Top News:
New York Times:
Edgar Bronfman Jr. drops his 11th-hour bid to take control of Paramount and buy National Amusements; sources: Bronfman couldn't offer proof of financing in time — Mr. Bronfman has frantically put a bid together over the last week even as Paramount raised questions about his financing.
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Bloomberg:
Sources: Paramount is moving ahead with asset disposals, including a potential sale of 12 TV stations that it considers non-core, which could fetch $500M to $1B — - Independent stations could fetch $500 million to $1 billion — Paramount remains the subject of an ongoing takeover saga
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Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:
In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, Mark Zuckerberg says he regrets Meta wasn't more outspoken about Biden administration pressure to restrict some COVID-19 content — Meta CEO also says he won't repeat 2020 efforts to fund local elections, which Republicans criticized as ‘Zuckerbucks’
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Jason and Travis Kelce sign a deal with Amazon's Wondery for rights to their popular New Heights podcast; a source says the three year deal is worth $100M+ — Three-year pact gives Wondery rights to ad-sales, distribution and more to NFL stars' weekly show
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Mia Sato / The Verge:
Gannett is shutting down its product reviews site Reviewed, sources say on November 1; staff previously accused Gannett of publishing AI-generated reviews — Newspaper giant Gannett is shutting down Reviewed, its product reviews site, effective November 1st, according to sources familiar with the decision.
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Politico:
Sources: the Harris-Trump negotiations for the ABC debate on September 10 have hit an impasse; the Harris campaign says they want open mics during the debate — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — SCOOP: IS THIS THING ON?
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Variety:
Sony India and Zee Entertainment reach a comprehensive, non-cash settlement to resolve all disputes related to their planned $10B merger, halted earlier in 2024 — The agreement brings an end to the legal proceedings that had been ongoing at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre …
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Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Sources: Disney is in contract renewal talks with DirecTV that could see ABC, ESPN, and other channels blacked out as early as September 1 if no deal is reached — DirecTV is looking to ease contract terms that have long required cable and satellite-TV distributors to charge customers …
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Christine Murray / Financial Times:
How Mexico became one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalism, as crime groups grow and President López Obrador fuels hostility towards reporters — Crime groups collude with local authorities as leftist leader López Obrador fuels hostile environment for reporters
Discussion:
@gideonrachman, Voice of America, Washington Post and European Federation …
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
A judge reverses a jury's $600K verdict that Disney misused Rearden's tech in Beauty and the Beast, saying it couldn't have known its contractor was misusing it — Disney (DIS.N) convinced a federal judge in California on Monday to reverse a jury's $600,000 verdict that it misused another …
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
A US federal judge orders Missouri's AG to halt his probe into Media Matters' November 2023 X ads report, after a similar order against Texas' AG in April 2024 — Judge: Missouri AG's actions chill speech about extremist content on Musk's X. — A federal judge ordered Missouri's attorney general …
Chris Eggertsen / Billboard:
Spin returns to print as a quarterly magazine after being out of circulation since late 2012; Bob Guccione Jr., who founded the publication in 1985, is the EIC — After more than a decade out of circulation, SPIN is returning to print as a quarterly magazine, the media brand announced Tuesday …
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