Top News:
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
ESPN's forthcoming standalone streaming service will cost $30 per month, or $36 per month in a bundle with Disney+'s and Hulu's ad-supported tiers — ESPN's new streaming application, featuring everything the sports media arm of Disney has to offer, will cost $29.99 per month.
Discussion:
Variety, The Streamable, TVNewsCheck, TV Tech, The Desk, IndieWire, Reuters, Mediaite, Business Insider, ESPN Press Room U.S., TV Insider, The Wrap, Awful Announcing, Wall Street Journal, Engadget, Celebrity Insider, The Verge, Forbes, Axios, Los Angeles Times, The Information, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Deadline, @loudmouthjulia, @mmccarthyrev, @dannygroner.bsky.social, @corey_mcl, @sherman4949, @tvgrimreaper, @jbflint, Sports Media Watch, Streaming Better, @jbflint, @tim_bays, Cord Cutters News, 9to5Mac, Barrett Media, @sarafischer, @loudmouthjulia, @willmckinley.bsky.social and Media Play News
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Audible partners with US publishers to convert print books and e-books into audiobooks narrated by 100+ AI voices across English, Spanish, French, and Italian — The audiobook platform wants to ‘close the gap’ between the number of print and e-books in existence and audiobooks
Discussion:
The Guardian, Audible.com, TechCrunch, The Verge, Publishers Weekly and The Bookseller, more at Techmeme »
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
CEO Mark Thompson tells employees that CNN plans to launch a streaming service in the fall; cable subscribers will have free access to the service — The service is part of a major push to find paying customers for the network's journalism. — CNN is getting ready to launch a streaming service.
Discussion:
Variety, MarketWatch, The Streamable, Axios, Barrett Media, @mcgritterson.industries, @davezatz.bsky.social, Streaming Better and The Verge
Associated Press:
The WHCA says it is “disturbed” that the Trump administration barred wire service reporters from traveling with Trump on Air Force One to the Middle East — The group representing White House journalists said Monday it was disturbed that the Trump administration barred …
Andrew Webster / The Verge:
Moonbug Entertainment plans to release the first CoComelon feature film in 2027; Cocomelon's YouTube channel has 190M+ subscribers and averages 4B monthly views — The Dreamworks film is due out in 2027. … The Cocomelon empire is expanding once again. A few years after the massively …
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and The Toy Book
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
The MPA, SAG-AFTRA, WGAW, the Teamsters, and other Hollywood unions urge President Trump to support tax deductions for the industry, without mentioning tariffs — A coalition of entertainment unions, joined by the Motion Picture Association, urged President Trump on Monday to support tax deductions …
Discussion:
New York Times, The MPA, IATSE, Politico, The Guardian, Deadline, Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
YouTube will stream the week one international NFL game for free worldwide on September 5, a reflection of the NFL's desire to prioritize scale and reach — The week one matchup will feature to Los Angeles Chargers taking on an opponent to be named Wednesday, with YouTube also securing multiyear rights …
Discussion:
Deadline, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, Sportico, Engadget, Sports Business Journal, The Information, New York Times, Barrett Media, CNBC, The Streamable and The US Sun
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Q&A with Jeremy Sirota, CEO of Merlin, a trade group representing indie labels, on stepping down at the end of 2025 and the current state of the music industry — Jeremy Sirota, CEO of Merlin, will exit the company at the end of 2025 — Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Soundbite, a bit earlier in the week than usual.
Discussion:
Billboard
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Time plans to launch Time Longevity, an editorial vertical covering science, health, business, tech, and policy innovations tied to aging and the human lifespan — Time plans to launch a new editorial vertical called Time Longevity, dedicated to the coverage of science, health, business …
Discussion:
Sam Jacobs on LinkedIn and Jessica Sibley on LinkedIn
Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:
Film-focused social media platform Letterboxd plans to launch the Letterboxd Video Store, a curated transactional VOD service themed around rental “shelves” — The film lovers' social media platform is looking to leverage its 20 million-strong community with a curated online rental store.
Discussion:
The Verge
Reuters:
Czech investment group PPF launches a bid to lift its stake in German broadcaster ProSieben to 29.99%, countering MediaForEurope's plans to increase control — Czech investment group PPF on Monday launched a bid to lift its stake in German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 (PSMGn.DE) to just under 30% …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Broadcast, C21Media, Telecompaper, Financial Times, PPF Group, Broadband TV News, Deadline and WORLD SCREEN
Melissa Heikkilä / Financial Times:
Dealroom.co: content licensing and data marketplace startups like Pip Labs and ProRata have raised $215M since 2022 to help artists sell content for AI training — New crop of companies are offering artists ability to sell content to big tech firms to train AI
Discussion:
Advanced Television
