Mediagazer: How Bluey became a brand worth an estimated $2B, spawning immersive experiences, books, podcasts, toys, albums, themed hotel rooms, and more (Leena Tailor/The Hollywood Reporter)

1:55 AM ET, March 20, 2025

Top News:

Kylie Robison / The Verge:

Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy says the Disney+ show's scripts will not be released as planned, due to fears that they could be used as AI training data — Tony Gilroy doesn't want his work to become training data. … Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy told Collider he has killed plans to publish …

Discussion: Collider and News/Talk 94.9 WSJM

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Ziff Davis' Everyday Health acquires women-focused newsletter company theSkimm, whose co-CEOs will stay on with no plans to lay off any of its 75 staffers — Ziff Davis, one of the largest publicly-traded digital media companies, has acquired TheSkimm, executives told Axios.

Discussion: The Wrap, @sarafischer, Danielle Weisberg on LinkedIn, Sara Fischer on LinkedIn, @mediaevan, @ziffdavis, Amy Sterner Nelson on LinkedIn, Jennifer Meyer on LinkedIn and Variety

Variety:

Q&A with Netflix's Ted Sarandos on his 25-year anniversary at Netflix, his cameo on Apple TV+ series The Studio, competing with suppliers like Disney, and more — In a few weeks, Ted Sarandos will make his acting debut — playing Ted Sarandos. The co-CEO of Netflix is lampooning himself …

Discussion: HELLO!, Screen Rant, Us Weekly, @tvgrimreaper, New York Post, Blogcritics, @variety, Mirror, @discussingfilm, @loudmouthjulia, People, The Wrap, Variety, Business Insider, 9to5Mac, TVNewsCheck, Observer and Just Jared, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Newsletter service Ghost launches support for ActivityPub integration in beta for Ghost(Pro) subscribers, letting them share their posts across the fediverse — Newsletter platform Ghost, an open source competitor to Substack, is now connected to the fediverse, also known as the open social web.

Discussion: Ghost, The Verge, The Fediverse Report and One Man & His Blog, more at Techmeme »

Miranda Green / Nieman Lab:

Greenpeace accuses Dakota Access Pipeline's owner of using a direct mailer, stylized as a local newspaper called Central ND News, to sway the jury in a lawsuit — Though Central ND News promises to “fill the void in community news after years of decline in local reporting by legacy media” …

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

NYT says it will start tracking public opinion surveys to build “on the work of the politics website 538”, providing the data in about the same format as 538 — When ABC shut down FiveThirtyEight early this month, the site's publicly available polling databases …

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

David Novak, co-founder of Yum Brands, has been named chairman of the new company that will be formed by Comcast's NBCUniversal spinoff — Your Privacy Rights — PMC, its service providers, and third-party partners collect information about you and how you use our services …

Discussion: The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Business Wire, TVNewsCheck, Radio & Television … and Deadline

Leena Tailor / The Hollywood Reporter:

How Bluey became a brand worth an estimated $2B, spawning immersive experiences, books, podcasts, toys, albums, themed hotel rooms, and more — The brand has spawned immersive experiences, books, podcasts, toys, albums, clothing, homeware, themed hotel rooms, Facebook groups and a mobile game …

Andreas Wiseman / Deadline:

Source: Ketchup Entertainment is negotiating an all-rights acquisition for ~$50M for Warner Bros' movie Coyote vs. Acme, which was shelved in November 2023 — Gareth West's distributor-financier Ketchup Entertainment is negotiating an all-rights acquisition in the $50M range for the animated-live-action hybrid project.

Liam Scott / Columbia Journalism Review:

A press freedom reporter at VOA recalls its last days, as dozens of staffers on J-1 visas may have to return to countries with a record of jailing critics — Covering the press freedom beat at VOA, I got a front-row seat to its demise. — On Saturday, about thirteen hundred Voice of America staffers …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Economist, @angelapriestley.bsky.social, @liamjscott, @emrwilkins, The Contrarian, Fortune, UPI, Reuters, Vox, MSNBC, @jamestgriffiths.com, @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social, @sulliview.bsky.social, The Hill and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Financial Times:

Sportradar will take over Endeavor's IMG Arena data platform and its portfolio of sports betting rights in a deal where Endeavor will pay Sportradar $225M — Entertainment group is slimming down ahead of private equity takeover — Entertainment conglomerate Endeavor is paying a US rival $225mn …

Discussion: @mukund, Sportradar AG, @sportradar, @sportradar, Bloomberg, @novy_williams, @butlerbets, @mattrybaltowski, Sportcal, Benzinga, Sportico and The Straits Times

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Plex is increasing Plex Pass prices for the first time in a decade and making remote playback for personal media a paid feature at $1.99/month or $19.99/year — Streaming service and software maker Plex is raising its prices. The company announced on Wednesday its first price increase …

Discussion: The Verge, Plex, Android Police, Ars Technica, @zoriya_dev, MacRumors, The Desk, 9to5Mac, Cord Cutters News, @trashfirefurry.bsky.social, @tanmays, Engadget, PCWorld, Streaming Better and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »

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More News:

Justin Kaufmann / Axios:
The Chicago Sun-Times' film critic Richard Roeper takes a voluntary buyout after 37 years at the paper; the Sun-Times guild says 15 of its members took buyouts

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, @paschutz, @rossread, Current, Crain's Chicago Business, @richarderoeper, @richarderoeper, @mattlindner, The Wrap, Chicago Tribune, @cstguild.bsky.social, Chicago Sun Times, Awful Announcing and Chicago Sun Times

Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Vice Media buys commercial and music video production studio London Alley, which will merge with Vice's Pulse to form Vice Commercials and Branded Entertainment

Ashley Belanger / Ars Technica:
A three-judge panel in US appeals court ruled, in a case involving AI generated poetry, that the Copyright Act requires human authorship for registration

Discussion: SiliconANGLE, @zinniajones.com, Reuters, CNBC, ABA Journal, Reason, Lawyer Monthly and The Register, more at Techmeme »

Samantha Masunaga / Los Angeles Times:
The California Film Commission chooses a record 51 films to receive incentives in the state's film and TV tax credit program, including 46 indie films

Discussion: Joseph D. Chianese on LinkedIn, @erik_hayden, @latimes.com, Los Angeles Business Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, Governor of California, The Wrap, E&E News and WKYC-TV

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The UK's NUJ urges Reach to reconsider a 2% pay rise offer for staff and compares £600 staff bonuses with the £662,000 in total bonuses paid to CEO Jim Mullen

Discussion: HoldtheFrontPage, @pressgazette.co.uk, @kaleidoscopekami.bsky.social, Reach Corporate, Yahoo Finance and National Union of Journalists …

Mike Butcher / TechCrunch:
Agentic Marketing Technologies, whose AI agent Lyra helps influencers book and run marketing campaigns, raised a $3.5M seed led by NFX

Discussion: @tdoggyholhol

Earlier Picks:

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
ABC: print circulation of the UK's Daily Mirror fell 16.4% YoY in February 2025 to 196,150, dropping below 200,000 for the first time since the Edwardian era

Discussion: Rupert Hargreaves on LinkedIn, Steve Sampson on LinkedIn, Alistair Parker on LinkedIn, Jason Weekes on LinkedIn, @mediaguy19.bsky.social, @jamiegoode.bsky.social, @benfenton.bsky.social and @para-handy.bsky.social

Lucy Knight / The Guardian:
Crowdfunding publisher Unbound goes into administration and has been acquired by newly-formed Boundless; some authors say they haven't been paid for months

Discussion: @lemnsissay, @sdebar, @katharineq, @kizzia.bsky.social, Substack, @scribblerrob.bsky.social, @alanrew.bsky.social, @mcragg.bsky.social, @adashofseaglass.bsky.social, @danrhodes.bsky.social, @isobelstarling.bsky.social, @katbrownwrites.com, @matpringle.bsky.social, @shaunusher.bsky.social, @victoriastrauss.bsky.social, @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social, @russincheshire.bsky.social and The Bookseller

Lindsey Bahr / Associated Press:
The National Association of Theatre Owners changes name to Cinema United, saying it is “complicated having the same name as a multinational military alliance”

Discussion: Variety, @mediaevan.bsky.social, @royaltenenbaum69.bsky.social, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire and Deadline

Bloomberg.com:
Community Notes, first on X and rolling out on Meta's platforms, fall well short of stopping misinformation, and eliminating the rewards would go much further

Discussion: MediaPost, @joshuatopolsky.com, PRWeek, @pinemikey.bsky.social and Bloomberg

Reuters:
Sources: CCI officials raided the Indian offices of global ad giants, including GroupM, Publicis, Dentsu, and Interpublic Group, over alleged price collusion

Discussion: The Indian Express, @reuters, @reuters, MEDIANAMA and Aditya Kalra on LinkedIn

From Techmeme:

Suzanne Smalley / The Record:
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court rules that police can get Google search data without a warrant; an expert warns it may encourage warrantless searches nationwide

Meghan Bobrowsky / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta is developing a new image and video-focused AI model codenamed Mango, expected to be released in H1 2026 along with its new LLM dubbed Avocado

Lydia Beyoud / Bloomberg:
The US Senate confirms Trump pick Michael Selig as chairman of the CFTC, as lawmakers consider legislation to give the agency more control over digital assets

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