Shari Redstone Faces a Choice: A Deal for Paramount or Her Family Company
The controlling shareholder of Paramount Global in coming days will weigh whether to approve a merger of the entertainment company with Skydance Media after a special committee of its board agreed to recommend that deal, or pursue a sale of her family’s holding company at a premium, people familiar with the situation said.
Redstone’s National Amusements owns 77% of the voting shares of Paramount, as well as a movie-theater chain. She has been a champion of a potential Paramount merger with Skydance, a production company whose CEO is David Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
But with that deal within reach, Redstone is weighing the alternative path of only selling National Amusements, which would transfer control of Paramount to someone else but may not lead to a merger with another entertainment company. Redstone has yet to see the terms of the latest Skydance offer, according to people close to the situation. [WSJ]
Amazon introduces AI-powered search for Fire TV devices.
Google’s A.I. Search Leaves Publishers Scrambling
In May, Google announced that the A.I.-generated summaries, which compile content from news sites and blogs on the topic being searched, would be made available to everyone in the United States. And that change has publishing executives worried that the paragraphs pose a big danger to their brittle business model, by sharply reducing the amount of traffic to their sites from Google.
Media executives said in interviews that Google had left them in a vexing position. They want their sites listed in Google’s search results, which for some outlets can generate more than half of their traffic. But doing that means Google can use their content in AI Overviews summaries.
Publishers could also try to protect their content from Google by forbidding its web crawler from sharing any content snippets from their sites. But then their links would show up without any description, making people less likely to click.
Godzilla Minus One Is Now Available on Netflix
In addition to Netflix, Godzilla Minus One is also available to rent or buy across the usual digital storefronts.
GODZILLA MINUS ONE
— Netflix (@netflix) June 1, 2024
NOW ON NETFLIX! pic.twitter.com/EU4469oRfm
Before arriving on digital platforms, Godzilla Minus One helped celebrate the 70th anniversary of Godzilla by becoming a global critical success with a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, and commercial success as it became the highest grossing Japanese live-action film in US Box Office History as well as the #3 top grossing Foreign Film in US Box Office History.
