Top News:
Melissa Korn / Wall Street Journal:
News Corp extends CEO Robert Thomson's contract through June 2030, as it faces AI headwinds; Thomson joined in 2013 and his previous deal expired in June 2027 — Thomson has pursued digital growth and focused the company on core areas of news, book publishing and digital real estate
Sahil Patel / The Information:
Sources: Google reduces its Google TV and Android TV budget by 10% and cuts Android TV and Google TV's ~300 employees by up to 25%, as it focuses on YouTube — Google has cut its smart TV budget and trimmed its team—marking the most concrete signs yet of the company's waning interest competing …
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
Senate disclosure: Florida judge Ed Artau was lobbying for a federal judiciary nomination when he sided with Trump in the case against the Pulitzer Prize board — Ed Artau was already meeting with Senate staff about securing a nomination to the federal bench when he sided with Trump in a case …
Discussion:
@flingjore.com, Original Jurisdiction, @dejayk.bsky.social, @joshgerstein, @literaryeric, @fedtfupofthemall.bsky.social, @dicktofel.bsky.social, @annestclair.bsky.social, @davidenrich.bsky.social, @phds2.bsky.social, @cooperhamilton.bsky.social, @realworldrj.bsky.social, @GottaLaff@mstdn.social, Raw Story and Alternet.org
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Will Payne, The Sun's director of digital (editorial), is leaving after almost 11 years to become deputy editor-in-chief of News Corp's New York Post Group — Will Payne, The Sun's director of digital (editorial), is leaving after almost 11 years to join fellow News Corp title the New York Post.
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Apple strikes a first-look deal with Peter Chernin's North Road studio, which has been aligned with Netflix for five years, to give Apple access to new films — The producer of Ford v. Ferrari and Back in Action moves from Netflix to Apple … North Road's Chernin Entertainment …
Discussion:
Spyglass Spiral, MacDailyNews, Deadline and Comic Book, more at Techmeme »
Meera Pattni / Semafor:
Semafor appoints Andrew Friedman as General Manager and Head of Public Affairs; he joins Semafor from Google, where he served on the US Elections team — Semafor today announced the appointment of Andrew Friedman as General Manager and Head of Public Affairs, as the global news platform accelerates …
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Disney's Elio, which cost $250M to make and market, collected just $21M from its opening domestic weekend, per Comscore, Pixar's worst opening weekend ever — The original space adventure sold about $21 million in tickets at domestic theaters from Thursday night through Sunday, putting new pressure on the once-unstoppable studio.
Discussion:
Screen Rant, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, @aerocles, Animation Magazine, The Wrap, Forbes, @moviemantz, @ingelramdecoucy, Spyglass, Bloomberg and Deadline
David Marchese / New York Times:
Q&A with comedian Andrew Schulz about becoming America's “foremost political journalist”, interviewing Donald Trump and others, “podcast bros”, and more — Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times — The comedian Andrew Schulz has risen to arena-headliner status …
Discussion:
@chrisvannini.com
Jack Buehrer / The Verge:
The music industry is developing tools to detect AI-generated music across the music pipeline, focusing on proactive licensing and control rather than takedowns — With no way to stop the onslaught of AI music, the industry is taking a different approach: figuring out how to make money off of it.
Discussion:
Jesper W. on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
The UK reveals its long-awaited Creative Industries Sector Plan, including asking the CMA and Ofcom to review how broadcaster consolidation can benefit viewers — The UK government wants to make it easier for legacy broadcasters to consolidate and partner up.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Inside Disney's plan to limit AI companies' use of its IP, which led Disney and Comcast to sue Midjourney; Disney is also in talks with companies like OpenAI — Disney's top lawyer says his lawsuit against Midjourney is just the first step in a plan to limit AI companies' use of the studio's most valuable characters.
Discussion:
Business Insider and Computerworld, more at Techmeme »
TheDesk.net:
XR Extreme Reach: in 2024, only 9% of TV ads had closed captions and 1% had audio descriptions, despite over half of adults watching content with captions on — Less than one in 10 television advertisements have accessibility features like closed captions or audio descriptions, according to a new report released on Thursday.
Discussion:
TV Tech and Advanced Television
