Top News:
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
Sinclair's board authorizes a strategic review for its broadcast business and will consider separating its Ventures division, which includes the Tennis Channel — Sinclair, Inc.'s board of directors has authorized a comprehensive strategic review of its broadcast operations …
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:
Broadband TV News, C21Media, Cord Cutters News, Awful Announcing, @logandobson, Spyglass, @tvgrimreaper, @andrewmarchand, UPI, How-To Geek, @nolelifestyle, Fortune, New York Daily News, @espnflora, nScreenMedia, @sportsontvguy, @tvgrimreaper, @aagave, @diversetechgeek.bsky.social, TV Insider, Pocket-lint, @jacobfeldman4, @sherman4949, @nemalki.bsky.social, StreamTV Insider, @derekcody, The US Sun, Front Office Sports, PCWorld, Sports Business Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, Media Play News, MediaPost, Streaming Better, Droid Life, 9to5Mac, The Verge, The Streamable, The TV Answer Man!, Barrett Media, TVNewsCheck, TV Tech, TheDesk.net, The Hollywood Reporter, ESPN Press Room U.S., The Wrap, Variety and Fox News
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, AIN, MEDIANAMA, 9to5Mac, Business Standard, Fortune, The A.V. Club, PCMag, Mashable, Social Media Today, @natejhake, AdExchanger, Gizmodo, @ednewtonrex, @jaubertmoniker.net, @shiburizu, @cameronwilson.bsky.social, Cyber Security News, @carnage4life.bsky.social, Moneycontrol, @asura.dev, SiliconANGLE, @mtrc.bsky.social, The Indian Express, Ars Technica, @xkeeper.net, @waxy@xoxo.zone, @thedextriarchy.bsky.social, @quinnypig.com, PC Gamer and WeRSM, more at Techmeme »
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:
Techdirt, Media Play News, The Verge, Awful Announcing, @jbflint, Sports Business Journal, @arielhelwani, @sherman4949, @loudmouthjulia, @tvgrimreaper, @lucas_shaw, @loudmouthjulia, The Fast Mode, @arielhelwani, @austinkarp, @lthomasnews, @robnashville, WebProNews, @sherman4949, @dovysimumma, @yay_yee, @tvgrimreaper, PYMNTS.com, @erichterrr, @kasey__moore, @acdmma_, @andrewmarchand, @billsimmons, @heynottheface, TV Insider, How-To Geek, The A.V. Club, Engadget, Associated Press, TheDesk.net, Decider, StreamTV Insider, UPI, 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, Sportico, al.com, The Hollywood Reporter, @chaddundas.bsky.social, Reuters, Dana White on Instagram, Variety, Cord Cutters News, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, TVNewsCheck, Front Office Sports, The National Pulse, WORLD SCREEN, 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
Discussion:
New York Times, Sportico, New York Times, Sports Business Journal, @nakisa_bidarian, GiveMeSport, Reuters, Cord Cutters News, Adweek, @chuckmindenhall, @jakepaul, Forbes, Barrett Media, Breitbart, Puck, TV Tech, @arashmarkazi@threads.com, Marchand Sports Media, New York Times, Front Office Sports, Streaming Better, The Information, New York Post, Mediaite, @stholeary.bsky.social and Paramount Skydance Corporation
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, Editor and Publisher, Nippon.com, Mlex, @niemanlab.org, Agence France-Presse and r/japan, more at Techmeme »
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
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:
Mirror, Daily Mail, GB News, primetimer.com, About Netflix, C21Media, Associated Press, Fox News, The A.V. Club, Business Plus, Now To Love, HOLA!, StyleCaster, The Standard, Us Weekly, New York Post, The Sun, Deseret News, Page Six, Toronto Star, Miami Herald, UPI, Star Magazine, RADAR, BANG Showbiz, Manchester Evening News, Los Angeles Times, Sky News, Global News, NZ Herald, CinemaBlend, SheKnows, TheGrio, Business Insider, Agence France-Presse, Axios, Advanced Television, CBS News, Forbes, Entertainment Weekly, What's on Netflix, Cele|bitchy, Daily Star, Harper's BAZAAR, HELLO!, Newsweek, Irish Independent, The Wrap, People, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline, Mirror, WWD, Town & Country and The Independent
Max Tani / Semafor:
Henry Blodget is launching Solutions, an interview podcast in partnership with Vox Media, on August 18, focusing on challenges in science, business, and society — THE SCOOP — Almost two decades after launching Business Insider, Henry Blodget wants to return to the things that brought …
Discussion:
@voxmedia, @maxwelltani, @voxmedia, Vox Media, Solutions with Henry Blodget on YouTube and Talking Biz News
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
Nik Roseveare / Advanced Television:
Sky Sports plans to launch a Multiview format for Premier League games in the UK with up to four games at once; Sky will show 215+ live matches in 2025-26 — At a press event at its Osterley HQ, Sky Sports has showcased how sport fans will be able to follow the Premier League like never before with …
Discussion:
The Athletic, Cord Busters, Sky Group, Broadband TV News and TVBEurope
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
