Top News:
New York Times:
Sources: if Sony and Apollo acquire Paramount Global, they plan to sell off CBS, cable channels like MTV, and Paramount+, while keeping Paramount Pictures — CBS and other well-known properties would be sold if Sony and Apollo are able to buy Paramount. But the new owners would keep the movie studio.
Discussion:
The Desk, Media Play News, Reuters, @benmullin and @ernie.tedium.co
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Disney and WBD announce a streaming bundle of Disney+, Hulu, and Max, with ad-supported and ad-free plans, beginning this summer in the US, with pricing to come — Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are breaking ground in streaming with a bundled offering featuring Disney+, Hulu and Max in a single package.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, MediaPost, Variety, Neowin, Engadget, @rakeshlobster, Screen Rant, SlashFilm, Emily Chau Dea on LinkedIn, TVLine, Reuters, Scott Bishoff on LinkedIn, BGR, The Walt Disney Company, The Desk, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, CNBC, @rfaughnder, Tara Sigaroudi on LinkedIn, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, @sherman4949, Los Angeles Times, @jw@threads.net, Adweek, The Streamable, @counternotions@mastodon …, Next TV, @thekenyeung@threads.net, @trustedsystem.bsky.social, Gene Miller on LinkedIn, The A.V. Club, IndieWire, TV Insider, Awful Announcing, The Wrap, Media Play News, Bloomberg, Consequence, WORLD SCREEN and AdExchanger, more at Techmeme »
Maggie Harrison Dupré / Futurism:
An investigation into AdVon, the company behind Sports Illustrated's fake writers, finds its AI content and fake authors at the LA Times, Miami Herald, and more — A few years back, a writer in a developing country started doing contract work for a company called AdVon Commerce …
Discussion:
Salon, @willyblackmore, Christopher Rice on LinkedIn, @shwinyo, @newsguild, Jacob Hurwith on LinkedIn, @johnmcquaid@threads.net, @jvagle@mastodon.lawprofs.org, @mags_h11, @bcmerchant, Sean Blanda on LinkedIn, @gaufre, @mags_h11, @taylorlorenz, @mags_h11, @knibbs, @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org, @noellemitchell@mstdn.social, @newsguyusa@threads.net, @mattzollerseitz, @nxthompson, @caleweissman, @weareyourfek, @mattdpearce, @pkafka, @jtlg@mastodon.lawprofs.org, @natematias@social.coop and @taylorlorenz@mastodon.social, more at Techmeme »
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
The New York Times Games rolls out a Wordle archive with 1,000+ past puzzles for “Games” and “All Access” subscribers, and adds its WordleBot to NYT Games app — The New York Times Games announced on Tuesday that it's launching a Wordle archive …
Discussion:
The New York Times Company, Fast Company, Gizmodo and The Verge
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: WBD plans more cost cutting to hit financial targets for next year, including the possibility of more layoffs, and has decided to raise Max prices — - Job cuts are possible as executives look for more savings — CEO eyes streaming operations' marketing, technology costs
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
The NYT added 210,000 digital subscribers in Q1, for 10.5M subscribers in total, up 8% YoY, and ad revenue fell 2.4% YoY to $103.7M; the OpenAI lawsuit cost $1M — Adjusted operating profit was $76.1 million, an increase of about 41 percent from a year earlier.
Discussion:
@benmullin, Charles Miller on LinkedIn and The Wrap
RELATED:
Lisa Schlein / Voice of America:
The UN high commissioner for human rights condemns Russia's crackdown on journalists; at least 30 journalists are currently detained on various criminal charges — United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday condemned Russia's brutal crackdown on journalists …
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Researchers: Meta's Canada news ban resulted in news outlets posting much less on Facebook, and posts with screenshots of news stories increasing dramatically — “We observe a dramatic increase in posts containing screenshots of Canadian news stories in the post-ban period.”
Nik Roseveare / Advanced Television:
Sky announces Sky Sports+, a new service starting in August that will increase coverage of the English Football League and more, as part of its EFL partnership — Sky has announced it will launch Sky Sports+ this August, a service it says will be “transformational in the amount of choice sports fans …
Discussion:
The Athletic, Daily Mail, The Desk, WORLD SCREEN, The Guardian and City A.M.
Jamie Dettmer / Politico:
How investigative journalists in Ukraine face increasing intimidation, as some worry outlets are censoring themselves, seeing patriotism as trumping journalism — Jamie Dettmer is opinion editor at POLITICO Europe. — KYIV — “I ran investigations for 15 years before the war, and it was always hard and risky.
Discussion:
@hanse_mina@mastodon.social
Kathryn Lundstrom / Adweek:
Disney Advertising strikes a deal with Walmart Connect to let advertisers target Disney's streamers, including Disney+ and Hulu, using Walmart's shopper data — The new retailer-CTV partnership promises detailed sales attribution data — Disney Advertising struck a deal with Walmart Connect …
Discussion:
Julia Thornton on LinkedIn, Dana McGraw on LinkedIn, MediaPost, AdExchanger and The Verge
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
EchoStar reports losing ~348K net pay TV subscribers in Q1, vs. a 552K drop in Q1 2023, and revenue down 8% YoY to $2.7B; Sling TV subscribers fell 135K to 1.9M — Telecom mogul Charlie Ergen's EchoStar is led by Hamid Akhavan as president and CEO, with Ergen serving as executive chairman.
Discussion:
The Desk, The Streamable, Deadline and Streaming Better
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: last month, Sundial Media bought Refinery29 for ~$30M, or roughly its 2023 revenue; Refinery29 buys trade beauty show Beautycon to move away from ads — - The company bought Refinery29 for roughly the same amount that the publisher made in top-line revenue in 2023, which was $30 million, a source told Axios.
Discussion:
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