Mediagazer: Many current and former Amazon executives, showrunners, and agents say Amazon Studios is confusing and frustrating; one showrunner says Studios has “no vision” (Kim Masters/The Hollywood Reporter)

4:50 PM ET, April 4, 2023

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Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Warner Bros. Discovery is close to a deal for a Harry Potter TV show with one season based on each book, a cornerstone of HBO's new streaming strategy — Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is close to a deal for a new online TV series based on Harry Potter, the best-selling young adult books …

Kim Masters / The Hollywood Reporter:

Many current and former Amazon executives, showrunners, and agents say Amazon Studios is confusing and frustrating; one showrunner says Studios has “no vision” — Despite ambitious bets like ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ and the upcoming ‘Citadel,’ insiders complain that there's still …

Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:

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Sara Fischer / Axios:

An interview with WWE President Nick Khan on the WWE and UFC pursuing separate linear TV rights negotiations, continuing the WWE's Saudi relationship, and more — WWE and UFC will pursue separate media rights negotiations for linear TV, but there could be an opportunity to pursue a combined streaming deal …

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Pew Research Center:

A survey finds men make up 83% of US journalists covering sports and 60% of those covering government and politics, while 64% of those covering health are women — The beats American journalists cover vary widely by gender and other factors, according to a new analysis of a Pew Research Center survey …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @gottfriedjeff, @howardbeck, @chriskirschner, @pewjournalism, @djbienaime, @pewscience, @michaelmcgee, @alexanderrusso, @marlyriveraespn, @andrewgiambrone, @jimlaporta, @bepryor, @natosource, @seungminkim and The Reynolds Center

Remy Tumin / New York Times:

Nielsen: the 2023 NCAA women's basketball tournament final averaged 9.9M viewers, up 103% YoY; ESPN: the game was the most viewed college event ever on ESPN+ — The average 9.9 million viewers for Louisiana State topping Iowa was significantly more than the previous record of 5.7 million …

Stuart Dredge / Music Ally:

Spotify shuts down its Clubhouse-style audio app Spotify Live, previously called Locker Room, acquired as part of its €57M Betty Labs deal in March 2021 — Spotify is shutting down its live-audio app Spotify Live, but says it will continue experimenting with live features in its main service.

Discussion: The Verge, Music Business Worldwide, Complete Music Update, @glenngabe, @billboard, @andysternberg, @pjbrown_iii, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Engadget, Gizmodo, 9to5Mac and TechCrunch

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

Tom Krazit, a former editor at now-defunct Protocol, bought Protocol's enterprise newsletter list of 20K+ emails to help launch Runtime, his newsletter on Ghost — A news organization shuts down, and its writers move to Substack while they're trying to decide what to do next: We've seen that before.

Discussion: Runtime, Mostly Cloudy, @laurahazardowen and Protocol

Maya Salam / New York Times:

A profile of Hot Ones, a YouTube show with millions of views from its nearly 300 episodes where stars eat 10 increasingly fiery wings while answering questions — This YouTube talk show's premise is simple: Disarm celebrities with deep-cut questions and scorchingly spicy wings.

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Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

A Meta-commissioned report argues Facebook is not a “must-have” for publishers, saying news links account for less than 3% of posts users see in their feed — News links account for less than 3% of posts people see in their Facebook feeds. — A report commissioned by Meta …

Discussion: @jeffjarvis, @jamesrbuk, @dkiesow@social.kiesow.net and Nieman Lab

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Bob Iger says Disney is “not looking to license core Marvel, Disney, Pixar, or Star Wars” content to third parties but may “on occasion” license other content — Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company has reached a new stage of its evolution in streaming and will consider …

Discussion: The Streamable and Miami Herald

Craig Lord / Global News:

Rogers Communications, Canada's largest cable provider, closed its ~$15B merger with rival Shaw on April 3, 2023, after announcing the deal in March 2021 — Rogers must fulfill list of conditions in Shaw merger or face stiff financial penalties — Rogers Communications Inc. has closed …

Discussion: @globalleth, Bloomberg and Reuters

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