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Sources: AT&T is considering parting ways with its DirecTV unit, including spinning it off into a separate public company or combining assets with Dish — Telecom giant considers fate of DirecTV satellite unit — AT&T Inc. is exploring parting with its DirecTV satellite unit …
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CNBC, NBC News, Light Reading, Talking New Media, Ad Age, @brianstelter, @the___spy, Ars Technica, Los Angeles Times, Multichannel News, The Wrap, CNN, Engadget, The Streamable, CNBC and CNET, more at Techmeme »


Google is investing “several million dollars” in Project Neon, a three-year partnership with UK news publisher Archant, which will launch three local news sites — Google is investing “several million dollars” into a joint venture with a British local news publisher …
Discussion:
Press Gazette, The Keyword and @updatesneon


Roku OS 9.2 will feature Roku Zones, which aggregate content from particular genres, sorting it according to whether it's free, available for rental or purchase — The Ultra's remote can open whatever app you want with a single button press — Roku is unveiling its fall 2019 lineup …
Discussion:
Roku Online Newsroom, Variety, TechCrunch, Multichannel News and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »


Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund makes first grants: $5.25M to three Philadelphia recipients to support new models for local journalism — Fund's first grants to support new local journalism models, advanced technology for newsrooms — The Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund …
Discussion:
@lenfestinst, @pilhofer, @tylrfishr, @tylrfishr, @jroxann and @lenfestinst


Book excerpt: as he exits Apple's board, Disney's Bob Iger recounts talks with Steve Jobs before Disney bought Pixar, and how their friendship grew — As he exits Apple's board, the Disney chief reminisces about his relationship with its mercurial founder—and how their radical visions aligned to save two companies.
Discussion:
/Film, @alexweprin, The Mac Observer, Engadget, @hblodget, @benfritz, @mousterpiece, @loudmouthjulia, @scottgustin, @mousterpiece, @ballmatthew, @dlthings, CNBC, CNET, Deadline, Business Insider, MacRumors, 9to5Mac and New York Post, more at Techmeme »


CNN booked Corey Lewandowski for an interview just hours after telling Congress he has “no obligation to be honest with the media” — Believe it or not, cable news networks are not obligated to showcase liars. — You might think that Corey Lewandowski's admission during …
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After Corey Lewandowski pronounced his freedom to lie to media, a look at how a Fox News “straight news” anchor interviewed him and sidestepped the lying issue
Discussion:
@oliverdarcy, @politidope, @theplumlinegs, @rachellarris, @sophiatesfaye, @badfoxgraphics, Mediaite and Vox

DAZN reaches distribution deal with Comcast, its first in North America; Xfinity Flex box users will have access to DAZN starting today — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Media and communications giant Comcast Corp has struck a distribution deal with digital global sports provider DAZN Group …
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Acorn TV, AMC's British film and TV show streaming service, has passed 1M subscribers in Canada and the US — Acorn TV, AMC's streaming service featuring British film and television programs, has passed one million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, the network has announced, calling it a …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Broadcasting & Cable and Deadline


Medium adds a “Save to Medium” bookmarking feature that lets users save articles to a reading list via sharing extensions on mobile and in Chrome — Most sites don't load in reading mode — Medium's “Save to Medium” bookmarking feature is now live, letting you save articles …
Discussion:
blog.medium.com, @ckrewson, @medium, @caseynewton and Medium Help Center, more at Techmeme »


Survey of nonprofit outlets: foundations supplied under 50% of funding for the first time on record in 2018, as earned income and individual giving increases — “Nonprofit news organizations have much in common even if their scope or mission differs. Their journalistic missions …
Discussion:
@jcstearns


Researchers: many smart TVs and streaming dongles from Roku, Samsung, Amazon and others are sending user data to companies like Netflix, Microsoft, and Facebook — The smart TVs in our homes are leaking sensitive user data to companies including Netflix, Google and Facebook even when some devices are idle …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @geoffreyfowler, ZDNet, @mmnjug, @dhh, @ilvestoomas, @justinbrookman, @geoffreyfowler, @faizsays, @upma23, @hoofnagle, @valaafshar, Wired, The Mac Observer and Slashdot, more at Techmeme »


Tumblr and WordPress.com parent company Automattic raises $300M Series D from Salesforce Ventures at a post-money valuation of $3B — Automattic, the company best known for WordPress.com and its contributions to the open source, non-hosted WordPress alternative, has raised $300 million …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Matt Mullenweg and Axios, more at Techmeme »


HBO's five-year deal for The Big Bang Theory is the clearest sign yet of AT&T's intention to transition HBO from a premium brand to a mass-market broadcaster — Analysis: Like Netflix, HBO could become home for a lot of good content and even more not-as-good content — but not the edgy, prestige work it became known for.


Nielsen Social Content Ratings, which measure talent's promotion of TV shows on social media, now include Instagram in addition to Twitter and Facebook — Facebook and Twitter were already being tracked — The Nielsen Social Content Ratings now measure talent's promotion …
Discussion:
Variety and Broadcasting & Cable