Mediagazer: Amazon plans to increase the number of ads on Prime Video in 2025 after not seeing a sharp drop in subscribers since adding advertisements in January 2024 (Daniel Thomas/Financial Times)

8:20 AM ET, October 3, 2024

Top News:

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

WP Engine files a lawsuit in California against Automattic and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, accusing them of extortion, abuse of power, and greed — Web hosting provider WP Engine has filed a lawsuit against Automattic, and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, accusing them of extortion and abuse of power.

Discussion: The Verge, @cowkitty, @jeffr0, @hashim_warren, @zimm3rmann, @ryancduff, WP Engine, @ryancduff, @automattic, @wpengine, @ryancduff, @ctrlaltdwayne, @dwlz, @bgardner, Automattic and The Register, more at Techmeme »

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Automattic demanded an 8% cut of WP Engine's monthly revenue to use the WordPress trademark in a seven-year deal proposed on September 20; WP Engine declined

Discussion: TechRadar, @j12t@j12t.social and Automattic, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Weaver / The Guardian:

The BBC cancels a planned Boris Johnson interview after presenter Laura Kuenssberg says she accidentally sent the former UK prime minister her briefing notes — Briefing notes mistakenly being sent to ex-PM meant it was ‘not right for the interview to go ahead’, says presenter

Discussion: Variety, BBC, @bbclaurak, @nazirafzal, Canary, @craigrussell80, Deadline, Telegraph, @fuggins, @soozuk, @mrjamesob, @alicevjones, @jonathanshainin, @welshgasdoc, @mrhenrymorris, @rossmccaff, Politico and HuffPost

Ben Strauss / Washington Post:

After reporter Christine Brennan asked a WNBA player a question the latter saw as race baiting, the players association says she doesn't “deserve” credentials — In a thrilling but delicate moment for the WNBA, a journalist's focus on Clark is stirring tension among players and the press.

Mark Trevelyan / Reuters:

Russian journalists Antonina Favorskaya, Sergei Karelin, Konstantin Gabov, and Artem Kriger go on trial in Moscow over their alleged links to Alexei Navalny — Four Russian journalists went on trial in Moscow on Wednesday on charges of involvement in an “extremist” group after authorities accused …

Discussion: DNyuz and Associated Press

James Hale / Tubefilter:

Twitch now includes raids, which lets streamers who are going offline to send viewers to others, in its average viewer count, easing the path to making partner — Twitch's path to partnership is not an easy one. Any streamer who wants to become an official partner of the platform has to meet …

Discussion: @itswoori and The Mozilla Blog, more at Techmeme »

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

YouTube channel Dude Perfect hires former NBA executive Andrew Yaffe as CEO; Yaffe had been the NBA's head of social, digital, and original content — - Ex-NBA executive Andrew Yaffe to lead digital media company — The channel has more than 60 million followers on YouTube

Discussion: @danprimack, Jason Illian on LinkedIn, Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, Chad Coleman on LinkedIn, Variety and Andrew Yaffe on LinkedIn

Joe Otterson / Variety:

WBD and All Elite Wrestling sign a multiyear deal, sources say worth $150M+ per year; AEW shows remain on TBS and TNT and stream live on Max in the US in 2025 — All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has officially signed a new multi-year multimedia rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Discussion: The Desk, POST Wrestling, Advanced Television, Barrett Media, Mark Caplan on LinkedIn, Bennett Wolin on LinkedIn, UPROXX, New York Post, Awful Announcing, The Verge, The Wrap, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

A look at the struggle to release The Apprentice, a “Frankenstein origin story about Donald Trump”, ahead of the US election after Trump threatened to sue — The Donald Trump biopic was one of the hottest tickets at Cannes this year. So why did it take months, and a minor miracle, to sell?

Discussion: Wired, @brianstelter and Deadline

Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:

Nielsen: the vice presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz drew 43.15M US viewers across 15 networks, down 25.5% from the 2020 vice presidential debate — Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz faced off in the CBS News-produced debate. — The lone debate between …

Discussion: Adweek, TVNewsCheck, Variety, CNN, The Hill, Politico, Axios, New York Post, CNN, DNyuz, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Deadline, Media Play News and Mediaite

Angela Fu / Poynter:

Journalists in western North Carolina hustled to cover Hurricane Helene's aftermath with sparse internet access, and radio broadcasts became crucial connectors — Local journalists are working to reach isolated communities to fill in information gaps — while dealing with damage in their own lives

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, @solomonlexib, @amariscastillo, @cislmunc, @poynter, @poynter, @poynter, @ellekehres, The Asheville Citizen Times, Poynter, The Urban News, Radio World, NewsLab and NPR

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Amazon plans to increase the number of ads on Prime Video in 2025 after not seeing a sharp drop in subscribers since adding advertisements in January 2024 — Ecommerce group attempting to win over more brands as it steps up push into ad-funded streaming services in 2025

Discussion: Fast Company, Ars Technica, Engadget, AV Club, Android Authority, @raydouglasuk, The Information, Quartz, Deadline and Digiday, more at Techmeme »

Katie Drummond / Wired:

Q&A with Bobbi Althoff about The Really Good Podcast, her rise to fame as part of “Mommy TikTok”, chaos after her Drake interview, brand deals, and more — From Mommy TikTok to that Drake interview and beyond, the podcast host is proof you can brute-force your way to online fame …

Discussion: @katiedrumm, WIRED on LinkedIn, Simon Owens on LinkedIn, Vanity Fair and @laurengoode@threads.net

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More News:

Joe Mandese / MediaPost:
Sources: ad-tech startup Hudson MX, controlled by UK holding company Ascential, discontinues operations; Ascential had been trying to find a buyer for Hudson MX

Josh Ocampo / New York Times:
Q&A with The New York Times media reporter Ben Mullin about building relationships with sources, challenges of the media beat, social media, and more

Discussion: @benmullin and @semaforcomms

Evan Drellich / New York Times:
Diamond Sports Group, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, says in 2025 it will stop carrying all but one of the 12 MLB teams it now televises

Discussion: ESPN, Adweek, CNBC, Michael Lange on LinkedIn, @vtuss, @matthewkeyslive, @crupicrupicrupi, Streaming Better, TVNewsCheck, Awful Announcing, @jluckhaupt.bsky.social, Cord Cutters News, @jasoncollette.bsky.social, @2xaught7.bsky.social, The Desk, Sportico and The Streamable

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Livestream marketplace Whatnot says its GMV passed $2B+ in 2024 and its top 500 sellers each sold $1M+ on the platform; 66% of its sellers earn $10K+ per month

Discussion: News & Whatnot

Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
Q&A with Matthew Yglesias about leaving Vox, launching his own Substack, and more; Yglesias says Slow Boring has ~18,000 subscribers paying ~$80 per year

Discussion: @pkafka, @pkafka, @renee.diresta@threads.net, @pkafka@threads.net, @renee.diresta@threads.net, @pkafka@threads.net and Washington Post

Earlier Picks:

Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:
TechCrunch unveils a redesign with a better UI, fresh color palette, more modern aesthetic, and new ways to show breaking news, after its last redesign in 2018

Discussion: @zeffmax

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Memo: Disney's ABC News and local TV stations cut staff; source: about 75 staffers will be let go, split about evenly between national news and the TV stations

Discussion: @jbflint, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, The Desk, The Wrap, Bloomberg, TVNewsCheck, Deadline and Barrett Media

Neel Dhanesha / Nieman Lab:
The New York Times launches its biggest app overhaul since 2008, adding personalized recommendations and content from The Athletic, The Wirecutter, and others

Discussion: @michaelsocolow, @duncanwc and The Hollywood Reporter

Adam Chitwood / The Wrap:
NBCUniversal and Charter strike a new multiyear deal, including making Peacock free for all Spectrum TV Select video customers soon

Discussion: The Verge, @jbflint, @jbflint, Alexander Groysman on LinkedIn, The Desk, TVNewsCheck, The Streamable, Streaming Better, Media Play News, Reuters, Cord Cutters News, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Mark Yarm / Depth Perception:
Q&A with Ben Collins on moving from a disinformation reporter to running The Onion, reviving its print edition and video newscast, expansion plans, and more

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Gina Raimondo says holding back China in the chips race is a “fool's errand”, and investment, more than export controls, will keep US ahead of Beijing

Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
Exploring the scaling challenges of transformer-based LLMs in efficiently processing large amounts of text, as well as potential solutions, such as RAG systems

Reuters:
Albania bans TikTok for a year from January 2025, part of a broader plan to make schools safer following the killing of a 14-year-old near a school in November

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