Top News:
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.
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 …
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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
@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.
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Tom Jones / Poynter:
Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins accepts a buyout and will be joining The Atlantic as a staff writer
Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins accepts a buyout and will be joining The Atlantic as a staff writer
Discussion:
@jdawsey1, @barrysvrluga, @dvnjr, @bryancurtis, @dcsportsbog, @chelsea_janes, The Atlantic, @ellabrockway, Awful Announcing, MediaPost and Sports Media Watch
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:
CNN, Awful Announcing, Sports Business Journal, Baller Alert, Barrett Media, Bossip, Plain Dealer, E! Online, Vibe, TMZ.com, Newser, WPXI-TV, The US Sun, The Hollywood Gossip, 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, Sandra Rose, WFAA-TV, Hollywood Life, KTVU-TV, The Daily Caller, Front Office Sports, Deadline, Us Weekly, Mediaite, al.com, WHDH-TV, The Wrap, Variety, TVLine, TVNewsCheck, Fox News, WREG.com, The Hollywood Reporter, PennLive, New York Daily News and Just Jared
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:
Breitbart, Variety, Screen, Los Angeles Times, The A.V. Club, Reuters, New York Daily News, Cord Cutters News, The Wrap and Deadline
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.
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 …
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 »
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
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
A June ranking of the top nonprofit US news sites by traffic shows The Conversation leading by far, followed by the Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica — In markets large and small, these nonprofit news organizations are achieving traffic numbers that many commercial outlets would envy.
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%;">
Discussion:
New York Focus
