @w7voa@journa.host, Voice of America, Financial Times, Metro.co.uk, Bloomberg and Talking Biz News
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
A US district judge orders Missouri's AG to halt his probe into Media Matters' November 2023 report on X ads, after a similar order against Texas' AG in April — Judge: Missouri AG's actions chill speech about extremist content on Musk's X. — A federal judge ordered Missouri's attorney general …