Latest Media and entertainment industry News

Guardian Media Group in talks to sell the Observer newspaper to Tortoise

Sep. 17, 2024 12:29 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — News publisher Guardian Media Group said Tuesday it is in talks to sell The Observer newspaper to Tortoise Media, a “slow news” outlet founded by a former BBC executive and a U.S. diplomat. Founded in 1791, the Observer is the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper. It...

Going once, going twice: Google's millisecond ad auctions are the focus of monopoly claim

Sep. 14, 2024 00:17 AM EDT

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — It happens in milliseconds, ideally, as you browse the web. Networks of computers and software analyze who you are, what you are looking at and buy and sell the advertisements you see on web pages. The company that most likely determines which ads you get,...

Google faces a new antitrust trial after ruling declaring search engine a monopoly

Sep. 09, 2024 14:55 PM EDT

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — One month after a judge declared Google's search engine an illegal monopoly, the tech giant faces another antitrust lawsuit that threatens to break up the company, this time over its advertising technology. The Justice Department, joined by a coalition of...

Google is blasted by UK watchdog for what it calls anti-competitive behavior through digital ads

Sep. 06, 2024 08:02 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — Google was slammed Friday by U.K. regulators who say it's taking advantage of its dominance in digital advertising to thwart competition in Britain, ratcheting up pressure that the tech giant is facing on both sides of the Atlantic over its “ad tech” business practices. ...

Video game performers reach agreement with 80 video games on AI terms

Sep. 05, 2024 20:32 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After striking for over a month, video game performers have reached agreements with 80 games that have signed interim or tiered budget agreements with the performers' union and accepted the artificial intelligence provisions they have been seeking. Members of...

You use Spotify to listen to music. Here’s how money from ads and subscription fees flows to artists

Aug. 30, 2024 11:27 AM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Every day, millions of people use Spotify to stream music. A few years ago, it would've felt like an impossibility: Click, and bam — a seemingly endless catalog of recorded music opens up, right at your fingertips. Streaming now accounts for most of the money...

Your own personalized 'SportsCenter'? ESPN working on that for upcoming streaming service

Aug. 28, 2024 18:19 PM EDT

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — ESPN is looking at using artificial intelligence to create personalized “SportsCenter” shows for subscribers to its Flagship streaming service that is expected to launch in fall 2025, the network's chief executive said Wednesday. The idea is one of several...

Edgar Bronfman Jr. withdraws offer for Paramount, allowing Skydance merger to go ahead

Aug. 27, 2024 06:25 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — The merger between entertainment giant Paramount and media company Skydance is set to go ahead after Edgar Bronfman Jr. withdrew a competing offer. Bronfman, executive chairman of streaming service Fubo, told Paramount's special committee of directors Monday night...

Marketing exec wants to shift Verizon's transactional image into one more tied to people's lives

Aug. 26, 2024 09:54 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon Communications has long enjoyed its position as the leading provider of mobile services in the U.S. But a new trend of price-conscious customers holding onto their old phones has hurt the bottom line for telecom companies seeking to capitalize off the sale of new mobile...

Google agreed to pay millions for California news. Journalists call it a bad deal

Aug. 23, 2024 14:26 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Google will soon give California millions of dollars to help pay for local journalism jobs in a first-in-the-nation deal, but journalists and other media industry experts are calling it a disappointing agreement that mostly benefits the tech giant. The...