Mediagazer: 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 (Jane Friedman)

3:10 PM ET, August 8, 2023

Top News:

Dish reports that Dish TV lost 197K subscribers in Q2, leaving 6.9M subscribers, and Sling TV lost 97K subscribers, leaving 2M subscribers — Today DISH announced its 2nd quarter 2023 earnings and reported that DISH and Sling TV lost 294,000 subscribers. This worked out to the company …

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

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

Discussion: Axios, Deadline, The Wrap, Reuters, CNBC, Light Reading, The Verge, Total Telecom, Bloomberg, Broadband TV News, The Desk, The Hollywood Reporter, @semaforcomms, Next TV, @kerrymflynn, Radio & Television … and Cord Cutters News, 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 — Media on Tuesday asked Canada's competition watchdog to investigate Meta's blocking of news articles on Facebook and Instagram …

Discussion: The Guardian and Canadian Association …

Casey Newton / Platformer:

After 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

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: @erikbryn, @janefriedman, @janefriedman, @thesarahrose, @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, a site that compiled 27K+ books to compare and rank the “vividness” of their language, shuts down after writers' backlash over its possible 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 »

Financial Times:

Sources: Google and UMG are in early talks to license melodies and voices for AI-made songs; goals include making a tool for fans and paying copyright owners — New technology that can mimic artists' voices has been seen as growing threat — Google and Universal Music are in talks …

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: Fortune and Collider

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: @jimshultz, @chrishendel, @mltellado and TACD

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_ and @dicktofel

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 — As news of the SAG-AFTRA strike broke in mid-July, Song Chang-gon, a 51-year-old actor and current president …

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

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 — Discovery and Personal Stations on Apple Music — Apple Music users hoping for more algorithmic discovery options akin to Spotify …

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

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 Information and @sarafischer

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 — Lionel Messi may be just what Apple TV+ needed. But first... Apple TV+ has come a long way in a relatively short period of time.

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

The Ringer:
Apple is “out-HBOing” HBO with quality scripted content filled with marquee casts, but its dividends in viewership, subscriptions, and revenue are murkier

Discussion: @tvgrimreaper, @serenepapenfuss, @sarthakgh, @nycsouthpaw, @peterschorschfl, @joshschoen and @shermanjeff

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 — Distribution revenue rose 7.7% — Nexstar Media Group reported lower profits amid a non-election year drop in political advertising and losses at The CW.

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

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More News:

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, @eldsjal and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

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: The Desk, Reuters, @bristei, 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: Front Office Sports, Poynter, Yahoo Finance, @loudmouthjulia, @newspaperworld and @loudmouthjulia

Killian Faith-Kelly / Press Gazette:
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Earlier Picks:

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

Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount reports Q2 revenue down 2% YoY to $7.6B and a $250M loss; subscription revenue grew 47% YoY to $1.2B+; Paramount+ added ~700K subscribers to hit ~61M

Discussion: Digital Music News, Variety, The Desk, @tvgrimreaper, @tvgrimreaper, @lmoses, @lmoses, @variety, Adweek, The Wrap, Paramount, The Streamable, Variety and Media Play News

New York Times:
Paramount reaches a $1.62B deal to sell Simon & Schuster to private equity firm KKR; the prestigious US publisher was first put up for sale in March 2020

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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