Top News:
Dylan Byers / Puck:
Sources: David Ellison tentatively agreed on a deal to acquire The Free Press for between $100M-$200M, with Bari Weiss taking an editorial position at CBS News — With Paramount securely in his pocket, David Ellison is on the verge of acquiring Bari Weiss's The Free Press and tossing her the keys to CBS News.
Discussion:
Status, The Wrap, New York Post, Media Nation, New York Post, The Nation, @jamellebouie.net, The Rebooting, Los Angeles Times, Ace of Spades HQ, HuffPost, @jbenmenachem.com, HotAir, @timkarr.bsky.social, @ewerickson, @michaelmagras@mstdn.social, @simonowens.bsky.social, PJ Media, @timurkuran, @levinejonathan, @onepeoplesproject.bsky.social, @micsolana, The A.V. Club, @pburdzy, @paulthedogman.bsky.social, @blueboxdave, @parkerthayer, @jeremiahdjohns, @lthomasnews, @katmckinley, @maxblumenthal, @aaronjmate, @dropsitenews, @samhaselby, @aghamilton29, @mikebeauvais, @benfowlkesmma, @hemantmehta, @adamjohnsonchi, @joseiswriting, @adamjohnsonchi, @ggreenwald, @ggreenwald, @ggreenwald, @tycarver, NewsMax.com, Mediaite, @kimkelly.bsky.social, TVNewsCheck, @johnmone.bsky.social, @jayrosen.bsky.social, @maxberger.bsky.social, @ryanlcooper.com, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @simonowens.bsky.social, @joshsternberg.com, @golikehellmachine.com, @jonathanfriedman.com and @jmrivera.bsky.social
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Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Memo: Paramount announces a full return-to-office policy starting in January 2026 and offers a “severance opt-in program” for New York and Los Angeles workers — The latest is a return to office policy that requires all employees to be in the office five days a week.
Discussion:
CNBC, TheDesk.net, Wall Street Journal, Variety, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, Reuters and The Hollywood Reporter
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The Daily Mail names Greta Lawn to the newly created position of president for North America to lead revenue growth — The Daily Mail has created the role of president for North America to lead its revenue growth in the world's largest media market. — The brand has appointed Greta Lawn …
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Manchester-based Mill Media names ex-WaPo Managing Editor Cameron Barr as investigations editor; Mill Media has 21 staff and 11K+ paying subs across six titles — Former Washington Post managing editor Cameron Barr hopes to help “restore and revive investigative accountability” with a new role at Manchester-based Mill Media.
Discussion:
@joshiherrmann.bsky.social, Cameron Barr on LinkedIn and @glasgowbell.bsky.social
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Meta rolls out a tool that lets users attach up to 10,000 characters of text to Threads posts, building upon Threads' 500-character text limit for posts — Blogging is back. … Meta is adding a new feature to let you add a bunch of extra text to Threads posts — no screenshots of text blocks required.
Discussion:
Engadget, TechCrunch, Sherwood News, iPhone in Canada, @dannygroner.bsky.social and Mashable, more at Techmeme »
Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
A look at newsletter-first publisher The European Correspondent, which launched in 2022, got a €2.1M grant from the EU in June, and has almost 70K subscribers — A European news publisher is aiming to become self-funding through reader donations after securing a €2.1m grant from the European Commission in June.
Discussion:
@pressgazette.co.uk
Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
An interview with Newsquest CEO Henry Faure Walker on the regional publisher's focus on local news; paid digital subs have risen 35% YoY to 135K — Paid digital subscriptions at UK regional publishing giant Newsquest have risen from 100,000 to 135,000 in the past year.
Rogue:
Former Polygon employees launch worker-owned video game website Rogue; Valnet laid off Polygon staff in May after buying the outlet from Vox — A detailed FAQ to answer your biggest questions about Rogue — Hi, we're the writers behind Rogue, a new website about video games.
Michael Schneider / Variety:
Disney Entertainment TV launches video podcasts as TV series companions, starting with Only Murders in the Building on September 9 — Hulu's “Only Murders in the Building,” a series about podcasters, is about to get an official one of its own. Disney Entertainment Television is embarking …
France 24:
France's CNIL fines Google €325M for placing tracking cookies and ads in Gmail without users' consent; Google says it is reviewing the decision — France's data protection watchdog CNIL on Wednesday fined Google €325 million ($380 million) and fast-fashion retailer Shein €150 million …
Peter White / Deadline:
Roku names former WBD and Hulu exec Lisa Holme as head of content, following the departure of David Eilenberg in May — Roku has a new head of content. — The streaming company has hired former Warner Bros. Discovery and Hulu exec Lisa Holme to the role.
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter and Media Play News
Laura Pitel / Financial Times:
Italian broadcaster MFE acquires a 76% stake in Germany's ProSieben, valuing ProSieben at €1.9B and creating Europe's biggest free-to-air broadcaster — Italy's MfE aims to compete with Netflix after winning protracted battle for ProSiebenSat.1 — The Italian media empire founded …
The Athletic:
NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson confirms the broadcast will add commercials this season; the show, with about 1M fans who watch each week, tested ads last season — Every Sunday, during the NFL's regular season, for the past several year's host Scott Hanson welcomed “NFL RedZone” viewers with a growling catch phrase:
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Business Insider, Front Office Sports, Sports Business Journal, TheDesk.net, CNET, Plain Dealer, New York Post, The Streamable, Staten Island Advance, twitchy.com, The US Sun, Barrett Media, Washington Times, Yahoo Sports, Sportico, Cord Cutters News, NBC News, NBCSports.com, Fox News, New Jersey Online, Forbes, Just Jared, masslive.com and r/fantasyfootball
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