Top News:
Sara Fischer / Axios:
CNN CEO Chris Licht confirms he plans to step down after 13 months, following a damning Atlantic profile last week and the Donald Trump town hall in May 2023 — Chris Licht, the embattled CEO of CNN, plans to step down, he confirmed to Axios on Wednesday. Licht has been on the job for 13 months.
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Semafor:
Chris Licht managed CNN anchors poorly and his push to the political center failed, but the fundamental issue is that cable news is in a broad, secular decline — Chris Licht will be stepping down as the CEO and Chairman of CNN. His departure was first reported by Puck News early Wednesday.
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Trisha Gopal / Insider:
Amy Entelis, one of CNN's four interim leaders, joined in 2012, led the original series and documentary unit, and served on the interim team after Jeff Zucker — - Chris Licht is out as CNN's CEO. Longtime executive Amy Entelis is among those taking over in the interim.
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Variety, Mediaite, Daily Mail, Observer, @raminsetoodeh, @bristei, Al Jazeera, New York Post and IndieWire
Alex Griffing / Mediaite:
CNN has also let go of Chris Licht's top executives, including comms chief Kris Coratti, head of strategic comms Matt Dornic, and chief of staff Devan Cayea — After news dropped on Wednesday morning that CNN's CEO Chris Licht had been fired from the ratings-beleaguered network …
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Adweek, Insider, MediaPost, @sarafischer and Axios
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Internal memo: WBD CEO David Zaslav addresses CNN CEO Chris Licht's departure saying, “I take responsibility” and “things did not work out the way we had hoped”
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The Daily Beast, Mediaite, HuffPost, RADAR, Financial Times, Media Matters for America, National Review, @thewrap, Deadline, The Hill, Fox News, Broadband TV News, Insider and Page Six
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
WBD CEO David Zaslav has a history of tearing down and renovating what he considers to be underperforming cable assets, but this strategy might not work for CNN
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New York Times, @karaswisher, Wall Street Journal, Sydney Morning Herald, The Hollywood Reporter, @karaswisher, The Big Lead, @brianstelter, CNN, New York Post, New York Daily News, @karaswisher, @jbflint, @davidclinchnews, @richarddeitsch, @bristei, @brianstelter, @thesimonetti, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei and New York Times
Axios:
Letter: Fox News tells Tucker Carlson's lawyers he “is in breach” of his contract after he launched his Twitter show; Carlson's lawyers cite the First Amendment — Fox News Wednesday notified Tucker Carlson's lawyers that the former prime-time anchor violated his contract …
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The Wrap, Observer, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Media Matters for America and New York Times
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Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
Tucker Carlson posts the first episode of his new show, Tucker on Twitter; the episode is just over 10 minutes long and appears to be from his rural Maine home
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@tuckercarlson, @loudmouthjulia, New York Times, Variety, Deadline, Rolling Stone, @elonmusk, The Guardian, Washington Post, @brianstelter, @mehdirhasan, Insider, Newser, @loudmouthjulia, @kyleworton, @rudygiuliani, @zaleskiluke, @patel_patriot, GB News, @zaleskiluke, @zaleskiluke, Forbes, @jessicalburbank, @oneunderscore__, @michaeldweiss, @rolandsmartin, @jay_beecher, @diamondandsilk, @bolsonarosp, @amandacarpenter, @a_newsman, @seanmdav, CBS News, CNN, Mediaite, Daily Mail and The Wrap
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
The Los Angeles Times cuts 74 newsroom jobs, or ~13% of its total staff, including editors, photographers, audio producers, and the audience engagement team — The Los Angeles Times is cutting its newsroom staff, becoming the latest news organization to contract amid economic pressures brought …
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NPR, New York Times, @katie_robertson, Variety, MediaPost, Poynter, Deadline, The Wrap, Associated Press, @haleaziz, @jason, @chrismegerian, @jbflint, @jessicaperezla2, @loisbeckett, @kimseverson, @jeffsharlet, @niemanlab, @lailalalami, The Daily Beast, @katekilla, @kenbensinger, @dabeard, @katie_robertson, @mackenziemays, @genepark and IndieWire
Casey Newton / Platformer:
How Twitter, YouTube, and Meta gave up on removing lies about the 2020 US presidential elections, after having briefly banded together to do the right thing — For a time, they fought the good fight — but not any more — I. — On tech platforms these days you can get away with just about anything …
Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Amazon plans to launch an ad-supported Prime Video tier and is talking with WBD and Paramount about adding their ad-based tiers to Prime Video Channels — Discussions come as ad buyers have been pushing for more access to premium shows and movies — Amazon is planning to launch …
Discussion:
Screen Rant, CNET, The Verge, Insider, TechCrunch, The Streamable, The Wrap, Reuters, Neowin, Axios, Los Angeles Times, Comic Book and The Information, more at Techmeme »
Amrita Khalid / The Verge:
Spotify combining Gimlet and Parcast into a single unit signals the company moving away from pricey originals to amateur podcasters and creator partnerships — When Spotify announced yesterday that it would lay off 200 employees from its podcast unit and combine Gimlet and Parcast into a single operation …
Discussion:
@intelinsider, @askhalid, @askhalid, @tiagodf, New York Times and TechCrunch
Financial Times:
Sources: Lloyds puts B.UK, a holding company controlling Telegraph titles and The Spectator, into receivership over the Barclay family owing almost £1B in debt — UK bank to seek sale of media group over almost £1bn in debts owed by Barclay family
Discussion:
The Guardian, @rasmus_kleis, @swansonian, @shentonstage, Sky News, BBC, @arusbridger, @ohgodwhatnowpod, The Guardian, @brexit_sham, @michaelwhite, @henrymance, @jamesrbuk and Press Gazette
Sahil Patel / The Information:
Sources: BuzzFeed is exploring selling Complex Networks, which the outlet acquired when going public in late 2021 for nearly $300M; Complex's revenue has fallen — BuzzFeed is exploring a potential sale of Complex Networks, a digital media firm it acquired when going public in late 2021 …
Discussion:
The Wrap and @theinformation
The Athletic:
Sources: MLS and Apple discussed sharing new Season Pass subscriber revenue with Lionel Messi; on June 6, Apple unveiled a four-part Messi docuseries on TV+ — Major League Soccer and Inter Miami are solidifying details around the potential signing of Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.
Discussion:
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