The Brief – Wednesday 27 May: Goalhanger’s venture arm; Sky ad deal with News UK; Spotify launching narrated long-form magazine articles

Welcome to The Brief, The Media Leader’s round-up of media news.

Andy Brown, a veteran of media research, died on Thursday, aged 63. During his career, Brown had worked as chairman and CEO of Kantar Media, CEO of the Attention Council, and chair of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM), among other leading roles. (Celebrating Andy Brown)

💸 Goalhanger has launched a venture capital arm, Goalhanger Ventures. Its first investment is in Charlie Tymon’s Invisible Media, which operates the YouTube channel Invisible Hand. It has also inked a partnership with sports creator brand Backyard Cricket. (Deadline)

⚽ Prime Minister Keir Starmer has written to TNT Sports asking the broadcaster to make next weekend’s Champions League final free to view. The fixture, between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain, is set for next Saturday evening. It would mark the first time British viewers are unable to watch the final free of charge. (The Guardian)

📱 The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has said there is an “overwhelming consensus” that time spent on screens and social media is harmful to children, with chair Jeanette Dickson likening the issue to smoking or seatbelts. However, there is not yet consensus among the wider scientific community. (BBC)

📺 Sky has signed an integrated advertising deal with News UK to promote its Sky Glass product ahead of the World Cup. Sky Glass will be integrated into a range of advertising and sponsorship executions across The Sun, Times Media and talkSPORT. (News UK)

📰 New York Times publisher AG Sulzberger criticised other news outlets for caving to White House pressure in a speech at Yale Law School last week. He warned the Trump administration is tamping down on press freedom, and called out the likes of CBS for altering programming, personnel and policies under new owner David Ellison. Some outlets, he said, have settled “winnable” legal cases and adopted Trump’s favoured language in reporting. (Politico)

🚆 Trainline has partnered with Lumen Research, finding that ads in the Trainline app generate twice the “attentive seconds per 1,000 impressions” than the average mobile display format. (Trainline)

🗣️ Spotify has launched a new format for narrated long-form magazine articles. More than 650 such articles, from publications including Rolling Stone, The Altnatic, Vogue, Variety, Billboard, Vibe, GQ, Wired, Vanity Fair and Pitchfork are now available to premium users in English in regions where Spotify’s audiobooks products are available. Free users can purchase narrated pieces for $1.99 per article. (The Verge)

🎵 Universal Music Group (UMG) has reached a new multi-year licensing agreement with TikTok. The agreement includes stipulations that TikTok better remove unauthorised AI-generated music and improve how artists are credited. (UMG)