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Thursday, July 25, 2024

Warner Bros. Discovery's stock slides after the NBA rejects its Amazon match, Ozy Media drops its lawsuit against Semafor boss Ben Smith, Fox News Media gets a new general counsel, the Associated Press scrubs its website of a J.D. Vance fact-check, Elon Musk's transgender daughter fires back at him, OpenAI teases its A.I.-infused search engine, Russia throttles YouTube, "Deadpool & Wolverine" post staggering preview numbers, Hulu renews "The Kardashians," and so much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Let the A.I. Games Begin

CNN Photo Illustration/Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

The human athletes won't be the only ones closely watched when the 2024 Olympic Games get underway this weekend.

Both the International Olympics Committee and U.S. broadcast partner NBC plan to harness the power of artificial intelligence and infuse the summer contests with the rapidly advancing technology, which will be evident in ways both on and off camera.

Most notably, NBC will create a daily highlight reel available to its Peacock subscribers that features the voice of legendary announcer Al Michaels. Michaels, however, will not be in a sports booth in Paris offering his trademark sports commentary. Instead, NBC said it had trained its A.I. on old video clips of Michaels. With his permission, the broadcaster will harness the technology to produce video packages using his iconic voice.

"When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious," Michaels said in a statement. "Then I saw a demonstration detailing what they had in mind. I said, 'I'm in.'"

The IOC will also use A.I. to enhance its own video offerings. The committee said this week the technology will help power a multicam replay that will offer viewers "ground-breaking visuals such as athlete tracking, intelligent stroboscopic analysis, and enhanced data graphics."

Behind the scenes, A.I. will also be used in new and inventive ways at the summer games. The IOC said it had identified "over 180 potential use cases" for the technology and that it will now work to "prioritize these opportunities to maximize their impact."

One such use case is scanning social media platforms to identify potentially abusive material and protect athletes against cyber abuse. Another envisions the technology helping judges referee contests, though it's unclear whether that will be implemented during this year's games.

Regardless, the emphasis on deploying A.I. at the Olympics is the latest example of how the technology is being rapidly implemented across various industries, including the sports world. Not only is A.I. being used to improve existing products, but it is also being exploited to launch new features. The technology put on display at the Olympics is sure to pop up in other sporting contests in the near future, upending the way everything from highlights are created to how performances are judged.

"Today, we are not just envisioning the future; we're actively creating it," IOC member Sarah Walker acknowledged in a statement this week. "We are using the transformative power of artificial intelligence to redefine the landscape of sports and bring the Olympic Movement into a new era."

PARIS 2024

The Olympics Opening Ceremony will air Friday afternoon on NBC and Peacock at 1.30pm ET, with a pre-show starting at noon. The prime time encore telecast will then air at 7.30pm ET. (AP)
NBC Olympics prime time producer Rob Hyland spoke to Richard Deitsch about the telecast, saying this ceremony is "unlike anything" he's ever been a part of: "I'm looking at schematics on my desk right now of this 3.7-mile river route. The degree of difficulty with any opening ceremony is through the roof, but I don't know where to put this one." (The Athletic)
NBC will have 40 cameras "capturing the action" in Paris. (NBC News)
How many viewers will tune in for the Opening Ceremony? The 2022 Beijing Olympic Games fetched about 14 million U.S. viewers.
For some contests, NBC will put heart monitors on the parents of athletes, which viewers will then be able to see on screen. (Variety)
Lucas Manfredi and Kayla Cobb wrote about how NBCU is "counting" on the games to help Peacock. (The Wrap)
Peacock boss Kelly Campbell to Alex Weprin: "Our goal is really to give diehard fans…all of the tools that they need to fully immerse themselves in the Olympics, while also helping to engage a new generation of viewers by leaning into features that we know they're looking for, like increased personalization and real-time interactivity." (THR)
News organizations are also deploying vast resources to the Olympics. NBC News will, obviously, have its anchors in Paris, including Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, and Lester Holt. The WaPo said it is sending 27 of its journalists from verticals across its newsroom. (NBC/WaPo)
Warner Bros. Discovery's Eurosport, which is set to broadcast nearly 4,000 live hours of Olympics programming, has taken over a rooftop with panoramic views of Paris. (Variety)
The IOC said that "Media Village" will welcome more than 1,300 journalists during the games. "People staying at the Media Village will be ideally positioned to meet the athletes and see them perform." (Olympics)

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports

On the Sidelines: It wasn't the best day on Wall Street for Warner Bros. Discovery. The David Zaslav-led company's already not-so-healthy stock fell by about 6%, ending Thursday at $7.99 a share, after news the NBA had rejected its attempt to match Amazon's $1.8 billion per year bid to air games. As a result, Macquarie downgraded the media conglomerate's stock from outperform to neutral, with analysts writing, "Losing these key rights means it now loses a core content asset for both its linear networks and its Max streaming service." The Macquarie analysts added, "Max's sports offering will now be weaker without the NBA." The Wrap's Lucas Manfredi has more.

► What is going on here? "The NBA is being sued by Warner Bros. Discovery," CNBC's David Faber reported on-air Thursday morning. As we reported in the previous edition of this newsletter, a lawsuit from the NBA's longtime broadcast partner is likely as it attempts a buzzer-beating shot at matching Amazon's bid. But has WBD actually filed a complaint in court against the league? Hours after Faber went to air with what would be a notable scoop, not a single other outlet confirmed such a lawsuit has been filed. A spokesperson for WBD ignored repeated requests for comment. A spokesperson for CNBC told me the outlet stands by its reporting.

THE INDUSTRY

THE FOURTH ESTATE

The nominees for the News & Documentary Emmys were announced Thursday. CNN racked up more noms than any other news organization, with 43. (Emmys)
Ozy Media ended its lawsuit against Semafor, which claimed Ben Smith had used trade secrets to found the news organization. (Bloomberg Law)
On his latest "Weekly Show" podcast, Jon Stewart ripped news outlets for demanding transparency from others while declining to operate their own organizations in the same spirit. (Podcasts)
Another good night for television news outlets! President Joe Biden's historic Oval Office address drew an average of 29 million viewers. (THR)
MSNBC said it is planning special programming for Sunday to mark 100 days until the election. (AdWeek)
CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota's memoir, "Combat Love: A Story of Leaving, Longing and Searching for Home," will be developed for film and TV. (Variety)
The Independent announced a Climate 100 list. (Editor & Publisher)

IN THE BIZ

Hollywood's video game performers represented by SAG-AFTRA announced a strike beginning Friday at 12.01 a.m. PT. (AP)
Yikes! Shares in Universal Music Group plunged nearly 24% after a weak earnings report. (Bloomberg)
A Paramount shareholder filed a lawsuit to block the company's merger with Skydance Media. (Reuters)
Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney have finally launched their cross-studio bundle that includes Disney+, Hulu, and Max at a discounted price. (CNN)
IMAX boss Richard Gelfond said the impact of the 2023 dual Hollywood strikes is "firmly behind us." (THR)

MEDIA MOVES

Fox News Media named Katherine Moran as the outlet's new general counsel. (Bloomberg)
Mother Jones hired Kat Abughazaleh as a video creator. (Mother Jones)
POLITICO hired Michael Gartland as a New York editor. (POLITICO)
The WaPo named Katrina Northrop its China correspondent. (WaPo)
The Economist hired Anshel Pfeffer to cover Israel. (TBN)
The NYT hired Ben Oreskes as a statehouse correspondent. (NYT)

THE INFO WARS

CNN Photo Illustration/Alex Wong/Getty Images

AP's Fact-Check Failure: The Associated Press on Thursday deleted a story that it had published the day before fact-checking ridiculous online claims that J.D. Vance wrote in his 2016 memoir about having sex with a couch. The story, which was entirely scrubbed from the AP's website, "didn't go through our standard editing process," a spokesperson for the wire service told me. The spokesperson added that the AP was "looking into" how the article was published and that the story did not go out on its wire service where it would have been available to its customers. Mediaite's David Gilmour has more.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

A judge ruled that The Gateway Pundit, which sought bankruptcy protections to avoid defamation lawsuits related to its publication of 2020 election lies, did so in "bad faith," Marshall Cohen reports. (CNN)
After The NYT's explosive story about succession drama, Jennifer Saba argues that Rupert Murdoch's "media galaxy" would "be better with one sun." (Reuters)
Jennifer Aniston ripped J.D. Vance for his "childless cat ladies comments," saying, "I truly cannot believe this is coming from a potential VP of the United States." (CNN)
Vivian Wilson, Elon Musk's transgender daughter, shot back at her father and X owner after he said she had been killed by the "woke mind virus." (CNN)
A judge dismissed Disney's and Lucasfilms' attempt to dismiss Gina Carano's lawsuit, setting up a courtroom showdown that Elon Musk has helped fund against the Magic Kingdom. (THR)
Mark Zuckerberg responded to Elon Musk reupping his fight challenge: "Are we really doing this again?" (The Hill)
Melania Trump will release her memoir, "Melania," this fall. It's being published by Skyhorse, which has become known for accepting projects other companies won't. Last year, it published Alex Jones' book. (AP)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Jason Redmond/AFP/Getty Images

The Search Showdown: Sam Altman is making it clear that he has his sights set on Google. The tech mogul's OpenAI on Thursday announced it is testing SearchGPT, a search engine powered by the company's powerful A.I. technology. When released, the search engine will act similar to ChatGPT, but it will provide users with real-time information. "We believe that by enhancing the conversational capabilities of our models with real-time information from the web, finding what you're looking for can be faster and easier," OpenAI said. The company, which said it had partnered with publishers to build the tool after striking licensing deals over the last 12 months, added that it will draw its information and provide links to "clear and relevant sources." CNN's Clare Duffy has more.

TOO MANY TABS

Sam Altman told Mike Allen he's calling for a "U.S.-led global coalition" to help ensure a democratic A.I. ultimately prevails. (Axios)
On that topic: "China is closing the A.I. gap with the United States," Meaghan Tobin and Cade Metz write. (NYT)
The Oversight Board said Meta must do more to tackle non-consensual, A.I.-generated deepfake pornography. (CNN)
WhatsApp passed the 100 million monthly users mark in the U.S., where it has been making efforts to grow. (Bloomberg)
Threads is rolling out its Tweetdeck-like feeds in iOS. (Mac Rumors)
YouTube is being throttled in Russia as Moscow looks to block yet another U.S. social media platform in the country. (Bloomberg)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Marvel Studios

'Deadpool' Gets Deployed: The summer box office is about to get another shot in the arm. Marvel's "Deadpool & Wolverine" is set to become the biggest R-rated film opening of all time as the superhero flick crashes into theaters. Box Office Pro projected that the film could be on track to deliver as much as $200 million at the domestic box office. In opening previews, the Marvel flick is headed for a $35 million to $40 million haul, Deadline's Anthony D'Alessandro reported Thursday evening. Per D'Alessandro, "Deadpool" could soar past $40 million. Those figures would put the movie in a rare class, putting it in the top ten biggest previews of all time. More from D'Alessandro here.

► In addition to the hype the film has generated on its own, Taylor Swift is also now weighing in, urging her sizable fan base to head to the theaters for the film. Swift, friends with actor Ryan Reynolds, even posted a link where her fans can purchase tickets. The Wrap's Lauren Cahoone has more.

OFF STAGE

Kamala Harris will make an appearance on the season nine finale of "RuPaul's Drag Race." (YouTube)
Hulu picked up 20 more episodes of "The Kardashians." (Deadline)
Season three of "The Bear" has racked up 1.2 billion viewing minutes in its Nielsen debut. (The Wrap)
Amazon's "I Am: Celine Dion" has quickly become the platform's most popular documentary while also contributing to a 33% boost to the artist's streams worldwide. (Deadline)
Season four of Amazon's "The Boys" has drawn 55 million viewers in the 39 days since its premiere. (Variety)
A "Superman" crew member died by suicide Wednesday. (THR)
Rebecca Ferguson will star opposite Cillian Murphy in Netflix's "Peaky Blinders" film. (Deadline)
A24 and Chernin Entertainment are teaming up for Egor Abramenko's horror film "Altar." (Variety)
George Lazenby, the third actor to don the James Bond mantle, announced that at 84 he's retiring. (BBC)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino and produced with the assistance of Liam Reilly. Have feedback? Send us an email. You can follow us on Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn. We will see you back in your inbox next week.

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