Mediagazer: TikTok launches its Symphony AI suite for brands, using generative AI to let marketers write scripts, produce videos, and enhance current assets (Aisha Malik/TechCrunch)

11:02 AM ET, May 22, 2024

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Sources: the NBA is formalizing deals with Disney, NBC, and Amazon, which may prompt WBD to sue; ESPN may pay $2.8B annually, NBC $2.6B, and Amazon $1.8B to $2B — NEW YORK — The NBA is formalizing written contracts with Disney, NBC and Amazon this week, with sources calling it the final stage …

Discussion: Awful Announcing, The Streamable, New York Post, Sports Media Watch and @dylanbyers

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

TikTok launches its Symphony AI suite for brands, using generative AI to let marketers write scripts, produce videos, and enhance current assets — TikTok is the latest tech company to incorporate generative AI into its ads business, as the company announced on Tuesday that it's launching a new “TikTok Symphony” AI suite for brands.

Discussion: Adweek, The Media Leader and Digiday

Alex Ritman / Variety:

UK-based studio Anton raised €100M led by BlackRock-managed funds and accounts to expand its feature film and TV series development and production — Anton, the European production, financing and sales group behind “Greenland,” is set to ramp up its output following a significant injection of funds.

Discussion: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and WORLD SCREEN

Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:

Amid a dispute between music publishers and Spotify, the NMPA asks Congress to change copyright law to give rights holders more options to negotiate royalties — The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) has called on Congress to make a change to copyright law in the United States …

Discussion: Billboard, Music Ally, Billboard, Digital Music News, David Israelite on LinkedIn, Digital Music News, Variety, Rolling Stone, CMU, Billboard and CMU

Max Tani / Semafor:

Email: WaPo newsletter editor Elana Zak asked writers not to link to a story on Prince Harry's allegations that new CEO Will Lewis helped with hacking coverups — The Scoop — A top Washington Post editor instructed editors Tuesday night not to promote a story about a controversy involving the paper's new CEO Will Lewis.

Discussion: @jeffjarvis, @jeremymbarr, @davidfolkenflik, Washington Post, @froomkin, @davidfolkenflik, @dicktofel, @chrismsutcliffe, @maxwelltani and @davidfolkenflik

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

SEC filing: Vivek Ramaswamy owns shares and call options worth ~$4M in BuzzFeed, or a 7.7% stake, and seeks a shift in its strategy; BZFD jumps 10%+ — Ramaswamy has acquired just under 8% of BuzzFeed, with plans to push for “a shift in the company's strategy.”

Discussion: Axios, Mediaite, Associated Press, CNBC, The Wrap, Variety, @sherman4949, @tomgara, Bloomberg, @silviakillings, @seangriffey and Benzinga

Louise Matsakis / Wired:

Google is rolling out a new AI-powered ad format that shows shoppers how items of clothing would look on different skin tones and body types — A new breed of online ad allows brands to pay Google to offer shoppers AI-generated images that show how items of clothing would look on different skin tones and body types.

Discussion: ClickZ, Lauren Ito on LinkedIn, Search Engine Land, Adweek, The Drum, MarTech and Adweek, more at Techmeme »

Paresh Dave / Wired:
Google plans to test search and shopping ads in its AI Overviews, drawing from advertisers' existing campaigns; AI Overviews rolled out to US users last week

Discussion: The Information, The US Sun, Shelly Palmer, The Verge, Ad Age, Search Engine Journal, Digiday, @carnage4life@mas.to, Search Engine Land and The Keyword, more at Techmeme »

Charlie Warzel / The Atlantic:

OpenAI's Scarlett Johansson debacle is merely a reminder of AI's manifest destiny philosophy: “This is happening, whether you like it or not”, consent be damned — The Scarlett Johansson debacle is a microcosm of AI's raw deal: It's happening, and you can't stop it.

Thomas Buckley / Bloomberg:

Pixar lays off ~175 employees, or around 14% of its workforce, the biggest restructuring in Pixar's history, and plans to stop making original shows for Disney+ — About 175 employees are getting layoff notices Tuesday, the company said. — The reductions reflect a decision to refocus Pixar …

Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:

Q&A with Press Forward's inaugural director Dale Anglin on bringing her experience from Cleveland Foundation, challenges facing news philanthropy, and more — “I see, every week, some example of where the two don't understand each other. Each of them needs to shift a little bit."

Discussion: Camilla Palazzini on LinkedIn and Editor and Publisher

Nilay Patel / The Verge:

Q&A with Google's Sundar Pichai about new AI features, the future of search and its impact on publishers, providing value for YouTube content creators, and more — The head of Google sat down with Decoder last week to talk about the biggest advancements in AI, the future of Google Search, and the fate of the web.

Huizhong Wu / Associated Press:

In a video statement, Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan says she was released from prison after serving four years for charges related to covering COVID-19 in Wuhan — Zhang Zhan was released from prison after serving four years for charges related to reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan …

Discussion: UPI, @ishrglobal, @wang_maya, @changchengwai, @sophiedrich, @rebecca_vincent, @rsf_inter, @reneexiachrd, @jenniferzeng97, @changchengwai, @benedictrogers, @changchengwai, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, @rebecca_vincent, @rsf_inter and @huizhong_wu

Robert Klara / Adweek:

A profile of Vidhya Srinivasan, Google's VP and GM of ads since November 2023, as the company faces challenges including restoring advertiser trust — She's fighting to rebuild advertiser trust and make sure Google stays ahead of the AI race — When she was a kid, Vidhya Srinivasan …

Discussion: Malaika Paquiot on LinkedIn, Robert Klara on LinkedIn, Mike Grehan on LinkedIn and Search Engine Land

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Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
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Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
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Earlier Picks:

James Warrington / Telegraph:
ITV starts offering voluntary buyouts as it aims to save £50M/year amid an ad slump and a slowdown in sales of its shows; sources: ITV expects to cut ~200 jobs

Discussion: Broadcast and Deadline

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Microsoft debuts a new AI feature for Edge to translate spoken content via dubbing and subtitles live, on YouTube, news sites like Reuters, LinkedIn, and more

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: Google is warning nonprofit newsrooms that passage of a new California ad tax bill would threaten to pause Google News Initiative funding in US

Discussion: American Press Institute, Palo Alto Online, Headlight.news, Media Voices, @jmhaigh, @nw@ioc.exchange, @cjl4news, @mattdpearce, @bmorrissey, @dicktofel, @matthewkeyslive, @jason_kint, @lorenasgonzalez, @stevenwaldman, Sara Fischer on LinkedIn, Steven Waldman on LinkedIn and MediaPost

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast says StreamSaver, a bundle of Peacock, Netflix, and Apple TV+, will be available starting next week to Comcast TV or broadband customers at $15/month

Associated Press:
Israeli officials reverse course and order the return of seized camera equipment to AP, after earlier seizing cameras and blocking AP's live feed from Gaza

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Alexandra Alper / Reuters:
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Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Anthropic launches Claude 3.5 Sonnet, which beats its flagship model Claude 3 Opus and outperforms GPT-4o in some tests, available for free on the web and iOS

Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
NY's governor signs two bills to protect minors, banning “addictive feeds”, limiting data collection, barring social media notifications from 12am to 6am, more

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