Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Sources: Disney is laying off several hundred employees globally across multiple teams, including TV and film — Disney is swinging the axe again, laying off several hundred employees globally across multiple teams. … Disney is positioning the cuts as enhancing its ability to operate more efficiently.
Discussion:
Deadline, Reuters, Adweek, Wall Street Journal, TVNewsCheck, New York Daily News, Fortune, AV Club, Business Insider, The Hill, Quartz, The Post Millennial, Yahoo Finance, Boston.com, Benzinga, TheStreet, Los Angeles Times, Nathan Fletcher on LinkedIn, @lisa-catara.bsky.social, @fizzvstheworld.bsky.social, Daily Voice, @thespoilist.bsky.social, @chancesecond.bsky.social, MarketWatch, Entrepreneur, The Hollywood Reporter, CBS News, The Economic Times, 9-1-1 Behind The Scenes and Bloomberg
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta aims to help brands fully create and target ads using AI by the end of 2026, including images and budgetary goals, building on its current tools — AI-powered advertising is part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vision for the company's future — Meta Platforms is betting that automation is the future of ads.
Discussion:
Marketing Dive, MediaPost, AdNews News, CNET, Motley Fool, PYMNTS.com, Benzinga, Deadline, WebProNews, Investor's Business Daily, Reuters, WeRSM, PCMag, Morningstar, Inc., Neowin, WinBuzzer, Proactive, Yahoo Finance, Adweek, @hypervisible.bsky.social, The Guardian, Trak.in, Dora Moldovan on LinkedIn, Cryptopolitan, Beet.TV, @meghanbobrowsky, Business Today, KnowTechie, TVNewsCheck, The Economic Times, Quartz, TheCable and Sherwood News, more at Techmeme »
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: in May 2024, Business Insider sent some staff a recommended reading list that included seemingly AI-generated books that did not appear to exist — The Scoop — Business Insider announced this week that it wants staff to better incorporate AI into its journalism.
Discussion:
@reckless.bsky.social, @damonberes.com, @criminalerin.bsky.social, @paris.nyc, @paulconstant.com, @harrymccracken.com, @maxwelltani, @maris.bsky.social, @alexthomp, @kenklippenstein, @knguyen.bsky.social, @maxwelltani, @maxtani.bsky.social, @eduardosuarez.bsky.social and Talking Biz News
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SEC filing: Paramount nominates three directors to its board and schedules its annual meeting for July 2; board member Judith McHale won't stand for re-election — Board member Judith McHale will not stand for re-election — Paramount Global and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Deadline, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter and Paramount Global
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Marc Maron plans to end WTF With Marc Maron podcast in the fall; the groundbreaking podcast helped define the medium with 1,600+ episodes after its 2009 launch — Marc Maron has announced that he and producer Brendan McDonald have decided to end “WTF With Marc Maron,” the groundbreaking podcast …
Discussion:
Deadline, LateNighter, Plain Dealer, Los Angeles Times, AV Club, NextDraft, Associated Press, NBC News, @dstapf63.bsky.social, People, The Wrap, @pjmaciak.bsky.social, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, @dangercart.bsky.social, @nochorus.bsky.social, @brianstelter, @mathowie@xoxo.zone, Podnews, @danagould.bsky.social, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, Rolling Stone, @mrbeverages.bsky.social, @jasondashbailey.com, Bloomberg, New York Daily News, Business Insider, NBC Bay Area, Consequence, Barrett Media and Just Jared
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: UMG, Warner Music, and Sony Music are in talks to license their work to AI music startups Udio and Suno and settle copyright infringement lawsuits — Music companies would settle lawsuits with startups they accused of copyright infringement — Major music companies are in talks …
Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
Allen Media Group confirms it plans to sell its 28 broadcast TV stations, which it operates and has spent $1B+ over the past six years to acquire — Byron Allen is putting his broadcast TV stations up for sale. — Allen Media Group said on Monday it has retained investment bank Moelis & Co …
Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:
Mattel combines its film and television production units into a single unit under the direction of Mattel Films president and Barbie producer Robbie Brenner — The exec and “Barbie” producer will be president and chief content officer of the unified company
Discussion:
Reuters, The Toy Book, Mattel, Inc., TVNewsCheck, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:
CNN's chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt, whose 2021 story led to a suit in which a jury awarded $5M to an ex-CIA operative, is leaving CNN — CNN's chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt, whose 2021 story on a military contractor led to a defamation suit loss in court …
BBC:
Syrian intelligence files show that missing American journalist Austin Tice was imprisoned by the regime of the now-deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images — Top secret intelligence files uncovered by the BBC confirm …
Victor Dey / Fast Company:
Creatify, an AI video ad platform that reached $9M in ARR just 18 months after launch, raised a $15.5M Series A led by Jeffrey Katzenberg's WndrCo and Kindred — Jeffrey Katzenberg has long backed ambitious ventures—from cofounding animation studio DreamWorks to championing digital innovation through his investment firm WndrCo.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Victor Dey on LinkedIn, @joshsternberg.com and Pulse 2.0
Andy Meek / Forbes:
An interview with Henry Blodget on BI's layoffs, media market changes in the past five years, why the future is direct distribution and subscriptions, and more — I report on media as well as its intersection with news and culture. — SaveComment — Following the announcement …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Pivot to AI and Puck
