Business of Media
Sony and Apollo express interest in buying Paramount in $26 billion deal
Sony Pictures Entertainment and the private equity giant Apollo Global Management have formally expressed interest in acquiring Paramount for roughly $26 billion, according to two people familiar with the matter, a move that adds drama to an already chaotic deal making process, report The New York Times’ Benjamin Mullin and Lauren Hirsch.
The nonbinding expression of interest, sent in a letter this week, comes as Paramount approaches an agreed-upon Friday deadline for the expiration of an exclusive negotiating period with Skydance, a Hollywood studio run by the tech scion David Ellison. Paramount has been in talks with Skydance for months, discussing a complicated transaction that would involve a merger and an investment from the private equity firm Redbird Capital Partners.
Universal signs TikTok deal allowing artists back on platform
TikTok and Universal Music Group have reached a deal that will allow songs and artists from its labels including Olivia Rodrigo and Drake to return to the video-sharing app, reports The Guardian’s Dan Milmo.
The world’s largest music company began pulling content from TikTok in February after falling out with it over issues including artist compensation and the use of artificial intelligence-generated music on the platform.
Breaking news: Will social media kill the evening bulletin?
The shifting sands of television news come at a crucial time. Consumption trends show older audiences are beginning to prefer online news websites and apps to television, while younger audiences are increasingly consuming news through social media, reports Nine Publishing’s Calum Jaspan.
Sitting down to consume the headlines at 6pm has diminished in importance, says Peter Meakin, who has served as director of news and current affairs for each of Australia’s three commercial networks. But Meakin says, the evening bulletin still serves a purpose, particularly for local audiences.
Financial Review appointments
Jessica Sier has been appointed the Financial Review’s next North Asia Correspondent based in Tokyo. Jessica began her journalism career as a cadet at the Financial Review before working overseas for Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal.
After six and a half years as North Asia correspondent, in Shanghai and Tokyo, Michael Smith is returning to Sydney to take up a new senior position as Health Editor at the Financial Review.
Radio
Tax Office investigating Lachlan Murdoch’s Nova radio assets
The Australian Taxation Office is auditing billionaire Lachlan Murdoch’s Nova Entertainment companies, the complex group of Australian and UK-based entities that run the highly profitable Nova and SmoothFM radio brands, reports Nine Publishing’s Sam Buckingham-Jones.
New documents filed with Australia’s corporate regulator reveal various Nova Entertainment companies have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on “tax compliance and advisory services” from PwC. This is on top of paying for routine audit work.
‘You shafted us’: Jase and Lauren fume as Kyle and Jackie O crash their show
Melbourne radio hosts Lauren Phillips and Jason Hawkins couldn’t hide their frustration as a bus emblazoned with the faces of their radio rivals crashed their show this week, reports News Corp’s Nick Bond.
Sydney-based media titans Kyle and Jackie O made their controversial entry onto the Melbourne airwaves this week on KIIS FM.
Jase and Lauren had also been with KIIS, but were axed last November to make way for Kyle and Jackie O. Phillips broke down during their final show, revealing they’d learned they were getting the boot just hours earlier.
Television
The YouTuber taking on the old-school TV hosts in Top Gear Australia
Watching Jonathan LaPaglia, Beau Ryan and Blair Joscelyne careering through Colombia in, respectively, a 1977 Dodge Dart, a retro Jeep and a Renault 4, ribbing one another over the two-way radio and stopping for a skinny-dip, it would appear the new hosts of Top Gear Australia are old mates, reports Nine Publishing’s Bridget McManus.
But the two seasoned television presenters and Joscelyne, the Mighty Car Mods YouTuber, only met at a casting test at the Sydney Motorsport Park shortly before they embarked on the 130-day shoot for the series, which also took them around Australia and to France, Italy, Switzerland, Monaco and the US.
See Also: Top Gear Australia roars into action at Sydney Motorsport Park
Sports Media
Phil Gould fined $20,000 over television rant
The NRL has fined Phil Gould $20,000 for a television rant in which he described the game as “stupid” because of its own rules, reports Nine Publishing’s Adam Pengilly.
Gould, who is employed as the Bulldogs’ general manager of football, took aim at the discrepancy in the game’s interpretations on Nine Entertainment’s 100% Footy on Monday night.