Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Byron Allen is taking a majority stake in BuzzFeed, investing $120M, and will become CEO; Jonah Peretti will move to a new role as president of BuzzFeed AI — BuzzFeed announced it has entered into a transaction agreement with Allen Family Digital, an affiliate of Byron Allen's family office …
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Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Trump privately complained to acting AG Todd Blanche about media leaks tied to the Iran war; the WSJ has received subpoenas for records of reporters — President Trump privately complained to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about media leaks in the wake of the Iran war last month …
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Scott Nover / Washington Post:
President Trump nominates Kari Lake, whom he tasked with dismantling USAGM and VOA, as US ambassador to Jamaica; a judge ruled in March she illegally ran USAGM — Lake was tasked with dismantling the U.S. Agency for Global Media and Voice of America, and became embroiled in contentious legal battles.
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Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Netflix for allegedly spying on consumers by collecting their data without consent, and designing its platform to be addictive — Netflix (NFLX.O) was sued on Monday by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who accused the streaming company of spying on consumers …
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Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Peacock launches two unscripted microdramas made by Bravo, the first time that a major US streaming platform has added microdramas — It's about time that the microdrama trend has gone mainstream. — As microdrama apps like ReelShort and DramaBox quietly rake in billions …
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The Wrap, CinemaBlend, MediaBrief, Variety, Deadline and MediaNews4U
David Folkenflik / NPR:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution CEO Andrew Morse steps down after a three-and-a-half-year tenure, to be succeeded by Cox Media executive Paul Curran — Andrew Morse had helped usher ABC, Bloomberg and CNN into the digital age. In January 2023, he turned his sights on Atlanta …
New York Times:
A look at Israel's efforts to influence Eurovision as some broadcasters pushed to ban the country from the music competition and threatened to boycott the event — Israel's efforts to influence Eurovision's vote were broader and started years earlier than previously known. — TIMES INVESTIGATION
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Sony Music Group, via its JV with Singapore's wealth fund GIC, agrees to buy Recognition Music Group's catalogue of 45K+ songs from Blackstone in a ~$4B deal — Acquiring Recognition Music Group catalogue hands Sony collection of 45,000 songs including Leonard Cohen's ‘Hallelujah’
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
NBC plans a game show based on the NYT's Wordle, hosted by Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie; NYT and Jimmy Fallon will be production partners — The word puzzle published by The New York Times is the inspiration for a game show that will begin airing next year. Jimmy Fallon is a producer.
Discussion:
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Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Fox reports Q3 revenue down 8.6% YoY to $3.99B, a profit of $175M, down from $354M YoY, cable revenue up 5% YoY to $1.74B, and ad revenue down 21% to $1.56B — Fox reported total quarterly revenue of $3.99 billion for its fiscal third quarter ended in March, down from $4.37 billion …
Max Tani / Semafor:
Julie K. Brown's special Pulitzer citation after a previous snub shows how the awards are struggling to keep up with public sentiment and shifting media habits — The Pulitzers this year revived an old internal disagreement among the guardians of journalism's top award over reporting on Jeffrey Epstein …
Chris Kay / Financial Times:
The Indian Premier League cricket tournament sees limited to no competition for its next media rights cycle after rivals Viacom18 and Disney's Star India merged — The commercial pitch has become tougher for teams amid less competition for streaming rights and an advertising crackdown
Discussion:
@christopherkay
