Mediagazer: Sources: Meta is considering paid, ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram for users in the EU, to fend off privacy concerns and scrutiny from EU regulators (New York Times)

12:50 PM ET, September 1, 2023

Top News:

J. Kim Murphy / Variety:

ESPN, ABC, Disney Channel, and other Disney outlets go dark on Charter's Spectrum, which serves ~15M subscribers, after failing to agree on a new carriage pact — ESPN, ABC, Disney Channel and other outlets owned by the Walt Disney Co. have gone dark on Charter Spectrum cable systems …

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:

Charter says the dispute with Disney “is not a typical carriage dispute”, and it's prepared to “move on” from its video business if no deal is made — The cable giant, with nearly 15 million TV subs, told analysts Friday that it is prepared to “move on” …

Discussion: MediaPost, New York Times, Fast Company, CNN, Next TV, Variety, CNBC, @jbflint, @benmullin, @sarthakgh, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei, @alexweprin, @jbflint, @bristei, @jbflint and The Desk

WNEP-TV:

Times-Shamrock Communications is selling its four Pennsylvania dailies to Alden Global Capital's MediaNews Group; the newspapers' founding family pans the sale — The sale includes four local daily papers and several weekly and periodic publications. — SCRANTON, Pa. …

Discussion: @jeffsonderman, @jeffsonderman, @bradfordpearson, @vrp2003, @politicspa, @kennysmith@mstdn.social, Associated Press, The Rural Blog, The Shenandoah Sentinel and Morning Call

Chris Willman / Variety:

Taylor Swift plans to release her concert film in AMC theaters on October 13 in the US; in a first, AMC plans to act as a distributor to unaffiliated theaters — Anyone who couldn't procure tickets for Taylor Swift's record-breaking stadium tour in the U.S. may be about to have their wounded …

Wendy Lee / Los Angeles Times:

California Treasurer Fiona Ma sends letters to seven companies that are members of AMPTP, urging them to negotiate “fair deals” to end the two Hollywood strikes — California State Treasurer Fiona Ma sent letters this week to studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture …

Discussion: @megjameslat, @margotroosevelt, California State Treasurer's Office and Deadline

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
IAC Chairman Barry Diller says traditional Hollywood studios should negotiate directly with unions, splitting from Apple, Amazon, and Netflix, a mutual “enemy”

Discussion: MediaPost, @tvgrimreaper, @carlquintanilla, Above the Line, CNBC, @blackamazon, @tvgrimreaper, @davidaugust@mastodon.online, Deadline, The Wrap and Deadline

New York Times:

Sources: Meta is considering paid, ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram for users in the EU, to fend off privacy concerns and scrutiny from EU regulators — The subscription plan is a response to European Union policies and court rulings to restrict Meta's data-collection practices.

Discussion: @martinsfp and @mikeisaac, more at Techmeme »

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

A look at Pamplonews, a WhatsApp-only daily newsletter covering cultural news in Pamplona, Spain, run by a former managing editor of CNN en Español — “There's no point in making a wonderful website or an amazing app if people aren't going to the website or downloading the app.”

Discussion: American Press Institute

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Amber de Botton leaves as director of communications for UK's prime minister, after joining in October 2022; she was previously the head of UK news at ITV News — Amber de Botton was the second ITV News journalist to be snapped up by Rishi Sunak. — Update 1 September 2023 …

Discussion: Sky News, The Guardian, @amberdebotton, @robburl, @joshuanevett, Politico, @krishgm, @dhothersall and @samfr

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Around 248 journalists at UK regional publisher National World vote to strike over a pay dispute; NUJ rejected an offer of a 4.5% pay raise backdated to 1 April — Some 78% of 248 journalists said they would be prepared to strike. — Journalists at National World have voted to take strike action …

Discussion: @pressgazette and HoldtheFrontPage

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Meta begins testing keyword search on Threads in Australia and New Zealand, and plans a rollout to other English-speaking countries before adding more languages — Threads launched one of the most anticipated features, a web version of the platform, last week.

Discussion: Engadget, @zuck@threads.net, 9to5Mac, Social Media Today, Android Police, Neowin, Mashable, @carnage4life@threads.net, @carnage4life@threads.net, Search Engine Land and The Verge

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

YouTube Music redesigns its Now Playing screen on Android and iOS with larger cover art and a comments section, after launching real-time lyrics last week — After pulling a variant at the start of this year, YouTube Music is rolling out the latest redesign of Now Playing on Android and iOS, adding a comments section.

Discussion: Engadget, Music Ally, TechCrunch, @krisnelson@legal.social, The Verge, Android Police and Cord Cutters News

Josef Adalian / Vulture:

WBD's Max rolls out Top 10 movies and TV show lists in line with Netflix, Prime Video, and Apple TV+; WBD bases rankings on unique views of at least two minutes — Max is finally getting into the top-ten game: Starting today, the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer will begin publishing daily lists …

Discussion: Variety, Comic Book, Collider, @tvgrimreaper, CNET, Deadline, Forbes and The Streamable

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More News:

The Moscow Times:
A Russian court finds journalists Ruslan Leviev and Michael Nacke guilty of pushing “war fakes” and hands out 11-year sentences; both now live outside of Russia

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Michael Schneider / Variety:
Variety SVP Tim Gray departs the outlet after 42 years to become the EVP of the Golden Globes, where he is set to oversee its newly formed board of directors

Discussion: Billboard, WWD, IndieWire, Deadline, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Substack launches new AI-powered tools that let creators generate transcripts of their podcast episodes and video “audiograms” for sharing on social media

Discussion: Fast Company, On Substack and Convince & Convert

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Mukesh Ambani's Viacom18 wins the digital and TV rights for India's domestic September 2023 to March 2028 cricket matches for ~$721M, on JioCinema and Sports18

Discussion: @deitaone, Front Office Sports and Bloomberg

Margaret Sullivan / The Guardian:
Mark Thompson, who helped reinvent The New York Times for the digital age and kept the newsroom's mission, is a good bet for CNN, another beleaguered behemoth

Earlier Picks:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
The Publishers Association asks the UK government to ensure IP law is “respected when any content is ingested by AI systems”, ahead of the UK's AI Safety Summit

Discussion: Media Voices and The Bookseller

Maria Bustillos / The Nation:
In the ebook copyright fight, authors should join forces to demand that contracts stipulate ebooks must be offered to libraries on the same terms as paper books

Discussion: @michellemanafy@journa.host, @diglibcopyright, @ppolitics, @maria@thelife.boats and @maria@thelife.boats

Emilia David / The Verge:
The US Copyright Office seeks public input on AI and copyright issues, including using copyrighted works for AI training; written comments are due on October 18

Discussion: @justinebateman, @jencmars@mastodon.art, @jencmars@mastodon.art, @BostonBibliophile@zirk.us, Plagiarism Today, Engadget, U.S. Copyright Office, TitleKnown, Ars Technica, Complete Music Update, Music Ally, Cointelegraph and Digital Music News

Clare Duffy / CNN:
Gannett pauses using Lede AI to write high school sports stories, after major flubs appeared in articles in at least one of its newspapers earlier in August

Jennifer Maas / Variety:
A look at One Piece, the live-action Netflix series launching on August 31 based on Eiichiro Oda's manga and anime series, and its unprecedented marketing deals

From Techmeme:

Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says the DOJ's “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision”, would hurt US consumers, and jeopardize the US' global tech leadership

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Adam Mosseri says Threads is rebalancing ranking to prioritize content from people that users follow, warns that creators' “unconnected” reach may go down

Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
The CFPB will supervise tech companies with digital wallets, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Venmo, with 50M+ annual transactions, treating them more like banks

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