Top News:
Michael Calderone / New York Magazine:
Q&A with the FCC's Anna Gomez on the FCC's “policymaking by mob”, the high likelihood of a Disney win against the FCC, the risks of foreign investment in media — When Disney settled with Donald Trump for $15 million over his defamation suit against ABC News' George Stephanopoulos …
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TVNewsCheck
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
ABC submits license renewal applications for its eight local TV stations to the FCC as ordered by the agency but says FCC's order violates the First Amendment — Disney's ABC has submitted its license renewal applications for its eight local TV stations to the FCC as ordered by the agency — but said it is doing so “under protest.”
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The Wrap, Politico, Barrett Media, TechRadar, Reuters, @brendancarrfcc, TV Tech, Financial Times, TheDesk.net, Newser, Cord Cutters News, Washington Examiner, New York Times, NewsMax.com, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Inside Radio, Raw Story, CNBC, Radio & Television …, KTVZ-TV, Wall Street Journal, The A.V. Club, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Bloomberg
George Winslow / TV Tech:
In a public note, the FCC reminds broadcasters of public interest obligations and stresses that the agency can enforce rules and possibly take away licenses
In a public note, the FCC reminds broadcasters of public interest obligations and stresses that the agency can enforce rules and possibly take away licenses
Discussion:
@agomezfcc, FCC, The Register, fcc.gov, Inside Radio, Radio Ink, @jonathanuriarte, @brendancarrfcc, Radio World and Radio & Television …
Max Tani / Semafor:
An interview with Nick Bilton on working in TV news for the first time, building 60 Minutes' digital presence, having support from David Ellison, and more — The News — “My job is going to be rethinking how we tell stories in a completely new way,” Nick Bilton, who was tapped …
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@justin_vogt, @davidfolkenflik, @maxwelltani, @jakelahut, @andydehnart.com, @holmesjosh, @benshapiro, @neeratanden, @jeffjarvis, @tvgrimreaper, @neeratanden, @lulumeservey, @freddydeknatel.bsky.social, Variety, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, New York Magazine, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Business Insider and Mediaite
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Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: Bari Weiss ousted two senior 60 Minutes executive producers, Tanya Simon and Draggan Mihailovich, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega — CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss shook up the TV-news industry's most-watched and best-regarded property Thursday …
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Status, Deadline, The Wrap, Variety, New Republic, Defector, @grynbaum, Wall Street Journal, @drewharwell.com, @richarddeitsch, @jnicholsonindc, @grynbaum, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, @acosta, @aidnmclaughlin, @grynbaum, Barrett Media, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, HuffPost, @passantino.bsky.social, @sherman4949, @benmullin, @cachiporra.bsky.social, @grynbaum, @grynbaum, @dylanbyers, LGBTQ Nation, Showbiz411, Just Jared, Advocate, @brucedlittle.bsky.social, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, @wajali.bsky.social, twitchy.com, Reuters, U.S. Home, Reality Tea, HotAir, @tomleykis.bsky.social, @bristei.bsky.social, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times and Mediaite
New York Times:
Bari Weiss appoints longtime tech journalist Nick Bilton as the executive producer of 60 Minutes, replacing Tanya Simon, a 30-year veteran of the show
Bari Weiss appoints longtime tech journalist Nick Bilton as the executive producer of 60 Minutes, replacing Tanya Simon, a 30-year veteran of the show
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CNN, The Ankler, MediaPost, Columbia Journalism Review, HELLO!, CNBC, NBC News, @dylanbyers, The Hollywood Reporter, @bariweiss, The Wrap, Poynter, @nickbilton, How Things Work, @jeremymbarr, Raw Story, @newsguy.bsky.social, @brhodes, @mcbridetd.bsky.social, @maxwelltani, Reality Tea, @gadsaad, Mediaite, @jancbs, @jeremymbarr, @sulkinmaya, The Hollywood Reporter, @willoremus, @olivia_reingold, The Daily Wire, @benmullin, @benmullin, @benmullin, @dylanbyers, @grynbaum, @dylanbyers, @grynbaum, Business Insider, Newsbusters, Straight Arrow, Newser, CBS News, Adweek, New York Sun, Radio & Television …, Fox News, New York Post, Washington Post, Jeff Jarvis on LinkedIn, Axios, @ericumansky.bsky.social, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, Forbes, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @pocono.bsky.social, @schooley.bsky.social, Deadline, @fivetoephil.bsky.social, @willoremus.com, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @tisaane12.bsky.social, @timmarchman.bsky.social, @kimmasters.bsky.social, The A.V. Club, New Republic and Status
James Faris / Business Insider:
Internal doc: Disney plans to bring Hulu's content and features to Disney+ by year's end, and to decommission the Hulu app after users have transitioned — Disney's streaming tech teams are working to make the stand-alone Hulu app obsolete, though the company says “there are no current plans to sunset” it.
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The Streamable, Media Play News, Cord Cutters News, @akw.bsky.social, TheDesk.net, Digital Trends, AdExchanger, 9to5Mac, Cord Cutters News, Collider and TechRadar
Kari McMahon / A Media Operator:
Lookout Local, which launched in 2020 and now has two sites, expects its Santa Cruz, CA, site to be profitable by year-end and plans to have five sites by 2028 — Lookout Local launched as a local news outlet in Santa Cruz, Calif., during the pandemic. This year, it's expected to hit profitability.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
CBS says it now expects to turn a $15M profit on late night, thanks to Byron Allen's time buy of the former Late Show time slot, which was losing $40M annually — A network rep said that late night was “cost prohibitive” to keep programming itself. Allen's ‘Comics Unleashed’ debuted to 1.1 million viewers.
Discussion:
Deadline, ScreenRant, CinemaBlend, The Guardian, Variety, Cord Cutters News, LateNighter, @jbflint, Reality Tea, @bristei and The A.V. Club
Bloomberg:
Sources: TikTok is cutting music label-facing jobs to focus on its music distribution arm SoundOn and other projects that connect it more directly with artists — Music has been core to TikTok's identity since its inception. What started as a lipsyncing app called Musical.ly morphed …
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Music Ally and CNN, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
Sources: early-stage talks over a potential sale of iHeartMedia to SiriusXM have stalled after the two sides were unable to come to terms — The artificial intelligence giant was just valued at $900 billion, surpassing OpenAI. Here are the numbers behind its rise — and headwinds it faces.
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Investing.com, Mashable, The Indian Express, Financial Post, New York Post and Neowin, more at Techmeme »
Holly Bishop / The Independent:
A BBC Question Time episode featured a panel with AI-generated historical figures like Churchill, intended to show AI images' “hyper-real and persuasive” nature — - BBC Question Time aired a special episode on AI, featuring a panel composed of AI-generated historical figures.
Discussion:
@carolecadwalla, thenational.scot, @bbcquestiontime, @realwrongguy, @thewittjones and TVBEurope, more at Techmeme »
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The New York Sun publisher Dovid Efune revives The Washington Star on Substack and sues NOTUS, which plans to rebrand as The Star, for trademark infringement — First, The Star was born. Now, The Washington Star is reborn. Both are hoping to win readers ceded by recent layoffs at The Washington Post.
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Media Nation, City Cast DC, @kararowland, @katie_robertson, @emmauber7, @efune, @timothy_cama, @grahamstarr, @mradamtaylor, @grahamstarr, @ericfingerhut, @_alibianco, @scottnover, @anthonyadragna, @davidplotz, @francisxrocca, @semaforben, @katie_robertson, @mctothstl, @thewashstar, @jesweet2022, Washington Examiner, Nieman Lab, @harrymccracken.com and The Washington Star
Charlotte Klein / New York Magazine:
Insiders say the nonfiction book publishing industry lacks contractual standards for AI use, leaving it vulnerable to copyright infringement and hallucinations — Steven Rosenbaum started writing his book The Future of Truth: How AI Reshapes Reality in 2022, around when ChatGPT launched.
Discussion:
Fast Company, Northeastern Global News, @carolineeisenmann.bsky.social, @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social, @dankennedy.net, @sarahweinman.com, @andrewliptak.com, @laurab7.bsky.social, @mattdpearce.com, @brandyjensen.bsky.social, @jonbern.bsky.social, @thelincoln.bsky.social and @charlottetklein.bsky.social
