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The Paris Olympics have come to a close with a joyous closing ceremony, marking the end of a two-week period that boosted spirits in the French capital. However, as the games end, France will return to political chaos, with President Emmanuel Macron facing pressure to name a prime minister who can survive a no-confidence vote. Despite initial challenges, the city successfully hosted the Olympics, with no major issues and mostly cooperative weather. The French medal haul of 64 medals, the most since 1900, contributed to the positive atmosphere. Macron plans to continue the celebration with a ceremony to thank workers and a parade for French Olympians. [Extracted from the article]

Byline: Sam Schechner and Parmy Olson Apr 08, 2019 (The Australian - ABIX via COMTEX) -- Governments are increasingly seeking to make global technology companies more accountable for material disseminated [...]

The European Union has initiated investigations into Apple, Meta (formerly Facebook), and Google under its new digital-competition law. These probes are the first under the EU's Digital Markets Act, which aims to promote competition in digital advertising, online search, and app ecosystems. The investigations will focus on issues such as app-store rules, personal data usage, and compliance with new regulations. If found in violation, the companies could face fines of up to 10% of their worldwide revenue. The EU intends to conclude the investigations within the next year. [Extracted from the article]

The Wall Street Journal conducted an experiment using automated accounts on TikTok to understand what kind of content the app shows young users about the Israel-Hamas conflict. The bots, registered as 13-year-old users, were served highly polarized and fear-inducing videos about the conflict, with a majority supporting the Palestinian view. While some videos were posted by news organizations, the majority were posted by influencers, activists, anonymous accounts, and the Israeli government. TikTok's algorithm, which determines what content to serve based on user engagement, makes it challenging for researchers and parents to understand the experiences of young users on the app. TikTok claims that the Journal's experiment does not reflect the experiences of real teens on the platform. The app has implemented family-control features and removed millions of videos with shocking, violent, hateful, and harmful content. However, the experiment revealed that even with restricted mode enabled, the bots were still inundated with war-related content. The content served to the bots was mostly pro-Palestinian, but pro-Israel videos were also interspersed, including those from the Israeli military and government. The experiment highlights the potential impact of TikTok on young users and the need for parents and researchers to understand the content they may encounter on the app. [Extracted from the article]

Viacom Inc. reports that profit for the quarter ended September 30 dropped 59% to $189 million from $463 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 5% to $3.33 billion. Viacom is negotiating the sale of its Harmonix video game unit.

In interview, NBC Universal's Jeff Zucker discusses his tenure as chief executive and his company's planned takeover by Comcast Corp.

Viacom Inc. sough more than $1 billion in damages from Google Inc., claiming that Google's YouTube unit exploited Viacom's copyrighted material for profit. Google argued that YouTube was protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. A federal judge ruled in favor of Google, but Viacom said it will appeal the ruling.

Weeks before the release of its iPad, Apple Inc. is negotiating with media companies and publishers to secure content for its new tablet computer, but providers are hesitant to reduce prices over concerns it might affect revenue.

Discovery Communications Inc., Sony Corp. and Imax Corp. are planning to launch a 3-D television network next year. Separately, sports network ESPN announced it will launch its own 3-D channel in the U.S. later this year.

After buying Vivendi S.A.'s 20% stake in NBC Universal for $5.8 million, General Electric Co. will transfer majority ownership of NBC to Comcast Corp. for about $13.75 billion in cash and assets. Comcast will oversee a conglomerate -including NBC, several cable television networks, a film studio, and theme parks- that generates about $51 billion in revenue.

Following Vivendi S.A.'s sale of its 20% stake in NBC Universal to General Electric Co. for $5.8 billion, GE is expected to transfer control of NBC Universal to Comcast Corp. after creating a joint venture that would include the television network, several other cable television networks, and the Universal Studios film company and theme parks. The resulting entity would surpass Time Warner Inc. and Walt Disney Co. with annual assets of about $51 billion.

General Electric Co. seeks to accelerate negotiations to acquire Vivendi S.A.'s 20% stake in NBC Universal. The companies are yet to agree on the value of the stake. GE owns 80% of NBC Universal.

Vivendi S.A. will buy Television Francaise 1 S.A.'s 9.9% stake in pay-television provider Canal Plus France for 744 million euro. The transaction raises Vivendi's stake in Canal Plus to 75% from 65%. Vivendi also offered to buy M6-Metropole Television S.A.'s stake of 5.1% in Canal Plus France.

Vivendi S.A. has expressed interest in selling its 20% stake in film and television company NBC Universal, majority owned by General Electric Co. The value of NBC Universal has been reported in the range of $24 billion to $35 billion. The sale of the stake could be beneficial to GE and cable operator Comcast Corp.'s planned merger of NBC Universal and Comcast's television networks.

Byline: SAM SCHECHNER AND ELIZABETH HOLMES INTERNET Disney signals shift in digital strategy with Hulu stake Walt Disney Co. DIS-N took a major step to reshape the Web-TV landscape by [...]

Discovery Communications Inc. claims it owns the patent to technology used in Amazon.com Inc.'s electronic book reader Kindle. Discovery filed a lawsuit against Amazon in a U.S. District Court in Delaware.

Marcus Brauchli announces he will step down as managing editor for The Wall Street Journal while remaining as consultant for the periodical's parent company, News Corp. Article discusses expected executive and editorial changes at the periodical, and News Corp.'s plans to increase the Journal's readership.

ON a recent blustery Sunday afternoon in downtown Manhattan, a classical composer named Andrew Shapiro was performing a solo piano concert -- a collection of short rhythmic pieces he calls […]

EVEN after waiting outside in an insistent wind for more than two hours, Jeffrey Babbitt was eager to talk to strangers about the first time he drove a New York […]

Byline: Schechner, Sam General Electric Co's NBC Universal, Time Warner Inc, News Corp, and Viacom Inc are among the media companies to hear Amazon.com Inc's pitch for a new Internet [...]