Mediagazer: Charlie Ergen strikes a deal to merge Dish and EchoStar, as he shifts away from the shrinking pay-TV network to compete with wireless giants like AT&T (Wall Street Journal)

5:30 PM ET, August 8, 2023

Top News:

ESPN and Penn Entertainment unveil a deal to launch ESPN BET this fall; Penn plans to rebrand its current sportsbook in the 16 US states where Penn is licensed — Sports betting deal to include a streamlined experience for sports fans — ESPN today announced an agreement with PENN Entertainment …

Discussion: Awful Announcing, Business Wire, Deadline, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @lucas_shaw, @loudmouthjulia, @semaforben, @loudmouthjulia, @tim_bays, @mattbelloni, @bennyjohnson, @barstoolsports, @barstoolsports, @sherman4949, The Hollywood Reporter, @jbflint and For The Win

Axios:

Penn Entertainment is selling Barstool Sports back to founder Dave Portnoy, who has accepted certain noncompete agreements; Penn had bought Barstool for $551M — - Tim Baysinger- Kerry Flynn- Sara Fischer — ESPN on Tuesday announced a betting joint venture with casino operator PENN Entertainment …

Discussion: Variety, Bloomberg, New York Post, Sportico, @barstoolhubbs, @lizrhoffman, @tomaxwell, @darrenrovell, @markstenberg3, @barstoolbigcat, @tomscibelli and @trungtphan

Wall Street Journal:

Charlie Ergen strikes a deal to merge Dish and EchoStar, as he shifts away from the shrinking pay-TV network to compete with wireless giants like AT&T — Deal aims to give Dish the financial flexibility it needs to compete in the next generation of wireless

Luke Bouma / Cord Cutters News:

Dish reports Dish TV lost 197K subscribers in Q2, leaving 6.9M, Sling TV lost 97K subscribers, leaving 2M, and total pay TV subscribers fell 11% YoY to 8.9M — Today DISH announced its 2nd quarter 2023 earnings and reported that DISH and Sling TV lost 294,000 subscribers.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Media Play News, The Streamable, The Desk and @tvgrimreaper

Sara Fischer / Axios:

OpenAI plans to fund a new initiative at NYU's journalism school with a $395K grant, which will provide workshops on journalism ethics issues — OpenAI, the parent company to ChatGPT, will fund a new journalism ethics initiative at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute …

Discussion: @tonyajoriley, Shelly Palmer, @_felixsimon_, @ingrid@everything …, @dicktofel and @jackmirkinson.bsky.social

Casey Newton / Platformer:

Given the countless times Elon Musk has walked back announcements, the business media must rethink its coverage of X, Musk, and the fight with Mark Zuckerberg — After a weekend of whoppers about X and fighting Mark Zuckerberg, the press should take a more skeptical approach

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Puck raised a $10M+ Series B led by J Rothschild Capital Management and plans to hire 8 to 10 new people in 2023; the outlet currently has 31 employees — Puck, the buzzy media startup that covers the intersection of Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Wall Street and Washington …

Discussion: The Wrap, The Information and @sarafischer

Natalie Korach / The Wrap:

BuzzFeed misses with Q2 revenue down 27% YoY to $77.9M, ad revenue down 33% YoY to $35.4M, and a net loss of $27.8M vs. $23.6M in Q2 2022 — The struggling media company reports a net loss Tuesday for the second quarter of $27.8 million — BuzzFeed ended June with $41.3 million in cash …

Discussion: @ckrewson, @baekdal, @jordannovet, @matthewkeyslive and Business Wire

Jane Friedman:

An author finds “garbage books”, most likely AI-generated, uploaded to Amazon under her name and added to Goodreads; both services have since removed the titles — Update (afternoon of Aug. 7): Hours after this post was published, my official Goodreads profile was cleaned of the offending titles.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, @erikbryn, @janefriedman, @thesarahrose, @janefriedman, @mariavalewrites.bsky.social, @tylerking.bsky.social, @jenhoward.bsky.social, @lilithsaintcrow …, @edsermark.bsky.social, @jasonsanford.bsky.social and Decrypt, more at Techmeme »

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Prosecraft, which compiled 27K+ books to compare their language's “vividness”, shuts down after a writer backlash over the site's potential generative AI uses

Discussion: @pronounced_ing, @benji_smith, @bibliogato, @kaylaancrum, @pronounced_ing, @harikunzru, @pronounced_ing, @zachrosewriter, @lindaholmes, Philosophy bear, CityLife, The Shaxpir Blog, The A.V. Club and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Reuters:

Sources: earlier in 2023, Disney created a task force to study how the company can apply AI, develop in-house AI apps, and form partnerships with startups — Walt Disney (DIS.N) has created a task force to study artificial intelligence and how it can be applied across the entertainment conglomerate …

Discussion: IndieWire, New York Post, Gizmodo, Fortune, Collider and @chris@mastodon …

Sara Fischer / Axios:

The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson says the outlet hopes to be profitable in 2024, plans to seek higher-margin ad deals, and has 925K subscribers — The Atlantic has booked $19.5 million in advertising and events revenue so far this year, according to data shown to staff during …

Discussion: @sarafischer

Mark Hicks / The Detroit News:

Bob Giles, who led two newsrooms to Pulitzers, oversaw Nieman Journalism Lab's launch, and selected and hosted hundreds of Nieman Fellows at Harvard, dies at 90 — Former Detroit News editor and publisher Bob Giles ― who led the paper to a Pulitzer Prize, the highest honor in journalism …

Discussion: @jodeet, @bethelmckenzie, @erniesuggs, @tommytomlinson, Detroit Free Press and Nieman Foundation

Sam Roberts / New York Times:

Rhoda Karpatkin, the former executive director and president of Consumer Reports who doubled subscriptions to 4.3M, is dead at 93 — The first woman to be named executive director of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, she expanded its readership and its influence in Washington.

Discussion: @mltellado, @jimshultz, TACD and @chrishendel

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More News:

Financial Times:
Sources: Google and UMG are in talks to license artists' melodies and voices for AI-made songs; goals include making a tool for fans and paying copyright owners

more at Techmeme »

Agence France-Presse:
News Media Canada, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, CBC, and Radio-Canada ask Canada's competition watchdog to investigate Meta's blocking of news

Discussion: The Guardian and Canadian Association …

Max Kim / Los Angeles Times:
The Korea Broadcasting Actors Union says Netflix is not responding to calls to meet as the union fights for a better compensation system that includes residuals

Discussion: New York Post, @ingloriousgigi.bsky.social, Rolling Stone, @aliciadcarroll, @wgawest, @sev___, @oriana_banana, @carriecnh12, @judyberman.bsky.social, @elisewho, @lawoftd, Inverse, @dasgoot1, Screen Rant and Collider

Jon Lafayette / Next TV:
Nexstar reports net revenue down 0.4% YoY to $1.24B, adjusted EBITDA down 32% YoY to $331M, a $78M loss for the CW, and core TV ad revenue down 2.2% to $404M

Discussion: Adweek, MediaPost, Nexstar Media Group, Inc., The Desk, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, The Wrap and TVNewsCheck

Wesley Hilliard / AppleInsider:
Apple Music launches Discovery Station, akin to Spotify's algorithmic suggestions, available via the Listen Now tab in the Stations for You category

Discussion: ZDNet, Android Police, Music Ally, @HilliTech@techhub.social, TechCrunch and The Verge

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:
Spotify expands its AI-powered DJ beta, available in the app's Music feed, to ~50 markets, six months after debuting the English-only feature in North America

Discussion: Spotify, AppleInsider, Gizmodo, @eldsjal, Bloomberg and Digital Music News, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
Fox Corp reports $3.03B in Q4 revenue and a $369M net income; full-year revenue rose 7% YoY to $14.91B and net income hit $1.25B, up from $1.23B the prior year

Discussion: Reuters, @bristei, The Desk, PR Newswire, Wall Street Journal, @bristei, @bristei, Deadline and WORLD SCREEN

Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The NYT reports Q2 revenue up 6.3% YoY to $590.9M, adjusted operating profit of $92.2M, 9.88M subscribers, and $409.6M in subscription revenue

Discussion: Yahoo Finance, @loudmouthjulia, @newspaperworld, Front Office Sports, @loudmouthjulia and Poynter

Killian Faith-Kelly / Press Gazette:
An interview with The Times obituary writer Damian Arnold on his workday, stock obituaries, the right way to die, writing his first obituary in 2008, and more

Alex Webb / Bloomberg:
How Lionel Messi coming to MLS may help Apple attract international TV+ subscribers, as the service has almost no content made for non-English-speaking markets

Discussion: Awful Announcing, @karissabe, @fos, @messiquote, @pkedrosky, The Ringer and The Athletic

Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
After social media upended the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle magazine industries, some women turn to Facebook Groups and Substack for curated recommendations

Chris Lee / Vulture:
A group of 50+ Marvel VFX employees votes to be represented by IATSE, marking the first time VFX professionals have banded together to form a union

From Techmeme:

Gavin Anderegg / anderegg.ca:
Bluesky is working to become fully decentralized but it could take years amid financial concerns as it makes money only by selling domains for usernames

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: ByteDance is valuing itself at about $300B as part of a recent buyback offer, one of its highest valuations ever

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: T-Mobile's network was among the systems hacked by the China-linked Salt Typhoon group, and some foreign telecommunications firms were also compromised

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