Chicago Public Media names Vox co-founder Melissa Bell as its new CEO, starting September 3; CPM owns the Chicago Sun-Times and public radio station WBEZ (David Roeder/Chicago Sun Times)

Mediagazer: Chicago Public Media names Vox co-founder Melissa Bell as its new CEO, starting September 3; CPM owns the Chicago Sun-Times and public radio station WBEZ (David Roeder/Chicago Sun Times)

Top News:

LateNighter:

Paramount has shut down its Comedy Central website, which held The Daily Show clips and the full run of The Colbert Report, after its shutdown of MTV News' site— First on LateNighter: One of the richest repositories of late-night videos is no longer. — ComedyCentral.com had been home …
Discussion: Variety, The Streamable, IndieWire, Billboard, @davidfolkenflik, @ramin_hal9001@emacs.ch, @philmeyer, Consequence, @alice@lgbtqia.space, @carnage4life@threads.net, @three_star_dave@mstdn.social, The Wrap, @bisexualkaiju.bsky.social, @punkonbus1701@tenforward …, @brunhilde2525.bsky.social, Deadline and TVLine

Discussion:

David Satin /
The Streamable: Comedy Central Video Archive Purged From Website in Attempt to Drive Viewers to Paramount+

Marc Schneider /
Billboard: Paramount Cuts Nearly All Content on MTV, CMT, Comedy Central and TV Land Websites

David Folkenflik /
@davidfolkenflik: This is a crime against humor and humanity

Ramin Honary /
@ramin_hal9001@emacs.ch: Down the memory hole — Paramount has decided it requires too much capital to keep their archives online, so they just delete everything to save money. First they deleted MTV, now Comedy Central. Or perhaps not deleted, maybe they plan to make these exclusively pay-walled and available only to subscribers of the Paramount+ streaming service. …

Phil Meyer /
@philmeyer: As of Wednesday afternoon, sites for Comedy Central, CMT, Yellowstone airer Paramount Network & TV Land were instead directing users to Paramount+. On Monday, MTVnews site was taken down, purging some 20 years of stories from the web. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...

Jo Vito /
Consequence: Comedy Central's Website Shut Down, Removing Decades of Classic Daily Show and Colbert Report Clips @alice@lgbtqia.space: So it seems like Paramount is encouraging us to pirate anything from MTV, VH1, CMT, and Comedy Central (so far) 🤷🏼 ♀ ️ — https://latenighter.com/... #FuckCapitalism #Paramount #MTV #VH1 #CMT #ComedyCentral

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life@threads.net: I assumed Paramount would be one of the streaming services that wouldn't make it but I didn't expect the company to struggle so much it would rather delete its websites than maintain them. First Warner Bros, now this. What's up with studios choosing to destroy value in this way? @three_star_dave@mstdn.social: “25+ Years of Daily Show Clips Gone as Paramount Axes Comedy Central Site” — This is why we can have nice things ... for long. Because, sooner or later, someone decides not to spend the money to keep it. And this is an especially key thing related to the #Internet, where anything can disappear at the click of a mouse, or a switch on a server. …

Mike Roe /
The Wrap: Paramount Kills More Online Content, Axing Archives From Comedy Central, MTV, TV Land and CMT @bisexualkaiju.bsky.social: These studios aren't shit, and I think they need another strike to rock their moneymaking machines to get their heads on straight. [embedded post] @punkonbus1701@tenforward.social: Y'all better buy all the physical copies of your favorite Trek shows now, if you haven't already.🤣🖖🏿 — #Paramount #ComedyCentral #StarTrek — Paramount Axes Comedy Central Site, 25+ Years of Daily Show Clips Gone — https://latenighter.com/... @brunhilde2525.bsky.social: This is cultural vandalism. It should inspire a greater horror than soup on a protected painting. [embedded post]

Bruce Haring /
Deadline: Comedy Central, MTV News, CMT, TV Land Online Archives Purged By Paramount Global

Chicago Sun Times:

Chicago Public Media names Vox co-founder Melissa Bell as its new CEO, starting September 3; CPM owns the Chicago Sun-Times and public radio station WBEZ— The founder and former publisher of Vox Media will take over in September. — Melissa Bell, former publisher of Vox Media …

Discussion:
@dicktofel and WBEZ

Discussion:

Richard Tofel /
@dicktofel: Great choice!

The Atlantic:

A look at WaPo's leadership issues under Jeff Bezos, as his hands-off approach and selection of publishers left the paper without a long-term strategy— How the world's greatest businessman drove his newspaper into a ditch — If you want to understand the current crisis at The Washington Post …

Discussion:
@michaelluo, @elaheizadi, @loudmouthjulia, @tvgrimreaper, @semaforben, @nathanmart, @nkulw, @bgrueskin, @mattgertz, @benmullin and @jamiestelter

Discussion:

Michael Luo /
@michaelluo: This is a smart piece by @brianstelter, offering an X-ray into what it's like for not just WaPo but other publications trying to find a sustainable path. Worthwhile for editorial and business leaders alike. (In fact, they should be reading it together.) https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

Elahe Izadi /
@elaheizadi: .@brianstelter reports that The Washington Post is forecast to post a loss of roughly $50 million this year: https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

Julia Alexander /
@loudmouthjulia: I am so, so curious what the research tells WaPo about the overlap between people willing to purchase a one-time article (which likely means in-app payments for ease of access in overcrowded information market vs rerouting to site) and those who can easily get around paywalls. [image] @tvgrimreaper: Sometimes you get the red ink tolerant billionaire owner you want, but not the red ink tolerant billionaire owner you need. [image]

Ben Smith /
@semaforben: A great @brianstelter story that in the end is about the peril of running a company for an audience of one https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

Nathan Martin /
@nathanmart: this feels like an obituary for the washington post (would be tragic for american discourse to lose this institution) https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

Noah Kulwin /
@nkulw: The biz situation is very bad and all of the ideas presented (micropayments for individual articles, lol) are unproven or proven to fail, and will make it worse. The paper needs investment from above which is the one thing Bezos doesn't want to give. Oh, but he is talking up AI!

Bill Grueskin /
@bgrueskin: Lots of interesting bits in this @brianstelter ticktock on the Washpost's woes. I was struck by the fact that the former publisher (who is blamed for much of the decline) would go home at 5 pm. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... [image]

Matthew Gertz /
@mattgertz: The most detailed account I've seen of Fred Ryan's total failure to develop and implement a business strategy for the paper when it was riding high in the Trump years.

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: .@brianstelter on The Washington Post: “News organizations are raucous, living organisms, made up of people who know stuff and want to tell it to the world. What they need more than anything else is leadership.” https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

Jamie Stelter /
@jamiestelter: DRIVING THE DAY @brianstelter for @TheAtlantic 💪🏼💪🏼 via @politico https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... [image]

RELATED:

Vanity Fair:
Will Lewis should be held accountable as a powerful executive and not simply be seen through a parochial US lens that views UK journalists as having lax ethics

Discussion:
@bgrueskin, @jon_allsop, @mlcalderone, The Daily Beast, MediaPost and TVNewsCheck

Discussion:

Bill Grueskin /
@bgrueskin: “Swap in Fox News on the US side of the equation and the BBC on the other, and suddenly the US is the country that appears to have the ethics problem.” https://www.vanityfair.com/...

Jon Allsop /
@jon_allsop: Delighted to be asked to share some further thoughts on this for @VanityFair. With links to good stuff by @jamesrbuk and @TomMcTague, among others. https://www.vanityfair.com/...

Michael Calderone /
@mlcalderone: The view from London: @Jon_Allsop on the moral panic around the “British Invasion” of US newsrooms https://www.vanityfair.com/...

Harry Lambert /
The Daily Beast: Cop: Jeff Bezos' WaPo CEO Deceived Police, Framed U.K. Prime Minister

Ray Schultz /
MediaPost: Will Lewis Saga Continues With A New Allegation And A Newsletter Suspension

The Verge:

Microsoft plans to launch its Xbox TV app on Amazon's Fire TV Sticks in July in 25+ countries, letting Game Pass Ultimate subscribers access Xbox Cloud Gaming— The Xbox app will provide access to Xbox Cloud Gaming so subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate can stream a variety of games directly to Fire TV devices.

Discussion:
Xbox Wire, Screen Rant, VG Charts, 9to5Google, Digital Trends and TechRadar, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Glenn Bunn /
Screen Rant: It Just Got A Whole Lot Easier To Play Xbox Games (Even Without A Console)

William D'Angelo /
VG Charts: Xbox Cloud Gaming Coming to Amazon Fire TV

Carli Velocci /
Digital Trends: Game Pass is coming to your Amazon Fire TV, even if you don't own an Xbox

Axios:

Time strikes a multi-year content licensing deal with OpenAI; Time will gain access to OpenAI's tech and tools to develop new products— - It also gives the AI giant access to Time's real-time content to help answer user queries as news unfolds. — Under the agreement …

Discussion:
Engadget, The Wrap, CNBC, The Hollywood Reporter and @teamtime

Discussion:

Kris Holt /
Engadget: Time strikes a deal to funnel 101 years of journalism into OpenAI's gaping maw

Adam Chitwood /
The Wrap: Time and OpenAI Strike Content Partnership

Hayden Field /
CNBC: OpenAI and Time strike multi-year deal to improve ChatGPT with journalistic content

Etan Vlessing /
The Hollywood Reporter: Time Inks Deal With OpenAI As Tech Giant Makes Major Publishing Moves

New York Times:

Sewell Chan, EIC of The Texas Tribune, is named executive editor of CJR; Tribune managing editor Matthew Watkins will become EIC when Chan departs in September— He joins after leading The Texas Tribune for three years. — Sewell Chan, the editor in chief of The Texas Tribune …

Discussion:

Bill Grueskin /
@bgrueskin: “I want CJR to be a voice for working journalists who face existential challenges — from hedge fund owners to authoritarians to online harassment — and to explain why fact-based news is more important than ever.” — @sewellchan to @katie_robertson https://www.nytimes.com/...

Trei Brundrett /
@clockwerks: Excited to support @MWatkinsTrib when he takes over as EIC after having risen through the ranks of the @TexasTribune and so appreciative of what @sewellchan has achieved during his time, especially the award-winning coverage of Uvalde that he oversaw https://www.texastribune.org/ ...

Evan Smith /
@evanasmith: Big @texastribune news this morning. Immense gratitude + respect to @sewellchan for his leadership and accomplishments in three years as EIC — including Pulitzer/Peabody finalist nods. @jelani9, late-night “Can I call?” texts are coming your way https://www.texastribune.org/ ... #txlege

Matthew Watkins /
@mwatkinstrib: I'm immensely grateful to @sewellchan, who is the next executive editor of @CJR, for his friendship and support. And to @SonalRShah for her confidence. And to Trib OGs @eramshaw, @evanasmith and Ross Ramsey (who appears to have left X??) for bringing me here 9 1/2 years ago.

Evan Smith /
@evanasmith: Here's the thing about @MWatkinsTrib: He's the 🐐, and everyone at @TexasTribune knows it. A great journalist. A natural leader. A believer in the power of civic journalism. *He has the room.* Like @eramshaw back in the day, he earned this. LFG https://www.texastribune.org/ ... #txlege

Sonal Shah /
@sonalrshah: Excited that @MWatkinsTrib is going to be our new editor in chief at the @TexasTribune. Huge congratulations to @sewellchan for his incredible leadership and for his new role @CJR.

Sonal Shah /
The Texas Tribune: Matthew Watkins named Texas Tribune's next editor-in-chief, succeeding Sewell Chan

Bill Grueskin /
@bgrueskin: The news is out: @sewellchan will be the next top editor of @CJR, after his successes at the NYT, LAT and Texas Tribune. And those of us at @columbiajourn who work on and with the Review crew could not be happier!

Matthew Watkins /
@mwatkinstrib: News about me: Starting Sept. 9, I'll be come editor-in-chief of @TexasTribune. It's a dream and an honor to lead this amazing newsroom and I can't wait to get to work. https://www.texastribune.org/ ...

Rebekah Allen /
@rebekahallen: .@sewellchan has done so much for @TexasTribune and I couldn't be more grateful for his leadership and for the time I got to learn from him. But @MWatkinsTrib is an inspired choice for successor. He was always meant to lead this organization. Onward! https://www.texastribune.org/ ...

Washington Post:

An interview with Netflix's VP of external games Leanne Loombe on its push into gaming, focusing on narrative games without ads or in-app purchases, and more— I told my dentist that I was interviewing someone at Netflix later, and she got really excited. “Ooo, what about? Which show?”

Discussion:
Variety, Mobilegamer.biz and TVNewsCheck, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Selena Kuznikov /
Variety: Netflix Renews ‘Perfect Match’ for Season 3

Neil Long /
Mobilegamer.biz: Netflix studio Spry Fox teases Triple Town comeback, with another “large unannounced cozy project” incoming

Financial Times:

Naver-owned online comics platform Webtoon raised $315M in its Nasdaq IPO at $21 per share, the top of its $18-$21 marketed range, valuing the company at $2.7B— Online comics platform prices IPO at top of range for $2.7bn valuation — Webtoon Entertainment, an online comics platform …

Discussion:
Fast Company, Yahoo Finance, WEBTOON, Reuters, Deadline, BBC and KED Global, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Michael Grothaus /
Fast Company: Webtoon IPO: Stock price will be closely watched today as comics platform debuts on Nasdaq

Jesse Whittock /
Deadline: Naver's Comic Platform Webtoon Entertainment Seeks To Raise $315M Through U.S. IPO

João da Silva /
BBC: Korean web comic giant set for $2.7bn market debut

Seok-Cheol Choi /
KED Global: Naver's webtoon unit to raise $315 mn via Nasdaq IPO

New York Magazine:

Two groups of Sandy Hook families disagree on whether Infowars' parent company FSS should go into bankruptcy or whether they should take control of FSS assets— In 2021 and 2022, two sets of families of the 20 children murdered during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting won separate defamation suits against Alex Jones.

MatthewBall.co:

A look at what has happened to the US box office since 2000 and how the pandemic accelerated the decline in per capita theatrical admissions by roughly 15 years— Over the last six months, there has been a lot of talk about the future of theatrical exhibition ("going to the movies") …

Discussion:
@ballmatthew, @royprice and @loudmouthjulia

Discussion:

Matthew Ball /
@ballmatthew:

Roy Price /
@royprice: Excellent review of box office history and what it might suggest about the future. Worth a read!

Julia Alexander /
@loudmouthjulia: Great essay! One thing I'd add on live events + sporting — there is an additional incentive for those events to provide long term social capital through photos and videos that takes the original value (scarcity of event) and magnifies it (attention rewarded for attention given).

CNBC:

A look at YouTube's growing dominance as Nielsen says it had ~10% of all viewership on connected and traditional TVs in the US in May, ahead of Netflix's 7.6%— WATCH NOW — It's been almost 20 years since the founding of Alphabet's YouTube, and Hollywood still doesn't really know what to do with it.

Discussion:
@sportstvratings: YouTube's strength on the big screen truly is under-covered, but... ...whenever Nielsen finally adds mobile consumption to its monthly “The Gauge” reporting, YouTube's dominance will be so striking and pronounced that it will swing to being over-covered!

Andrew A. Rosen /
@aagave: Alex didn't intend it this way but this 2nd graf—which comes after a reveal that Disney $DIS is trying to figure out how to add UGC to D+ (not happening)—implies that Disney doesn't understand its streaming customers. https://t.co/...

@tvgrimreaper:
YouTube's streaming leadership, and continued rapid growth is a little bit less uncovered today! [image]

Tara Walpert Levy /
@tarawlevy: As with all things, I recommend watching the video. :) It's at the top of the article and the nuances of the competitive ecosystem are well articulated by @sherman4949, @KevinMayer, @RichLightShed, @MichelleKhare, @brittanybroski, and others. @richlightshed: YouTube is a TV Juggernaut — 25% of time spent streaming video on a big-screen TV is @YouTube Thanks for featuring us @sherman4949 @CNBC Watch full 13 min video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/... [video]

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: Disney is laser focused on YouTube with a clearly defined strategy and has even considered adding user generated content to Disney+. Other companies are less concerned with YouTube, content to keep focusing on traditional scripted/sports.

Tara Walpert Levy /
Tara Walpert Levy on LinkedIn: As with all things, I recommend watching the video. It's at the top of the article, and the nuances of the competitive ecosystem are well articulated …

Brooks Day /
Brooks Day on LinkedIn: As we witness YouTube's unprecedented dominance in viewership and advertising revenue, capturing a historic 9.7% TV viewership share …

Jeff Jenkins /
Jeff Jenkins on LinkedIn: What is TV ask my 11 year old.....YouTube now accounts for 10% of all TV viewership, cementing its dominance in the media landscape. …

Alex Sherman /
Alex Sherman on LinkedIn: The common answer to who is winning the streaming wars is Netflix, but the real answer is YouTube. YouTube has been the most watched US streaming service …

Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: The most undercovered company in the media and entertainment world is YouTube. I spoke with some YouTube execs and creators about why YouTube's dominance keeps expanding and asked Hollywood's main players what they're doing about it. https://www.cnbc.com/...

Nieman Lab:

The Oaklandside's publisher, Cityside, launches Richmondside in Richmond, CA, a town where the top employer, Chevron, owns the primary news source— Last month, I talked to Floodlight's Miranda Green and NPR's David Folkenflik about how they teamed up to investigate a news site owned by Chevron.

Discussion:
@tigerbeat, @khulacrichmond and @davidfolkenflik

Discussion:

Steve Rhodes /
@tigerbeat: @davidfolkenflik While editor @KHulacRichmond and reporter Joel Umanzor @jr_umanzor are on twitter like @berkeleyside @Oaklandside, @richmondside won't update here & can be found at https://x.com/...

Kari Hulac /