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The latest stories published on The Desk.
Comcast begins issuing pink slips in some NBC Universal streaming business units
Most of the reductions are expected at Comcast’s European media operation Sky, though some U.S.-based NBC Universal employees will also be affected.
ChatGPT to begin displaying image-based ad spots
ChatGPT will begin rendering image-based advertising in the United States later this month; a handful of buyers are already committed to the project.
TEGNA brings basketball to broadcast stations in Memphis, Minneapolis
TEGNA-owned stations in Minneapolis and Memphis will offer more than a dozen NBA games on free, over-the-air TV this season.
British telecom BT acquires TalkTalk businesses out of administration
The acquisition covers TalkTalk Telecommunications Limited and wholesale business PlatformX Communications on a debt-free basis.
Disney reignites licensing pact with Netflix
Disney will allow Netflix to stream a Disney Original for about three months, with the streamer also offered the Ice Age franchise ahead of a new movie release.
Echostar’s Dish DBS emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The restructuring plan became effective October 1 after a bankruptcy judge approved the plan two days earlier.
TEGNA launches internal review of KGW-TV story on fired sports broadcaster
The probe comes one day after the station published a story on old social media comments made by broadcaster Braiden Bell while he was a teenager.
FIRST ON THE DESK
Skydance is future name for Paramount-Warner Bros, co-CEO says
Skydance will serve as the parent company of Paramount and Warner Bros after next week; Paramount and WBD will maintain separate identities and business units.
Braiden Bell: Hired for the right reasons, fired for the wrong ones
KGW-TV unearthed tweets he wrote when he was a teenager. Now, promising broadcaster Braiden Bell is out of a job. The cautionary tale and slippery slope this creates should worry everyone in the industry.
EDITORIAL
Dish’s Sling TV stops offering Day Pass, Week Pass
Sling TV has removed a feature that allowed sports and news fans to subscribe to a handful of channels for as little as 24 hours.
FIRST ON THE DESK
NAD sides against T-Mobile on “break free” claims after Charter complains
In its decision, the advertising review board said T-Mobile wrongfully implied that cable companies forced long-term commitments on cable broadband customers.
FCC formalizes elimination of broadcast ownership cap
The elimination of the ownership cap is still subject to a possible legal challenge that could be filed by opponents in the near future.