Reality TV is facing a slowdown as jobs become scarce, budgets get crunched, and executives take fewer risks, coming as a surprise to some industry insiders (The Hollywood Reporter)

Mediagazer: Reality TV is facing a slowdown as jobs become scarce, budgets get crunched, and executives take fewer risks, coming as a surprise to some industry insiders (The Hollywood Reporter)

Top News:

Axios:

The Atlantic and Vox Media sign multi-year licensing and product deals with OpenAI; The Atlantic plans an experimental Atlantic Labs with OpenAI tech— - The Atlantic has been publishing content since 1857. … - Both agreements also allow OpenAI to tap into the respective publishers' current content …
Discussion: Engadget, Vox Media, The Atlantic, @edmundlee, @tomwarren, @stephentotilo, @vox_union, @edmundlee, @vox_union, VentureBeat, @jeffjarvis, @nxthompson, @xpangler, @rafat, @emilybell, @openai, The Atlantic, @nkulw, @tsuvik, @pranavdixit, @attackerman.bsky.social, Bloomberg, @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social, The Verge, @quillmatiq@threads.net, @daveleebbg@threads.net, @kylie.robison@threads.net, @reckless1280@threads.net, @jbillinson@threads.net, The Information, Variety, The Wrap, The Drum, @dandock.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter, The Hill and @chrismvasq.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Nathan Ingraham /
Engadget: The Atlantic and Vox Media made their own deal with the AI Devil

Edmund Lee /
@edmundlee: .@theatlantic cut a deal with @openai, following other news orgs, but I have questions. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

Tom Warren /
@tomwarren: Vox Media just signed a deal with OpenAI that will include content from The Verge showing up in ChatGPT. OpenAI will “enhance its technology,” (sounds like train its models) on Vox Media's archives, too

Stephen Totilo /
@stephentotilo: The union for Polygon, The Verge and other publications has “serious concerns” about parent company's new deal to train Open AI on its work @vox_union: A statement from the Vox Media Union, @thrillistunion and @thedodounion on the partnership between Vox Media and OpenAI. [image]

Edmund Lee /
@edmundlee: What happens when they can't agree on renewal terms? Does OpenAI re-train its system to NOT include their news content? Is that even possible? Or do news orgs lose out because they're content becomes so baked into the LLM that OpenAI effectively owns it in perpetuity?

@vox_union:

A statement from the Vox Media Union, @thrillistunion and @thedodounion on the partnership between Vox Media and OpenAI. [image]

Carl Franzen /
VentureBeat: OpenAI is devouring the media industry @jeffjarvis: On the news today: The Atlantic and Vox got OpenAI deals. Add Springer, News Corp, AP, FT. May I be blunt? OpenAI isn't buying their content. It is buying their friendship. This is a lobbying and PR expense. The pity is that the rich (relatively speaking) get richer while the @nxthompson: I am delighted that @theatlantic now has a strategic content & product partnership with @openai. Our stories will be discoverable in their new products and we'll be working with them to figure out new ways that AI can help serious, independent media : https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...

Todd Spangler /
@xpangler: Vox Media's editorial unions, in a statement about the OpenAl deal, said “we have serious concerns about this partnership, which we believe could adversely impact members of our union” https://variety.com/...

Emily Bell /
@emilybell: Entering into a newsroom deal with OpenAI is materially different to say entering into the same with Google. Google does have a track record, known management, some level of accountability. OpenAI has nothing like this, and an emerging pattern of dishonesty

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

Noah Kulwin /
@nkulw: Lmfao the Atlantic executive who made this happen is leading the bake-off to replace Remnick at the New Yorker https://www.semafor.com/...

Vikas SN /
@tsuvik: Heh! Interesting timing. Atlantic-OpenAI deal announcement comes days after The Atlantic ran an op-ed from @Jessicalessin on why such licensing deals are bad for publishers

Spencer Ackerman /
@attackerman.bsky.social: Not 1 journalist who sold a story to a publication partnering with OpenAI consented to have their work used to train the engine of their obsolescence. This is a moment in journalism (and other industries, but this one is mine) when the unions we built over the last decade will have to fight hard. …

Jackie Davalos /
Bloomberg: OpenAI Strikes Licensing Deals With The Atlantic and Vox Media

Warner Crocker /
@WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social: Déjà vu. — Every time I read a headline that says another media company has signed an agreement with OpenAI why do my eyes turn it into “pivot to video?” — Exclusive: The Atlantic, Vox Media cut deals with OpenAI https://www.axios.com/... [image]

Emilia David /
The Verge: Vox Media and The Atlantic sign content deals with OpenAI

Anuj Ahooja /
@quillmatiq@threads.net: The saddest thing about this is that it'll be the smaller publishers that feel the deepest cut. News summarization will enforce further consolidation while also putting more distance between newsrooms and their audience. AI companies were going to vacuum up all this data anyway, but it's unfortunate that big media companies are giving up without a longer fight.

Dave Lee /
@daveleebbg@threads.net: Big question here. After training a model on the Atlantic's archive ... does OpenAI ever need to do it again?

Kylie Robison /
@kylie.robison@threads.net: if fortune does a licensing deal that means every word ive ever written in my career is powering chatGPT to make it worse

Nilay Patel /
@reckless1280@threads.net: I don't have a lot to say about this — our newsroom is independent of the company's business dealings as it's always been. We'll figure out some disclosure language and do a disclosure when it's appropriate, we are pretty good at those ;)

Josh Billinson /
@jbillinson@threads.net: Media companies actually have a lot of leverage to make sure their work is fairly compensated and supported in the next era of the web and all they have to do is work together and not just race to see who can get the biggest check from OpenAI first

Stephanie Palazzolo /
The Information: OpenAI Strikes Licensing, Product Deals with Vox Media, the Atlantic

Todd Spangler /
Variety: OpenAI Inks Licensing Deals to Bring Vox Media, The Atlantic Content to ChatGPT

Natalie Korach /
The Wrap: Vox Media, The Atlantic Ink Licensing Partnerships With OpenAI

Daniel Dockery /
@dandock.bsky.social: You could just have people write all of this stuff! There are a ton of them out there who would! I promise!

Daniel Dockery /
@dandock.bsky.social: I love knowing so many writers who either don't have jobs right now or are severely underpaid and then seeing this [image]

Caitlin Huston /
The Hollywood Reporter: Vox Media, The Atlantic Strike Deals With OpenAI

Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: Vox Media, The Atlantic ink deals with OpenAI

Christian Vasquez /
@chrismvasq.bsky.social: am convinced journo execs don't actually pay attention/read the stories their reporters publish. not sure what else explains falling for this again [embedded post]

RELATED:

WAN-IFRA:
WAN-IFRA and OpenAI partner to launch an accelerator program for 128 news publishers, aiming to help newsrooms fast-track their AI adoption and more

Discussion:

Dave Pell /
@davepell@threads.net: How will media cover ChatGPT when they all have deals with ChatGPT.

Alfred Hermida /
@hermida: The deals between news publishers and AI companies are a double-edged sword via @trtworld. https://www.trtworld.com/...

Damon Kiesow /
@dkiesow@threads.net: Trying to decide if journalism taking what amounts to lobbying money from tech platforms is smart opportunism or craven collaboration?

Nilay Patel /
@reckless1280@threads.net: There is a reason media companies have been lobbying like hell to pass the JCPA, which would allow them to bargain as a group without (hilariously) triggering antitrust scrutiny for collusion

CNBC:

Source: Nelson Peltz has sold his full Disney stake; in April, Peltz' Trian Partners lost a proxy battle after trying to elect Peltz and Jay Rasulo to the board— Activist investor Nelson Peltz has sold his entire stake in Disney, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Discussion:
Yahoo Finance, Gizmodo, Reuters, Deadline, Variety, New York Times and The Wrap

Discussion:

Alexandra Canal /
Yahoo Finance: Activist investor Nelson Peltz sells entire Disney stake after proxy battle loss

Sabina Graves /
Gizmodo: Disney No Longer Has to Worry About Billionaire Nelson Peltz Reuters: Billionaire Nelson Peltz rakes in $1B after selling entire Disney stake following board fight: report

Dade Hayes /
Deadline: Mission Accomplished? Despite Losing Proxy Fight, Billionaire Nelson Peltz Reportedly Sells Entire Disney Stake For $1B In Profit

Todd Spangler /
Variety: Nelson Peltz Reportedly Sold All of His Disney Stock, Earning $1 Billion, After Losing Proxy Fight

New York Times:

Researchers: an ex-Florida deputy sheriff who received asylum in Russia is behind a growing network of 160+ fake news sites mimicking US, UK, and French outlets— In 2016, Russia used an army of trolls to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. This year, an American given asylum …

Discussion:
Florida Politics, @davidcorndc, @ecgreaves, Sarah Brandt on LinkedIn, The Overspill, @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org, @spaceyg, @authorpmbarrett, @recordedfuture, Daniel Volker on LinkedIn, Recorded Future on LinkedIn, @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social, @briankrebs@infosec.exchange and NewsGuard, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:
Florida Politics: Last Call for 5.28.24 — A prime-time read of what's going down in Florida politics

David Corn /
@davidcorndc: Fascinating piece about a massive Russian disinformation campaign targeting the United States and run by an American who fled to Russia. By @stevenleemyers. https://www.nytimes.com/...

Dr. Ellen Greaves /
@ecgreaves: Once Sheriff's Deputy in Florida, Now a Source of Disinformation ~ In 2016, Russia used an army of trolls to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. This year, an American given asylum in Moscow may be accomplishing much the same thing all by himself https://www.nytimes.com/...

Sarah Brandt /
Sarah Brandt on LinkedIn: Florida deputy sheriff ➡ Russian disinformation impresario 🟰 quite the career pivot. — My colleague McKenzie Sadeghi just published …

Charlesarthur /
The Overspill: Start Up No.2233: Delhi temperature hits brutal high, your AI emailing “friend”, the sheriff of disinformation, and more @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org: NY Times: Once a Sheriff's Deputy in Florida, Now a Source of Disinformation From Russia https://www.nytimes.com/... #disinformation #ai #chatgpt #llms #AIpocalypse — [image] @spaceyg: “He [total batshitter] also appeared regularly on [Russian] state media, including with two former intelligence operatives, Maria Butina, who penetrated Republican political circles, and Anna Chapman, one of 10 spies who inspired [...] ‘The Americans.’” 🇷🇺https://www.nytimes.c om/ ...

Paul M. Barrett /
@authorpmbarrett: The @nytimes' @stevenleemyers has a stranger-than-fiction dispatch about a former sheriff's deputy in Florida who has turned up in Moscow spreading disinformation from Russia. A must-read: https://www.nytimes.com/... @recordedfuture: Reported today in @nytimes by @stevenleemyers, Former deputy sheriff John Mark Dougan has built a network of fake news sites using #AI tools. https://www.nytimes.com/...

Daniel Volker /
Daniel Volker on LinkedIn: Any of these publishers sound familiar? — “The New York News Daily” — “The Miami Chronicle” — “The Boston Times” … Recorded Future on LinkedIn: As featured in The New York Times, former sheriff's deputy John Mark Dougan has become a key player in Russia's disinformation operations …

Warner Crocker /
@WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social: Unreal but all too real. The guy defects to Russia to escape charges and continue his muck raking. — Once a Sheriff's Deputy in Florida, Now a Source of Disinformation From Russia — #politics — https://www.nytimes.com/... [image]

BrianKrebs /
@briankrebs@infosec.exchange: What a story: A former sheriff from Florida has received political asylum in Moscow, and is now a key player in Russia's disinformation operations against the West, the NYT reports. — “Working from an apartment crowded with servers and other computer equipment …

The Hollywood Reporter:

Reality TV is facing a slowdown as jobs become scarce, budgets get crunched, and executives take fewer risks, coming as a surprise to some industry insiders— Development and production have been sluggish since the strikes, leaving desperate workers in the lurch: “All of a sudden the faucet just turned off.”

Next TV:

A survey of 2,008 US adults who identified themselves as “sports viewers”: 42% are likely to subscribe to Venu Sports, assuming a price point of $35-$40/month— Are legions of youthful consumers ready to sign up for the sports streaming joint venture, regardless of what its price ends up being?

Discussion:
Horowitz Research, The Desk, The Streamable and Media Play News

Discussion:
Horowitz Research: New ESPN Live Streaming Bundle May Impact MVPD and vMVPD Subscriptions, New Horowitz Study Reveals

David Satin /
The Streamable: Young Viewers Expected to Flock to Venu Sports in What Could Be Sports Broadcasting Tipping Point?

Poynter:

Q&A with Kira Lerner, democracy editor at the Guardian US, on trying to avoid stories that play on people's fears, focusing on service journalism, and more— As the 2024 presidential election approaches, Poynter spoke with The Guardian US's democracy editor about the beat

Discussion:
Poynter Institute on LinkedIn and @kira_lerner

Discussion:
Poynter Institute on LinkedIn: As the U.S. heads into its first presidential election since national newsrooms rolled out democracy beats, what does that coverage look like now? …

Rebuild Local News:

Illinois legislators included in their budget new tax credits for newsrooms that hire or retain local reporters, allocating $25M over five years, and more— The State Legislature's budget provisions support local news through employment tax credits, a 120-day delay on selling local newspapers …

Discussion:

Steven Waldman /
@stevenwaldman: Finally, this includes a scholarship for journalists who go to Illinois schools and work in Illinois newsrooms. Another first. All 3 ideas are 1A friendly; no gov't board choosing winners & losers. Comes on the heels of the NY breakthrough (also employment credit) @rebuild_news: We applaud Illinois for its landmark legislation supporting local news with an employment tax credit for current reporters and new hires. The state is committing $25 million over 5 years to for-profit and nonprofit newsrooms! Learn more: https://www.rebuildlocalnews.org/ ...

Alexa Jurado /
@alexajurado6: home state W

Steven Waldman /
@stevenwaldman: And a separate bill (also awaiting gov signature) requires a newspaper to provide workers and community 120-day notice before selling to an out-of-state company, to give communities time to organize a bid to keep local news in local hands. First ever “replanting” provision in law

Steven Waldman /
@stevenwaldman: Another big win for local news! Illinois approves providing newsrooms up to $15,000 per current local reporter & $25,000 per new hire via tax credits. For-profits, nonprofits, print, digital, b'cast. $25 million total over 5 years. https://www.rebuildlocalnews.org/ ... [image]

John O'Connor /
Associated Press: Illinois General Assembly OKs $53.1B state budget, but it takes all night

Deadline:

Sources: writers at iHeart's 100-member podcast unit prepare to strike if a contract deal isn't reached by the end of May; they unionized 2+ years ago— EXCLUSIVE: More than two years after unionizing through the WGA East, the writers at iHeartPodcasts still don't have their first deal with the network.

Discussion:
@iheartpodunion and

New York Times:

A look at the future of TNT's Inside the NBA, which started in 1989 and hired Charles Barkley in 2000, after WBD did not secure NBA rights beyond next season— Next season could be the last for TNT's influential and beloved studio show, and Charles Barkley, for one, will not be going quietly.

Discussion:
@taniaganguli, Awful Announcing, New York Post, Ian Rapoport on LinkedIn, Barrett Media, USA Today, Fox News and The Hill

Discussion:

Tania Ganguli /
@taniaganguli: Charles Barkley will not stop talking about Inside the NBA's uncertain future, no matter who tries to stop him. Why? “It's people's lives,” he said. On the tension simmering as the beloved show awaits word on what happens next. https://www.nytimes.com/...

Erich Richter /
New York Post: Ernie Johnson scolds reporter, Kenny Smith argues with Charles Barkley in behind-the-scenes drama at TNT

Ian Rapoport /
Ian Rapoport on LinkedIn: A great piece by Tania Ganguli of The New York Times on “Inside the NBA,” one of T.V.'s best pre-game shows. — “It's people's lives. Not my life. …

Blake Schuster /
USA Today: A New York Times reporter got shut down by every member of Inside The NBA (except Charles Barkley) Fox News: Charles Barkley won't let corporate honchos silence him over NBA rights deal: ‘I can talk to who I want to’

Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: Charles Barkley on speaking to press: ‘I can talk to who I want’

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Netflix is developing new music-competition shows similar to The Voice, to expand the breadth of its programming with brand-safe, family-friendly TV— Netflix is ready to jam. The streaming giant is developing new music-competition shows in the image of long-running broadcast hits like …

Discussion:
@asharma, @jtoonkel and @theonlyjdb.bsky.social

Discussion:

Amol Sharma /
@asharma: Band rehearsals are stressful enough already — and now you want to add another hurdle? You can't even look at the drummer when you tell him he's speeding up??

Jessica Toonkel /
@jtoonkel: SCOOP: Netflix is developing new music-competition shows including one where bandmembers don't see each other until their live performance $NFLX https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ

Bloomberg:

Apple is seeking a senior engineer to help build a TV and sports app for Android, a sign the company is bringing its TV+ service to the rival platform— - Company is seeking Android engineer to help build new app — It's rare for Apple to develop software for rival platform

Discussion:
9to5Google, @anni_sen, The Information, Digital Trends, BGR, AppleInsider, The Verge and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Anni /
@anni_sen: $AAPL Apple TV on Android is a smart play. Beyond subscriptions this opens up ad revenue and viewership data on the worlds largest mobile OS.

Cory Weinberg /
The Information: What CoreWeave's IPO Plans Say About IPO Market

Sandy Writtenhouse /
Digital Trends: The best antivirus tools for Android

Jacob Siegal /
BGR: Apple is finally looking to bring its Apple TV app to Android

Wesley Hilliard /
AppleInsider: Job listing suggests Apple is moving forward with plans for Apple TV on Android

Benjamin Mayo /
9to5Mac: Report: Apple working on bringing Apple TV app to Android phones

Bloomberg:

Sources: Sony is working with another investor to buy Queen's music catalog, including merchandising and other businesses, in a deal potentially worth ~$1B— - The talks are ongoing and may not result in a deal for songs — Sony Music in talks with another investor about the purchase

Discussion:

Lucas Shaw /
@lucas_shaw: Sony is in talks to buy most of Queen's catalog in a deal that could be worth as much as $1 billion. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

Dylan Smith /
Digital Music News: Queen's Catalog Might Sell After All — Sony Music Reportedly in Talks for $1 Billion Deal

Chris Eggertsen /
Billboard: Sony in Talks to Acquire Queen's Music Catalog

Lucas Shaw /
Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn: The impact of a hit movie: — Queen's catalog (and merch/licensing rights) could fetch up to $1 billion. Sony Music is in talks to buy the rights, though a deal is far from done. …

Alexandra Steigrad /