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Netflix signs multi-year film and TV deal with Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss; sources say the deal is worth $200M — David Benioff and Dan Weiss have signed a multiple-year film and TV pact with the streamer, which was bidding for the duo's services alongside Disney and Amazon.
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Viacom's Q3 revenue rose 4% YoY to $3.36B with ad revenue at its cable networks unit up 6% YoY, returning to US advertising growth for the first time since 2014 — The company, which is led by CEO Bob Bakish and has been in talks with CBS Corp. about a recombination, returned to domestic ad growth …
Discussion:
The Wrap, MediaPost, Variety, @richattbd and Viacom

Google will start surfacing individual podcast episodes in search results and will soon let users ask Google Assistant to play podcasts about specific topics — Search for what you want to hear — Google is taking the next step in making podcasts easier to find.
Discussion:
The Keyword, Fast Company and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Nicholas Jackson / @nbj914:
Pacific Standard EIC says its board is shutting down the publication from next Friday after its primary funder cut off funding — Today is an extremely difficult day, the worst day—and I'm heart-broken and devastated. We learned this morning, without any warning, that our primary funder is cutting off all charitable giving and that our board is shutting down @PacificStand, effective next Friday.
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Nieman Lab, Los Angeles Times, bookforum.com, @jameshamblin, @lydiadepillis, @dylanmatt, @isabelaalhadeff, @sophiekasakove, @annehelen, @felixsalmon, @ryanj899, @strangerworks, @nycsouthpaw, @jamiattenberg, @samaugustdean, @jamilsmith, @felipedlh, @emilyctamkin, @rmc031, @ohkayewhatever, @ianhurley77, @chick_in_kiev, @jennygzhang, @thrasherxy, @saralibby, @chrislhayes and The Wrap

CBS and AT&T strike a new carriage deal, ending a prolonged blackout of CBS programming — CBS and AT&T came to new terms on carriage of CBS stations on the telecommunications giant's DirecTV satellite service, ending a prolonged blackout of CBS programming. More to come......
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Multichannel News, The Streamable and @benmullin

iHeartMedia debuts Sunday Night Podcasts, to air its top podcasts across 270 broadcast radio stations across the US, every Sunday — What's even a podcast? — iHeartMedia will harness more than 850 radio stations to build its podcast audience and entice potential advertisers.
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UK's newspapers circulation auditor ABC will stop publishing six-monthly reports for regional papers, instead publishing on a rolling basis throughout the year — Newspaper circulation auditor ABC is no longer publishing six-monthly reports for regional news publications in the UK.

Facebook is testing selling video streaming subscriptions in the US, starting with four services including BritBox, CollegeHumor's Dropout, and Tastemade Plus — Facebook is dipping its toes into the subscription VOD waters — as an aggregator and reseller.
Discussion:
Vox, more at Techmeme »

Researchers studying disinformation in the Philippines and countermeasures by Facebook and YouTube say little has improved since 2016, a red flag for elsewhere — Disinformation campaigns in the Philippines ahead of its 2016 election offered a preview of things to come to the United States.
Discussion:
@craigsilverman, @miriamelder and @momblogger

USA TODAY office in McLean, VA was evacuated after police responded to what they say was a mistaken report of a man with a weapon — WASHINGTON — USA TODAY's headquarters in McLean, Virginia was evacuated Wednesday amid a heavy police presence to what authorities said turned …
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@fairfaxcountypd, @fairfaxcountypd, @annecutler, @carenbohan, Mediaite, @alexptachick, @taylormaycan, @maxwelltani, @alexptachick, @abc7news, @meaghang, @emdrums, @brianstelter, @mikevwusa, ABC13, Deadline, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, fox5sandiego.com, Variety, Talking Points Memo, The Independent, NBC Chicago, Arizona Republic, WUSA, Politico and Fortune

Roku reports Q2 revenue of $250.1M, up 59% YoY, loss of $10.4M, up from $0.1M a year ago, and $167.7M in platform revenue, up 86% YoY; stock up 20%+ — Roku is now being used by 30.5 million households every month, and those users are a big reason the company grew revenues …
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Multichannel News, Roku, VentureBeat, @ophirgottlieb, Fortune and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Federal judge rules that Ed Butowsky's libel suit against NPR for revealing his role in funding an investigation into the death of Seth Rich can go forward — A federal judge has rejected National Public Radio's bid to dismiss a Texas investment adviser's libel suit over news reports …
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@justinhendrix, @gabrielmalor, @bmaz, @packerpoppa, @organizingpower, The Hill, @joshgerstein and @profcarroll

Ofcom: streaming services' subscriptions for Q1 in UK: Netflix posts the largest gains, up 26% YoY to 11.5M, Amazon Prime trails with 6M but is up 23% YoY — Almost half of all U.K. homes now take one of the major subscription streaming services, with Netflix at the front of the pack …

Dean Baquet acknowledges some subscribers expect The NYT to take an adversarial role against Trump, doesn't see this moment in history as particularly aberrant — Dean Baquet, the executive editor of The New York Times, was at home on Monday night—as was the rest of the paper's senior leadership …
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The Atlantic, @realdonaldtrump, @natesilver538, The Guardian, @ddale8, MediaFile, Digiday, @lizzieohreally, @bvivian14, @rynk, @neeratanden, @realdonaldtrump, @jayrosen_nyu, @imillhiser, @espiegler, @brianbeutler, @will_bunch, @timkarr, @moorehn, @maggienyt, Mother Jones, @marty_lederman, @mattzeitlin, New York Post, Ad Age, @jamesfallows, @hirschorn, @moorehn, @jbenton, Politico, @dloehr, @stuartetc, @dominicumile, @meredithshiner, @djkgamc, @maryschmich, @topherspiro, The Daily Caller, @charlesarthur, @hbryant42, @gina_cole_, @neeratanden, @blogpalmsprings, @opus163, @froomkin, @danablankenhorn, @p_jeanne97, @mattyglesias and @nickmizaur
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By expecting the New York Times to be the paper of resistance, something it has vowed to never be, liberals are positioned for perpetual disenchantment
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@politicomag, @owillis, @martinsfp, @jayrosen_nyu, @betoorourke and The Guardian
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
New York Times reaches a high of 4.7M total subscribers in Q2, with nearly 3.8M subscribers to digital products; digital-only subscription revenue grew 14% YoY
New York Times reaches a high of 4.7M total subscribers in Q2, with nearly 3.8M subscribers to digital products; digital-only subscription revenue grew 14% YoY
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