Top News:
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Amazon joins the Motion Picture Association, after a long courtship; the lobbying group's other members are Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and WBD — The Motion Picture Association has been wooing the company for years. The addition gives the group a lot more muscle.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, The Wrap and Deadline, more at Techmeme »
Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
Amazon's new competition TV show, debuting October 30, will have entrepreneurs pitch judges, including Amazon execs; finalists' product will be sold on Amazon — In competition show, sellers compete in front of Amazon executives and celebrity judges — Coming soon: Amazon.com sellers duking …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Ted Sarandos calls on streaming rivals to release their viewership numbers, says Netflix can double its viewership with live events and Christmas Day NFL games — The executive added that he believes the streaming giant can double its viewership thanks to programming like live events and the Christmas Day NFL games.
Discussion:
Quartz, IndieWire, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap and Deadline
Josh Dickey / The Wrap:
Fox News fires Robert Samuel, a nearly 20-year network veteran who was an executive producer for Sean Hannity's show, after allegations of sexual harassment — Robert Samuel was terminated last week, according to Brian Stelter's “Reliable Sources” — Fox News has fired “Hannity” …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The Economist introduces AI translations into French, German, Mandarin, and Spanish for Espresso, its budget-friendly, “snack-sized” journalism app — The Economist has deployed AI-translated content on its budget-friendly “snack-sized” app Espresso after deciding the technology had reached the “good enough” mark.
Discussion:
Ludwig Siegele on LinkedIn
Reshmi Basu / Bloomberg:
Sources: Byron Allen's media group is planning deeper cost cuts as it faces debt repayment deadlines, including one in February 2025 — - The company has retained Moelis and Kirkland as advisers — Its $840 million term loan quoted about 65 cents on the dollar
Discussion:
Adweek
Matt Bernardini / The Guardian:
A look at Intelligencer Today, a pro-Russian, anti-vaccine website with editorial board members tied to Trump and contributors tied to Kremlin state media — George Papadopoulos and others involved in Intelligencer, increasingly popular source of news in rightwing circles
Discussion:
@brian_whit, emptywheel, New Republic, Raw Story and @mattbernardini7
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Amazon launches an AI-powered video generator, available for some US advertisers in beta, which turns a single product image into a few-seconds-long video clip — Like its rival, Google, Amazon has launched an AI-powered video generator — but it's only for advertisers at the moment, and somewhat limited in what it can do.
Discussion:
MediaPost, About Amazon, The Desk and Tv Technology, more at Techmeme »
Sean Hollister / The Verge:
YouTube says it has “widely rolled out Pause ads to all advertisers” after a “strong advertiser and strong viewer response”; YouTube piloted Pause ads in 2023 — It's been nearly six years since we warned you that ads were coming for your pause button …
Discussion:
New York Times, BGR, Thurrott, AdExchanger, Android Authority and Search Engine Land, more at Techmeme »
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
The EU's General Court annuls a €1.49B antitrust fine imposed on Google in 2019 for abusing its dominance to prevent websites from using non-AdSense ad brokers — Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit Google won a legal challenge on Wednesday against a 1.49 billion euro ($1.7 billion) …
Discussion:
Android Central, @adrianweckler, @eucourtpress, The Register, Android Authority, The Information, Global Competition Review, Search Engine Land, Courthouse News Service, Thurrott, BBC, Wall Street Journal, The Information, Neowin, Engadget, Financial Times, CNBC, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, Reuters, Associated Press, Politico and RTÉ
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New York Times:
Axel Springer strikes a deal with KKR and CPP to split into two, with control of the publishing giant's classified ads business going to the PE firms — The deal values all of Axel Springer at roughly $15 billion, with the company's publishing assets worth about $4 billion.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Information, Axios, Reuters, Financial Times, Bloomberg and MediaPost
David Ingram / NBC News:
Analysis: Elon Musk, apparently unaware of Tenet Media's alleged Russian funding, replied to or reposted content from accounts tied to Tenet at least 60 times — Musk, apparently unaware of the company's Russia funding source, engaged with content from Tenet Media and its creators at least 60 times.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, The Federalist and New Republic, more at Techmeme »
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
TelevisaUnivision names Daniel Alegre as its new CEO, replacing Wade Davis, who will become the company's vice chairman and continue as a member of the board — TelevisaUnivision CEO WadeDavis will hand the reins of the Spanish-language media giant to Daniel Alegre, the Activision Blizzard …
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