DirecTV Monday agreed to buy EchoStar’s satellite television business that includes Dish, capping decades of on-and-off talks to create one of the nation’s largest pay TV distributors with a combined 20 million subscribers. (Reuters) DirecTV will pay EchoStar $1 plus the assumption of debt. DirecTV is owned by AT&T and private equity firm TPG, while…
Zitcha Eyes North American Expansion With $10M Funding Round
Unified retail media platform Zitcha is coming to the U.S. The company announced a $10 million Series A funding round, led by investment firm VMG Partners, to ramp up operations in North America. Zitcha is based in Windsor, Australia, and Australian venture capital outfit OIF Ventures, which raised the company’s seed funding round in 2022,…
Scripps News Announces Layoffs, Programming Changes
Scripps News announced Friday that it plans to exit the 24/7 national news programming space. The outlet’s coverage will live on streaming and digital platforms with a Washington, D.C.-based team providing national and international coverage for Scripps’ local stations. The changes will take effect after Nov. 15, and they will be accompanied by the loss…
Brian Williams May Host Amazon Election Night Special
Brian Williams’ surprise return to the anchor chair is “imminent,” and the veteran newsman is set to sign a deal with Amazon Prime Video for an election night special, a source close to the discussions told The Daily Beast. (The Daily Beast) Williams has been out of the news game for a while. He lost…
The Bidstream Is A Duplicative, Chaotic Mess – But It Doesn’t Have To Be That Way
When Waffle House locations start to close, it’s a sign of severe weather on the horizon. When there’s a surge in pizza orders near the Pentagon, a potential international crisis may be looming. And when there’s an uptick in the size of Ads.txt files, it’s a pretty good indication that bid duplication is on the […]
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Wired, Under New Leadership, Sees Commercial Gains and Editorial Traction
Technology publisher Wired has seen its revenues rise and readership swell under the leadership of editor in chief Katie Drummond, who joined the title last August from Vice Media. (ADWEEK)
Meta Blocks Links to Hacked J.D. Vance Dossier on Threads, Instagram, Facebook
Meta is restricting links on Threads, Instagram, and Facebook that lead to Ken Klippenstein’s newsletter containing a dossier on Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) that was allegedly nabbed in an Iranian hack of the campaign of former President Donald Trump. The company has apparently removed posts containing the link and is seemingly blocking links to PDFs…
Politico’s Wonky Pro Service to Roll Out New AI Tool
Politico is launching a strategic partnership with Y Combinator-backed artificial intelligence startup Capitol AI to develop a bespoke AI tool that will quickly summarize its journalism. (Semafor)
Gaming Media Group Gamurs Cuts 30, Blaming Google ‘Helpful Content’ Update
Gaming and entertainment media publisher Gamurs Group cut 30 staff worldwide, saying the layoffs were necessitated by Google changes including its “Helpful Content” update late last year. (Press Gazette)
As Mainstream Media Faces Unprecedented Challenges, Can It Save Itself?
A panel at the Athens Democracy Forum explored how and whether traditional news organizations can regain the influence and trust that once defined them. (NYT)