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Nielsen: Stranger Things amassed 7.2B minutes of viewing time for May 30-June 5, the highest weekly total for any title since rankings began about two years ago — The Netflix series surpasses 7 billion minutes of viewing time in the United States for the week of May 30-June 5.
Discussion:
Variety, UPROXX, SlashFilm, @tvgrimreaper, Collider, @erikreichenb4ch, CBR, Hollywood Reporter and Forbes

The Knight Foundation's support for Semafor's event with Tucker Carlson betrays its mission; the event frames media as a game of access and audience-building — By sponsoring a journalism event featuring Tucker Carlson, the philanthropy is mistaking openness for strengthening democracy.
Discussion:
Knight Foundation, @dkiesow, @mollydeaguiar, @karlbode, @karlbode, @karlbode, @karlbode, @nandoodles, @karlbode, @afine, @samlitzinger, @semaforben, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @lolgop, @froomkin, @dkiesow, @franklinleonard, @vwpickard, @yaeleisenstat, @jeremylittau, @sarah_b_hall, @karlbode, @karlbode, @jeremylittau, @bostonjoan, @froomkin, @meredithshiner, @joanespositochi, @dannagal, @coreypein, @froomkin, @bostonjoan, @jon_gluck, @mlsif, @mlsif, @karaswisher, @nandoodles, @semaforben, @justinhendrix, @jeffjarvis, @daveleeft, @daveleeft, @daveleeft and Mediaite

Sources: Group Black, which aims to invest in and develop Black-owned media, is in talks to buy a large stake in BDG Media and is exploring acquiring Vice Media — Group Black is in talks to buy stake in Bustle parent and has been eyeing a deal for Vice Media
Discussion:
@juwanthewriter, @jbflint and PRWeek

The Copyright Royalty Board upholds a ~44% bump in streaming royalties for songwriters after a long legal appeal from Spotify, Amazon Music, Google, and Pandora — Songwriters earned a stalled victory Friday in their ongoing battle for higher streaming royalty pay.

Netflix executives say they don't plan to change programming; two bank analysts say a cheaper ad-supported tier could cannibalize the higher-paying subscribers — Long Hollywood's leading innovator, the streaming service is staying the course, despite serious challenges to its business and questions about its content.
Discussion:
@richlightshed, Bloomberg, @benmullin, @kennethturan, @benmullin, @brooksbarnesnyt and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »
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Julian Assange filed two appeals on Thursday to the UK high court to contest his extradition to the US; the court now decides whether the appeals can be heard — The WikiLeaks founder has appealed his extradition from the U.K., prolonging a yearslong fight against being sent to the U.S. to face spying charges
Discussion:
BBC, @freedomofpress, @maximcolch, @aviswanatha, @emptywheel, CNET and Boing Boing

NBCUniversal: Peacock snagged $1B in upfront ad revenue, double 2021's, part of a “record-breaking” 2022 upfront; in 2021, NBCU saw $7B+ in upfront commitments — NBCUniversal says 2022 was the “highest grossing upfront since Comcast's acquisition” of the company more than a decade ago.
Discussion:
@digitalshields, @tvgrimreaper, @adage, Ad Age, MediaPost, Adweek and Deadline

Google gave user data to Russian ad company RuTarget, including potentially sensitive info about users in Ukraine, four months after the US sanctioned RuTarget — The internet giant may have provided Sberbank-owned RuTarget with unique mobile phone IDs, IP addresses, location information …

NBCU is shutting down its Olympic Channel, launched in 2017 with a focus on content about US Olympic athletes, on September 30 — A second NBCUniversal sports cable outlet is getting ready to finish its game. — NBCUniversal has notified cable and satellite operators that it intends …
Discussion:
MediaPost, @tvgrimreaper, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter
Toolkits:
75% of large subscription publishers offer discounted trials — The majority of large publishers with digital subscription products are currently offering discounted trials to help drive new subscriber acquisition, according to Toolkits research.

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Amazon secures UK rights to 17 Tuesday Champions League soccer games per season from 2024 to 2027; BT Sport retains most live UEFA rights for £305M per season — About Julian Clover — Julian Clover is a Media and Technology journalist based in Cambridge, UK. He works in online and printed media.
Discussion:
The Athletic, @pompey__, The Guardian, Reuters and Hollywood Reporter

News outlets should stop running puff pieces about Supreme Court justices written by lawyers with ties to the court; a review shows their incorrect predictions — Lisa Blatt, an attorney who has argued more than 40 cases before the Supreme Court, wrote an opinion piece for Politico Magazine …
Discussion:
@jayrosen_nyu, @bgrueskin, @erikwemple, @drvolts, @lemieuxlgm, @pomeranian99, @clairehoworth, @green_footballs, @theplumlinegs, @mollyjongfast, @nberlat, @davidminpdx, @taniel, @xor, @ronhogan, @keitholbermann, @gadyepstein, @gadyepstein, @gadyepstein, @bgrueskin, @donmoyn, @cwarzel, Boing Boing, @soledadobrien, @dceiver, @lschmeiser, @dangillmor, @rachellarris and Mediaite

A group of 68 journalists writes to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre asking to reopen large events to all and end an opaque pre-screening process — A group of 66 journalists sent a rare protest letter to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Thursday asking …