Mediagazer: SAG-AFTRA ends the 320+ day video game performers strike after reaching a tentative new Interactive Media Agreement contract with the major video game companies (Jennifer Maas/Variety)

Top News:

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Sources and documents: Amazon Prime Video's ad load has increased to 4-6 minutes per hour, up from 2-3.5 minutes when ads were first introduced in January 2024 — More ads could mean lower CPMs, but performance could slip. — When Amazon introduced ads on Prime Video in January 2024 …

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Amazon's Ad Video Generator, a free tool to create gen AI ads and depict items as they would be used in the real world, is now available for sellers in the US

Discussion: Social Media Today, MobileSyrup, Semafor, ZDNET, Android Police and Amazon Ads, more at Techmeme »

Stewart Clarke / Deadline:
Amazon MGM Studios says it will have a $1B slate in 2026 and release 20 movies; 10 will have theatrical runs and will not be exclusive to Prime Video thereafter

Discussion: @tvgrimreaper and @vodmovies.bsky.social

Scott Nover / Washington Post:

Profiles of three employees at VOA's fact-checking unit, who fled Russia and are now among the many journalists losing their jobs under President Trump's orders — Three employees at Voice of America's fact-checking unit fled Putin's wrath and are now among the many journalists losing their jobs under Trump's orders.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, @niemanlab.org, @scottnover, @scottnover and @scottnover

Liam Scott / Columbia Journalism Review:

Small-town newspapers are shutting down due to the lack of a succession plan, not financial issues, in nearly a dozen US states, a growing problem — And it's not just about the money. — For more than a century, the McClusky Gazette has reported the news in a small town in the middle of North Dakota.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, @eastdakota, @newsguy.bsky.social and @sdp.bsky.social

Glenn Garner / Deadline:

Former ABC News correspondent and anchor Terry Moran launches a Substack channel following his ouster from the news network — “For almost 28 years, I was a reporter and anchor for ABC News, and as you may have heard, I'm not there anymore,” he said in a video entitled ‘Independence Day’.

Prashant Rao / Semafor:

The CPJ directs a law firm to set up a legal entity in the UK, in part as a precautionary measure against potential Trump EOs targeting American nonprofits — The Scoop — The Committee to Protect Journalists, the US-based press freedom charity, has directed a British law firm to set …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review and @semaforben

Jake Kanter / Deadline:

Sources: four senior BBC journalists have lodged ageism complaints as they face layoffs under plans to merge the BBC's Home and Foreign newsdesks — Several sources told Deadline that four senior journalists have lodged separate, but coordinated, age discrimination complaints after being shown the door.

Discussion: @pressgazette.co.uk

Charles Pulliam-Moore / The Verge:

Tubi announces plans to distribute 20+ films funded on Kickstarter, starting in the fall, and to invest in Kickstarter's FilmStream Collective Fund — Tubi is partnering with Kickstarter to distribute more than 20 crowdfunded films. … Today, Tubi (which is owned by Fox) …

Discussion: Variety and Cord Cutters News

Zoe Kleinman / BBC:

The UK passes the Data (Use and Access) Bill, criticized by creatives, without an amendment to force companies to declare using copyrighted material to train AI — A bill which sparked an extraordinary stand-off between some of the UK's most high-profile artists - and their backers in the House of Lords - has finally been passed.

Discussion: UKTN, Taylor Wessing, UK Music, Center for Data Innovation, MLex, The Independent and Publishing Perspectives

Mike Scarcella / Reuters:

A US judge rules that Amazon must face a proposed class action lawsuit by independent authors accusing it of monopolizing the audiobook retail market — Amazon.com (AMZN.O) must face a lawsuit by independent authors accusing the e-commerce giant of monopolizing the retail market for audiobooks …

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

A look at Apple's vision for Apple TV+ and its film business, as Tim Cook says the company's $200M+ bet on the F1 movie is about more than selling iPhones — Apple CEO and Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton join forces on ‘F1 the Movie’ to take the tech giant's film business to new heights

Discussion: The Sun, Benzinga, @om, Latest from Short list, Jae Goodman on LinkedIn, The Mac Observer, iClarified, MacRumors, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, Associated Press, MacDailyNews and Mirror, more at Techmeme »

Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:

The Wikimedia Foundation pauses an experiment that showed Wikipedia users AI-generated summaries at the top of some articles, following an editor backlash — The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization which hosts and develops Wikipedia, has paused an experiment …

Discussion: PCMag, Tech in Asia, @angrydonkeynews.bsky.social, Benzinga, Neowin, Kotaku, Ars Technica, The Desk, @paul@oldfriends.live, Engadget, @glenngabe.bsky.social, @wolvendamien.bsky.social, @jasonkoebler.bsky.social, TechCrunch, @pbloem@sigmoid.social and @josephcox.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:

The TV industry is poised for a makeover; source: if the Paramount merger closes, Skydance will likely try to buy more local stations to boost its CBS network — Warner's plan to split up marks companies' latest effort to adapt to streaming — The ranks of media owners and entertainment companies …

Discussion: @tdogmedia.bsky.social and @jbflint