ITV starts offering voluntary buyouts as it aims to save £50M/year amid an ad slump and a slowdown in sales of its shows; sources: ITV expects to cut ~200 jobs (James Warrington/Telegraph)

Mediagazer: ITV starts offering voluntary buyouts as it aims to save £50M/year amid an ad slump and a slowdown in sales of its shows; sources: ITV expects to cut ~200 jobs (James Warrington/Telegraph) Top News: Associated Press: Israeli officials seize AP equipment and take down a live shot of northern Gaza, accusing the AP of violating Israel’s ban on Al Jazeera, which gets AP feeds— Israeli officials seized a camera and broadcasting equipment belonging to The Associated Press in southern Israel on Tuesday … Discussion: The Guardian, Mediaite, AP Definitive Source, CNN, Committee to Protect …, Voice of America, @barakravid, The Wrap, New York Times, Reclaim The Net, @onthemedia, The Daily Beast, @fpaispal, Newser, Axios, @bgrueskin, @barakravid, @noa_landau, @margbrennan, @brianstelter, @erikwemple, @tbridis, @megankstack, @jongambrellap, @andreas_krieg, @mehdirhasan, @frances_coppola, @ap_corpcomm, @rhijazi and @jangelooff Discussion: Peter Beaumont / The Guardian: Israeli officials seize camera from US news agency, cutting live feed of Gaza Alex Griffing / Mediaite: AP Condemns Israel In ‘the Strongest Terms’ For Seizing Its Equipment, Cutting Live Feed From Gaza Zachary Leeman / Mediaite: Karine Jean-Pierre Asked By AP About Israeli Officials Seizing Equipment: ‘How Is That Acceptable Behavior in a Democracy?’ Lauren Easton / AP Definitive Source: AP statement on Israel’s shutdown of live shot Committee to Protect Journalists: Israeli authorities confiscate AP equipment broadcasting live feed of Gaza Barak Ravid / @barakravid: BREAKING: U.S. officials spoke today with officials in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, expressed concerns about the Israeli ministry of communications crackdown on @AP and asked to reverse this move, two sources with knowledge of the issue told me Natalie Korach / The Wrap: Israeli Government Shuts Down AP Live Feed From Gaza, Seizes Equipment as New Media Law Takes Effect Adam Rasgon / New York Times: Israel Seizes Camera From A.P., Citing Use of Its Images by Al Jazeera @onthemedia: Listen to our recent interview with Israeli media critic @OrenPersico who has been reporting on the passage of this new law: https://www.wnycstudios.org/ … Bill Grueskin / @bgrueskin: That “only functional democracy the Middle East” slogan is in deep trouble Barak Ravid / @barakravid: BREAKING: White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre told reports that the Biden administration is concerned by reports that the Israeli government confiscated equipment of the AP. She said journalists need to have the right and the ability to do their job Barak Ravid / @barakravid: Israeli opposition Leader Yair Lapid: “The confiscation of the equipment of the AP, the world’s largest news agency, by minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi’s people, is an act of madness. This is not Al Jazeera, this is an American media outlet that has won 53 Pulitzer Noa Landau / @noa_landau: Israel seized ⁦@AP⁩ equipment accusing the news organization of violating the country’s new ban on Al Jazeera, because AJ is among thousands of AP live feed clients. This is beyond ridiculous & just wrong. We warned this law is a slippery slope https://www.haaretz.com/… Margaret Brennan / @margbrennan: Stunning. The AP is a source of information and reporting for massive numbers of news organizations around the world. Brian Stelter / @brianstelter: AP statement: “The Associated Press decries in the strongest terms the actions of the Israeli government to shut down our longstanding live feed showing a view into Gaza and seize AP equipment…” https://apnews.com/… @erikwemple: After Israel shut down Al Jazeera on May 5, there were lots of questions about how the ban would work. Well: The AP is reporting that Israeli officials have seized one of its cameras and other equipment because it was providing images to Al Jazeera: https://apnews.com/… Ted Bridis / @tbridis: Associated Press objects to Israeli government’s shutdown of live video feed showing Gaza, seizure of its equipment. Calls actions ‘abusive’ under new law https://blog.ap.org/… Megan K. Stack / @megankstack: One obvious but important lesson of conflict reporting (or any reporting really) is that the ones who try to block journalists are almost always the ones who have more to hide. Jon Gambrell / @jongambrellap: An @AP statement on #Israel’s shutdown of live shot: “The Associated Press decries in the strongest terms the actions of the Israeli government to shut down our longstanding live feed showing a view into Gaza and seize AP equipment.” Dr Andreas Krieg / @andreas_krieg: After Al Jazeera Israel is going after the Associated Press When the truth can’t be subverted anymore through weaponized narratives, they choose coercion Mehdi Hasan / @mehdirhasan: “The only democracy in the Middle East” Frances ‘Cassandra’ Coppola / @frances_coppola: Israel ups its censorship of international press coverage of Gaza. This is not compatible with its claim to be a liberal democracy. Press freedom should be sacrosanct. Clearly, it is anything but. Rawan Hijazi / @rhijazi: Apparently it’s because Al Jazeera is using the live feed in its bulletins. Israel, the Middle East’s “only democracy”. NBC News: Scarlett Johansson says she declined OpenAI’s ChatGPT voice offer and was “shocked, angered” that Sam Altman would pursue Sky, a voice “eerily similar” to hers— The “Her” actor released a statement following OpenAI pulling its “Sky” voice from ChatGPT, which many people said sounded like her. Discussion: @openai, NPR, Reuters, The Verge, Forbes, Vanity Fair, CMU, SheKnows, New York Times, Reuters, RTÉ, Associated Press, The Hill, @ashleymayer, GB News, Fast Company, Us Weekly, @conorsen, @benjysarlin, Nishith Chennakeshava on LinkedIn, New York Post, Platformer, The Information, @katienotopoulos, @kyliebytes, @kattenbarge, @pkafka, @minimaxir, @maccaw, @lexnfx, Zeynep Arsel on LinkedIn, @gartenberg, @DAIR@dair-community.social, David Deal on LinkedIn, @elonmusk, @tomaxwell, HuffPost, @mer__edith, @bcmerchant, Florian Niggemeier on LinkedIn, @willoremus, @markgurman, @minimaxir, @drkatedevlin, @shiringhaffary, @chrisgeidner, @garymarcus, The A.V. Club, @fordm, @alexrkonrad, @loudmouthjulia, @eriqgardner, Liza Adams on LinkedIn, Page Six, The Register, @cwarzel, @carnage4life, @kantrowitz, VentureBeat, Paul Roetzer on LinkedIn, Erika Hall on LinkedIn, @crumbler@threads.net, @jbillinson@threads.net, @crumbler@threads.net, @eshumarneedi@threads.net, @wongmjane@threads.net, @motorcityadam@threads.net, @kevinroose@threads.net, @bzamayo@threads.net, @sung.kim.mw@threads.net, @trevorcroker@threads.net, @crumbler@threads.net, @mikehos3@threads.net, @makenakellyx@threads.net, @loveallthis@threads.net, Rolling Stone, Benzinga, Boing Boing, Shelly Palmer, Wired, E! Online, TechCrunch, @keith@cute.is, @MikeElgan@mastodon.social, Bloomberg, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @kagan@wandering.shop, TMZ.com, IndieWire, Variety, BGR, The Wrap, The Verge, Fox News, CBS News, New York Daily News, The Guardian, RTÉ, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, Forbes, TechCrunch, TVLine, Deadline, CNN and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme » Discussion: @openai: We’ve heard questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT, especially Sky. We are working to pause the use of Sky while we address them. Read more about how we chose these voices: https://openai.com/… Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge: Scarlett Johansson told OpenAI not to use her voice — and she’s not happy they might have anyway Chris Cooke / CMU: Scarlett Johansson accuses ChatGPT of stealing her voice Giovana Gelhoren / SheKnows: Scarlett Johansson’s Latest Legal Battle Shows How Recent Technology Can Really Threaten Celebrities Tripp Mickle / New York Times: Scarlett Johansson Said No, but OpenAI’s Virtual Assistant Sounds Just Like Her Associated Press: Scarlett Johansson Blasts OpenAI for Unauthorized Soundalike Chatbot — Company Apologizes, Pulls Voice Nick Robertson / The Hill: Scarlett Johansson ‘shocked, angered’ by ChatGPT voice that sounded ‘eerily similar’ to hers Ashley Mayer / @ashleymayer: When you shoot for Her and get Black Mirror instead. Aaron Brown / GB News: ChatGPT slams brakes on flirty chatbot voice after ‘shocked’ Scarlett Johansson makes serious complaint Jesus Diaz / Fast Company: OpenAI says its ChatGPT voice isn’t a Scarlett Johansson rip-off. Johansson disagrees Nicole Massabrook / Us Weekly: Scarlett Johansson Speaks Out About ChatGPT’s Sky, Declined Offer to Voice AI System Conor Sen / @conorsen: Now whenever a reporter or politician is trying to point out the IP issues of AI they can say “Sam stole ScarJo’s voice even after she denied consent.” It’s a much easier story to sell to the general public and members of Congress. Benjy Sarlin / @benjysarlin: Well I’m sure the AI company accused of stealing a famous actress’ voice and sticking it in a sexy robot after she refused a deal will be meticulous about making sure our articles, photos, music, and videos don’t get mixed up without compensation Nishith Chennakeshava / Nishith Chennakeshava on LinkedIn: I’ve always imagined AI as something that will liberate us from work, and give us the freedom to pursue tasks that we truly want to be doing … David Propper / New York Post: Scarlett Johansson ‘shocked’ and ‘angered’ over ChatGPT voice that sounds ‘eerily similar’ to hers — says she rejected offer to do it Casey Newton / Platformer: OpenAI loses its voice Katie Notopoulos / @katienotopoulos: lol they actually MET with her first, this is so much worse than I initially thought https://x.com/… Kylie Robison / @kyliebytes: Last Monday, I asked OAI CTO Mira Murati if the Scarlett Johansson voice was intentional, she said that wasn’t the case at all. One week later, ScarJo is coming for OAI with the receipts… [image] Kat Tenbarge / @kattenbarge: Re: Scarlett Johansson and AI, she has been one of the celebrities at the forefront of the nonconsensual deepfakes issue for longer than most people knew they existed. She spoke out about the legal impossibilites of fighting them back in 2018 https://www.washingtonpost.com/ … Max Woolf / @minimaxir: One interesting legal caveat is that the Sky voice isn’t “ScarJo”, it’s ScarJo as acted in the movie Her. An issue with VAs having their voice stolen by AI models is that they have no legal standing because their performance is owned by their client, and therefore no ownership. Alexei Oreskovic / @lexnfx: Skygate thoughts: 1. Shady as it is, not actually misuse of digital likeness. Just old fashioned subterfuge 2. This is a big, perhaps irrecoverable, blow to Altman’s credibility (if it’s true) 3. Calls into question gov penchant for having industry leaders on AI policy panels Zeynep Arsel / Zeynep Arsel on LinkedIn: When your whole business plan is built on the idea of stealing intellectual property to sell composites of it to those who want to plagiarize … Michael Gartenberg / @gartenberg: So basically, when Altman said Sky wasn’t modeled on Scarlett Johansson he was totally lying Dair / @DAIR@dair-community.social: “When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference…Mr. Altman even insinuated that the similarity was intentional … David Deal / David Deal on LinkedIn: Don’t mess with Scarlett Johansson. Disney learned that lesson painfully in 2021 when she filed a breach of contract lawsuit over her compensation for “Black Widow.” … Elon Musk / @elonmusk: @cb_doge Dick move Thomas Maxwell / @tomaxwell: The creepiness of clearly imitating ScarJo’s voice, after she met with OpenAI and said no thanks, combined with how it felt sort of flirty in the demo videos, is kind of what bothers me more than the IP stuff. But also reminds me of the old FB days when it was releasing Nick Visser / HuffPost: Scarlett Johansson ‘Shocked, Angered’ After OpenAI Bot Has Voice Eerily Like Hers Meredith Whittaker / @mer__edith: The edge lord disrespect, unprofessionalism, strategic blundering typical of actual decision making in the AI industry speaks infinitely louder than all the voluntary safety pledges ever could. In fact, those pledges serve mainly to highlight how far the walk is from the talk. Brian Merchant / @bcmerchant: “Open” AI is now a company that: -keeps all of its training data and key operations secret -forced employees to sign powerful NDAs or forfeit equity -won’t say whether it trained its video generator on YouTube -lies to movie stars then lies about the lies “Open.” What a farce. Florian Niggemeier / Florian Niggemeier on LinkedIn: Welcome to the latest episode of the shitty soap opera that is “Artificial Intelligence”. “Oh, Scarlett doesn’t want to sell her voice for propaganda purposes? … Will Oremus / @willoremus: This seems pretty brazen until you remember that it’s the official stance of OpenAI and other tech giants that they have the right to scrape pretty much anyone’s published work at any time without permission in order to train their models to imitate it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ … Mark Gurman / @markgurman: Three weeks until WWDC Max Woolf / @minimaxir: ScarJo may not have standing, depending on the contract (I suspect hers is much different than typical VA). It might have to be Annapurna Pictures that sues OpenAI instead. Kate Devlin / @drkatedevlin: If OpenAI wanted to “bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives” they could start by fairly compensating people whose work was stolen to feed the machine. Shirin Ghaffary / @shiringhaffary: Scarlett Johansson claiming that Sam Altman reached out to her prior to 4o’s release, wanted to use her voice, and when she declined, went ahead with it anyway. Not a good look for OpenAI as it’s trying to make partnerships w/ Hollywood industry Gary Marcus / @garymarcus: The OpenAI board was right. Even on little things, Sam is not consistently candid. Earlier today OpenAI said the resemblance to ScarJo was a “coincidence”. It was not: Matt Schimkowitz / The A.V. Club: Scarlett Johansson shuts down OpenAI’s cursed Her remake Alex Konrad / @alexrkonrad: Contacting ScarJo twice for permission to use her voice, not getting it and doing it anyway, then swiftly taking it down… not a good look for OpenAI if true 🤨 Julia Alexander / @loudmouthjulia: Concerning thing is upon being told no, OpenAI weighed the potential consequence of a prolific artist speaking out against the potential benefit of showing off a piece of technology fetching tens of billions in valuation, knowing where its backers would stand, and went “we win.” Eriq Gardner / @eriqgardner: Scarlett Johansson vs. OpenAI is a blockbuster legal case in the making… and couldn’t come at a better time for SAG-AFTRA as it pushes for passage of No AI FRAUD Act Liza Adams / Liza Adams on LinkedIn: It seems like AI companies are in the “ask for forgiveness” rather than “ask for permission” mode. With OpenAI and the “Sky” voice … Bernie Zilio / Page Six: ‘Angered’ Scarlett Johansson declined offer from OpenAI before company used voice ‘eerily similar’ to hers Simon Sharwood / The Register: ScarJo voices anger at OpenAI’s unauthorized soundalike Charlie Warzel / @cwarzel: just a microcosm of the extractive ai training dynamic. ‘we are building a thing that will bring us fame and fortune and maybe change the world (do you want that? well, it’s not up to you) and here’s the catch: it’s trained off your human output. you have two options. partner Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life: This is nuts. Sam Altman asked Scarlett Johansson to voice ChatGPT 4o and when she refused, OpenAI hired someone else to mimic her voice from “Her” only to take it down after she complained. Wow. 🤯 [image] Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz: Nuts. Pretty sensitive situation for actors when tech takes their talents, doesn’t pay, and makes it available at scale. Shubham Sharma / VentureBeat: ‘Not an imitation’: OpenAI pauses ChatGPT voice that sounded like Scarlett Johansson Paul Roetzer / Paul Roetzer on LinkedIn: Last Monday, when OpenAI debuted its new voice model that was expressive, fast, and maybe a bit too flirty, people were impressed. … Erika Hall / Erika Hall on LinkedIn: So gross in so many ways. — “The new voice assistant will be publicly available in the coming weeks. … Casey Newton / @crumbler@threads.net: This is really looking like one for the “never tweet” hall of fame Josh Billinson / @jbillinson@threads.net: Really inspires a lot of confidence that this company has such poor judgement on something as low stakes as what the voice assistant will sound like. Probably no cause for alarm on their judgement in any other areas. Casey Newton / @crumbler@threads.net: It’s insane that OpenAI trotted out poor Joanne Jang to pretend that this was all just a big misunderstanding today when Altman had been negotiating to get ScarJo’s voice the whole time https://www.theverge.com/… @eshumarneedi@threads.net: Sam Altman’s “Her” tweet was absolutely ridiculous and he should’ve never sent it. This kind of unserious nonsense is only going to get the company in trouble. Jane Manchun Wong / @wongmjane@threads.net: So it seemed like @sama’s “her” tweet voided the plausible deniability and gave ScarJo the ammo to pursue the C&D Adam Cook / @motorcityadam@threads.net: Not that I think Apple is some bastion of ethics, but in my view, Apple would do well to cut loose of their recently-disclosed partnership with OpenAI. What Sam and OpenAI management did here flies in the face of Apple’s brand image if Apple wants to view it that way. And of course, the whole thing is just gross. … Kevin Roose / @kevinroose@threads.net: For a company that is usually so careful about PR, it’s wild that OpenAI didn’t anticipate that picking a fight with one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood (with a history of litigation!) would backfire. What did they think would happen? Benjamin Mayo / @bzamayo@threads.net: openai is going for the lawsuit speedrun challenge Sung Kim / @sung.kim.mw@threads.net: I am confused why Sam Altman would do this since Scarlett Johansson has a history of suing companies. She sued Disney for not guaranteeing an exclusive theatrical window for her movie during the pandemic. She was the ONLY actor who sued. Trevor Croker / @trevorcroker@threads.net: Now we know why Sam needed that $7T Casey Newton / @crumbler@threads.net: (reading Johansson statement on OpenAI) now that’s what I call a Scarlett letter!!!!!!! Mike / @mikehos3@threads.net: Sam Altman is the kind of coworker that takes your lunch from the office fridge that you have clearly labeled with your name. Makena Kelly / @makenakellyx@threads.net: the sheer confidence in seemingly moving ahead on all of this says a lot about openai and how it thinks about creatives, journalists, and basically anyone posting online Sarah Emerson / @loveallthis@threads.net: It is baffling — BAFFLING — that Sam Altman would go ahead with using Scarlett Johansson’s voice without permission, knowing he’ll alienate most of Hollywood. Tomás Mier / Rolling Stone: Scarlett Johansson ‘Shocked, Angered’ After ChatGPT Used Voice ‘Eerily Similar’ to Her Own Ananya Gairola / Benzinga: Scarlett Johansson ‘Forced To Hire’ Lawyer Over AI Voice Mimicry By Sam Altman-Led OpenAI: ‘I Was Shocked, Angered And In Disbelief’ Rob Beschizza / Boing Boing: Scarlett Johansson denied OpenAI the right to use her voice. They used it anyway. Lindsay Weinberg / E! Online: Scarlett Johansson Slams OpenAI for Using “Eerily Similar” Voice on ChatGPT’s Sky System Keith Kurson / @keith@cute.is: https://www.npr.org/… OpenAI is a company built on stealing things from other people. I’m not surprised by this, but they’re about to finally meet someone with a team of lawyers that made Disney pay up. Mike Elgan / @MikeElgan@mastodon.social: Scarlett Johansson got Sherlocked by OpenAI. They tried to hire her to voice GPT-4o. When she turned them down, they copied her voice and denied they copied it. Now they’re removing the fake ScarJo voice. This is the company inventing the future? — https://www.nbcnews.com/… [image] Rachel Metz / Bloomberg: Scarlett Johansson Hired Lawyers to Push Back on ‘Eerily Similar’ OpenAI Voice Dan Gillmor / @dangillmor@mastodon.social: …and, still aboard the Big Tech sleazeball express: “Open”AI used Scarlett Johansson’s voice even after being told not to do that. https://www.npr.org/… @kagan@wandering.shop: It’s really telling that after Scarlett Johansson’s lawyers asked OpenAI to detail how they created their new assistant’s voice, they didn’t answer in the form of, “Here’s how we did it, see, it doesn’t use Scarlett’s voice.” Instead, they just took it down. … Todd Spangler / Variety: Scarlett Johansson Says She Was ‘Shocked’ and ‘Angered’ Over OpenAI’s Use of a Voice That Was ‘Eerily Similar to Mine’ Andy Meek / BGR: Scarlett Johansson issues blistering statement against OpenAI and Sam Altman over ‘Sky’ Sharon Knolle / The Wrap: Scarlett Johansson Says She Declined ChatGPT’s Proposal to Use Her Voice for AI — But They Used It Anyway: ‘I Was Shocked’ Emilia David / The Verge: OpenAI is ‘in conversations’ with Scarlett Johansson over the ChatGPT voice that sounds just like her Theresa Braine / New York Daily News: Scarlett Johansson lashes out at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for using voice ‘eerily similar’ to hers in ChatGPT Nick Robins-Early / The Guardian: ChatGPT suspends Scarlett Johansson-like voice as actor speaks out against OpenAI Wendy Lee / Los Angeles Times: Scarlett Johansson also thinks OpenAI’s new voice sounds like her. She’s not happy about it Ariel Zilber / New York Post: OpenAI to pull ChatGPT voice that sounds like Scarlett Johansson character in film ‘Her’ Robert Hart / Forbes: OpenAI Says Its Pulling ChatGPT Voice ‘Sky’ That Sounds Like Scarlett Johansson Nick Caruso / TVLine: Scarlett Johansson Says She Was ‘Shocked, Angered and in Disbelief’ After Hearing ChatGPT Voice That Sounds Like Her — Read Statement Deadline: Scarlett Johansson Had To Threaten OpenAI With Legal Action To Get Soundalike Voice Taken Down, Wants “Appropriate Legislation” To Stop Such Deepfakes — Update Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter: OpenAI to Pull ChatGPT Voice That Sounds Similar to Scarlett Johansson Bloomberg: Sources: Apple files a lawsuit at the EU’s General Court to challenge a March 2024 decision to impose a €1.8B fine for thwarting competition in music streaming— — Company files suit at EU’s General Court to topple penalty — Fine was sparked by long-running dispute with top music rival Discussion: The Verge, AppleInsider, MacRumors and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme » Discussion: Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: Apple is challenging its $2 billion EU antitrust fine. William Gallagher / AppleInsider: Apple takes EU to court over $2 billion Apple Music fine Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac: Apple fights $2B antitrust fine over Spotify complaint, challenging EU in court Variety: Comcast says StreamSaver, a bundle of Peacock, Netflix, and Apple TV+, will be available starting next week to Comcast TV or broadband customers at $15/month— Comcast, as its legacy cable TV business continues to shrink, has built a new cable-style bundle for the streaming era. Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Adweek, Reuters, The Hill, IndieWire, The Streamable, The Wrap, Axios, The Verge, @tvgrimreaper, 9to5Mac, WORLD SCREEN, Cord Cutters News, Next TV and Bloomberg Discussion: Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter: Comcast Reveals Pricing Details for Its Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV+ Bundle Dade Hayes / Deadline: Comcast Sets Price Of StreamSaver Bundle Harshita Mary Varghese / Reuters: Comcast prices Peacock, Netflix, Apple TV+ streaming bundle at $15 a month Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill: Comcast releases pricing on ‘StreamSaver’ bundle Matt Tamanini / The Streamable: Comcast to Offer First-Ever Netflix, Apple TV+, Peacock Bundle for Just $15 @tvgrimreaper: $15/mo vs $25 if purchased separately. Ads versions of Netflix & Peacock only. Available to Comcast customers only. Given that many Comcast customers get Peacock “free”, the discount from $18 retail for the other 2 is comically trivial for them. Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac: Netflix, Apple TV+ and Peacock bundle priced at $15/mo for Comcast Xfinity customers Mansha Daswani / WORLD SCREEN: Comcast Unveils Peacock, Netflix, Apple TV+ Bundle Luke Bouma / Cord Cutters News: Peacock, Netflix, & Apple TV+ Will Soon Cost Just $15 a Month or $100 a Year to Comcast Customers Daniel Frankel / Next TV: Comcast Prices StreamSaver Bundle at $15 a Month Molly Schuetz / Bloomberg: Comcast Sets $15 Monthly Tab for Netflix, Apple, Peacock Bundle CNN: Vox launches a subscription program for $5 per month or $50 per year that gives access to exclusive content, including newsletters and a digital magazine— Vox is preparing to celebrate its 10th birthday — making a major change to its business model that reflects how digital news publishers … Discussion: Vox, @rebexxxxa, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, @trengriffin and @jason Discussion: Swati Sharma / Vox: Introducing Vox’s next chapter Rebecca Jennings / @rebexxxxa: huge news Vox relaunched the website which means my beautiful words will now finally be in SERIF FONT 😍💕🥰 https://www.vox.com/… [image] Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy@threads.net: Vox is preparing to celebrate its 10th birthday — making a major change to its business model that reflects how digital news publishers are scrambling to evolve as they are increasingly starved of referral traffic and advertising revenue. Details in @cnnreliablesources: https://cnn.it/4bNbDm6 Tren Griffin / @trengriffin: @Jason That subscriptions are an easy revenue model is a triumph of hope over experience. Customer acquisition cost and churn are stone cold business killers. The Hollywood Reporter: Pixar lays off ~175 employees, or around 14% of its workforce, the biggest restructuring in Pixar’s history, and plans to stop making original shows for Disney+— Roughly 14 percent of the workforce is cut as part of Disney’s company-wide cost-cutting measures. The move is the biggest restructuring in Pixar’s history. Discussion: Variety, New York Times, Reuters, The Wrap, Deadline, ComingSoon.net, Bloomberg and @lucas_shaw Discussion: Rebecca Rubin / Variety: Pixar Hit With Layoffs as 175 Staffers Cut Dawn Chmielewski / Reuters: Pixar Animation to lay off about 14% of workforce Thomas Buckley / Bloomberg: Pixar Cuts 170 Jobs as Part of Disney CEO’s Cost-Reduction Efforts Variety: London’s High Court rejects Prince Harry’s bid to include claims against Rupert Murdoch and Piers Morgan in his phone hacking suit against News Group Newspapers— Harry — along with more than 40 other plaintiffs — is suing Murdoch’s U.K. newspaper business News Group Newspapers over claims … Discussion: Alexandra Topping / The Guardian: Prince Harry fails in bid to name Rupert Murdoch in phone-hacking case David Gilmour / Mediaite: Judge Blocks Prince Harry’s Claims Against ‘Trophy Targets’ Rupert Murdoch, Piers Morgan in Hacking Case Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette: Harry barred from adding claims against Rupert Murdoch to unlawful reporting trial Jon Blistein / Rolling Stone: Prince Harry Can’t Add Rupert Murdoch, Princess Diana, Meghan Markle Claims to Tabloid Snooping Suit Svar Nanan-Sen / GB News: Prince Harry is determined to fight on regardless of the financial burden — analysis by Cameron Walker Lily Ford / The Hollywood Reporter: Prince Harry Cannot Take Claims Against Murdoch, Involving Meghan Markle, to Trial, Judge Rules Rowena / @justrowena: Interesting that the Judge seems to have picked up here the same issue that so incensed Hugh Grant. That the trial is not an inquiry, nor a mechanism for press coverage on your issue. He’s got deeper pockets even than Grant, but he may be equally frustrated by the outcomes Sky News: Prince Harry cannot expand case against Sun’s publisher to include claims about Meghan, High Court rules Holly Evans / The Independent: Prince Harry suffers legal setback against Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun newspaper over hacking claims Emily Ferguson / Daily Express: Prince Harry dealt major blow in his court case against publisher of The Sun Victoria Ward / Telegraph: Prince Harry loses bid to include Rupert Murdoch in phone hacking claim against The Sun Richard Palmer / @royalreporter: Prince Harry and others cannot widen claims of unlawful news gathering at News Group Newspapers to bring in claims against Rupert Murdoch, Mr Justice Fancourt has ruled at the High Court in London. The judge said trying to include the media magnate amounted to a new case. Michael Holden / Reuters: Prince Harry cannot take allegations against Rupert Murdoch to trial, court rules Richard Palmer / @royalreporter: Lawyers for Harry and others asked the court in March to update their case, arguing Mr Murdoch knew of unlawful activity as early as 2004 but turned a blind eye. NGN has denied the claims, describing them as scurrilous and cynical. Dorothy Reddin / GB News: Prince Harry suffers fresh blow in bitter legal battle Telegraph: ITV starts offering voluntary buyouts as it aims to save £50M/year amid an ad slump and a slowdown in sales of its shows; sources: ITV expects to cut ~200 jobs— Broadcaster’s restructuring programme aims to save £50m a year, says Carolyn McCall Discussion: Max Goldbart / Deadline: ITV Set To Make Dozens Of Layoffs The Verge: Microsoft debuts a new AI feature for Edge to translate spoken content via dubbing and subtitles live, on YouTube, news sites like Reuters, LinkedIn, and more— Microsoft Edge will soon offer real-time video translation on sites like YouTube, LinkedIn, Coursera, and more. Axios: Sources: Google is warning nonprofit newsrooms that passage of a new California ad tax bill would threaten to pause Google News Initiative funding in US— — That statement was made in response to a bill, introduced by California Assembly member Buffy Wicks last year, that would essentially … Discussion: @matthewkeyslive, @jason_kint, @lorenasgonzalez and @stevenwaldman Discussion: Matthew Keys / @matthewkeyslive: I participated in the most-recent round of the Google News Initiative. I was never told this, nor were other participants. Jason Kint / @jason_kint: News flash. Google’s philanthropy exists to serve its market power. DOJ should investigate the allegations below as evidence of retaliation as trials and legislation seek to curb market power abuse. [image] Lorena Gonzalez / @lorenasgonzalez: @californialabor stands in solidarity with ⁦@newsguild⁩ calling on the full senate to pass SB1327 today. If passed, this bill will dramatically improve the capacity of local newsrooms to deliver news that preserves democracy and informs communities. https://newsguild.org/… Steven Waldman / @stevenwaldman: Thank you CA labor unions! SB1327 would be the most significant support for local news in American history — nonpartisan, 1A-friendly tax credit for newsrooms to hire/retain local reporters, paid for by a tax on Google, Meta and Amazon. Senate vote is today. Weigh in! New York Times: A US federal judge dismisses a sexual assault lawsuit against ex-Grammy Awards CEO Neil Portnow “without prejudice”; the plaintiff sued Portnow in November 2023— The plaintiff, who had filed her suit anonymously, told a judge that she feared the consequences if efforts to reveal … Discussion: Andy Malt / CMU: ⏩ One Liners: Zayn, Glastonbury, Neil Portnow + more Voice of America: A look at the work of Tasneem Raja, editor-in-chief of The Oaklandside and a co-founder of the Cityside Journalism Initiative in the San Francisco Bay area— The co-founder of a local reporting initiative in California is being recognized for her work mentoring young reporters and improving community news.