Top News:
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
A US judge orders a temporary halt to the Paramount-WBD merger, as a 12-state coalition, led by California, argues it would violate federal antitrust law — Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin issued the order after hearing argument from both sides on Friday morning.
Discussion:
State of California, NBC News, Axios, The Wrap, Politico, Rolling Stone, @brianstelter, IGN, @jbflint, @brianstelter, @leehepner, @agrobbonta, Reuters, Civil Discourse …, CinemaBlend, Business Insider, Quartz, Raw Story, @sharonwaxman, CNN, @eriqgardner, @mhwilliams.bsky.social, Cosmic Book News, @danielnmiller, @leonenglish.bsky.social, @balancecrafting, @juliorvarela.com, @eriqgardner, Blockonomi, Todd Spangler on LinkedIn, @willmckinley.bsky.social, @edmundlee, Puck, JURISTnews, @laurenshirsch, The Ankler, @balint.house.gov, @rogoswami, New Republic, @danielnmiller, Bloomberg, @scondrasht.bsky.social, Comic Book, @brianstelter, CBS News, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @maxwelltani, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, ScreenRant, GamesIndustry.biz, TheDesk.net, BIG by Matt Stoller, Consequence, NewsMax.com, dailyjournal.com and MS NOW
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Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
In the temporary restraining order, a US judge says Paramount's anticipated 27% market share in theatrical distribution is likely to violate antitrust laws — A court issued a temporary restraining order freezing the deal for a short period. Next, it will consider whether to issue …
Discussion:
Ars Technica, Deadline, New York Times, CNBC, @kimmasters.bsky.social, @chrisyogerst.com, Los Angeles Times, MS NOW, CNN, MediaPost, The Post Millennial, Inc.com, IndieWire, Washington Post, The Wrap, Benzinga, Kotaku, Straight Arrow, The Jersey Vindicator, Fox Business, TheDesk.net, Free Press Action Fund Feed, The A.V. Club, Media Play News and Telecompaper
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Unsealed docs: the DOJ sought phone records of NYT reporters and their relatives in an extraordinary attempt to unmask sources of NYT's Air Force One coverage — The government is aggressively seeking the confidential sources of Times reporters who wrote about the president's new Air Force One.
Discussion:
TheDesk.net, Associated Press, MS NOW, KALW, Politico, @KimPerales@toad.social, @crampell.bsky.social, The Independent, @matthewkeyslive, @peterbakernyt.bsky.social, @froomkin.bsky.social, NewsMax.com, Ben Werdmuller, @timobrien.bsky.social, Freedom of the Press …, @kylegriffin1.bsky.social, @jswatz.bsky.social, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, @banmarnj.bsky.social, @madisonmcvan.bsky.social, The Boston Globe, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @schiff.senate.gov, Raw Story, Staff Stories, UPI, @bynum.house.gov, Washington Post, @alexbruell, NOTUS, TWZ, @tom_winter, @grynbaum, @grynbaum, The Wrap, Talking Points Memo, CBS News, Wall Street Journal, @mehdirhasan@mastox.eu, @kennysmith.org, The Hill and New Republic
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Jon Passantino / Status:
Sources: a US judge granted NYT temporary reprieve from Trump admin subpoenas targeting three reporters, ahead of a July 23 hearing over confidential sources
Sources: a US judge granted NYT temporary reprieve from Trump admin subpoenas targeting three reporters, ahead of a July 23 hearing over confidential sources
Discussion:
All Rise News, @passantino.bsky.social, @willpollock.com, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, Raw Story and New Yorker
Ben Fritz / Wall Street Journal:
Christopher Nolan's huge Odyssey opening weekend shows why Universal funded the R-rated adaptation, as directors become franchises and viewers tire of sequels — The big-budget epic opened with $264 million at the global box office, besting many big name brands — Every Hollywood studio wants its own Christopher Nolan.
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Post, Gamereactor UK and The Wrap
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Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey nets $124.5M at the domestic box office and $264.1M worldwide on its opening weekend; Universal spent ~$250M to make the film — Christopher Nolan's nearly three-hour epic was No. 1 over the weekend, with about $124.5 million in ticket sales in the United States and Canada.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Variety, MediaPost, Forbes, IndieWire, Bloomberg, Rolling Stone, GamesRadar, TV Central, CinemaBlend, ScreenRant, Empire, Yahoo Entertainment, Cosmic Book News, Barron's Online, Gold Derby, Los Angeles Times, NewsMax.com, CNBC, Media Play News, Reuters, The Wrap and CBS News
K.J. Yossman / Variety:
Holly Willoughby, until recently the host of ITV's daytime show This Morning, plans a lifestyle series on YouTube, as the platform dominates viewing figures — Holly Willoughby, best known until recently as the host of ITV's daytime show “This Morning,” is set to make a comeback.
Discussion:
Daily Star, The Standard, Mirror, Press Association, The Sun, GB News and Radio Times
Andrew Marchand / The Athletic:
Sources: ESPN cuts ties with NFL analyst Ryan Clark, as part of wider layoffs at ESPN's Bristol, Connecticut campus and at NFL Network expected on Tuesday — ESPN has cut ties with NFL analyst Ryan Clark, sources briefed on the move told The Athletic. — Clark was on ESPN's “NFL Live” on Monday.
Discussion:
Fox News, Awful Announcing, NBCSports.com, @davidleheny.bsky.social, Daily Mail, Sports Business Journal, HEAVY, Awful Announcing, Reuters, Front Office Sports, Sports Illustrated, New York Post, Barrett Media, New York Post, TheGrio, Baller Alert, New York Post, Sports Media Watch, Awful Announcing, Cord Cutters News and r/Journalism
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
A judge approves Anthropic's $1.5B settlement with authors, the first major US case of its kind to settle; some authors opted out and have other ongoing suits — A federal judge in San Francisco on Monday signed off on artificial intelligence company Anthropic's landmark $1.5 billion settlement …
Bloomberg:
Source: Netflix raised $1B from a US high-grade bond sale, its first since a debut deal two years ago — Netflix's Growth Story Hits a Speed Bump Netflix Inc. raised $1 billion from a US high-grade bond sale on Monday, its first since a debut deal two years ago, as slowing sales growth fuels investor scrutiny of the company's future.
Wall Street Journal:
A look at Israel's influence campaign in the US, including a $45M+ contract with Brad Parscale, chief strategy officer of conservative media network Salem Media — The Israeli government is trying to shore up its U.S. reputation with help from influencers, Trump insiders and millions of AI-driven texts
Discussion:
@kaedotcom, @kleinman.bsky.social, @passantino.bsky.social, Middle East Monitor and CTech
Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:
Sony Music files a second copyright suit against Udio, alleging the AI music company copied 30,117 recordings without permission to train its AI models — Sony Music Entertainment has filed a second copyright infringement lawsuit against Udio, asserting 30,117 sound recordings …
Discussion:
Unite.AI, Digital Music News, Billboard, Chat GPT Is Eating the World and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube clarifies its policies around AI slop and upsetting videos, including breaking down such content into three non-monetizable categories — A recent change sees YouTube further cracking down on AI slop by clarifying its policies around how content on its platform can be monetized.
Discussion:
Mashable, Digital Trends, Gizmodo and Business of TV
