Top News:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
WBD reports Q1 revenue down 10% YoY to $8.9B, net income down 53% to $453M, $2.6B streaming revenue, $339M streaming adjusted EBITDA, and 122.3M streaming subs — Even so, the company had to contend with dips in all of its traditional streams of revenue, including advertising and distribution …
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
WBD says it'll start getting “more assertive” about blocking password sharing later in 2025 and Max password-sharing feature will fully roll out in 12-18 months
Discussion:
Deadline, Media Play News, Cord Cutters News, Business Insider, The Hollywood Reporter and TVNewsCheck
Tony Maglio / The Hollywood Reporter:
CNBC's David Faber: sources say WBD is moving toward a split that would see its linear cable networks spun off from the studio and Max
CNBC's David Faber: sources say WBD is moving toward a split that would see its linear cable networks spun off from the studio and Max
Discussion:
CNBC, Seeking Alpha, Yahoo Finance, @tvgrimreaper, @dylanbyers, Los Angeles Times, Cord Cutters News, TVNewsCheck, Mediaite, Reuters and Barrett Media
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Paramount reports Q1 revenue down 6% YoY to $7.19B, a $550M net income, Paramount+ subs up 11% to 79M, and still expects the Skydance deal to close in H1 2025 — Paramount Global, under scrutiny as it works to complete a deal that will have it acquired by Skydance Media …
ABC News:
President Trump appoints Fox News host and former prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as interim US attorney for DC, replacing his earlier pick, Ed Martin — Pirro will serve as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. — Trump disappointed by Sen. Tillis' opposition …
Discussion:
New York Times, Mediaite, TVLine, Fox News, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post, People, Townhall, Tennessee Star, Democrats, Raw Story, USA Today, HotAir, The Western Journal, Washington Times, WHDH-TV, Washington Examiner, KDFX-TV, Forbes, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The National Pulse, @sethabramson.bsky.social, ABA Journal, @supportdemocracy.bsky.social, NPR, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, RedState, @celestepewter.bsky.social, @austinahlman, Lawyers, Guns & Money, @kenwhite.bsky.social, The Hill, The Mahablog, @esqueer.net, @punkrockscience.bsky.social, DNyuz, Freedom of the Press …, @maxberger.bsky.social, @zkarlinn, Axios, @lrozen, The Gateway Pundit, @hollybushbooks.bsky.social, @johnlcorbett.bsky.social, Carolina Journal, NBC News, @samstein, @jeremymbarr, New York Post, @zenofdesign.com, Twitchy, @anatosaurus.bsky.social, @jeremymbarr, The Independent, Blaze Media, New York Daily News, The Post Millennial, CBS News and CatholicVote org
Peter White / Deadline:
David Eilenberg, who was head of content at Roku Media for the last two years, is returning to ITV America to oversee its creative direction — Eilenberg, who was head of content at Roku Media for the last two years, is returning to the Love Island USA producer as Creative Director.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter and Realscreen
Washington Post:
The Washington Post names ex-WSJ deputy EIC Jason Anders as managing editor of its News Hub, a newly created role to build the publication's central news desk — The newly created leadership role is charged with managing The Post's daily news agenda — The Washington Post named Jason Anders …
Discussion:
The Wrap, @airbagmoments.bsky.social and Jason Anders on LinkedIn
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
The podcast market is heating up again, driven by the 2024 US election's demonstration of the medium's cultural might and the deterioration of traditional TV — As the linear TV business falters, broadcasters are eyeing podcasters while investors pump cash into independent networks — Hi, everyone.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Just Jared, GB News, Townhall, Politico and New York Post
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Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Mark Lazarus says Versant, Comcast's cable TV spinoff, will have its own sports strategy, and has held talks with the NWSL and MLB on acquiring live game rights — Comcast's spinoff of most of NBCUniversal's cable portfolio has a new name - Versant. This week, I had a chance to speak …
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Meta says it will start testing video ads on Threads with a “small number” of advertisers, and “Reels trending ads”, which will be shown next to trending Reels — Instagram Threads will begin testing video ads, Meta announced on Thursday.
Discussion:
@crumbler@threads.com, MediaPost, Engadget, Tubefilter, Adweek, @devonheinen.bsky.social and Deadline, more at Techmeme »
Zac Ntim / Deadline:
India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting orders all streamers and OTT companies operating in India to pull Pakistani content, citing national security — The order was published today by India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. In an X caption along with the order …
Discussion:
The Register, @globalaffairs, The Indian Express, @ani, The Economic Times, Times of India, Fortune India and BMI
Chris Vallance / BBC:
The Wikimedia Foundation says it is taking legal action to challenge the UK's Online Safety Act, saying it could threaten the safety of its volunteer editors — Wikipedia is taking legal action against new Online Safety Act regulations it says could threaten the safety of its volunteer editors …
Discussion:
The Verge, Silicon UK, Engadget, Diff, @openrightsgroup, City A.M. and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »
Jem Aswad / Variety:
Rolling Stone announces CEO Gus Wenner will assume the role of executive chairman and Julian Holguin, the former president of Billboard, will become the new CEO — Rolling Stone has announced that Gus Wenner will assume the role of executive chairman, and Julian Holguin will become the brand's CEO.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Julian Holguin on LinkedIn, The Hollywood Reporter and MediaPost
Mark K. Miller / TVNewsCheck:
Nexstar reports Q1 revenue down 3.9% YoY to $1.23B, primarily due to reduced political advertising revenue, and net income down 42% to $97M — That $50 million drop to $1.23 billion was “primarily due to reduced political advertising revenue.” — Nexstar Media Group this morning reported …
Discussion:
The Desk, Sportico, @tvgrimreaper, Variety, Yahoo Finance, Barrett Media and Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
Chris Gardner / The Hollywood Reporter:
Former British Vogue EIC Edward Enninful and his sister Akua plan to launch digital platform EE72 and quarterly print magazine 72 Magazine in September 2025 — Edward Enninful's EE72 has reeled in Simone Oliver as head of content, Sarah Harris as editorial director and Lee Swillingham …
Discussion:
The Business of Fashion, WWD and Red Carpet Fashion Awards
