Top News:
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Paramount acquires the US rights to UFC for $7.7B over seven years, beginning in 2026, making all 43 annual live events available exclusively on Paramount+ — Days after completing its merger with Skydance, Paramount has acquired the U.S. rights to TKO Group's UFC for seven years, beginning in 2026.
Discussion:
Media Play News, The Verge, Associated Press, Awful Announcing, @jbflint, Sports Business Journal, @arielhelwani, How-To Geek, @sherman4949, StreamTV Insider, @loudmouthjulia, @tvgrimreaper, @lucas_shaw, @loudmouthjulia, The Fast Mode, @arielhelwani, UPI, @austinkarp, @lthomasnews, TV Insider, @robnashville, WebProNews, @sherman4949, Decider, @dovysimumma, @yay_yee, @tvgrimreaper, PYMNTS.com, TheDesk.net, @erichterrr, @kasey__moore, @acdmma_, @andrewmarchand, @billsimmons, @heynottheface, Engadget, Daily Mail, Sports Business Journal, The Independent, Axios, Los Angeles Times, Forbes, LightShed Partners, SPORTbible, USA Today, Barrett Media, Advanced Television, @jeradwalker.bsky.social, The Wrap, The A.V. Club, Sportico, al.com, The Hollywood Reporter, @chaddundas.bsky.social, Reuters, Dana White on Instagram, Variety, Cord Cutters News, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, TVNewsCheck, The National Pulse, WORLD SCREEN, Front Office Sports, r/sports, r/MMA and r/MMA
RELATED:
Financial Times:
As part of the Paramount-UFC deal, premium fights will be available for free to Paramount+ subscribers, ending the pay-per-view model present on ESPN — Agreement with mixed martial arts promoter is the largest since David Ellison took charge of Hollywood studio
Discussion:
New York Times, Sportico, New York Times, New York Times, Sports Business Journal, TV Tech, @nakisa_bidarian, GiveMeSport, @arashmarkazi@threads.com, Reuters, Cord Cutters News, Adweek, @chuckmindenhall, @jakepaul, Forbes, Barrett Media, Breitbart, Puck, Front Office Sports, Streaming Better, The Information, New York Post, Mediaite, @stholeary.bsky.social, Marchand Sports Media and Paramount Skydance Corporation
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Fox and ESPN plan to launch a bundle of their upcoming streaming services, Fox One and ESPN respectively, on October 2 for $39.99 per month — Fox One, which brings together sports, news and entertainment from across Fox's broadcast and cable channels, and ESPN's dramatically beefed-up direct …
Discussion:
C21Media, Cord Cutters News, Awful Announcing, ESPN Press Room U.S., The TV Answer Man!, @logandobson, MediaPost, Spyglass, @tvgrimreaper, @andrewmarchand, UPI, How-To Geek, @nolelifestyle, TheDesk.net, Fortune, TVNewsCheck, TV Tech, New York Daily News, @espnflora, Barrett Media, The Streamable, Front Office Sports, nScreenMedia, Bloomberg, Sports Business Journal, 9to5Mac, CNBC, @sportsontvguy, @tvgrimreaper, Streaming Better, @aagave, @diversetechgeek.bsky.social, TV Insider, Pocket-lint, Media Play News, @jacobfeldman4, @sherman4949, The Verge, @nemalki.bsky.social, StreamTV Insider, @derekcody, The Hollywood Reporter, PCWorld, The US Sun, The Wrap, Variety, Fox News and Droid Life
RELATED:
Abid Rahman / The Hollywood Reporter:
HBO Max and Asian streamer Viu announce a bundle with both services in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, set to launch in Q4 2025 — The offer will launch in Q4 2025 and be available in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Variety, C21Media and Deadline
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Reddit says it will block the Internet Archive from indexing most of its pages after it caught AI companies scraping its data from the Wayback Machine — The company says that AI companies have scraped data from the Wayback Machine, so it's going to limit what the Wayback Machine can access.
Discussion:
Engadget, MEDIANAMA, Business Standard, Fortune, The A.V. Club, PCMag, Cyber Security News, Moneycontrol, Mashable, Social Media Today, @natejhake, AdExchanger, @thedextriarchy.bsky.social, @quinnypig.com, Gizmodo, @ednewtonrex, @jaubertmoniker.net, @waxy@xoxo.zone, @shiburizu, @cameronwilson.bsky.social, @carnage4life.bsky.social, @asura.dev, SiliconANGLE, @mtrc.bsky.social, The Indian Express, Ars Technica, @xkeeper.net and PC Gamer, more at Techmeme »
Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:
The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest newspaper by circulation, sues Perplexity, alleging unauthorized reproduction of its articles, and seeks $14.7M in damages — The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest newspaper by circulation, has sued the generative AI startup Perplexity for copyright infringement.
Discussion:
The Japan News, ExchangeWire.com, @niemanlab.org, Editor and Publisher, Nippon.com, Mlex, Agence France-Presse and r/japan, more at Techmeme »
Ray Schultz / MediaPost:
Letter: MNG Enterprises, controlled by Alden Global Capital, raises its offer for The Dallas Morning News by $1 to $17.50/share, or $2.50 more than Hearst's bid — Alden Global Capital's firm, MNG Enterprises, has upped its offer for The Dallas Morning News.
Discussion:
@jeffjarvis.bsky.social, Nieman Lab and US Securities …
Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
Netflix and Archewell Productions, the company of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, sign a new deal; source: it is worth less for the royals than their last deal — The streaming giant signed a new deal with the production company for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex that is much less extensive than an earlier arrangement.
Discussion:
C21Media, About Netflix, Fox News, Associated Press, Deadline, CBS News, The A.V. Club, Business Plus, Now To Love, Agence France-Presse, HOLA!, StyleCaster, The Standard, Newsweek, Us Weekly, Cele|bitchy, Irish Independent, HELLO!, GB News, Daily Mail, New York Post, SheKnows, The Wrap, Axios, Business Insider, The Sun, What's on Netflix, Deseret News, Page Six, Toronto Star, Miami Herald, Variety, UPI, Star Magazine, RADAR, BANG Showbiz, People, Entertainment Weekly, Manchester Evening News, Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, Mirror, Los Angeles Times, Sky News, Global News, NZ Herald, Daily Star, CinemaBlend, Harper's BAZAAR, TheGrio, Advanced Television, Town & Country, WWD and The Independent
Daniel Kaplan / The Hollywood Reporter:
Kevin Durant's Boardroom, a site focused on athletes and other entertainers, plans to launch a print magazine this month, with quarterly issues starting in 2026 — The company run by Rich Kleiman is testing the waters with a U.S. Open-themed cover feature in August and plans to publish quarterly beginning in 2026.
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
Hub survey: 42% of Americans say they were more likely to keep subscribing to a streaming bundle over an individual app; only 14% say they were less likely — Consumers are more likely to keep paying for a streaming app if they can bundle it with others at a low price point.
Discussion:
TV Tech
Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:
In a July 11 arbitration hearing between Politico and the PEN Guild, Politico argued that some Politico AI experiments aren't subject to editorial standards — In a July arbitration hearing, Politico faced allegations that two generative AI tools violated its union contract.
Discussion:
@mattdpearce.com, @newsguild.org and @benjaminharnett.com
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Tencent Music reports Q2 revenue up 17.9% YoY to $1.18B, music services revenue up 26.4% YoY to $957M, and music subscription revenue up 17.1% YoY to $611M — Tencent Music Entertainment Group, China's dominant online music and audio platform, reported second-quarter 2025 revenue of $1.18 billion, up 17.9% year-over-year.
Discussion:
Tencent Music, Benzinga, Music Business Worldwide and Reuters
