Top News:
Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:
Senator Chuck Schumer urges Rupert Murdoch to stop amplifying “replacement theory” on Fox News; Lachlan Murdoch said Tucker Carlson “decried” the theory in 2021 — Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, urged Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch …
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Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: Disney will not accept ads about alcohol, politics, or rival studios on its cheaper ad-supported Disney+ tier, and will not show ads to young children — Not every marketer is likely to get its commercials on a new ad-supported version of Disney+.
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The Desk, New York Post, @annehummert, CNET, SlashFilm, Protocol, IndieWire, Too Much TV Newsletter, The Wrap, Ad Age and MediaPost
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Wall Street Journal:
Disney plans to carry four minutes of commercials per hour on Disney+'s ad-supported tier; Hulu has nearly eight, Peacock has five, and HBO Max will have four — Total ad load to be limited to four minutes an hour; preschool children won't see any ads — Walt Disney Co. DIS 2.69%▲ …
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Ad Age, ScreenRant, @patiencehaggin, The Verge, Engadget, TVLine, @tsoh_investing, TechCrunch, The Streamable, @richlightshed, Hollywood Reporter and @mulvihill79
Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Netflix cuts 150 jobs out of 11K across departments in a new round of layoffs, mostly in the US, as the company reins in costs amid slowing revenue growth — EXCLUSIVE: Layoffs are underway at Netflix today. About 150 positions out of the streamer's 11,000 workforce are being eliminated amid …
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Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
An analysis of nine US local TV stations' top Facebook posts: 9.9% had a video, community stories were popular, sports posts performed below average, and more — In a typical American city, the local daily newspaper is the outlet producing the most news day after day.
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@kimwilson, @adriana_lacy, @mattnavarra, @niemanfdn and @spj_tweets
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Kevin Mayer's and Tom Staggs' Candle Media acquires ATTN:, a profitable digital content publisher focused on social change content, sources say for ~$150M — It gives Candle access to a brand that has expertise in reaching a younger, socially-active audience.
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The Wrap, @sarafischer, Variety, TechCrunch, @jtoonkel, @ashkan, @richlightshed, @candlemedia, @kevinmayer, Tubefilter, @tomstaggs, @mikehadgis, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Realscreen
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Apple debuts Apple Music Live, a concert livestreaming series for Apple Music subscribers starting with Harry Styles on May 20, but doesn't share other events — Apple is launching a new concert livestreaming series called “Apple Music Live” that will showcase performances from …
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Billboard, Engadget, Analytics, AppleInsider, MacRumors, 9to5Mac and Digital Music News
John Revill / Reuters:
Over 58% of Swiss voters back a law mandating that streaming services invest 4% of the revenue they make in Switzerland into domestic film production — Swiss voters on Sunday backed proposals to make global TV streaming services such as Netflix Inc (NFLX.O), Amazon (AMZN.O) and Disney …
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@dada_drummer, DW.COM, Pasaporte Electoral and Light Reading
Leichtman Research Group:
Research: the largest US pay TV providers lost ~1.95M net video subscribers in Q1 2022 and have ~74.1M subscribers; the top seven cable companies have ~40.5M — Durham, NH — May 17, 2022 — Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) found that the largest pay-TV providers in the U.S. …
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The Streamable and Light Reading
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Filing: in Q1 2022, Berkshire Hathaway bought a $2.6B Paramount stake and boosted its Activision Blizzard and Apple positions; Paramount stock closes up 15.35% — UPDATED with closing price: Shares of Paramount Global shot up more than 15% to close at $32.32 Tuesday after Berkshire Hathaway …
Tracey Tully / New York Times:
Great Point Studios is building a $100M studio in Newark with six large soundstages, another sign of New Jersey's emerging relevance in the film and TV industry — Lionsgate Newark will include six large soundstages. It's being built on the site of one of New Jersey's first public housing projects.
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@traceytully, @timsullivan510 and Media Play News
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
A profile of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the daughter of Haitian immigrants who worked for city council members, Obama, the ACLU, and MoveOn — WASHINGTON (AP) — Karine Jean-Pierre, the new White House press secretary, hopes she can inspire young people to …
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@scrowder, @quinncy, @ananavarro, @dsupervilleap, The Guardian and WGN-TV