Venture capitalists again are interested in media startups, as long as they mostly focus on direct revenue via premium subscription and events.

Why it matters: They had paused after it became clear that digital publishers couldn't grow sustainably via social and search traffic.

💰 Zoom out: Now that newer outlets are investing in direct revenue channels, the market is a little frothier.

• Puck is in late-stage talks with private investment firm RedBird Capital Partners in a deal that values the outlet around $250 million, Axios confirmed. Puck was on track to make more than $20 million in revenue last year, excluding its acquisition of Air Mail.
• Semafor raised $30 million at a $330 million post-money valuation in January. Its revenue was roughly $40 million in 2025.
• The Free Press was acquired by Paramount Skydance in a deal valuing the company at $150 million last year. At the time, it reportedly earned over $15 million in annual revenue.
• Punchbowl was valued at $100 million in 2023, with an estimated $20 million in annual revenue. Its business is sustainably bigger today.
• Front Office Sports, which sold a majority stake to RedBird IMI in 2024, has not publicly released any valuation figures, but its founder and CEO Adam White says the company expects to cross $20 million in revenue this year, up from $6 million two years ago.

Between the lines: RedBird Capital Partners is a common denominator among several of those transactions.

• The investment firm was an investor in Paramount Skydance when it acquired The Free Press. It was an early investor in Air Mail, and it became an investor in Puck when Puck acquired that business.

🤳 What to watch: Creator platforms focused on industry coverage are attracting venture dollars.

• WorkWeek, a newsletter platform for B2B creators, raised $17 million last week in a round led by Next Coast Ventures with participation from Aperiam Ventures.
• Beehiiv raised $33 million in 2024 in a round led by NEA.

The bottom line: "The best media brands today are ones that matter to their audiences and not to algorithms," said White.

• "Just like other types of asset classes, high-quality media brands with diversified revenue bases that matter to their audiences are hard to come by."

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The explosive success of TBPN, a live tech talk show startup acquired by OpenAI, has inspired Silicon Valley news personalities and investors to launch their own live shows.

Why it matters: Years of podcast momentum have trained Silicon Valley enthusiasts to appreciate long-form video and candid conversations.

• Live shows also create scarcity and showcase human expertise in the AI era.

🤖 Driving the news: The Information is launching a weekly live show focused on the technology behind the artificial intelligence boom, executives told Axios.

• It's part of a broader video push by the outlet, which chief advertising officer Lindsay Meech says is pacing to become an eight-figure revenue business by 2027.
• "AI Deep Dive," hosted by reporter Rocket Drew, is the second major video show from The Information, following the launch of its first daily live show "TITV," last year.

📱 What to watch: "AI Deep Dive" is the latest in a slew of new live shows hitting the social feeds of prominent investors and tech professionals.

• Longtime CNBC anchor Deirdre Bosa left the network last month to launch her own daily live video show.
• The New York Stock Exchange launched a live weekday morning show called "NYSE TV Live" in 2024.
• Other entrepreneurs have launched their own micro live shows, including "Stabledash" for investors and "MTS Live," an X-based show backed by a16z, among others.

More on "AI Deep Dive."

A historic California bill that provides a refundable employment tax credit for qualifying local news organizations could soon become law, pending Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature.

Why it matters: Local news advocates believe the first-of-its kind measure, if signed into law, would represent the country's largest single-state investment in community news ever.

• "This bill is the big one," said Steven Waldman, founder and president of the Rebuild Local News coalition, which sponsored the bill. "It's where we have planted the flag as the ideal."

Zoom in: The measure — which passed California's Senate on Sunday and Assembly yesterday — gives refundable tax credits to qualifying local newsrooms for employing full- and part-time journalists.

• Because the tax credit is open-ended, many newsrooms qualify.

✍️ Yes, but: Newsom hasn't indicated whether he plans to sign the bill.

• California tax groups have strongly opposed the measure, arguing the bill represents bad tax policy.

Zoom out: Rebuild Local News aims to contribute $1 billion to local newsrooms annually via new policy measures — mainly tax provisions that don't put editorial pressure on newsrooms.

• It estimates that policy initiatives passed across six states — California, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Washington — will collectively contribute $82 million to local newsrooms this year.

📰 The big picture: More states are passing laws to support local news amid a lack of relief at the federal level.

• Vermont's Republican Gov. Phil Scott issued a pioneering executive order in July to steer government ad dollars to local news outlets.
• Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, enacted a first-in-the-nation tax on targeted ads from major tech firms that directs money, in part, to civic information programs like local news.

Go deeper with Media Trends Executive.

President Trump yesterday called on Congress to pass a bipartisan federal tax incentive for movie and TV productions in the U.S., after meeting with actor Jon Voight to discuss the issue.

🎞️ Why it matters: The effort is being welcomed by the film industry, which has long pushed for a federal tax credit.

• In a statement yesterday, Motion Picture Association chair and CEO Charles Rivkin lauded a federal incentive as "a landmark step," and applauded President Trump's support.

The big picture: The president's new position marks a shift away from his previously stated threat to impose tariffs on film imports, which critics argued was impossible to impose, given that tariffs aren't applied to services.

• That threat — made last spring and reiterated again last fall — had studios worried that foreign markets could consider retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made films.
• America is the top exporter of films globally by far, with export value running at three times imports, according to the Motion Picture Association.

🌍 Zoom out: For years, Hollywood has lamented that unless the federal government did more to incentivize production domestically, it would have no choice but to outsource production to markets overseas, such as the U.K. and Canada, which offer production tax credits.

• While individual states have rushed to implement their own tax credits, the lack of a federal standard has created an arms race.

Between the lines: Today, 38 U.S. states have introduced their own credit programs.

• California, facing enormous pressure to retain production jobs, expanded its credit program last year. A separate tax for the post-production industry has passed the state legislature and is awaiting a signature from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Context: A federal tax credit would complement existing state efforts.

• Industry lobbyists hope a federal tax credit would compensate studios for up to 20% of qualifying domestic production costs.

🐘 What to watch: Whether President Trump's endorsement gets Republicans on board to negotiate a bill with Democrats.

• California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff has suggested Republicans needed a signal of support from the White House to move on the issue.

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The FTC and a bipartisan group of nearly two dozen state attorneys general sued Amazon yesterday in federal court.

Why it matters: It's the first major federal lawsuit against Amazon that focuses specifically on its ad business.

⚖️ Zoom in: The lawsuit alleges Amazon overcharged more than 1.2 million advertisers by adding secret surcharges and inflating rates during its ad auctions.

• It claims those practices generated over $20 billion in revenue for Amazon.
• Amazon called the lawsuit "misguided" and said it "strongly disagrees" with its claims.

Zoom out: The Amazon lawsuit comes days after Meta's historic settlement with 51 U.S. state and territory attorneys general.

• That settlement represented one of the largest government penalties ever levied on a Big Tech firm anywhere.

🇪🇺 The big picture: For years, European regulators have taken the lead in targeting Big Tech companies. Now, U.S. officials are catching up.

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In premiering its "Grand Theft Auto VI" trailer exclusively as a Netflix livestream last Thursday, Rockstar Games proved that advertising can be must-see TV.

Why it matters: For decades, brands have relied on live TV to advertise around appointment viewing. Rockstar Games has turned that dynamic on its head.

📈 Zoom in: The 27-minute sneak peek sent Netflix traffic soaring Thursday, according to data from Sensor Tower.

• During the hour of the reveal, U.S. Netflix app users jumped 35% compared with the hour before the premiere.
• App users rose 50% compared with the same time the day before.

🎮 Zoom out: The game's blockbuster teaser foreshadows its commercial potential ahead of its release this November.

• Rockstar Games reportedly spent over $1 billion on the latest installment.
• The Netflix premiere gave gamers a coveted peek at the first "GTA" game in over a decade, although some leaked footage hit the internet over the last week.

The bottom line: The trailer, according to Sensor Tower data, has sent preorders through the roof.

• It estimates nearly 5 million copies of the game have been preordered to date, with the vast majority opting for the more expensive "ultimate edition" option.

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Apple's new CEO John Ternus, who officially takes over today, is inheriting an advertising and subscription behemoth built by his predecessor Tim Cook over the past 15 years.

Why it matters: The growth of Apple's services business — which includes ads, as well as subscriptions to Apple Music, iCloud, Apple News, Apple TV+ and more — has helped offset slowing hardware sales for years, allowing Apple to remain competitive in the global AI race.

By the numbers: Revenue from Apple's services sector today represents more than a quarter of Apple's business, compared with around 9% when Cook first became chief executive in 2011.

• The company now boasts more than 1.5 billion subscriptions as of last quarter, up from 1 billion announced three years ago.

The bottom line: Under Steve Jobs, Apple became one of the most effective marketers in the world.

• Under Cook, it's built a lucrative advertising business of its own.