A White House Correspondents' Association member last week sent an email to select WHCA members informing them that regular access to the White House campus "will NOT be permitted on June 14, the day of the UFC fight," and that "the UFC — not the White House — is handling all press credentials for covering the event."

Why it matters: Outsourcing press credentialing and access for a White House-hosted event to a commercial third party is highly unusual and historically unprecedented.

• Then again, so is the nature of the event.

🥊 State of play: The White House press pool and UFC-credentialed media are the only outlets that will have full access to the White House campus that day, two sources confirmed.

• Other outlets "will not be able to access the White House North Lawn/Pebble Beach, the briefing room or press workspaces on the day of the fight," the WHCA member said in their note.
• According to the note, there will be media zones set up for the press at the Ellipse and a press file at the JW Marriott for credentialed media, they noted.
• "The White House has credentialed 35 members of the press pool — expanded from the traditional 21 members — and they will provide full coverage on the South Lawn for the duration of UFC Freedom 250," White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said in a statement.
• Paramount and UFC did not comment.

Context: The press booths serve as offices for many White House reporters and producers during shifts.

• Even on a weekend, the press area often hums with on-duty journalists.

Zoom in: The WHCA member said in their note that the WHCA "pushed back on this, but the White House has held firm so far due to UFC and security restrictions (they're using the [White House North Lawn] as a staging area for fighters/a filming zone for Paramount)."

• "We will continue to push for access to campus for that day," they added.
• A source said the UFC issued credentials to roughly 20 reporters for the event.

🎥 Between the lines: While there was some confusion around whether the outlets assigned to the White House press pool that day would be able to bring a camera to the event, two sources confirmed that issue has been resolved.

• The note sent last week said that no cameras would be allowed "due to Paramount's exclusivity over UFC events." (CBS News' parent Paramount has the exclusive rights to broadcast UFC matches to a pay-per-view audience on Paramount+.)
• The White House, a source noted, pushed the UFC to ensure camera access was allowed for the pool.
• Fox News is the broadcaster assigned to the pool this Sunday.

🎤 Zoom in: The UFC is handling the roughly 20 credentials for journalists that are not assigned to the pool that day.

• Approved outlets include national magazines, like Rolling Stone, and Hollywood and sports trade publications, a source familiar with the credentialing told Axios.
• The WHCA member said in the note that the association has successfully lobbied for an additional four press credentials for the event.

The bottom line: While it's not unusual for leagues to handle credentials for their own events, it is unusual given this event is happening at the White House.

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Paramount has held preliminary conversations with several candidates for a business-side counterpart to CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, according to two sources familiar with the network's inner workings.

Why it matters: The search implies that if Paramount Skydance's deal with Warner Bros. Discovery goes through, Weiss would oversee all news editorial across both CBS News and CNN. Her potential counterpart would manage business operations across both companies.

👀 Zoom in: Paramount leadership is eyeing several top news executives for the role and has started reaching out to candidates, Axios has confirmed.

• Names under consideration include NBCUniversal News Group chair Cesar Conde, CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson and former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim.
• Paramount had also considered Ben Sherwood, The Daily Beast's CEO and former ABC News president, and David Rhodes, former CBS News president and current Sky News executive chair, according to a source familiar with the search.
• While Paramount awaits regulatory approval to acquire WBD, Paramount executives are not allowed to have conversations with any WBD executives, which would include Thompson.

How it works: Currently, Tom Cibrowski serves as president of CBS News alongside Weiss and reports to George Cheeks, chair of TV media at Paramount. Weiss reports directly to David Ellison, chair and CEO of Paramount.

• Former CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon oversaw all business operations at CBS News, as well as CBS News' local stations and CBS Media Ventures, which runs syndicated programming.
• She resigned last year before Ellison's movie studio, Skydance, merged with Paramount. A direct replacement for her role was never announced. Media Ventures and local stations are not part of Weiss' remit.

⏱️ The big picture: The search for a business-side counterpart for Weiss comes as chaos envelops CBS News' flagship program "60 Minutes."

• While a report suggested Paramount bosses were possibly eyeing ways to limit Weiss' purview over linear coverage, a source familiar with the scouting process for this role told Axios that Weiss' position is secure.
• "The Paramount brass loves Bari Weiss. She has the full confidence of David Ellison, who believes Bari has done a fantastic job as editor-in-chief," the source told us. "Bari has been involved with identifying people she would partner with on the business side."

What's next: The search hasn't concluded, and the conversations continue, the source said.

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While U.S. federal regulators are expected to approve the Paramount-WBD merger, several Democratic state attorneys general and European regulators are still evaluating the merger.

💭 Our thought bubble: Hiring a business-side counterpart to Weiss could alleviate some of the public relations pressure around the deal.

State of play: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said today it will formally launch an investigation into Paramount's takeover of WBD tomorrow.

• It has until Aug. 7 to announce whether it will refer the merger for the second phase of an investigation.
• Last week, Bloomberg reported that Paramount is open to selling some of its children's TV network assets to help win EU regulatory approval.

⚖️ Back home, state attorneys general from California and New York are reportedly part of a group that is preparing a lawsuit to block the deal.

• California Attorney General Rob Bonta has already said that the state's Department of Justice has an opened investigation into the deal and that "we intend to be vigorous in our review."

What they're saying: "We continue to engage constructively with regulators, including state attorneys general, and are always prepared to address legitimate, clearly articulated antitrust concerns," a Paramount spokesperson said. "However, we do not believe any aspect of this transaction raises such concerns."

• "To the contrary, this is a pro-competitive transaction that will create a stronger competitor with the scale, flexibility and resources needed to compete more effectively for audiences, premium content and creative talent," they added.

Chptr, a tech startup that places video obituaries on local television, has raised a $5.5 million Series A round backed by CityRock, Hearst, Sinclair and iHeartMedia, founder and CEO Rehan Choudhry tells Axios.

Why it matters: The funds will help the company expand from obituaries to a broader set of classifieds, including wedding announcements, real estate listings, hiring announcements and more, Choudhry said.

• It will also help expand its footprint to radio, digital websites and Spanish-language television.

📢 How it works: Chptr charges a monthly fee to local businesses, like funeral homes, to place local broadcast TV announcements, such as obituaries.

• It works with local broadcast partners to hold time blocks where they can distribute daily videos that are typically 30 seconds to two minutes long.

The big picture: By prebooking the airtime, local businesses get consistent ad rates and broadcasters can sell inventory consistently to businesses they typically don't work with.

• Companies like Hearst, Sinclair and iHeartMedia are betting on the future of hyperlocal storytelling, in addition to serving as distribution partners.

💰 By the numbers: The new funds bring Chptr's total raised amount to nearly $10 million.

• Choudhry raised a pre-seed round of roughly $2.4 million in 2021. He raised a $1.6 million seed round when he formally launched the company in 2023.
• Chptr launched with six local TV station partners and six funeral homes in 2023. Today, it works with more than 300 funeral homes nationwide, and with at least one major local broadcaster in every major demographic market area in the country.

Catch up quick: The business was originally launched after Choudhry's wife, CBS New York anchor Jessica Moore, spent the pandemic reporting on lives lost during COVID.

• Choudhry and Moore began creating broadcast-quality memorial stories for families and tried to place them in creative ways with local broadcasters.
• They quickly realized that their idea could address a much larger problem by helping local businesses and community institutions broadly access cheaper ad inventory through a self-service system.

What's next: The company is looking to launch with Spanish-language broadcasters in Texas.

• 📻 It's also looking to expand its business from mostly TV to radio and broadcasters' digital websites, Choudhry said.
• 📣 It will soon launch a pilot with larger companies announcing employee hires, promotions and retirements.

Bending Spoons, an Italian holding company that buys and seeks to revitalize legacy tech brands, filed yesterday for a U.S. IPO that could fetch around a $20 billion valuation.

Why it matters: This would be a return to the public markets for AOL, Eventbrite and Vimeo, all now owned by Bending Spoons.

How it works: Bending Spoons buys tech assets with large user bases and invests in their turnaround with technology improvements.

• It bought AOL, for example, from Apollo Global Management last year in a deal valued at roughly $1.5 billion.
• The company tends to sit on its investments long term after acquiring them.

🔭 Zoom out: The company has looked to expand its cap table in recent months to help it quickly secure debt when time-sensitive deal opportunities arise.

• Last year, it raised $710 million in equity at an $11 billion pre-money valuation.
• The deal included $270 million in primary capital that can be used to make acquisitions, Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari told Axios at the time.