As Netflix and YouTube vie for the eyeballs on TV sets, Netflix (and other streamers) are increasingly using YouTube to test the waters for the kind of content viewers will flock to. - CBC
Netflix’s generative AI approach marks a fundamental shift. Instead of building digital scenes piece by piece, artists simply describe what they want and algorithms generate full sequences instantly. This turns a slow, laborious craft into something more like a creative conversation. But it also raises tough questions. - The Conversation
CPB informed employees that the majority of staff positions will be eliminated with the close of the fiscal year on September 30, 2025. It said a small team would remain until January to "focus on compliance, fiscal distributions, and resolution of long-term financial obligations including ensuring continuity for music rights and royalties. - NPR
“But its future, which was never exactly bright, might be cratering. The hoary format’s downward slide has, up until this point, been comparatively slow, … but the financial pressures, together with a vengeful president and a corporate culture willing to appease him, might be more than the genre can withstand.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
Over the last five years, ITVS has directly invested $44 million of CPB funds in documentaries. In the same period, ITVS brought 126 films to public media viewers for free, or close to free, at a taxpayer cost of about five cents per American. - The Hollywood Reporter
“Nearly $50 million of that will come from the budgets of public radio and TV stations, while roughly $7.6 million will come from the budgets of other types of public media organizations. The cuts will be especially hard on rural communities in the state.” - New York Focus
Their heyday was the 1980s and ‘90s, from Airplane! through the National Lampoon and Austin Powers franchises, Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries, and Scary Movie, but standards fell in the '00s and the genre faded away. With the return of the Naked Gun franchise and a Spinal Tap sequel, maybe spoofs are back. - The Guardian
The second quarter of the current fiscal year marked Imax’s best quarter in terms of domestic movies ticket sales as it stays on course to achieve guidance of $1.2 billion for the full year. - The Hollywood Reporter
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of the District of Columbia gave the administration until Aug. 13 to explain how it will get VOA working again. The outlet that dates back to World War II has been largely dark since March. - AP News
Due to the recission of Corporation for Public Broadcasting funds by the Trump administration and Congress, WQED is facing a $2.5 million budget shortfall and has laid off 19 employees, mostly in marketing, membership, and production. - Axios
The network understands that contributions from major donors – such as the Hewlett Foundation, which gave NPR a two-year, $1.2 million grant in 2024 – will go a long way to make up for the federal cuts. - Inside Radio
Some Republicans would no doubt be happy if PBS and NPR went away entirely, as they are upset by the networks’ left-wing bias. They should be rooting for their success instead. It would be proof that, contrary to constant scaremongering from interest groups, cutting federal spending doesn’t end in disaster for citizens. - Washington Post
Because, writes Bilge Ebiri, “everywhere we look, numbers reign supreme. Metrics determine our life and work in ways that were inconceivable ten or 15 years ago. … The movies aren’t warning us about seeing ourselves as numbers so much as they are reflecting the sad simple fact that we already do.” - Vulture (MSN)
New York magazine’s Kathryn VanArendonk knows it’s not tenable to prevent her kids from doing what she does all day. “But my (policy is) the result of … how I want them to learn to think about screens and storytelling, and my desire to give them agency over their own brains.” - Vulture (MSN)
Most experts acknowledge that a takeover by artificial intelligence is coming for the video game industry within the next five years, and executives have already started preparing to restructure their companies in anticipation. - The New York Times
