Mediagazer: Film director Carl Erik Rinsch, who was convicted last year of defrauding Netflix of $11M, is sentenced to two and a half years in prison (Madeline Halpert/BBC)

9:30 PM ET, June 29, 2026

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Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast plans to spin off its media and entertainment assets, including NBCUniversal and Sky, into a new publicly traded entity, set to close by mid-2027 — Comcast, just months after shedding most of its cable TV business into Versant Media, is now again cleaving itself into two separate companies …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Mike Cavanagh will become NBCU CEO after the spin-off; Comcast co-CEO Brian Roberts says the separation isn't designed to pursue M&A deals; CMCSA closed up 4.5% — Now it's unwinding the media business from the broadband and TV pipes, planning to spin off NBCU and Sky into a stand-alone entity.

Discussion: The Wrap, Adweek, The Hollywood Reporter, Pulse 2.0, Blockonomi, The Movie Blog, Deadline, Sports Media Watch, Dow Jones Newswires, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @mgsiegler, @xpangler, Advanced Television and Mediaite

Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:
Comcast says NBCUniversal will hold theme parks, Universal studios, NBC, Telemundo, Peacock, Bravo, and Sky; Comcast will hold broadband, wireless, and cable

M.G. Siegler / Spyglass:
A look at the potential buyers of NBCUniversal, including Netflix, Apple, Amazon, or YouTube, and the hurdles they would face

Discussion: NBC News, Financial Times, Barron's Online, Brand Innovators, Axios, Awful Announcing, Washington Post, Business Insider, Bloomberg and CNBC

NPR:

SCOTUS finds that Trump's 2025 firing of FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter without cause was lawful, placing independence of several agencies in doubt — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a 91-year-old precedent that has prevented presidents from removing members of independent agencies at will.

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Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Justice Gorsuch cited FCC chairman's threats against ABC as evidence of agency overreach in a SCOTUS ruling expanding presidential control over federal agencies — In a landmark decision Monday, the Supreme Court overruled a decision that will give the President vastly more control over federal agencies.

Discussion: Mediaite, NewsMax.com, The Hill, New York Times and New Republic

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:

Industry sources estimate Supergirl could lose $100M to $120M during its theatrical run after a $37.1M domestic and $62.6M worldwide opening weekend, below est. — In “Supergirl,” a melodramatic cover of Jimmy Eat World's “The Middle” scores a climactic battle sequence …

Ben Fritz / Wall Street Journal:
Rentrak: total US Box Office sales so far in 2026 are ~$4.46B, the highest since 2019 and above 2025's $3.91B; EntTelligence says tickets sold are up 7% to 312M

Discussion: @philthepill.online, The Ankler and Ben Fritz on LinkedIn

Madeline Halpert / BBC:

Film director Carl Erik Rinsch, who was convicted last year of defrauding Netflix of $11M, is sentenced to two and a half years in prison — A Hollywood director convicted of defrauding Netflix of $11m (£8.3m) last year has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

Discussion: The Wrap, Rolling Stone, New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Screen, Business Insider, World of Reel and ABC News

Dan Mangan / CNBC:

SCOTUS rejects President Trump's bid to appeal a New York federal court jury's $5M verdict that found he sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll — The Supreme Court on Monday said it would not hear an appeal by President Donald Trump of a New York federal court jury's verdict awarding …

Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:

Tidal adopts an AI policy that blocks wholly AI-generated music from earning royalties and removes AI-generated music that impersonates artists — TIDAL is introducing an AI policy that will automatically tag wholly AI-generated music in its app and block it from earning royalties.

Discussion: Tidal, CNET, TechCrunch, Baller Alert, The Verge, 404 Media, The Next Web, Neowin, @theslowmusicmovement.org, Variety and PYMNTS, more at Techmeme »

Jake Kanter / Deadline:

FOIA disclosure: the BBC had five sexual harassment disciplinary cases open in March amid a crackdown on power abuses following a 2025 workplace culture review — Deadline can reveal that the BBC had five sexual harassment disciplinary cases open as recently as the end of March amid a crackdown …

Discussion: Seoul Economic Daily

Michael Savage / The Guardian:

Sources: BBC told Radio 4's Today staff that social and digital platforms were now the top priority for correspondents, effectively deprioritising TV and radio — Staff at Radio 4 show, which has 5 million listeners, told making content for likes of TikTok will take precedence for correspondents

Discussion: @jimallthetime.bsky.social, @airbagmoments.bsky.social, @lawrencehurley.bsky.social and @newsguy.bsky.social

Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:

The US DOJ seizes nearly 400 domains for illegally streaming 2026 FIFA World Cup matches; last week, ACE, UEFA, and more shut down 44 domains linked to PirloTV — The U.S. Justice Department's Criminal Division has seized nearly 400 web domains used for illegally streaming matches at the FIFA World Cup.

Discussion: Cyber Security News, eSecurity Planet, Washington Times, Mashable, Gizmodo, Alliance for Creativity …, The Record, Media Play News, Tom's Hardware, The Indian Express, TorrentFreak and Benzinga, more at Techmeme »

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:

The Supreme Court rejects Alan Dershowitz's bid to revive a defamation suit accusing CNN of mischaracterizing his remarks during Trump's first impeachment trial — Controversial lawyer Alan Dershowitz lost a US Supreme Court bid to revive a defamation suit accusing CNN of mischaracterizing remarks …

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Discussion: @losangeles1850.bsky.social, Android Authority, Digital Trends, Pocket-lint, @misskayrenee.bsky.social, Baller Alert, CinemaBlend, TechCrunch, Fox Business, Dexerto, The Verge and @arstechnica@mastodon.social

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