CBS and parent company Paramount have backed away from efforts to limit reposting of Stephen Colbert's mock appearance as host of a Michigan public access show called "Only In Monroe." Colbert posted the hour-long parody a day after being ousted from his nearly 11-year-long run at "The Late Show." - NPR
“One New York staffer said that, in contrast to other billionaires who have purchased media properties in recent years, James Murdoch has ‘actually been in the media business for a long time. It’s not like he’s just coming in new to it as like a fun trophy or novelty.’” - The Washington Post (MSN)
The 20 inauthentic channels analyzed have had nearly 40 million views. Videos use AI-generated deepfakes, often of Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney, and include “frequent and obvious lies.” Channels include “AI avatars and paid American voice actors.” - The Conversation
Cristian Mungiu's Norway-set drama about political polarization, Fjord, has won the Palme d'Or, handing the Cannes Film Festival's top honour for the second time to Mungiu, the Romanian director of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. - CBC
The response from Alamo patrons has been largely negative, with many expressing outrage at a perceived about-face. They have taken to social media in droves to protest mobile ordering, and started a Change.org petition asking the chain to reinstate its no-phones policy. - The New York Times
In 2022, Vermont Public Radio merged with Vermont Public Television to form a new entity titled simply Vermont Public. The marriage pulled together 57 employees from the radio network and 42 from the TV side and total assets valued at $90 million. It thus became the state’s largest news organization by far. - Valley News (Vermont)
Large online streaming services must contribute 15% of their Canadian revenues to Canadian content, the country’s federal broadcast regulator said Thursday. That figure is three times the 5% initial contribution requirement the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, CRTC, set out in 2024. - AP News
“The owner of the Peanuts television and film music catalog is suing multiple entities over the alleged unlawful use of jazz artist Vince Guaraldi's famous tracks from the "Charlie Brown" franchise. Lee Mendelson Film Productions filed four federal copyright lawsuits, … (one of them against) the U.S. Department of the Interior.” - USA Today
WEIU, licensed to and based at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, has halted over-the-air broadcasting and become an online-streaming-only station. Now-discontinued federal grants had made up 80% of its budget. - Jacksonville (Illinois) Journal-Courier
Currently S&P Global has a “BB+” issuer credit rating on Paramount. On Wednesday, the firm said it will “lower the issuer credit rating on PSKY to ‘BB’ when its acquisition of WBD closes, assuming no material changes to the structure or terms of the transaction. - Variety
“Data from the first quarter of 2026 shows signs that the United States is halting the exodus of film and television productions to other countries. But it is doing so as greenlights on high-budget productions continue to decrease worldwide, leaving dozens of production hubs fighting for slices of a smaller pie.” - TheWrap (Yahoo!)
Rupert Murdoch’s younger, more liberal-leaning son has purchased, for a reported-but-unconfirmed $300 million, roughly half of the current Vox Media: New York magazine and its verticals (among them Vulture, The Cut, and Curbed), the Vox.com website, and the Vox Media Podcast Network. - AP
A digital mirage masquerading as local news, the South Florida Standard underscores just how easy it has become to corrupt one of the country’s core institutions: independent journalism. - Florida Tribune
Byron Allen, a former stand-up comedian whose Allen Media Group owns 13 local TV stations, The Weather Channel and other outlets, announced a $120 million deal to acquire a 52% controlling stake in BuzzFeed. And he’s leasing from CBS Colbert’s former Late Show time slot for his comedy show Comics Unleashed. - Variety
“The move, unanimously approved by both organizations’ boards of directors, is expected to launch July 1. Leaders say the initiative will allow the two nonprofit newsrooms to share resources, streamline operations and direct more funding toward journalism and community reporting rather than overhead.” - Inside Radio
