Todd Spangler Ny: Last News

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Amazon insisted that its Alexa voice-enabled assistant does not have any political opinions — and that Alexa’s responses explaining why someone should vote for VP Kamala Harris were a mistake. On Tuesday, users on social media shared videos showing Alexa providing disparate responses to the question “Why should I vote for Donald Trump?” and “Why should I vote for Kamala Harris?” When asked about voting for Trump, Alexa replied, “I cannot provide content that promotes a specific political party or a specific candidate.” But when asked about voting for Harris, Alexa in some cases gave a detailed list of reasons why someone should vote for the Democrat in November’s presidential election — including that she is a “strong candidate with a proven track record of accomplishment.” Fox Business also compiled varying responses to the questions, which the outlet said depended on the model of Amazon device being used.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Donald Trump is the legendary Man of Steel — at least, according to a meme the Republican presidential candidate posted on his Truth Social account. The image shows Trump and various associates and supporters depicted as superhero characters from DC’s cinematic universe. The 45th U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Reddit, the internet’s popular discussion hub, was experiencing widespread outages and errors Wednesday. User reports of problems with Reddit spiked just before 4 p.m. ET on Aug.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney‘s lineup of TV networks, including ESPN and ABC, could go dark for DirecTV subscribers as early as this Sunday if the two sides can’t come to terms on a renewed distribution deal. And right now, the companies are by all appearances far apart in the deal talks. DirecTV’s agreement with Disney expires Sunday, Sept.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz will sit for an interview with CNN this week — marking Harris’ first major interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. The interview will air as a primetime special on Thursday, Aug.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Shauna Spenley, a former longtime Netflix marketing exec, is joining Warner Bros. Discovery as global chief marketing officer of direct-to-consumer. Spenley takes over the role from Patrizio “Pato” Spagnoletto, who “has decided to depart” Warner Bros.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor In the latest twist in the Paramount Global M&A saga, Skydance Media is alleging the media company breached the terms of their merger agreement by engaging with a rival bid from investors led by billionaire Edgar Bronfman Jr. Lawyers for David Ellison’s Skydance sent a letter Thursday to the special committee established by Paramount to evaluate M&A offers, accusing the committee of breaking the terms of their deal by extending the negotiating window to consider Bronfman’s proffer — and threating to withdraw its own $8 billion-plus offer, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Donald Trump acknowledged that images he posted online depicting Taylor Swift endorsing him for president and several supposedly showing Swifties supporting him were fake. But the ex-president did not seem concerned the pop star will sue him, saying that the AI images “were all made up by other people.” Trump addressed the controversy in an interview with Fox Business Network’s Grady Trimble. In a segment that aired Wednesday on the network, Trimble asked Trump, “Are you worried that Taylor Swift is going to sue you?” (via Mediaite).

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor As part of trying to keep cable TV customers from cutting the cord, Charter Communications is now offering the ad-supported version of Paramount+ to all Spectrum TV Select and Mi Plan Latino packages nationwide — for no additional fee. The new offer, available starting Aug. 22, is part of the companies’ renewed multiyear distribution agreement, inked in May.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Paramount Global‘s board has extended the go-shop window under its Skydance Media deal for 15 days as it engages with an investor group led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., which on Wednesday proffered $6 billion to take control of the media conglomerate — up from $4.3 billion previously. Bronfman and his backers on Wednesday made the higher bid to acquire National Amusements Inc., Paramount’s controlling shareholder, and added a deal sweetener — offering a pool of $1.7 billion to give Paramount nonvoting shareholders a $16/share buyout premium for a portion of their stock, sources confirmed to Variety. The Bronfman-led group originally offered $4.3 billion and had not offered to acquire any of Paramount Global’s nonvoting stock.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney‘s board named director James Gorman, executive chairman of Morgan Stanley, as chair of its succession planning committee to identify a CEO replacement to take the reins from Bob Iger. Gorman, who joined the Disney board earlier this year, oversaw the recent succession process at Morgan Stanley, where he had previously served as the firm’s CEO.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. NBCUniversal is leaning into video shopping in a new deal with TalkShopLive. Under the partnership, NBCU and TalkShopLive plan to create shoppable livestreams featuring top talent from the media company’s properties, who will pitch sales of music, books, merchandise and more.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor A federal judge shot down the FTC‘s rule banning noncompete agreements, a setback for the agency’s effort to free workers from restrictive employment contract terms. The commission said it is considering an appeal. The FTC issued a rule banning noncompete clauses in employment contracts in the U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor J.K. Rowling’s articles delving into the intricacies of Harry Potter and the Wizarding World — a collection spanning 80 entries — have been adapted in audio format for the first time, set to launch later this month on Audible. “From the Wizarding Archive” draws on the 80 articles written by Rowling for the original (now-defunct) Pottermore website.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Condé Nast inked a deal with OpenAI, the prominent artificial-intelligence tech company, to license content from brands including the New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired and Vogue for use within the AI company’s products, including ChatGPT and the SearchGPT prototype. Condé Nast joins other publishers and news organizations that have inked deals with OpenAI, a list that includes the Associated Press, Axel Springer, the Atlantic, Dotdash Meredith, Financial Times, LeMonde, NewsCorp, Prisa Media, Time and Vox Media.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Alex Cooper, host of popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast, reached a multiyear agreement with SiriusXM that encompasses exclusive programming expected to being rolling out in 2025. With the pact, SiriusXM will replace Spotify as Cooper’s distribution and advertising partner. SiriusXM will have exclusive rights for advertising, distribution, content, events and more for Cooper’s flagship “Call Her Daddy” podcast, as well as the lineup of shows from her Unwell Network.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The book isn’t closed yet on Paramount Global‘s months-long M&A epic. On Monday (Aug. 19), billionaire media mogul Edgar Bronfman Jr.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Susan Wojcicki, who served as CEO of YouTube for nine years during a period of massive growth for the video platform and was one of Google’s first hires, has died. She was 56. Wojcicki’s death after a two-year fight with cancer was announced by Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Lionsgate, still feeling ripple effects from last year’s twin Hollywood strikes, reported a decline in sales and while narrowing its net loss for the June quarter, as its Starz unit shed 500,000 subscribers. Revenue for the quarter was $834.7 million, down 8%.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok may or may not be banned in the U.S. in early 2025. For now, though, it’s business as usual — and the popular video app has a new pitch for Hollywood marketers seeking to reach TikTok’s avid user base of more than 1 billion.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Sony is not interested in making a new offer for Paramount Global that would challenge Paramount’s deal to merge with Skydance Media, a top exec for the Japanese conglomerate said. On its quarterly earnings call Wednesday, Sony Group president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki was asked whether the company would mount a new bid for Paramount. He replied that an acquisition of Paramount “does not fit well with our strategy.” “If we have to acquire the whole of Paramount, it would be quite risky because it may not be well fitted to our capital allocation structure,” Totoki told analysts.