Top News:
New York Times:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he wants to work with the Trump administration to craft a $7.5B federal film tax credit; the state allocates $330M annually — The proposal for a federal program came after the president called for tariffs on movies filmed overseas, causing confusion and concern across the industry.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Wired, Forbes, Fox News, The Post Millennial, Mediaite, Times of India, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, New Jersey Online, World of Reel, Mercury News, TVNewsCheck, TV Insider, New Republic, Breitbart, The Daily Upside, UPI, Washington Post, GQ, Frontpage Mag, Deadline, Bloomberg, Puck, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Wrap, IJR, Oh No They Didn't!, @nsperling.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter, Cele|bitchy, Variety, Politico, Media Play News, The Hollywood Reporter and Reuters
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Bloomberg:
Over the weekend, Jon Voight presented Trump with a plan to boost the US entertainment industry, including tax code changes to encourage investment in US films
Discussion:
Status, Deadline, Decider, The Hill, The Guardian, Benzinga, Forbes, Rolling Stone, Hindustan Times, Business Insider, @oakmarie.bsky.social, NPR, IndieWire, The Wrap, Variety, Wall Street Journal, TheStreet, The Hollywood Reporter, Fox News, Digital Music News, Mediaite, Blaze Media, No More Mister Nice Blog and New Republic
Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:
Experts are baffled by Trump's “movie tariff” proposal, as what constitutes a “foreign” production is unclear, and tariffs won't make US filming any cheaper
Experts are baffled by Trump's “movie tariff” proposal, as what constitutes a “foreign” production is unclear, and tariffs won't make US filming any cheaper
Discussion:
The American Spectator, Yahoo Finance, @brianstelter, The Straits Times, New York Times, Variety, Associated Press, USA Today, One America News Network, Finance News Network, People, TV Tech, Fox News, Fast Company, The Hill, Media Play News, HotAir, Washington Post, The Verge and Reason
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Comcast's spinoff of the majority of the NBCU cable network portfolio will be named Versant; the “holding company” name is for “business-to-business purposes” — Comcast's spinoff of the majority of its NBCUniversal cable network portfolio will be named Versant …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
NBC plans to use generative AI to recreate the voice of famed NBA narrator Jim Fagan, who died in 2017, to use in promos, title sequences, and show opens — Fagan passed away in 2017, but when the ‘NBA on NBC’ returns this fall, his voice will appear in promos, title sequences and other segments.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: The Guardian is hiring for 12+ new editorial roles to support its US expansion; reader contributions to The Guardian US were ~$44M last FY, a new record — The Guardian is hiring for more than a dozen new editorial roles to support its U.S. expansion after growing its overall revenue year …
Discussion:
Mary Walter-Brown on LinkedIn and @azi
Erik Hayden / The Hollywood Reporter:
CNN hires Choire Sicha as SVP of features editorial; Sicha joins from Vox Media where he served as editor at large for New York Magazine — The editor, formerly at New York magazine and the Styles desk at The New York Times, is the latest to join as the brand rebuilds its digital operations
Andrew Liszewski / The Verge:
Amazon updates its iOS Kindle app to add a prominent orange “Get book” button, enabling purchases via the mobile browser, after the recent Epic v. Apple ruling — Amazon has updated its Kindle iOS app to take advantage of recent changes to Apple's App Store rules.
Discussion:
Business Insider, TechCrunch, Dexerto, Ars Technica, AppleInsider, GeekWire, Android Authority, The Information, MacRumors, Six Colors, 9to5Mac, Mashable and Stratechery, more at Techmeme »
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Swedish podcast conglomerate PodX acquires a majority stake in Lemonada Media, the network behind Meghan Markle's podcast, a source says for around $30M — The network behind podcasts from Julie Louis-Dreyfus and Meghan Markle will be PodX Group's first US-based acquisition
Discussion:
Variety, Lovisa Ohlson on LinkedIn, Podnews and The Hollywood Reporter
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Spotify debuts a “plays” metric for podcasts that shows users and creators how many times people have actively listened to or watched an audio or video episode — YouTube continues to dominate the podcasting space, but Spotify is actively working to close the gap.
Discussion:
Spotify, Android Authority, WeRSM and @joshuaogundu, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
News reader Particle launches on the web, featuring news headlines and AI summaries, key quotes, links to sources, and reader questions answered by AI — Particle, the startup behind an AI-powered newsreader that aims to help publishers, not just steal their work, is bringing its product to the web.
Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
MrBeast is teaming up with James Patterson on a thriller, to be published by HarperCollins in 2026 in 15 languages, after a reported eight-figure bidding war — Jimmy Donaldson, known to his social media fans as MrBeast, is teaming up with the mega-best-selling thriller author.
Discussion:
@schooley.bsky.social, HarperCollins, @complexpop, @oddletters.bsky.social, @globalstats11, @jscram3254.bsky.social, @simonowens.bsky.social, Sportskeeda, Dexerto, @biggestjoel, Michael Cruz on LinkedIn, AV Club, @karlbode.com, @premiumsteve.bsky.social, @mrbeast, @mrbeast, HypeFresh Inc, @drewharwell.com, The Bookseller, @alexshephard.bsky.social and The Hollywood Reporter
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
SiriusXM and Fox Nation announce a bundle that will include SiriusXM's app-only All Access plan and a subscription to Fox Nation for $11.99 per month — The Fox News owned streaming service and the satellite radio giant's streaming app will sell a bundle for $11.99 per month, a 33 percent discount.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, The Desk, Axios, Streaming Better, Cord Cutters News, Sirius XM Holdings Inc., The Streamable, Media Play News and Barrett Media
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
CPB says the Department of Education has terminated Ready To Learn, the grant program that funded Sesame Street and would've provided $23M for children's shows — The termination of the federal grant program, called Ready To Learn, resulted in a loss of $23 million that would have gone to educational programs.
Discussion:
TV Tech, Deadline, CPB, MPR News and Radio & Television …
