An interview with Netflix VP of External Games Leanne Loombe about the popularity of interactive fiction games on the service, reality TV shows, and more (Ash Parrish/The Verge)

Mediagazer: An interview with Netflix VP of External Games Leanne Loombe about the popularity of interactive fiction games on the service, reality TV shows, and more (Ash Parrish/The Verge)

Top News:

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: the NBA is closing in on deals with NBC, ESPN, and Amazon that would bring in ~$76B in media revenue over 11 years; the deals will include WNBA rights— The National Basketball Association entered its first TV negotiations in a decade with a problem: Its main business partners seemed to be on shaky footing.
Discussion: Business Insider, The Wrap, Awful Announcing, Vibe, Media Play News, ESPN Press Room U.S., Next TV, Christian Grece on LinkedIn, @morningbrew, @asharma, @benfritz, @jbflint, @patrick1kennedy, @webbarr, @asharma, Cord Cutters News, Barrett Media, @jbflint, @benfritz, Chris Pfaff on LinkedIn, New York Post, Sports Media Watch and The Ringer

Discussion:

Peter Kafka /
Business Insider: Why a new NBA deal could mean cuts to your favorite NBC and Peacock shows

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: NBA Close to $76 Billion TV Rights Deal With NBC, Amazon and Disney | Report

Joe Lucia /
Awful Announcing: NBC's NBA deal reportedly includes 100 games annually, half on Peacock

Erik Gruenwedel /
Media Play News: NBA Reportedly Eyeing Record $76 Billion Media Rights Deal With NBC/Peacock, Prime Video, ESPN

Ronce Rajan /
ESPN Press Room U.S.: ESPN NBA Full Court Press: ESPN Tips Off the 2024 NBA Finals Presented By YouTubeTV on Thursday as the Boston Celtics Host the Dallas Mavericks on ABC

Christian Grece /
Christian Grece on LinkedIn: From the Journal: — TNT parent Warner Bros. Discovery was saddled with more than $40 billion in debt, while ESPN parent The Walt Disney Company …

Amol Sharma /
@asharma: A few of the details in here: — About half of NBC's 100 games will be exclusively available on Peacock, a big bet on streaming. — NBC likely raising Peacock price and planning significant budget cuts — Amazon was invited in during the “exclusive” TNT/ESPN negotiations.

Ben Fritz /
@benfritz: NBCU is preparing to pay $2.5B per year for new NBA rights on-air and on Peacock and it could have major repercussions for the company's entertainment spending. [image]

Joe Flint /
@jbflint: What divided the NBA and TNT wasn't a couple hundred million bucks. It was the NBA cherry picking playoffs and other big games from TNT to sell to Amazon and NBC. https://www.wsj.com/...

Joe Flint /
@jbflint: For Comcast and NBC an NBA deal puts pressure on Peacock which will need to raise prices. Deal also causing tensions with entertainment teams who fear significant cost cuts to help sports foot bill for massive bet. A lot has to go right for this to work. https://www.wsj.com/...

Patrick J Kennedy /
@patrick1kennedy: The looming loss of Inside the NBA is such a bummer. https://www.wsj.com/... @webbarr: “Entertainment is a swamp, and sports is the only firm ground,” - former Fox Sports chief David Hill https://www.wsj.com/...

Amol Sharma /
@asharma: The NBA is closing in on deals with NBC, Amazon and ESPN that point to the staggering value of sports rights and the anxieties of media's biggest players. “Entertainment is a swamp, and sports is the only firm ground.” w/ @JBFlint @ @thesimonetti https://www.wsj.com/... Barrett Media: Report: NBA Closing In on $76 Billion TV Media Rights Deal With Disney, NBCUniversal, Amazon

Joe Flint /
@jbflint: Don't be surprised if the next court Adam Silver and David Zaslav see each other in isn't at Madison Square Garden. W/⁦@asharma⁩ & ⁦@thesimonetti⁩ https://www.wsj.com/...

Ben Fritz /
@benfritz: Great scoop on the details of the NBA's next blockbuster, $76 billion(!!) TV deal by @JBFlint @asharma + @thesimonetti full of juicy details. https://www.wsj.com/...

Chris Pfaff /
Chris Pfaff on LinkedIn: At the buzzer...Turner is shut out of the new National Basketball Association (NBA) TV deal. This is extraordinary, given Turner (Turner Broadcasting System, Inc)'s legacy with the NBA. …

Matt Ehalt /
New York Post: NBC, ESPN, Amazon ‘closing in’ on $76 billion deals with NBA as TNT's future in jeopardy

Nieman Lab:

CEO Nicholas Thompson shares why The Atlantic partnered with OpenAI: publishers can benefit from tech platforms, as long as they avoid becoming wholly dependent— Shortly before The Atlantic announced “a product and content” partnership with OpenAI, the magazine published a piece …

Discussion: LinkedIn,
The Atlantic, @sarahscire, @jessicalessin, Business Insider and MIT Technology Review

Discussion:

Damon Beres /
The Atlantic: A Devil's Bargain With OpenAI

Sarah Scire /
@sarahscire: A four-minute video posted on LinkedIn by The Atlantic's CEO is an interesting artifact — one we might point to when asked “what were they thinking?” should these OpenAI deals go south. https://www.niemanlab.org/...

Jessica Lessin /
@jessicalessin: This is a good summary of the ongoing debate about news, platforms and AI. @nxthompson's LinkedIn was interesting for sure. https://www.niemanlab.org/... Every day, one of my peers whom I respect tells me I am wrong about these deals because they are zero margin revenue to Nicholas Thompson / LinkedIn: Nicholas Thompson's Post [Video]

Peter Kafka /
Business Insider: Sam Altman's OpenAI is paying publishers big money for content. That could be a lifeline — or blow up in their faces.

Melissa Heikkilä /
MIT Technology Review: What I learned from the UN's “AI for Good” summit

Reuters:

China-linked app NewsBreak used AI to write 40+ inaccurate local US stories since 2021 and in March added a note that its content “may not always be error-free”— Last Christmas Eve, NewsBreak, a free app with roots in China that is the most downloaded news app in the United States …

Discussion:
@reuters, @wexler, @niubi, @nastyoldwomyn, @reuters, @robdecola, @pearswick, @magneticcrow@catcatnya.com and @nanditab1

Discussion:
@reuters: NewsBreak, the most-downloaded news app in the US, has Chinese origins and ‘writes fiction’ with the help of AI. It once wrote about a small-town New Jersey shooting that never happened, authorities said. Read the full story ⬇️https://www.reuters.com / ...

Nu Wexler /
@wexler: “Newsbreak generates revenue by showing ads to its users, who are predominantly female, above the age of 45, without college degrees, and live in suburban or rural parts of the U.S. ... ” https://www.reuters.com/...

Bill Bishop /
@niubi: “A May 2022 company memo from a NewsBreak consultant to Zheng, reviewed by Reuters, raised concerns about NewsBreak's use of AI tools to re-publish stories from local news sites under five fictitious bylines. “I cannot think of a faster way to destroy the NewsBreak brand,” Norm

@reuters:
Billing itself as ‘the go-to source for all things local,’ NewsBreak says it has over 50 million monthly users. But the app's AI has resulted in some erroneous stories. NewsBreak blames incorrect source material https://www.reuters.com/... [image]

@reuters:
NewsBreak is a privately held start-up, whose primary backers are in San Francisco and Beijing. It's the most-downloaded news app in the US. And, using AI, it has also published erroneous stories, @pearswick writes https://www.reuters.com/...

Rob DeCola /
@robdecola: Hey hi hello it's me, a guy who's worked in news for 20+ years and monitors more than 50 news apps on shift. I need you to know that the @newsbreakApp is absolute junk. Useless at best, dangerous at worst. https://www.reuters.com/...

James Pearson /
@pearswick: The company launched in the U.S. in 2015 as a subsidiary of Yidian, a Chinese news aggregation app. Both companies were founded by Jeff Zheng, the CEO of Newsbreak, and the companies share a U.S. patent, registered in 2015 for an “Interest Engine” algorithm, which recommends news [image]

Leaf /
@magneticcrow@catcatnya.com: 'But in at least 40 instances since 2021, the app's use of AI tools affected the communities it strives to serve, with Newsbreak publishing erroneous stories; creating 10 stories from local news sites under fictitious bylines; and lifting content from its competitors …

Press Gazette:

Bloomberg Media unveils product updates, including more deep-dive long reads on Businessweek, set to become a monthly in July, and reports 540K subscribers— Bloomberg Media is betting on increased website functionality and deeper reporting to keep it ahead of generative AI-based information providers.

Discussion:
Dominic Ponsford on LinkedIn

The Verge:

An interview with Netflix VP of External Games Leanne Loombe about the popularity of interactive fiction games on the service, reality TV shows, and more— And while the “serious gamer” might be enticed by the pending arrival of The Case of the Golden Idol or Don't Starve Together …

Discussion:

Georgina Young /
The Sun: Netflix announces 14 new games coming for free to all subscribers in amazing hidden perk

Jacob Siegal /
BGR: Netflix's new games are more exciting than its new shows

The NewsGuild:

Unions at eight Tribune publications including The Virginian-Pilot and Orlando Sentinel ratify their first contract with Alden after five years of talks— After five long years of negotiations between Alden Global Capital and a joint bargaining committee, journalists at eight Tribune …

Discussion:
@newsguild

Reuters:

Netflix plans to donate $1M to the Innocence Project to settle a defamation lawsuit by ex-prosecutor Linda Fairstein over a 2019 Central Park Five show— Netflix (NFLX.O) settled a defamation lawsuit brought by best-selling author and former Manhattan sex crimes prosecutor Linda Fairstein …

Discussion:
Vibe, @theferocity.bsky.social, UPI, The Wrap, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter

Discussion:

Sheri Walsh /
UPI: Netflix, ex-prosecutor Linda Fairstein settle defamation lawsuit over ‘Central Park Five’ docuseries

Jacob Bryant /
The Wrap: Ava DuVernay Calls Linda Fairstein a Bully ‘Responsible’ for Wrongful Central Park 5 Conviction in Statement on Settlement

Dominic Patten /
Deadline: Ava DuVernay Rips Central Park 5 Prosecutor After Lawsuit Settlement, Praises Netflix For “Unwavering Support” & $1M Innocence Project Donation

Christi Carras /
Los Angeles Times: Netflix, Ava DuVernay settle defamation lawsuit brought by ‘When They See Us’ prosecutor

Gene Maddaus /
Variety: Linda Fairstein and Netflix Settle Suit Over Ava DuVernay's Central Park Five Series

New York Times:

The Columbia Law Review's website was taken offline by its board of directors after the journals' student editors published an article criticizing Israel— The board of directors of the student-run publication said that the article, by a Palestinian human rights lawyer, had not been subject to sufficient review.

Discussion:
The Daily Beast, The Intercept, @jameeljaffer, CNN and Associated Press

Discussion:

Dan Ladden-Hall /
The Daily Beast: Columbia Law Review Site Taken Down Over Article Accusing Israel of Genocide The Intercept: Columbia Law Review Refused to Take Down Article on Palestine, So Its Board of Directors Nuked the Whole Website

Jameel Jaffer /
@jameeljaffer: This is a crazy, disturbing story. I would like to know more about the purported procedural irregularities, but nuking the website is a drastic, extraordinary step that requires much more justification than has been supplied by the directors thus far. https://theintercept.com/...

Jordan Valinsky /
CNN: Columbia Law Review website is down after publishing a story criticizing Israel

Sportico:

Diamond Sports Group reaches a tentative deal for a new naming-rights sponsor for its regional sports networks; a report says FanDuel plans to replace Bally's— Diamond Sports Group on Tuesday confirmed that it has reached an agreement in principle on a new naming-rights sponsor …

Discussion:
Sports Media Watch, Bloomberg, The Streamable, Legal Sports Report, Awful Announcing, Barrett Media, Cord Cutters News and Next TV

Discussion:

Christopher Palmeri /
Bloomberg: FanDuel Nears Deal for Naming Rights to Diamond Sports Channels

David Satin /
The Streamable: NBA, NHL Demand Answers from Diamond Sports Group as Future of Regional Sports Networks Fades

Sam McQuillan /
Legal Sports Report: FanDuel Deal For Bally Sports Channels Hinges On Diamond Bankruptcy

Sean Keeley /
Awful Announcing: FanDuel reportedly taking over naming rights on Diamond's Bally Sports networks

Luke Bouma /
Cord Cutters News: Comcast May Kill Bally Sports As The NHL Demands Clarity On The Future of The RSNs This Week

Bloomberg:

The UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal rules that a class action lawsuit against Google over allegations the company abused its digital ad dominance can proceed— London judges ruled a class action lawsuit to proceed against Google potentially seeking billions of pounds in damages over allegations …

Discussion:
MediaPost, The Register, City A.M., Advanced Television, @pressgazette, Press Gazette, @pressgazette and Reuters, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Laurie Sullivan /
MediaPost: Google Faces $17B Lawsuit In UK

Matthew Connatser /
The Register: UK tribunal greenlights $17.4B advertising monopoly case against Google

Maria Ward-Brennan /
City A.M.: Google faces £14bn UK class action after Tribunal greenlights claim @pressgazette: Google has now given a statement calling the lawsuit “speculative and opportunistic. We'll oppose it vigorously and on the facts” https://pressgazette.co.uk/...

Charlotte Tobitt /
Press Gazette: £13.6bn damages claim against Google on behalf of UK publishers to go to trial

@pressgazette:
New: £13.6bn damages claim against Google on behalf of UK publishers to go to trial London's Competition Appeal Tribunal on Wednesday certified a claim representing UK publishers and allowed it to go to trial, dismissing Google's arguments against it https://pressgazette.co.uk/...

TechCrunch:

Substack adds the ability for writers to send videos to their subscribers via its direct messaging feature Chat— Newsletter platform Substack is introducing the ability for writers to send videos to their subscribers via Chat, its direct messaging feature, the company announced on Wednesday.

Discussion:
On Substack

Discussion:

Jasmine Sun /
On Substack: Introducing video to Substack Chat

Reuters:

A federal class action suit against the NFL over claims of using agreements to control Sunday Ticket distribution, letting DirecTV raise prices, heads to trial— The National Football League and subscribers to its “Sunday Ticket” televised game package are headed to trial on Wednesday …

Discussion:
The Desk, New York Post, Courthouse News Service and Bloomberg

Discussion:

Matthew Keys /
The Desk: Class action lawsuit over NFL Sunday Ticket heads to trial

Alexandra Steigrad /
New York Post: NFL ‘Sunday Ticket’ antitrust trial heads to court in Los Angeles, payoffs could reach $21B

Edvard Pettersson /