Top News:
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Disney says Hulu will replace the Star hub on Disney+ on October 8 in international markets as part of Disney's plan to expand Hulu globally — Starting on October 8th, Hulu will replace Star on Disney Plus in international markets. … Disney is expanding Hulu to worldwide streaming audiences …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TechRadar, MobileSyrup, 9to5Google, Cord Cutters News, Deadline, Media Play News, 9to5Mac and The Walt Disney Company
Elizabeth A. Harris / New York Times:
A Florida judge rules that a local school district did not violate 1A by removing a book from school libraries because a school library is not a public forum — The lawsuit was an effort to keep ‘And Tango Makes Three,’ about two male penguins raising a chick, in a county's school libraries.
Discussion:
Orlando Sentinel and LGBTQ Nation
RELATED:
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
The Guardian launches its product recommendation site, The Filter, in the US, one year after its UK launch, with a focus on ethical consumption — The Guardian is bringing its product recommendation site, The Filter, stateside - a year after its U.K. launch - as it looks to push harder into commerce revenue.
Discussion:
The Guardian
Megan Brenan / Gallup:
A survey finds only 28% of US adults overall and 8% of Republicans have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in newspapers, radio, and TV news, a new low — Republicans' confidence in mass media to report news “fully, accurately and fairly” now at 8%
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, Washington Times, @muwxguy.bsky.social, @Corb_The_Lesser … and Semafor
Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Sources: Universal Music and Warner Music are nearing landmark AI licensing deals with companies including Google, ElevenLabs, Stability AI, Suno, and Udio — Universal and Warner seek payment structure similar to streaming as more disruption looms — Universal Music and Warner Music …
Discussion:
Dave Carr on LinkedIn, Music Business Worldwide, CMU, Music Ally, Reuters, NewsMax.com and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Burgess Everett / Semafor:
Source: Brendan Carr has agreed to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee over his public pressure on Disney and ABC about Kimmel's Charlie Kirk monologue — FCC Chair Brendan Carr has agreed to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee, a person familiar with the matter told Semafor.
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Hill, TV Tech, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, NBC News, Scripps News, NewsMax.com, Reuters, City Journal and Deadline
David Buttle / Press Gazette:
TollBit: publishers with OpenAI licensing deals have a ChatGPT clickthrough rate almost 7x higher than those without agreements; OpenAI has 40+ US and UK deals — But only a select group of publishers have deals with the LLMs. — Publishers with OpenAI licensing deals benefit …
Discussion:
PYMNTS.com
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
ESPN and Fox One's streaming bundle launches for $39.99 per month — “We are in a little bit of a crawl/walk/run here,” John Lasker, SVP of ESPN Direct-to-Consumer told Deadline in an interview, “especially being in the aftermath of massive product launches on both sides.”
Discussion:
The Streamable, Pete Distad on LinkedIn and Media Play News
Reuters:
Sources: Yahoo nears a deal to sell AOL to Italian app developer Bending Spoons for ~$1.4B; AOL.com's traffic has recently grown 20% YoY among users aged 25-54 — - Bending Spoons in advanced talks to buy AOL from Yahoo, sources say — The Italian unicorn has been on an acquisition spree, may IPO
Discussion:
The Ankler, Sifted, Neowin and Benzinga, more at Techmeme »
Ivan L. Nagy / Columbia Journalism Review:
A look at Middle East 24, a new project from right-wing X news aggregator Visegrád 24 that posts articles from anonymous authors and relies on crowdfunding — A site called Visegrád 24 rode the waves of military conflicts and social media angst to become a household name on X. Its new project …
Reuters:
Some Bollywood stars sue YouTube, seeking the removal of AI videos infringing their IP, and want safeguards to stop other AI models from training on such videos — - Bollywood couple fight for personality rights in New Delhi court — Actors argue AI videos cause harm, should not be used in training
Discussion:
@adityakalra, @basuashis, @adityakalra and Semafor
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
Veep creator Armando Iannucci says he is struggling to raise funding for a project based on Trump's speeches amid fears of MAGA retribution — Armando Iannucci, the Emmy-winning British showrunner behind HBO's Veep and Avenue 5, has revealed that he has struggled to raise funding …
Discussion:
HuffPost, FemaleFirst, Mediaite, The A.V. Club and The Hill
