Top News:
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Financial Times CEO John Ridding plans to step down on July 1 after 19 years, and will take an honorary FT chair title; the FT will now find a replacement — Financial Times CEO John Ridding is stepping down in June after leading the newspaper group for almost 20 years.
Discussion:
Nikkei Asia, Talking Biz News, @ft, @pressgazette, Financial Times and Dominic Ponsford on LinkedIn
Washington Post:
A look at the Trump administration's strategy to transform its traditional press shop into a rapid-response influencer operation via memes, TikTok, and podcasts — The Trump administration has transformed its traditional press shop into a rapid-response influencer operation, and “they're all offense, all the time.”
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
ITV reports FY 2024 revenue down 3% YoY to $5.34B, Studios revenue down 6% YoY to $2.63B, digital ad revenue up 15% YoY, and its efficiency program saved $77.5M — The U.K.'s ITV revealed strong profit growth in its full-year results for 2024, despite facing challenges from the U.S. actors …
Discussion:
WORLD SCREEN, Reuters, The Media Leader, The Hollywood Reporter, ITV Plc, The Standard, MorningstarUK, Variety, Deadline and Shares Magazine
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
Memo: MSNBC hires WABC-TV VP and News Director Scott Matthews to serve as head of newsgathering, and plans to hire 100 journalists as part of its news operation — The network, which recently overhauled its programming lineup, is bringing on Scott Matthews as head of newsgathering. — Just now
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Barrett Media, Deadline and @jeremymbarr
Mandy Dalugdug / Music Business Worldwide:
Lyric rights licensing company LyricFind sues Musixmatch and its owner TPG Growth, alleging antitrust violations that threaten competition across the industry — LyricFind has lodged an antitrust lawsuit against lyrics provider Musixmatch and its private equity owner TPG Growth.
Discussion:
LyricFind, CMU, Bloomberg Law, MLex, Music Ally, Digital Music News and @lyricfind
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix plans to host its second live boxing special on July 11 at Madison Square Garden with a rematch of Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano — The all-women's boxing card will be held at Madison Square Garden July 11, and will stream live on Netflix. — Netflix is back in business …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
All Elite Wrestling and Amazon Prime Video announce a new multi-year agreement to offer AEW's pay-per-view events in the US, Canada, and the UK on Prime Video — The new pay-per-view streaming partnership kicks off this weekend with AEW Revolution, which costs $49.99.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann says Netflix plans to spend ~$18B in cash on content in 2025, up nearly 11% YoY, and the amount is “not anywhere near a ceiling” — Netflix expects to spend in the neighborhood of $18 billion in cash on content in 2025 — and it sees plenty of runway …
Discussion:
The Streamable, @tylerbishop, @tvgrimreaper, Deadline, The Wrap and Media Play News
Wayne Friedman / MediaPost:
BIA estimates core US local ad spend to grow 6.1% YoY to $171B in 2025, with digital media having a 52.4% share and traditional media having 47.6% — Core, non-political U.S. local advertising is estimated to grow 6.1% in 2025 to $171 billion from a year ago, according to BIA Advisory Services.
Discussion:
Inside Radio, TV Tech, Radio & Television …, TVNewsCheck and Barrett Media
The Wrap:
Sources: LAT's Hector Becerra faced an HR probe in 2022 over alleged “insulting” behavior, including bullying; LAT says it has “been addressed and resolved” — The paper's De Los editor Paloma Esquivel resigned last week, accusing HR of dismissing her complaints against Becerra
Discussion:
@sharonwaxman, @sharonwaxman, @sharonwaxman and @gstarr.bsky.social
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Politico unveils an AI tool that lets Politico Pro subscribers generate detailed policy reports using data from Politico's reporting and analysis — In February, the White House announced plans to cancel $8 million of Politico Pro subscriptions — Political news publisher Politico unveiled …
Discussion:
Gabriel Brotman on LinkedIn, Politico and Jane Friedman
Gordon Smith / Journalism.co.uk:
How the Financial Times is using online polls to engage readers and grow subscriptions; polls in FT newsletters regularly record engagement rates above 75% — The newspaper has a loyal, well-informed readership keen to share their opinions. Polls in its newsletters record engagement over 75 per cent
Andrew Cohen / Awful Announcing:
Gannett posts job listings for an AI sports editor and AI-assisted sports reporter; after flubs in 2023, it paused using LedeAI for high school sports stories — Gannett plans to hire an “AI Sports Editor” and “AI-Assisted Sports Reporter” as America's largest newspaper chain doubles-down on artificial intelligence in its newsrooms.
Discussion:
@danrshafer, @aaronnagler, @andrew_cohen0, @joshua_newman and @michaelsocolow
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