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, Mediaite, IndieWire, ESPN Press Room U.S., Business Insider, Reuters, @pkafka, TV Insider, The Wrap, Awful Announcing, Engadget, Axios, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Information, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Deadline, @loudmouthjulia, Celebrity Insider, @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, The Verge and Media Play News
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, Deadline, MarketWatch, Barrett Media, Axios, @mcgritterson.industries, The Streamable, @davezatz.bsky.social, Streaming Better and The Verge
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 »
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
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
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, The Verge, CNBC, Barrett Media, The Streamable and The US Sun
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
Reuters:
Tencent Music reports Q1 revenue up 8.7% YoY to ~$1.02B, vs. ~$1.01B est., paying users up 8.3%, and social entertainment services revenue down 11.9% to ~$215M — Tencent Music Entertainment (1698.HK) exceeded analysts' expectations for first-quarter revenue on Tuesday, driven by growth in subscribers for its online music services.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
TelevisaUnivision says it plans to debut ~40 microdramas on ViX in ~1 min episodes before expanding into other genres, following the format's popularity in Asia — Music events, 24/7 live reality concepts and vertical video mini telenovelas are among the ideas the Spanish-language media company is pushing this year.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Adweek and StreamTV Insider
