Top News:
Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:
Antenna: Disney+ customer cancellation rates doubled from 4% in August to 8% in September after Jimmy Kimmel's suspension, and Hulu's doubled from 5% to 10% — Customer cancellations for Disney's Disney+ and Hulu streaming services jumped in September, after the company briefly suspended the ABC late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”.
Discussion:
Deadline, Business Insider, Associated Press, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, MarketWatch, The A.V. Club, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Daily News, BBC, Gizmodo, @pkafka, Daily Kos, The Wrap, @maxwelltani, @passantino.bsky.social, @tvgrimreaper, TheDesk.net, @joshsternberg.com, TV Insider, Mashable, New York Times, @datadrivenmd.social, The Guardian, TVNewsCheck and Just Jared
Jaures Yip / CNBC:
OpenAI says it will work with SAG-AFTRA, CAA, UTA, and others to crack down on Sora 2 deepfakes, following concerns from actor Bryan Cranston and SAG-AFTRA — OpenAI announced on Monday in a joint statement that it will be working with Bryan Cranston, SAG-AFTRA, and other actor unions …
Discussion:
SAG-AFTRA, Variety, The Verge, NBC News, @carnage4life.bsky.social, NPR, MacRumors, CNET, @andrewcurran_, The National, @garymarcus, @ns123abc, @tomrubin, Business Insider, @sagaftra, The Wrap, IGN, WinBuzzer, Straight Arrow News, Deadline, @xpangler, @rekkhan, The Daily Caller and Forbes, more at Techmeme »
S.V. Date / HuffPost:
When a HuffPost reporter asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt who chose Budapest for the next Trump-Putin meeting, she replied “Your mom did” — The press secretary still didn't answer the question we asked her, either. — WASHINGTON — White House press secretary …
Discussion:
RedState, Townhall, New York Times, New Republic, @kevinbaum013, @ishaantharoor, @presssec, @billybinion, Mediaite, Raw Story, @alexbgault, @mepiskopos, @steveguest, @meidastouch, @radiofreetom, @kevinmlevy, @sapitonmix, @edkrassen, The Kyiv Independent, @theintelfrog, @jmart, The Independent, @brad__22, @whstancil, @klasfeldreports, @itstheenforcer, @samstein, @jnicholsonindc, @jbendery, @yashar, @michaeldweiss, @mehdirhasan, @lemonsturgis, @wutangkids, @colinbwilliams.com, @mmpadellan, @spencerhakimian, @rpsagainsttrump, Al Jazeera, @walshfreedom, @doughnutdunk, @andrewfeinberg, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Newsweek, Crooks and Liars, Just Jared, Washington Examiner, The Japan Times and Associated Press
Ian Walker / Wall Street Journal:
The UK CMA says Getty Images and Shutterstock's $3.7B merger raises competition concerns and gives the companies until October 27 to make a plan to address them — The regulator says it will refer the deal for further investigation if the companies don't provide an acceptable undertaking to address concerns
Discussion:
GOV.UK, PetaPixel, Neowin, Reuters and Capital Brief
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
David Rohde, a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize who left The New Yorker in 2023 to join NBC News, moves to MSNBC as its senior national security reporter — Rohde, a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, will join MSNBC under Versant, the new company slated to be spun off from NBCUniversal …
Discussion:
The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, Deadline and @bristei
Ken Bensinger / New York Times:
Andrew Thornebrooke, an Epoch Times national security reporter, resigns over its decision to sign the Pentagon's new policy and label antifa as a terrorist org — The reporter, Andrew Thornebrooke, also cited a recent editorial directive to refer to antifa, the far-left ideological movement, as a terrorist organization.
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
Ofcom strengthens its guidance on politicians presenting UK news shows to include members of the House of Lords, after losing a court battle with GB News — Ofcom has strengthened guidance concerning politicians presenting news shows after the UK media regulator lost a court battle with GB News earlier this year.
Discussion:
Broadband TV News, Press Gazette, Telegraph, Advanced Television and GB News
Max Tani / Semafor:
DC-focused digital news startup NOTUS launches Perspectives, an opinion-focused section with editorial “symposiums”, or op-eds from diverse political voices — A new Washington, DC, digital news startup is expanding beyond reporting into opinion journalism.
Discussion:
@ddiamond and @wolfereports.bsky.social
Michael Paulson / New York Times:
Ariel Emanuel's new company MARI acquires NYC- and London-based theater ticketing app TodayTix from PE firm Great Hill; TodayTix sells ~10M tickets per year — The ticketing company is already a significant player in the two big theater markets of New York and London.
Richard J. Tofel / Second Rough Draft:
Q&A with Hearst CEO Steve Swartz on the company's recent “opportunistic” acquisitions of local newspapers in Texas, the role of nonprofit news outlets, and more — The CEO on “opportunistic” acquisitions in Austin and Dallas— and more … RT: Steve, thank you for doing this.
Discussion:
Mark Medici on LinkedIn, @dicktofel.bsky.social and @pressgazette.co.uk
New York Times:
Sources: Bari Weiss has taken a hands-on approach in her first days at CBS, helping book big guests and urging executives to find leakers in the newsroom — Ms. Weiss, an unusual leader for a broadcast news division, has floated ideas for live events and asked journalists why they are seen as biased.
Discussion:
Off Message, RedState, New York Sun, Townhall, @brianstelter, The Populist Times, @scottwrasmussen, @scottnover, @faintghostglow, HotAir, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, @eric_alterman, Instapundit, @nick_field90, Daily Kos, New York Post, @skastenbaum, Above the Law, Notes From The Circus, The Independent, TV Insider, @rmac.bsky.social, @erinmcunningham.bsky.social, Newsbusters, TVNewsCheck, MediaPost, @anthonylfisher.bsky.social, @sammyroth.bsky.social, Fox News, Mediaite, @pbump.com, @nickfield.bsky.social, Raw Story, @brianmfloyd.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @lopatto.bsky.social, @ericalterman.bsky.social, @premthakker.bsky.social, @premthakker.bsky.social, @premthakker.bsky.social, The Gateway Pundit, Variety, @zeteo.com, @zeteo.com, @mehdirhasan.bsky.social, France 24 and The Hill
Max Tani / Semafor:
MeidasTouch says it has grown to 5.5M+ YouTube subscribers without outside investment; sources say Soros Fund is in talks to invest in the anti-Trump outlet — The foundation started by George Soros is looking to expand its reach even further into media, despite a looming federal probe into Soros' philanthropic arm.
Discussion:
@michaelmartinez.co
