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Ryan Epps / Tom's Guide:
Amazon launches new Fire TVs and a $40 Fire TV Stick 4K Select with a new OS called Vega and built in Alexa+ — A new Fire TV Stick also one-ups the competition — When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. … The new Mini-LED set will come in five sizes …
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Kurt Schlosser / GeekWire:
Amazon announces new features ahead of its NBA on Prime streams, starting Oct. 24: multiview, shoppable merch, and Rapid Recaps and Key Moments, both AI-powered
Spotify:
Spotify says Daniel Ek will step down as CEO and become executive chairman in January 2026, and names CPTO Gustav Söderström and CBO Alex Norström as co-CEOs — Today, Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) announced that Founder and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek will transition to the role …
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Jessica Golden / CNBC:
Versant, the NBCUniversal spinoff, signs an 11-year media rights deal with the WNBA, starting in the 2026 season and including at least 50 WNBA games annually — Versant has signed a new 11-year media deal with the Women's National Basketball Association, the company announced Tuesday.
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
The FCC launches a congressionally mandated review of its media ownership rules, including a rule limiting a company from owning over two stations in a market — The FCC launched a new review of its media ownership limits, amid broadcasters' lobbying push to modernize the restrictions in the face of competition from tech giants.
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Erik Gruenwedel / Media Play News:
Ampere: in July, 39% of all TV seasons and movies on US streaming platforms appeared on 2+ services, while 21% of titles were on 3+ services, up from 9% in 2020 — There's a reason you can stream episodes of “Young Sheldon,” “NCIS” and “Suits” across multiple platforms.
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The Hollywood Reporter, Broadband TV News and Advanced Television
Daphné Leprince-Ringuet / Sifted:
Vibe.co, a self-serve platform for businesses to run targeted ads on streaming services, raised a $50M Series B led by Hedosophia at a $410M valuation — The round was led by Uber backer Hedosophia with participation from Nik Storonsky's QuantumLight — Vibe.co, a Paris-based startup …
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Vibe.co on LinkedIn, Vibe.co, Advanced Television and EU-Startups
Ram Iyer / TechCrunch:
Imgur blocks UK access after the ICO notified it of a possible fine over its handling of kids' data; the ICO calls Imgur's move a “commercial decision” — Imgur, one of the web's most popular image sharing and hosting platforms, has shut off access to its site to users in the United Kingdom …
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Ryan Knappenberger / Courthouse News Service:
A three-judge panel upheld a civil contempt ruling against Catherine Herridge for refusing to reveal her source for Fox News stories on a FBI-targeted scientist — The three-judge panel unanimously rejected Catherine Herridge's assertion of a qualified reporter's privilege to avoid revealing a source during deposition.
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@hansmahncke, @jeremymbarr, @shellenberger, @jeremymbarr, @c__herridge, @freedomofpress, @jeremymbarr, @jeremymbarr, @jeremymbarr, @cjhoytnews and RedState
Eric Fisher / Front Office Sports:
MLB viewership rose in 2025: ESPN averaged 1.8M viewers, up 21% YoY; Fox rose 9% to 2.04M viewers, MLB Network up 13%, MLB.TV up 34% to 19.39B minutes, a record — While Major League Baseball reported solid attendance numbers this year, the story on television was even better.
Ina Fried / Axios:
OpenAI releases an invitation-only Sora app on iOS, powered by Sora 2, to let people create and share AI-generated videos of themselves and their friends — An Android version will follow eventually, OpenAI told Axios. — The social app is powered by Sora 2, a new version of OpenAI's video model, which also launched Tuesday.
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Scott Murdoch / Reuters:
Australia's Seven West Media agrees to merge with Southern Cross Media, forming a ~$274M metropolitan and regional group to better compete with streaming giants — - Southern Cross shareholders to own 50.1% of merged group — Merger expected to save A$25-30 million annually
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Disney sent a cease-and-desist to Character.AI for misusing its characters in harmful ways, including sexual exploitation; the startup removed Disney characters — - Disney said the report underscores its concern with the way its characters have been utilized on the platform.
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