Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Skydance announces the 10 board directors for Paramount Skydance, including Oracle CEO Safra Catz and former Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing — Skydance Media announced the full slate of 10 directors for Paramount Skydance Corp., the company resulting from its merger with Paramount Global.
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Skydance Media
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Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
David Ellison names Paramount Global's senior leadership team, appointing himself as CEO, Jeff Shell as president, and RedBird Capital's Andy Gordon as COO — George Cheeks, Cindy Holland, Josh Greenstein, Dana Goldberg will all get new roles, joining Jeff Shell and Ellison in the C-suite.
Discussion:
Forbes, Deadline, Reuters, Variety, Deadline, The Wrap, Variety, Deadline, Sports Business Journal, New York Post, Adweek, Los Angeles Times, The Information, WORLD SCREEN and MediaPost
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Skydance TV President Matt Thunell will run a merged division with Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, reviving Paramount TV Studios which was shut down in 2024 — Skydance Television president Matt Thunell is set to add oversight of Paramount's TV studios to his duties amid the pending closure …
Discussion:
Deadline, C21Media, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, LateNighter and Sports Media Watch
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch says Fox One, a streaming service offering NFL and MLB games, Fox News programs, and more, will debut August 21 at $19.99 per month — The new broadband outlet, a venue that offers Fox Corp.'s Sunday-afternoon NFL games and post-season MLB play along with Fox News programs and more …
RELATED:
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Fox reports Q4 revenue up 6% YoY to $3.29B, ad revenue up 7% YoY to $1.1B, driven by Tubi and Fox News, and a net income of $719M, up from $320M in Q4 2024 — The company saw revenues rise across the board in tis fiscal Q4 quarter, as it prepares to launch its Fox One streaming service.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Advanced Television, TheDesk.net, Reuters, Variety, The Wrap, Fox Corporation, Deadline and @earnings_time
Rebecca Falconer / Axios:
Court filing: Trump and Rupert Murdoch agree to postpone Murdoch's deposition in the Epstein letter libel suit until after a ruling on the WSJ's dismissal case — President Trump and Rupert Murdoch reached a deal Monday to postpone the media mogul's deposition in a libel lawsuit related …
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Hill, HuffPost, @joshgerstein, Bloomberg, @davidfolkenflik, Deadline, NewsMax.com, Forbes, Joe.My.God., Telegraph, Southern District of Florida and Sydney Morning Herald
Kelly Lawler / USA Today:
Roku launches Howdy, an ad-free streaming service for $2.99 per month, initially only on Roku devices, with content from Lionsgate, WBD, FilmRise, and more — Roku is ready to say Howdy. — The company − which sells set-top streaming devices, smart TVs and has its own free …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Advanced Television, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, Cord Cutters News, Roku and WORLD SCREEN
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
The Athletic signs podcast licensing deals for Pablo Torre Finds Out and Sports Gossip Show; a source says the agreement with Torre is in the seven figures — The Athletic signed two new podcast licensing deals to add to its coverage of more pop culture-adjacent angles in sports stories
Discussion:
@lebatardshow and @mad_hill
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Patreon CEO Jack Conte says the platform paid out $10B+ to creators since its 2013 founding, creators now get $2B+ annually, and there are 25M+ paid memberships — Creators on Patreon have received more than $10 billion in payouts from fans since the company was founded in 2013, CEO and co-founder Jack Conte tells Axios.
Discussion:
@sarafischer
Scott Nover / Washington Post:
Filing: VOA Director Michael Abramowitz has been fired after refusing what he called an “illegal” reassignment to run a broadcasting station in North Carolina — Kari Lake tried to dispatch Michael Abramowitz to North Carolina. When he refused, she fired him.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @andria.bsky.social, Poynter, The Wrap, @marionawfal, @w7voa, @scottnover, @kyledcheney and TheDesk.net
Jay Peters / The Verge:
IGN lays off staff, including eight members of the IGN Creators Guild, representing 12% of the bargaining unit, as parent company Ziff Davis cuts costs — The ‘perplexing’ cuts laid off eight employees at IGN. … Ziff Davis-owned IGN Entertainment has laid off staff, including eight members of the IGN Creators Guild.
Josh Axelrod / Nieman Lab:
How some news organizations are using AI models powered by retrieval-augmented generation to surface the most newsworthy elements from very large datasets — “If we sit on the sideline and observe, I think the risk is too high that we are gonna be left behind.”
Discussion:
@klingebeil.bsky.social, The Register, @tongli.bsky.social, @mikeananny.bsky.social and @niemanlab.org
