“The agency voted to take public comment … on a rule that limits a company from owning more than two stations in a market, and a restriction on mergers between any two of the four major broadcast networks. Such a review ... is mandated by Congress every four years.” - Deadline
“The deadline for countries to submit movies for the 2026 Oscars' international feature category arrives Wednesday. And, as usual, the submissions — each country gets to select one film — have produced no shortage of grievances and outrage.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
Public media stations reach 99% of the country’s population with free, noncommercial, local news, music and information. Yet their greatest strength — broadcast dominance built over decades — has become their most significant vulnerability. - Poynter
Although the massive wave of federal funding cuts may sometimes seem insurmountable for private donors to offset, cuts to public broadcasting are not so severe that private philanthropy cannot overcome them. - Washington Monthly
It is not on screen for long and perhaps vanishes just before you sense something’s off, but as things stand, “Tilly” doesn’t look obviously less real than many of the performers who appear on screen today. - The Guardian
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in one of its last grants, awarded $57.9 million to a new consortium called Public Media Infrastructure to cover three years of operating the Public Radio Satellite System. NPR says it was awarded the grant first and is asking a judge to halt the grant to PMI. - Inside Radio
I wonder why Nexstar is even pursuing a multibillion-dollar deal to buy TV stations. Traditionally it's been a great investment. But tradition is all that’s left when it comes to the original broadcast model. The ice cube is out of the freezer. Drip drip drip. - Wired
YouTube froze Mr. Trump’s account after the riot, blocking him from uploading new videos and arguing that the content could lead to more violence. Mr. Trump sued YouTube in October 2021, claiming that it and other social media firms that removed his accounts had wrongfully censored him. - The New York Times
“U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., ruled that the U.S. Agency for Global Media cannot implement a reduction in force eliminating 532 jobs for full-time government employees on Tuesday. Those employees represent the vast majority of its remaining staff.” - AP
“Electronic Arts Inc., the maker of Madden NFL and The Sims, is set to be acquired for about $55 billion … (in) the biggest leveraged buyout in history, backed by Saudia Arabia's Public Investment Fund and private equity firms Silver Lake and Affinity Partners, … run by President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
NPR had been told by CPB in early April that it would soon receive more than $30 million to cover the next three years for running the service. CPB then swiftly reversed course, with an executive citing a decision at the CPB board level saying NPR could not be involved, the court filing alleges. - NPR
“When we first launched Tilly, people were like, ‘What’s that?,’ and now we’re going to be announcing which agency is going to be representing her in the next few months.” - Variety
“It’s nearly impossible to imagine anyone successfully producing such a comprehensively transgressive and resolutely silly movie today. It’s even more unlikely to imagine any film resurrecting itself from spectacular flop to cockroach cult classic, let alone under the protective cover of camp.” - Washington Post (MSN)
“The air is getting chilly, the leaves are starting to turn, and Oscar geeks are analyzing the buzz out of Venice, Telluride, and Toronto like tea leaves at the bottom of a mug.” - Vulture (MSN)
