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, Times of India, Tech in Asia, SFGATE, Fortune, TVNewsCheck, Nathan Fletcher on LinkedIn, Rob Morlano on LinkedIn, The Hill, TheStreet, @lisa-catara.bsky.social, @fizzvstheworld.bsky.social, Boston.com, Yahoo Finance, Daily Voice, @thespoilist.bsky.social, @chancesecond.bsky.social, The Post Millennial, @rachelalison.bsky.social, Adweek, Benzinga, Morningstar, Inc., MarketWatch, AV Club, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, RetailWire, Quartz, New York Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, The Hollywood Reporter, CBS News, Entrepreneur, 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:
Deadline, Legit.ng, Neowin, PCMag, CNET, WinBuzzer, Proactive, WebProNews, Yahoo Finance, Adweek, Investor's Business Daily, Watcher Guru, PYMNTS.com, Benzinga, Marketing Dive, Dora Moldovan on LinkedIn, Cryptopolitan, Beet.TV, @meghanbobrowsky, Mike Mallazzo on LinkedIn, Tech in Asia, MediaPost, The Guardian, @hypervisible.bsky.social, Motley Fool, Morningstar, Inc., Reuters, Business Today, BMI, KnowTechie, TVNewsCheck, Trak.in, Quartz, The Economic Times, WeRSM, AdNews News, TheCable and Sherwood News
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch grossed $610M globally in just 10 days, and could reach $950M; the film cost $100M and may make $300M+ in box office profit — The film was originally aimed for Disney+. But it was rerouted to a theatrical release and is on pace for at least $950 million in ticket sales.
Discussion:
Deadline, @thispersonstinks.bsky.social, Comic Book, UK Press, Mediaweek, SlashFilm, Daily Voice, Breitbart, Variety, Media Play News, Beebom and Screen Rant
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 — Following the announcement that Business Insider would lay off 21% of its staff, a move driven largely by Google's AI-centric search changes …
Discussion:
@jayrosen.bsky.social, MediaPost and Pivot to AI
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:
The Overspill, @reckless.bsky.social, @damonberes.com, @criminalerin.bsky.social, Meredith Schwartz on LinkedIn, @paris.nyc, @harrymccracken.com, @maxwelltani, @maris.bsky.social, @alexthomp, @kenklippenstein, @maxwelltani, @shelleybwoke.bsky.social, @eduardosuarez.bsky.social, @paulconstant.com, @knguyen.bsky.social, @maxtani.bsky.social and Talking Biz News
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, Inside Radio, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Mediaweek, @dstapf63.bsky.social, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Examiner, People, New Jersey Online, The Wrap, Plain Dealer, @pjmaciak.bsky.social, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, @dangercart.bsky.social, @brianstelter, @mathowie@xoxo.zone, Associated Press, @danagould.bsky.social, NBC News, NextDraft, @mrbeverages.bsky.social, @jasondashbailey.com, Podnews, @nochorus.bsky.social, Bloomberg, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, AV Club, New York Daily News, NBC Bay Area, Consequence, Barrett Media, Business Insider and Just Jared
New York Times:
Sources: the FTC is investigating whether roughly a dozen US advertising and advocacy groups violated antitrust law by coordinating boycotts among advertisers — The regulator is looking into whether roughly a dozen groups violated antitrust law by coordinating boycotts among advertisers.
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:
Mattel, Inc., The Toy Book, Deadline, Insider Monkey, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter and TVNewsCheck
Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:
CNN Chief National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt, whose 2021 story led to a lawsuit 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 …
Discussion:
@marquardta, Deadline, Status, New York Post, The Post Millennial, The Wrap, Fox News, The Hollywood Reporter, RADAR, Newsbusters, The Independent, Barrett Media, NewscastStudio and Just Jared
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:
Reuters, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Paramount Global and Deadline
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:
@joshsternberg.com, Victor Dey on LinkedIn, Pulse 2.0 and TechCrunch
