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Nielsen: the Harris-Trump debate drew ~67.14M US viewers across multiple networks, almost 16M more viewers than the final Biden-Trump debate in June — That number was up 31% from the 51.266 million who tuned in to Trump's debate with president Joe Biden (from CNN) in June, before the latter dropped out to endorse Harris.
Discussion:
Nielsen, Reuters, New York Times, CNN, NBC News, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, Next TV, Media Play News, Politico, Los Angeles Times, @brianstelter@threads.net, Deadline, @tvmojoe, @tvmojoe, Fox News, Newser, IndieWire, @crupicrupicrupi, The Wrap, New York Daily News, @tvmojoe, Mediaite, The Daily Beast and Forbes
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How Linsey Davis and David Muir firmly pursued real-time fact-checking to build guardrails around Trump in the ABC News debate between Trump and Harris — Calmly and firmly, Linsey Davis and David Muir pursued the kind of real-time fact-checking missing from many previous debates.
Discussion:
ABC News, NBC News, CNN, HuffPost, @acyn, @timalberta, @davidfolkenflik, @brianstelter, Breitbart, Status, The Cut, TIME, @dicktofel, @brianstelter, @newscentralcnn, Los Angeles Times, @sarafischer, Wall Street Journal, @abughazalehkat, Fox News, New Republic, @mistergeezy, @mehdirhasan, Variety, Poynter, @davidgura, @brianstelter, @juliachanb, @billackman, New York Times, @howardkurtz, San Diego Union-Tribune, @joolesplumm, Mediaite, The Wrap, @nhannahjones, Fast Company, @dylanbyers, MSNBC, @get_status@threads.net, Axios, @benjysarlin, @yashar, @jmflatham, @brianstelter, @hughhewitt, @cmclymer, @jvlast@threads.net, @kyleclark9news@threads.net, @acwardblueridge@threads.net, The Federalist, UPI, Status, Barrett Media, Newser, Vogue, The Guardian, The Hill, The Daily Beast, Politico, Deadline, C-SPAN.org, Media Matters for America, Vanity Fair and Advocate


Oahu Publications, which owns Hawaii newspapers, is using AI-generated newscasters on the YouTube and Instagram channels of The Garden Island, launched in 1902 — A company that owns several newspapers in Hawaii is using AI-generated newscasters to create video news segments against the wishes …
Discussion:
Wired, @jason_koebler, Tim Thigpen on LinkedIn and @brianvastag@sciencemastodon …


Shares of Truth Social owner Trump Media closed down over 10% after Trump's debate with Harris, ending at their lowest level since they began publicly trading — The share price of Trump Media plunged more than 13% on Wednesday, a day after majority shareholder Donald Trump gave …
Discussion:
The Badger Herald, @lucas_a_meyer@threads.net, @lucas_a_meyer@threads.net, @Free_Press@mstdn.social, NPR, @levie, @kellyscaletta, CBS News, @timsteno, @KimPerales@toad.social, Boing Boing, New York Post, UPI, The Guardian, Forbes, Fast Company, CNN, NewsNation, Mediaite and Reuters, more at Techmeme »


Forbes' unionized editorial staff passes a vote of no confidence in CEO Mike Federle and chief content officer Randall Lane, over pay issues and more — The unionized editorial staff of Forbes, represented by The NewsGuild of New York, has overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confidence …
Discussion:
@talkingbiznews


Amazon's Prime Video adds AI-driven “Prime Insights”, expands interactive ad formats, and adds 50 new brands as advertisers for Thursday Night Football — As it gets ready to kick off its third season of exclusive streams of Thursday Night Football, Prime Video is rolling …
Discussion:
Adweek, Variety, Marketing Dive, The Hollywood Reporter, Ad Age, Sportico, The Information and The Streamable


Nine CEO Mike Sneesby steps down and will depart the company at the end of September after over three years in the role; CFO Matt Stanton is named interim CEO — Nine chief executive Mike Sneesby will depart the company at the end of September after 3½ years in the role.
Discussion:
Variety, The Guardian, Mumbrella, AdNews News, news.com.au, Australian Financial Review, 7NEWS, Capital Brief and 9News

Bluesky rolls out the ability to post videos of up to 60 seconds with optional attached subtitles; each post can contain one video, and adult content is allowed — Bluesky, the social networking startup now nearing 10 million users thanks to X's ban in Brazil, will now allow users to share videos …


Sources: a group led by Dovid Efune, conservative publisher of The New York Sun, bids for The Telegraph; source: backers include Oaktree and Hudson Bay Capital — The Scoop — A group of North American financiers led by a low-profile, British-born conservative publisher have emerged …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Guardian, Sky News, Press Gazette and @afneil

Seoul-based Spoon Labs, which operates an audio streamer called Spoon and a short video app called Vigloo, raised ~$89.3M from PUBG publisher Krafton — It's the firm's largest investment in a non-gaming area to date — PUBG firm Krafton has invested KRW 120 billion ($89.3 million) in streaming company Spoon Labs.
Discussion:
The Information, KED Global, Game Developer, Forbes and Games Press news, more at Techmeme »

Affiliate links are no longer an easy revenue source for news publishers, as Google downranks product recommendations from non-specialized outlets — This is an archived version of a Baekdal/Basic newsletter (it's free). It is sent out about once per week and features the latest articles …
Discussion:
@danackerman, @mediaevan and @risj_oxford


A group of Democratic senators asks the FTC and DOJ to probe whether AI tools that summarize online content like news may amount to anticompetitive practices — A group of Democratic senators is urging the FTC and Justice Department to investigate whether AI tools that summarize …
Discussion:
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, UPI, @bishplsok, @shadowhaxor, @leftcoastbabe, News/Media Alliance, Raptive and Axios


On Day 2 of the US DOJ's antitrust trial focused on ads, a former News Corp executive testifying as a government witness said Google held publishers “hostage” — Google's tool that lets publishers sell ad space on their websites is ubiquitous, but that's largely a testament …
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