Top News:
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Brendan Carr opens an FCC inquiry into NBCU over its relationship with its local affiliates, citing reports of attempts to “extract onerous ... concessions” — Brendan Carr informed Comcast CEO Brian Roberts of the inquiry in a letter sent on Tuesday.
Discussion:
TV Tech, Columbia Journalism Review, Variety, The Philadelphia Inquirer, @karlbode.com, New York Sun, Adweek, The Wrap, Reason and NewsMax.com
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Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
NBCU reports Q2 revenue up 2% YoY to $6.44B; Peacock had 41M subscribers, a $101M loss, down from $348M in Q2 2024, and revenue grew 18% YoY to $1.2B — Comcast beat Wall Street estimates on Thursday for second-quarter earnings and revenue. Yet the company saw a loss of broadband customers …
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, TheDesk.net, The Streamable, Deadline, Investor's Business Daily, MarketWatch and Bloomberg
Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:
Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group is undergoing 10% cuts across multiple divisions to transition “toward a fully global structure” — Studio heads Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy announced the shift in direction in a memo to staff. … The layoffs will reduce the staff by about 10 percent.
Discussion:
Variety, Screen, Los Angeles Times, The A.V. Club, Reuters, New York Daily News, Cord Cutters News, The Wrap and Deadline
Andrew Marchand / New York Times:
Sources: ESPN cuts ties with Shannon Sharpe after he settled a lawsuit accusing him of rape; Sharpe had said he'd return to ESPN at the start of NFL preseason — ESPN has cut ties with NFL Hall of Famer and media analyst Shannon Sharpe less than two weeks after he settled a lawsuit …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, CNN, Plain Dealer, E! Online, Barrett Media, Bossip, TMZ.com, Vibe, Newser, The Hollywood Gossip, WPXI-TV, Poynter, The US Sun, Breitbart, Entertainment Weekly, @theconsciouslee@threads.com, Las Vegas Review-Journal, TheGrio, Sportico, Business Insider, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, The A.V. Club, New Jersey Online, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Page Six, RADAR, Baller Alert, Sandra Rose, Sports Business Journal, WFAA-TV, Hollywood Life, KTVU-TV, The Daily Caller, Front Office Sports, Deadline, Us Weekly, Mediaite, al.com, The Wrap, WHDH-TV, Variety, TVLine, TVNewsCheck, Fox News, WREG.com, The Hollywood Reporter, PennLive, New York Daily News and Just Jared
@erikwemple:
Media critic Erik Wemple says he has taken The Washington Post's buyout offer and will start covering media for The New York Times in September — After 14 very, very happy years writing opinions on media at the Washington Post, I am taking the newspaper's buyout offer. In September, I will begin work at the New York Times covering media from Washington for the paper's Business section.
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Ziff Davis is laying off 15% of its unionized workforce, or 23 people, 19 of which work for CNET; Ziff Davis has bought five companies in 2025 — Its parent company, Ziff Davis, is laying off 15 percent of the unionized workforce and spanning across several sites.
Financial Times:
Source: David Ellison plans to “bring back a performance-based culture” to CBS, “Not quotas. Not ideology. Just objective journalism” — What began as a Hollywood studio merger has become a test of how far corporate America will bend to president's will
Discussion:
Fortune, @sherman4949, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @mikestabile.bsky.social, @megathem.bsky.social, @bacongawd.bsky.social, TheDesk.net, @tinmanic.bsky.social, @ejfagan.com, @kriswernowsky.com, @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social, @thewayoftheid.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, Awful Announcing, @justinbaragona.bsky.social and Fox Business, more at Techmeme »
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Amazon's multiyear deal to use NYT content for its platforms and AI models is $20M to $25M per year, which is nearly 1% of the NYT's total 2024 revenue — The multiyear deal lets Amazon use content from the Times's news and cooking sections and the Athletic
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Peter White / Deadline:
A look at the struggles of HGTV, whose total audience fell from 1.5M in 2017 to 773,000 in 2024, amid competition from DIY TikTokers and streaming services — Falling linear ratings, the rising cost of materials needed for home renovations, the threat of further price hikes due …
Discussion:
HELLO!, TV Insider, Full Feed and Us Weekly
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Fox acquires one-third of Penske Entertainment, owner of the IndyCar Series, sources say for between $125M and $135M; Fox started carrying IndyCar in 2025 — Deal is latest alliance between a media company and a sports group — Fox Corp. has acquired one-third of Penske Entertainment …
Kathryn Squyres / Current:
A US Senator secured $9.4M for 35 Native American radio stations and one TV station but the loss of CPB's systemwide support will make operating costs go up — Kathryn Squyres / Current … " id="street-iframe-sc17g28bvb40000000000 " style="max-width: 100%;">
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New York Focus
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Dotdash Meredith rebrands to People to capitalize on the brand equity of its most popular and recognizable title — Dotdash Meredith, one of the largest publishers in America, is rebranding to People, its CEO Neil Vogel told Axios. … The rebrand capitalizes on that brand equity in a way that its current name does not.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Adweek, Digiday, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Sean Griffey on LinkedIn
Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
Amazon-backed AI streaming service Showrunner debuts on Thursday, charging users $10 to $40 per month to create their own animated shows or build on others' IP — - Fable Studio has gotten funding from Amazon for its AI streaming platform, Showrunner. — It shared a deck that explains …
Discussion:
The Streamable, GamesRadar, Gizmodo, @lydiamulvey.bsky.social, @khakhalin.bsky.social, @advbe.bsky.social, @bethwalloch.bsky.social, @theragingcelt.bsky.social, @kitboylan.bsky.social, @usv, @taherdhanera, @scobleizer, @fablesimulation, NBC Bay Area, The A.V. Club, @embracetheharkness …, @cheryllynneaton.bsky.social, @ashleylynch.bsky.social, @lepus-studios.bsky.social, @johnjmz.bsky.social, Kotaku, @urbanbohemian.com, @meglish.bsky.social, @stevemnomoremister …, @marygirls.bsky.social, @sealab2021.org, @robsforman.bsky.social, @vtomo.bsky.social, @dannyfaust.bsky.social, @worddancer21.bsky.social, WebProNews, @phorrums.bsky.social, @gingerjames.bsky.social, Variety, @wiggiescotia.bsky.social, @jametc.bsky.social, @danaholtzbert.bsky.social, Tom's Guide, @nyc5265.bsky.social, @chelseacristene.bsky.social, @bradmilne79.bsky.social, @keithpille.bsky.social, @jackeason.bsky.social, @dvdham.bsky.social, Forbes, @tjradcliffe.bsky.social, @cinematological.com, @cagygibbon.bsky.social, @andrewkjennings.com, @seeshespeak.bsky.social, @amynmerchant.bsky.social, @whetmoser.com, @justinling.ca and The Wrap
