A federal appeals court has upheld an injunction won by Cumulus Media against Nielsen, agreeing with a lower court that the ratings giant likely violated antitrust law by leveraging an alleged monopoly over national radio data to pressure broadcasters into buying local data they didn’t want. more

Justice Department officials met with broadcast-television station operators earlier this week as part of its antitrust investigation into the sports-media marketplace, according to people familiar with the matter. more

One of the most consequential legal battles in recent radio history is now on ice, and when, or if, it ever resumes is far from certain. A federal judge has stayed the entire Cumulus Media antitrust lawsuit against Nielsen following Cumulus’ filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. more

By entering into negotiations with Ottawa, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has tacitly conceded that it needs news content and that it is valuable for Meta. You might think that, having conceded this, Meta would do what normal companies do and pay for this vital input to its business. more

The chairman of the Senate’s antitrust subcommittee is raising concerns over Netflix’s proposed acquisition of the Warner Bros. movie-and-television studios and HBO Max streaming service.  more

A federal judge has agreed to limit how many details are released as part of Cumulus Media’s ongoing antitrust lawsuit against Nielsen. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas says the “interest in protecting confidential business information outweighs the qualified First Amendment presumption of public access.” more

A federal judge in New York has granted Cumulus Media’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Nielsen, blocking enforcement of Nielsen’s Network Policy in contract negotiations and establishing a competitive pricing benchmark for nationwide radio ratings sold as a standalone product. more

A Manhattan federal judge concluded that the issue of Google’s liability for its monopoly on technology used by publishers to buy and sell online advertising was already decided by a judge in the Eastern District of Virginia. more

Whatever remedy emerges, behavioral or structural, the outcome may end up being less of a reckoning and more of a temporary lift: a float for an ad-funded internet still trying to figure out what comes next. Here’s what to know as the industry braces for the fallout. more

A federal court will begin hearing testimony to decide what penalties company should face for unlawful practices in digital-ads software business more

Judge Amit P. Mehta said the company must hand over some of its search data to rivals, but did not force other big changes the U.S. wanted. more

The transfer marks a milestone in the fight against tech companies that featured journalism on their platforms but failed to compensate companies creating the content. more

Google has exploited its dominance of the internet search market to lock out competitors and smother innovation, the Department of Justice charged Tuesday at the opening of the biggest U.S. antitrust trial in a quarter century. more

European Union regulators filed new antitrust charges against Google, which could lead to fines and orders for the company to change its business practices. more

With Alden Global Capital’s recent acquisition of the Tribune Publishing newspaper chain, the country has reached a troubling milestone: half of the daily newspaper circulation in America is now owned by hedge funds. This is a real threat to democracy because hedge funds and private equity firms have a track record of cutting the reporting staff of local newsrooms to increase profits. more

In 2020, digital was a double-edged sword. It brought us closer together as in-person meetings and events moved online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it divided us even more as misinformation and hate speech circulated dangerously on various social media platforms. more