The WNBA's deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon, which is reportedly worth ~$200M/season, includes more national telecasts and an increased global reach (Rick Porter/The Hollywood Reporter)

Mediagazer: The WNBA's deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon, which is reportedly worth ~$200M/season, includes more national telecasts and an increased global reach (Rick Porter/The Hollywood Reporter)

Top News:

Bloomberg:

Together, the NBA's deals with Disney's ESPN and Comcast's NBC are expected to generate $76B over 11 years, with Amazon paying about $1.8B annually— The National Basketball Association announced new long-term TV contract with Amazon.com Inc., spurning a last minute effort by Warner Bros. Discovery Inc …
Discussion:

Alex Weprin /
The Hollywood Reporter: NBA Officially Reveals Long-Term TV Deals With Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon

Matt Tamanini /
The Streamable: NBA Rejects WBD's Matching Rights Claim, Confirms Deals With Amazon, Comcast, and Disney

Brian Steinberg /
Variety: Warner Bros. Discovery Says NBA Can't Reject Matching Offer: ‘We Will Take Appropriate Action’

Matthew Keys /
The Desk: NBA announces 11-year TV deal with NBC, Prime Video, ESPN

Ryan Glasspiegel /
New York Post: NBA rejects TNT's attempt to match Amazon rights deal with potential lawsuit looming

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: NBA Rejects Warner Bros. Discovery's Proposal to Match Amazon's $1.8 Billion Bid

Tania Ganguli /
New York Times: N.B.A. Announces Lucrative Rights Deals With Disney, Comcast and Amazon New York Times: NBA announces $77 billion deals with ESPN, NBC and Amazon; TNT Sports threatens to sue, per sources Associated Press: NBA enters deal with Amazon—rejecting a bid from longtime partner Warner Bros. Discovery

Anthony Crupi /
Sportico: NBA Rejects WBD's Attempt to Match Amazon Bid

Sahil Patel /
The Information: NBA Announces $77 Billion TV and Streaming Deals with Amazon, Disney and NBCU

Mike D. Sykes /
USA Today: 3 big questions about the future of NBA on TNT after the league officially announces Amazon deal

Ben Strauss /
Washington Post: What to know about the NBA and WNBA's massive new TV and streaming deal @wnba: It just keeps gettin' better 🤩 We have officially secured a landmark media rights deal with the Walt Disney Company, Amazon Prime Video, and NBCUniversal! https://www.wnba.com/... @nbapr: The NBA today announced the renewal of its partnership with The Walt Disney Company and new agreements with NBCUniversal (NBCU) and Amazon under which ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Prime Video will telecast NBA games beginning with the 2025-26 season and running through the 2035-36

Brian Steinberg /
TVNewsCheck: Comcast Says NBC Has 11-Year Deal In Place With NBA

Wayne Friedman /
MediaPost: Warner Bros. Discovery Matches Amazon's NBA Deal: Sources

Dade Hayes /
Deadline: Comcast President Mike Cavanagh says NBCUniversal expects an 11-year rights deal with the NBA, starting with the 2025-26 season, will be announced “soon”

RELATED:

The Hollywood Reporter:

The NBA declines WBD's effort to join the set of rights packages built for Amazon, Disney, and NBCUniversal, saying WBD's proposal did not match Amazon's offer— The company had proposed to match Amazon's $1.8 billion per year bid for NBA games. … “Warner Bros. Discovery's most recent proposal …

Discussion:
Variety, Awful Announcing, CNN, TVLine, TMZ.com, About Amazon, The Information, Los Angeles Times, @ourand_puck, Deadline, @edludlow, @ajassy, @jimmytraina, @ourand_puck, Sports Media Watch

Discussion:

Brian Steinberg /
Variety: NBA Rejects Warner's Bid to Match Amazon Package

Sean Keeley /
Awful Announcing: NBA rejects Warner Bros. Discovery's matching bid, officially announces deals with Amazon, Disney/ESPN, NBCU

Liam Reilly /
CNN: NBA rejects Warner Bros. Discovery's matching offer to retain games, setting up potential legal showdown

Dave Nemetz /
TVLine: NBA Signs New TV Rights Deal With NBC, Disney and Amazon, Ending Decades-Long TNT Partnership

Stephen Battaglio /
Los Angeles Times: NBA rejects Warner Bros. Discovery offer, completing media rights deal with Amazon

John Ourand /
@ourand_puck: TNT statement..."We think [the NBA has} grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action."

John Ourand /
@ourand_puck: TNT's full statement: “We have matched the Amazon offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it. In doing so, they are rejecting the many fans who continue to show their unwavering support for our best-in-class coverage, delivered through Deadline: NBA Rejects Warner Bros Discovery Bid For Amazon; WNBA Renews Disney, Prime Video Deals & Links Up With NBCU - Update

Ed Ludlow /
@edludlow: Jassy on NBA Deal. 11 year deal through 2035/36. Amazon paying ~$1.8B annually

Andy Jassy /
@ajassy: Couldn't be more excited about the long-term agreement we just signed with the NBA. Starting in the 2025-26 season, Prime members will be able to stream an exciting slate of regular season games, the NBA Cup in-season tournament, the entire postseason play-in tournament, first [image]

Jimmy Traina /
@jimmytraina: The most surreal aspect of the NBA rejecting WBD's offer for Amazon is that TNT will still air the NBA next season. A lame-duck Charles Barkley with a live microphone on a regular basis is gonna be something else.

John Ourand /
@ourand_puck: NBA: “Warner Bros. Discovery's most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video's offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon.”

John Ourand /
@ourand_puck: More NBA: “Our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games...Our new arrangement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCU arrangements.”

The Hollywood Reporter:

The WNBA's deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon, which is reportedly worth ~$200M/season, includes more national telecasts and an increased global reach— The three companies, which also will carry the men's NBA, will offer more national telecasts and an increased global reach for the league.

Discussion:
The Official Home of the WNBA and Cord Cutters News

404 Media:

Reddit appears to be blocking search engines that don't rely on Google's indexing; Bing, DuckDuckGo, and others are not showing recent results from Reddit— DuckDuckGo, Bing, Mojeek, and other search engines are not returning full Reddit results any more.

Discussion:
9to5Google, The Verge, Digital Trends, WebProNews, Engadget, The Verge, @thetymonbay, @pranesh, Sherwood News, @emanuelmaiberg, @aetataureate@gamedev.lgbt, @megangra, @josephfcox, @vxunderground, @chronotope, @danielahanley, @hbkirb, @ryanorban, @orizilbershtein and Hacker News, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Luke Larsen /
Digital Trends: Google just gained exclusive access to Reddit

Will Shanklin /
Engadget: AI search engines that don't pay up can't index Reddit content

Emma Roth /
The Verge: Reddit is now blocking major search engines and AI bots — except the ones that pay

Tushar Mehta /
@thetymonbay: We know Reddit's owners are crap. But this is Google just sitting on top of yet another anti-competition lawsuit. Great reporting as always by @404mediaco https://www.404media.co/...

Pranesh Prakash /
@pranesh: I had predicted this last year itself. It's foolish to think you can have exclusive licensing of content for “AI” without that harming #competition (and #FOSS) and encouraging oligopolies. That's the very purpose of exclusivity!

Rani Molla /
Sherwood News: Google spent a mere $60 million to build the most important moat in search right now

Emanuel Maiberg /
@emanuelmaiberg: AI is causing the internet the lock down. Reddit is blocking all search engines from crawling the site, except Google, which is paying Reddit $60 million a year to scrape it for training data https://www.404media.co/...

Berserk Du Soleil /
@aetataureate@gamedev.lgbt: wow — this is wild. reddit has deindexed itself from all search engines but google, in an effort to both stop AI scraping and force search engines to pay — https://www.404media.co/...

Megan Gray /
@megangra: Surprised that this hasn't generated anticompetitive complaints Google's Exclusive Reddit Access Google (is now the only search engine that can surface results from Reddit (well also Kagi) https://www.404media.co/...

Joseph Cox /
@josephfcox: New from 404 Media: Google is now the only search engine that works on Reddit thanks to its AI deal. Try to search for Reddit results with Bing, DuckDuckGo, or a bunch of others you won't get full results. Further monopoly on valuable information https://www.404media.co/... @vxunderground: .@404mediaco is reporting Reddit is blocking ALL search engine crawls EXCEPT Google - which is currently paying $60,000,000/year for the right to scrape Reddit for AI training data. More information: https://www.404media.co/...

Aram Zucker-Scharff /
@chronotope: This is shitty and monopolistic of Google. In a way tho it is extremely exciting because it means that Google feels threatened in the one area it seemed to have a full lock on dominance. Alternative Search engines have become popular enough to cause Google to freak out like this.

Daniel Hanley /
@danielahanley: Exclusive deals like this one should be banned. Google could have paid Reddit for access, and Reddit could have offered those same terms to others. But Google is using a similar trick it has used with Apple: the company uses its financial firepower to knee cap its rivals.

Adam Demasi /
@hbkirb: This is shitty on Reddit's part. It makes complete sense now why they've been blocking my server. All Reddit links on The Apple Wiki have an archive. org link next to it, because every link seems “dead”. In fact, Reddit is blocking my server from confirming it's “up”.

Ryan Orban /
@ryanorban: I use DuckDuckGo and like many will add ‘Reddit’ to the end of a query if I'm looking for real product reviews, comparisons, etc. That stopped working a few weeks ago and now I know why!

Ori Zilbershtein /
@orizilbershtein: Timeline: - Google boosts Reddit in search by over 400% - Google announces a 60M deal with Reddit right after - Reddit announces it seeks to go public 48-72 hours after - Reddit blocks all scraping for competition search engines shortly after 👏Anti 👏Competitive👏Behavior

Bloomberg:

Informa agrees to buy Ascential, the owner of the Cannes Lions and Money20/20 conferences, for ~£1.2B in cash, or £5.68/share, a 53% premium on Monday's close— Informa Plc has agreed to buy Ascential Plc, the owner of the Money20/20 and Cannes Lions conferences …

Discussion:
Reuters, MediaPost, Nagib A. on LinkedIn, City A.M., PRWeek, Press Gazette, MediaPost, Financial Times and Reuters

Discussion:

Paul Sandle /
Reuters: Informa to buy Cannes Lions owner Ascential for $1.6 bln

Joe Mandese /
MediaPost: Cannes Lions Operator Ascential Weighing $1.5B Bid

Nagib A. /
Nagib A. on LinkedIn: Congratulations to the Informa team on its £1.2 billion recommended public offer for Ascential plc, which includes the world class Cannes Lions event to add to its global B2B platform. …

Charlotte Tobitt /
Press Gazette: Informa to buy Cannes Lions owner Ascential as it reveals price of AI deals

Joe Mandese /
MediaPost: Ascential, Informa Agree To Pay Shareholders Cash Dividend On Hudson MX Sale

Raechel Thankam Job /
Reuters: UK's Ascential weighs $1.5 billion buyout offer from Informa

Variety:

A Prime Video India-commissioned report finds that India is attracting ~$6B per year in local content investments, or $4 per head vs. $370 per head in the US— Indian streaming series such as Netflix's “Heeramandi,” Prime Video's “Mirzapur” or Disney+ Hotstar's “Bad Cop,” could soon be more influential than Bollywood.

Discussion:
@lucas_shaw, Bloomberg and Deadline

Discussion:

Lucas Shaw /
@lucas_shaw: The fastest-growing video market in the world is... India. @soheefication https://www.bloomberg.com/...

Deadline:

France's Arcom regulator will not renew the TNT frequencies of Canal+ Group's controversial channel C8, which was fined €7.6M for lack of political plurality— Controversial French free-to-air channel C8, a subsidiary of Vivendi's Canal Plus Group, is set to lose its TNT frequency …

Discussion:
Variety, Financial Times, GB News and Reporters Without Borders

Discussion:

Elsa Keslassy /
Variety: Canal+ Group's French Channel C8, Which Airs Controversial Talk Show, to Be Discontinued by Broadcasting Regulatory Body

Adrienne Klasa /
Financial Times: French regulator pulls licence for Vincent Bolloré's TV channel C8

The Guardian:

Journalists at Nine newspapers Sydney Morning Herald and the Age plan to strike during Olympics if their demands, including a higher pay rise, aren't met— Reporters will walk off job from Friday - affecting Paris Games coverage - unless union demands are met during Wednesday afternoon meeting

Discussion:
Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review

Discussion:

Marta Pascual Juanola /
Sydney Morning Herald: Nine CEO carries Olympic torch as journalists' strike looms

Variety:

MLB launches a streaming service for MLB Network in the US for $5.99/month, no cable TV subscription required; live games will be subject to local blackouts— Major League Baseball has a new way to get fans to pay to catch the streaming action of America's pastime.

Discussion:
The Wrap, MLB.com, Awful Announcing and Cord Cutters News

Discussion:

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: MLB Network Launches Standalone Streaming Service at $5.99 per Month

Brian Murphy /
MLB.com: MLB Network available as standalone stream for fans

The Guardian:

Some of News Corp's most experienced journalists in Australia, including Sue Dunlevy, have been made redundant, as the outlet cuts its national reporting team— Murdoch's Australian arm has quietly slashed tens of millions of dollars in costs to counter a slow advertising market and loss of revenue from Meta deal

Discussion:
@mark_melbin@mastodon.online

Variety:

San Diego's Comic-Con, from July 25-July 28, is expected to draw more than 130,000, after back-to-back pandemic cancellations and the SAG-AFTRA strike— Last year, the organizers of San Diego Comic- Con were eager to put on their annual event sans pandemic cancellations or COVID protocols …

Discussion:
@variety, AV Club, San Diego Union-Tribune and Forbes

Discussion:
@variety: DC Studios is largely sitting out this year's Comic-Con as co-studio chief James Gunn couldn't fit in an appearance between his directing duties on “Superman” and “Peacemaker” Season 2. But an insider says DC Studios still plans to break some news. https://variety.com/...

Drew Gillis /
AV Club: Welcome to San Diego Comic-Con 2024

Rob Salkowitz /
Forbes: San Diego Comic-Con 2024: Hollywood Is Back, Baby!

The Verge:

Daniel Ek says Spotify is working on a deluxe Spotify tier, costing around $17 to $18, that has “a lot more control, a lot higher quality across the board”— The saga of Spotify HiFi has many twists and turns. First announced over three years ago, the music service's higher …

Discussion:

Dylan Smith /
Digital Music News: Get Ready for ‘Spotify Deluxe’ — Daniel Ek Confirms $18-Per-Month Plan Offering ‘A Much Better Version of Spotify’

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar /
Neowin: Spotify confirms a Deluxe plan with higher audio quality and enhanced controls

Chris Walton /
Chris Walton on LinkedIn: The latest chapter in the Spotify story is a positive one for the business: — subscriber numbers continue to grow, despite price rises …

Daniel Tencer /
Music Business Worldwide: Daniel Ek talks new Spotify ‘deluxe’ tier, price hikes, the company's relationship with the music business, and more on Q2 earnings call

Ryan Christoffel /
9to5Mac: Spotify in ‘early days’ of hi-fi audio plans that will bring subscription to nearly $20/month

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life@threads.net: Between Spotify and Netflix, streaming services are looking like a winner-takes-all markets. Despite price increases, paying subscribers are up 12% to 246M users. This is 1M more than expected. The company also plans to add a $5 more expensive tier soon.

Phil Nickinson /