Mediagazer

5:30 PM ET, May 14, 2025

Top News:

Jennifer Maas / Variety:

Warner Bros. Discovery says it will change the name of its Max streaming service back to HBO Max this summer, and tweaks its logo; WBD dropped “HBO” in May 2023 — Turns out, Warner Bros. Discovery thinks HBO has some pretty good brand equity, after all.

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Pressroom, New York Times, Deadline, LateNighter, TV Tech, Wall Street Journal, StreamTV Insider, MediaPost, Screen Rant, Hollywood Life, The Daily Wire, @sherman4949, @scottnover, SlashFilm, Aftermath, @screenbrief, @streamonmax, @mattbinder, @peacock, Dallas Taylor on LinkedIn, @streamonmax, Advanced Television, The Verge, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, Chicago Tribune, Yahoo Finance, The Drum, @dkthomp, Engadget, GamesRadar, Consequence, The Hollywood Reporter, @chopaganda@shakedown.social, @gedeonm@mastodon.social, Newser, @willfulchaos, @scalzi.com, @mikeisaac, @thelincoln.bsky.social, @seanyoo, TechCrunch, Comic Book, @pkafka, @kaleidotrope.bsky.social, @brettredacted, @lingounbound, @hbo, @alexkoppelman.bsky.social, @dbreunig@note.computer, @nathanallebach, @harrymccracken.com, BGR, TVLine, Entertainment Weekly, @juansaaa.com, @rbripley.bsky.social, Broadband TV News, Bloomberg, The Streamable, Dara Gruen on LinkedIn, @kerrymflynn, @izzos.us, @parismarx.com, Chris Heatherly on LinkedIn, @maxwelltani, The Wrap, @tuphlos.bsky.social, TODAY.com, Axios, @jeremiahdjohns, @stefan@stefanbohacek.online, @loudmouthjulia, @riversoverflow.bsky.social, @caitiedelaney, The Information, @defunctgames.com, Erin Sarofsky on LinkedIn, Business Insider, @danprimack, @timeimmemorial_, IndieWire, @carnage4life.bsky.social, @ernie.tedium.co, The Verge, Polygon, Cara Lustik on LinkedIn, Streaming Better, 9to5Mac, Adweek, @loudmouthjulia, @mcdaragh.bsky.social, @tvgrimreaper, @morningbrew, @moryan.bsky.social, CNN, WPXI-TV, Associated Press, GoldDerby, WORLD SCREEN and Just Jared, more at Techmeme »

Bill Bradley / Adweek:29 minutes ago

Netflix says its in-house ad platform Netflix Ads Suite, currently live in the US and Canada, will be available in all 12 of its ad-supported countries by June — The streamer announced new adtech, Wednesday partnerships, and more — Once upon at time there were no Stranger Things than watching ads on Netflix.

Discussion: Ad Age, MediaPost, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, Cord Cutters News, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, The Verge and Media Play News

Sara Salinas / CNBC:

Netflix says its ad-supported tier now has 94M MAUs, up from 70M in November 2024, and reaches more 18- to 34-year-olds than any US broadcast or cable network — Netflix said Wednesday its cheaper, ad-supported tier now has 94 million monthly active users — an increase of more than 20 million since its last public tally in November.

Discussion: TechCrunch, About Netflix, Reuters, Adweek, 9to5Mac and @minddestroyedx, more at Techmeme »

Jeanna Smialek / New York Times:

The EU General Court rules the EU should not have denied an NYT journalist's request for text messages between Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla — The case revolved around whether texts between a top official and a drug company executive counted as a public record that might need to be disclosed.

Discussion: Le Monde, @matisaksk.bsky.social, The Guardian, UPI, Associated Press, Bloomberg, City A.M., Talking Biz News and Politico

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

National Trust for Local News plans to sell 21 local Denver publications to Times Media Group, a for-profit media company with a history of reducing newsrooms — The Times Media Group is an out-of-state, for-profit media company with a history of reducing roles in local newsrooms.

Discussion: Colorado Community Media, Denver Post, @niemanlab.org, @laurahazardowen.bsky.social, @coreyhutchins.bsky.social, Sentinel Colorado, What Works, NTLN, @sarahscire.com and @pinemikey.bsky.social

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

The BBC plans to expand its Local Democracy Reporting Service beyond local authorities and “dramatically” increase BBC's presence on YouTube and TikTok — BBC director-general Tim Davie has revealed plans to expand the Local Democracy Reporting Service outside of its current focus on local authorities.

Discussion: BBC, Broadband TV News, WORLD SCREEN, National Union of Journalists … and HoldtheFrontPage

A.G. Sulzberger / New York Times:

A.G. Sulzberger says the role of a free press is under attack, and that the anti-press playbook used in eroding democracies is now being deployed in the US — This essay was originally delivered as a talk at the Notre Dame Kellogg Institute for International Studies on Tuesday.

Discussion: The Nation, Fox News, @nickkristof.bsky.social, @thomaslfriedman.bsky.social, @tonytassell.bsky.social, @maxwelltani, The Wrap, The Hill, @brianstelter, Tom Jolly on LinkedIn, LatAm Journalism Review, TVNewsCheck, @nytimespr, @froomkin.bsky.social and @sydney-bauer.com

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

RFE/RL receives $12M from USAGM, its congressionally appropriated funds for the month of April, after a six-week delay and says it will continue its lawsuit — In Legal Win, RFE/RL Receives April Funding; Lawsuit Continues for Remainder of FY 2025 Funds — Share: — Share this page on Facebook

Discussion: @scottnover and @newsguy.bsky.social

Will McCarthy / Politico:

Patrick Soon-Shiong has appeared with Trump on the first day of the president's Middle East trip, as he maneuvers into Trump's orbit and shifts LAT to the right — The billionaire newspaper owner is getting closer to the president. — The billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times has gotten closer …

Discussion: The Hill, @crankebastard.bsky.social, @murshedz.bsky.social, @resnikoff.bsky.social, @markjacob.bsky.social, @juliannemcshane.bsky.social, Forbes and New York Times

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Xumo founder Colin Petrie-Norris launches Fairground, a production studio focused exclusively on AI-generated TV series that has raised a $4M seed round — Now he's hoping to stake a claim on the future of AI entertainment. — Petrie-Norris' new company is Fairground Entertainment …

Discussion: Radio & Television …, The Desk, Minh Do on LinkedIn, Media Play News, @tched.com and Colin Petrie-Norris on LinkedIn

Lauren Feiner / The Verge:

FTC v. Meta: Meta's lead attorney disparaged tech journalists Kara Swisher and Om Malik, calling Malik a “failed blogger”, resurfacing years-old media tensions — Meta's lead attorney called a once-prominent tech journalist a “failed blogger.”

Discussion: @karaswisher.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Mark Kleinman / Sky News:

Source: the UK plans to let foreign state investors hold stakes of up to 15% in British national papers, following RedBird IMI's attempt to buy The Telegraph — Ministers are to impose the new threshold on foreign state ownership amid a two-year row about the future ownership of The Daily Telegraph, Sky News learns.

Discussion: The Daily Sceptic, The Guardian, Reuters, Financial Times, Telegraph, Bloomberg and The Times

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More News:

Stewart Clarke / Deadline:
Sony says it is doubling down on anime, including with Crunchyroll, which had 17M paid subscribers at the end of March 2025, up from 15M in August 2024

Discussion: @chrisbeveridge.bsky.social, The Streamable and Darren Traub on LinkedIn

Max Goldbart / Deadline:
BBC DG Tim Davie says the BBC will only work with top talent who sign up to a new set of anti-bullying standards unveiled several months back by the CIISA

Discussion: Reuters, Variety and Advanced Television

Katie Razzall / BBC:
Some leading UK TV executives call for collaboration or consolidation among public broadcasters, amid funding pressures and competition from US streaming giants

Discussion: TVNewsCheck and Andrew Ailwood on LinkedIn

Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
Some NYT local investigation fellows discuss their experience getting the time and resources their local newsrooms didn't have to conduct investigations

Discussion: Sona Patel on LinkedIn, @pculpepper.bsky.social and @niemanlab.org

Joanne Kaufman / New York Times:
Elizabeth Pochoda, a journalist who worked as an editor at many publications, including The Nation, Vanity Fair, and House & Garden, has died at 83

Discussion: Onward and Upward and @markharris.bsky.social

Abid Rahman / The Hollywood Reporter:
Sony Pictures reports Q4 revenue flat YoY to $2.73B and operating income up 70% YoY to $354M; FY 24 revenue fell 4% to $9.9B, operating income fell 4% to $774M

Discussion: Kidscreen, CNBC, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Ryan Scott / SlashFilm:
Sinners passes $215.3M domestically, making it the first original movie to make $200M+ since 2017's Coco, and the first live-action movie to do so since 2013

Discussion: @socalbat.bsky.social, @ryanscottwrites.bsky.social, @heartimecia.bsky.social, @timcarvell.bsky.social and New York Times

The Economic Times:
Mumbai-based gaming company Dream Sports has invested $50M in cricket media platform Cricbuzz and cricket broadcaster Willow TV, both owned by Times Internet

Discussion: BMI

The Guardian:
The UK House of Lords again rebuffs the government's AI plans by adding an amendment to a bill to require AI firms list copyrighted content used to train models

Stephen Fowler / NPR:
Court docs: DOGE tried to assign a team to review CPB operations on April 29, but CPB said DOGE had no role “supervising or having any activity relating to CPB”

Discussion: Deadline, Politico, The Dispatch, CNN, @thedesk.net, @brianstelter.bsky.social, Inside Radio and @notaaroncraig.bsky.social

Felix Gillette / Bloomberg:
A look at Cartoon Network's challenges due to cost-cutting measures, including studio closures, and a shift away from kids programming under WBD's David Zaslav

Discussion: @lucas_shaw, @simonowens, @felixgillette, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, Steve Gee on LinkedIn, @simonowens.bsky.social, @wiswell.bsky.social, @charliejane.bsky.social, Cord Cutters News, @ericvb.bsky.social, @animationonmax.bsky.social and @michaelleibel.com

From Techmeme:

Google DeepMind:
Google DeepMind unveils AlphaEvolve, a Gemini-powered AI coding agent that designs and optimizes advanced algorithms using an evolutionary framework

Richard Leadbetter / Eurogamer.net:
A look at the Nintendo Switch 2's final specs: a custom Nvidia T239 SoC, an Ampere-based GPU with 1,536 CUDA cores, 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, DLSS support, and more

Natalie Lung / Bloomberg:
Uber debuts Route Share, a pooled rides option that is similar to a bus and up to 50% cheaper than UberX, available during commuting hours in SF, NYC, and more

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