Top News:
Sara Fischer / Axios:
PBS and a public TV affiliate in Minnesota sue the Trump administration, saying his executive order to cut federal funding violated PBS' First Amendment rights — The nonprofit Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and one of its local affiliates on Friday said they sued the Trump administration …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Variety, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Newser, United States District Court District of Columbia, ABC News, Washington Examiner, Reuters, Florida Daily, CNBC, The Independent, Techdirt, AV Club, Los Angeles Times, BroadwayWorld, Ace of Spades HQ, CBS News, Politico, Cryptopolitan, Fox News, Business Insider and NewsMax.com
Max Tani / Semafor:
The California State Senate opens an inquiry into whether Paramount's reported $15M proposed settlement with Trump violated bribery and unfair competition laws — The Scoop — The California State Senate has invited two former top CBS figures to testify in a new inquiry into whether …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Politico, @brucedlittle.bsky.social, @semaforben, The Wrap, Variety, @richlightshed, @jameeljaffer.bsky.social, @scottwiener.bsky.social, Reuters, One America News Network, TVNewsCheck, NewscastStudio, The Hill, AV Club, Benzinga, IJR, American Wire News, Raw Story, NewsMax.com, Wall Street Journal and Cord Cutters News
Chris Willman / Variety:
Taylor Swift acquires the rights to her first six albums from Shamrock Capital; sources say the deal was in the mid-$300M range — The deal with Shamrock Holdings was a triumph for Swift after six years of turmoil in which her catalog had been sold and resold. The final price tag came at what she considered a reasonable price.
Discussion:
The Official Website …, New York Times, Us Weekly, HELLO!, Daily Mail, Time, GoldDerby, Lefsetz Letter, Rolling Stone, @jenrara, Fast Company, @taylorswift13, @lucas_shaw, PitchBook, @danprimack, Inc, People, Associated Press, Deseret News, TODAY.com, The Hollywood Reporter, InStyle, @lucas_shaw, Financial Times, The Indian Express, Billboard, CNBC, Socialite Life, Digital Music News, Vanity Fair, TMZ.com, Quartz, Richard Stumpf on LinkedIn, ZeroHedge News, Forbes, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Page Six, The Cut, Reuters, Bustle, @yvettenicolebrown@threads.com, @nathanchubbard@threads.com, The Verge, Marie Claire, Plain Dealer, Washington Post, NBC Bay Area, Entrepreneur, Entertainment Weekly, KSDK-TV, Screen Rant, @stevekovach.bsky.social, Consequence, Vogue, The Wrap, @mollyknight.bsky.social, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, @mattbelloni.bsky.social, StyleCaster, @brianstelter.bsky.social, Music Business Worldwide, Above the Law, Just Jared, Extra, UNILAD, Cosmopolitan, Elle, FemaleFirst, WPXI-TV and Oh No They Didn't!
Rory Carroll / The Guardian:
Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams wins a defamation case against the BBC over a documentary that claimed that Adams had sanctioned an MI5 informant's murder — Former Sinn Féin leader sued broadcaster over allegation in documentary that he sanctioned murder of MI5 informant
Discussion:
Sky News, Canadian Press, BBC, NPR, UPI, The Guardian, @jim.londoncentric.media, Al Jazeera, Daily Mail, Politico, Press Association, WTOP News, Press Gazette, Financial Times, Deadline, GB News, thenational.scot and Associated Press
The Bookseller:
Boundless, which bought crowdfunding publisher Unbound in March, tells authors that royalties accrued before March won't be paid until Boundless is cash stable — Authors published by the crowdfunding publisher Unbound will not receive historic royalty payments for sales of their books …
Christopher Grimes / Financial Times:
Art house streaming service and distributor Mubi raised $100M led by Sequoia at a $1B valuation; Mubi has about 20M registered users worldwide — Capital infusion led by Silicon Valley firm comes after box office success of ‘The Substance’ — Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Discussion:
GQ
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Nexstar has deleted references to DEI and data on its workforce composition from its site; it is interested in acquisitions that are subject to FCC approval — Nexstar Media Group is the latest major media and entertainment company to soften its diversity, equity and inclusiveness (DEI) …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Former MSNBC host Joy Reid plans to launch The Joy Reid Show, a new video podcast, on June 9, streaming on YouTube and other major podcast platforms — The former MSNBC host will launch ‘The Joy Reid Show’ next month, with plans to expand to five days per week later this year.
Discussion:
Variety, New York Sun, Baller Alert, Adweek, TVNewsCheck, NewscastStudio, TV Insider, The Wrap, Barrett Media and Los Angeles Times
Chris Gardner / The Hollywood Reporter:
McClatchy will shutter In Touch, Life & Style, Closer, and First for Women in June, laying off their staffs, after acquiring the titles in a December merger — “Despite the best efforts of many of our talented colleagues, we have been unable to develop a profitable business model for four …
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
A US federal judge orders the USAGM to immediately disburse RFE/RL's May funding of ~$12M, following a similar order last month for its April funding — WASHINGTON — A US district judge on May 30 granted Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL)'s third request for a temporary restraining order …
Discussion:
@joshgerstein and @kaedotcom.bsky.social
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
The Arena Group settled its lawsuit against Authentic Brands in late April over Sports Illustrated licensing fees, saying the financial terms are “not material” — The media company was locked in a $249 million standoff with Authentic Brands Group over unpaid licensing fees
Discussion:
Awful Announcing and The Arena Group
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Starz reports Q4 revenue down 6.2% YoY to $330.6M, an operating loss of $136.3M, up from $30.8M, and 13.04M streaming subscribers, up 470K from Q3 — Starz, fresh off its separation from former parent company Lionsgate, reported results for the first three months of the year.
