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Charter says it will acquire Cox Communications for $21.9B, valuing Cox at $34.5B including debt and uniting two of the biggest US cable and broadband operators — Broadband and cable TV provider Charter (CHTR.O) is in advanced talks to combine with Cox Communications in a deal that values Cox …
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Charter says John Malone's Liberty Broadband will cease to be a direct shareholder in Charter and won't appoint directors to its board after the Cox merger — John Malone, the “cable cowboy” who has shaped the cable and media industries for decades, is set to reap a windfall …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Bloomberg and The Streamable

More than 500 Voice of America contractors are expected to lose their jobs by June 30; Kari Lake says 584 total employees were terminated across USAGM — More than 500 of the news service's contractors could be out of a job on June 30. — More than 500 Voice of America contractors …
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The US DHS says it is considering taking part in a reality show where immigrants compete for US citizenship, an idea that was pitched by producer Rob Worsoff — 'This isn't ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants,' says the producer behind the pitch — The Department of Homeland Security …
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Q&A with Wired's Steven Levy on the evolving relationship between the tech industry and the press, media outlets' licensing deals with AI companies, and more — “What you find when you get into a place is always more interesting than any preconception you have.”
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@nancyscola and @ronp

Sources: BT is in advanced talks to sell its 50% stake in TNT Sports UK to WBD, its joint venture partner, and could announce the deal as early as next week — Deal could be announced as early as next week that would bring telecoms group's involvement in sports rights to a close
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Reuters

Sources: the UAE met with Downing Street and discussed the UK's media ownership law weeks before a law change paved the way for the UAE's 15% Telegraph stake — Exclusive: delegates met officials weeks before UK set out higher-than-expected cap on foreign state ownership of newspapers
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@profbillmcguire.bsky.social, @michaelsavage.bsky.social and Telegraph

C-SPAN plans to debut Ceasefire, its first new weekly show in 20 years in the fall, envisioned as conversations between lawmakers on opposite sides of the aisle — “Ceasefire” will be the low-key public affairs channel's first new weekly show in two decades. The question is whether Republicans and Democrats will show up.
Discussion:
@mollyereynolds, @bryancurtis, @samstein, Mock Paper Scissors, TVNewsCheck, C-SPAN.org, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

The Sidemen, a YouTube collective with more than 150M followers across all its social media channels, launches VC firm Upside to back consumer tech startups — Viral video content group creates Upside, an investment company backing consumer tech start-ups — The Sidemen, Europe's largest …
Discussion:
Jordan Schwarzenberger on LinkedIn and Tubefilter

Sweden's PM says Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who was jailed in March in Turkey on charges of terrorism and insulting Turkey's president, has been released — Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who was jailed in March in Turkey on terrorism and insult charges, is on his way home, Sweden's Prime Minister said on Friday.
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Politico, @peninternational.bsky.social, Le Monde and Committee to Protect …

Filing: advertisers ask a US judge to dismiss X's lawsuit accusing them of boycotting the company, arguing X failed to show that they acted with any common plan — Major companies that curtailed advertising on Elon Musk's social media platform X over concerns about its ability …
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PRWeek, Marketing Charts, BMI, Futurism and Business Insider

Facebook and Instagram face “an epidemic of scams” driven by crime networks; internal docs from 2022 say 70% of newly active Meta advertisers promote scams — Fake puppies and phony offers of mouthwatering bargains are often seeded by overseas crime networks …