Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Roku and WarnerMedia have reached an agreement to distribute HBO Max on the Roku platform, starting Thursday — Roku and WarnerMedia have reached an agreement for the distribution of the HBO Max on the Roku platform — nearly seven months after the streaming service launched.
Discussion:
Axios, MediaPost, /Film, Business Insider, The Wrap, Awful Announcing, The Desk, TechCrunch, CNBC, Light Reading, ComingSoon.net, Wall Street Journal, UPROXX, @ercboxoffice, @sarafischer, @richlightshed, @j_m_wood, @kateaurthur, TVLine, @curtishouck, @sarafischer, FierceVideo, IndieWire, The Hill, Cord Cutters News and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
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Hollywood Reporter:
Inside Warner Bros.' plan to debut movies on HBO Max, as CEO Ann Sarnoff says partners were not told before because of fears the news would leak — As the long-delayed DC Comics sequel finally debuts — on HBO Max and in theaters — it serves as the litmus test for an unprecedented release strategy.
Discussion:
@getfandom, @boomborks, @griffschiller, @ser_jon_arryn, @theflitecast, ScreenRant, @aaroncouch, @thatrebecca, IndieWire and PC Gamer
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Substack launches Substack Reader, an RSS reader for tracking newsletter subscriptions and other feeds, in beta — Substack Reader is now available in beta — If you're worried about all your newsletter subscriptions getting lost in your inbox, Substack may have a solution.
Discussion:
@substackinc, Substack Blog, @fvogelstein, @hshaban, @lpolgreen, @charlesflehman, @jaredbkeller, @luca, Engadget, 9to5Mac, @rklau, @film_girl, @pratikpoddar, @jackmarshall, @samueljscott, @jbenton, @caseynewton, @davewiner, @lukeoneil47, @seldo, @can, @chrismessina, @carnage4life, @badastronomer, @grayblue, @alexeheath, @alexlmiller, @stammy, @michaelroston, @jamievaron, @nathanblawrence, @aripap, @davidcho, @pjvogt, @pierce, @mylesudland and Disjointed, more at Techmeme »
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Jacob Cohen Donnelly / A Media Operator:
A publisher of newsletters on digital media discusses the product and philosophical reasons he is leaving Substack, including lack of control over email lists — It was almost a year ago that I wrote a piece about me getting ready to leave Substack. I was spending the holiday season rebuilding the site on WordPress.
Discussion:
Fred's Newsletter, @annehelen, @mathewi, @prsarahevans, @jarroddicker, @iankar_, @tomcritchlow and @jryedinak, more at Techmeme »
Axios:
Texas AG says the state and nine others have filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming Google illegally hurt competition in the ad tech market — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday that he's leading a lawsuit against Google, accusing the search giant of taking illegal actions …
Discussion:
@txag, New York Times, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Wired, @kevinroose, MediaPost, Ad Age, MIT Technology Review, @markscott82, New York Post, @slpng_giants, @kostasrossoglou, Reuters, Adweek, Financial Times, Associated Press, Vox, Breitbart, @tonyromm, @jason_kint, @mmasnick, @jasonabbruzzese, @joshsternberg, @mikebaz, @daiwaka, @tonyromm, @matthewstoller, @pkafka, CNBC, nexttv.com, @alecstapp, @karlbode, @ashk4n, @neoavatara, @emilybell, TechCrunch, Law & Crime, The Verge, @ineteconomics, The Week, @russellbrandom, @lutherlowe, @dseetharaman, @kantrowitz, @bmorrissey, Business Insider, Mashable, The Wrap, Engadget and Skift, more at Techmeme »
Jack Morse / Mashable:
Twitter says it will stop prompting users to Quote Tweet, restoring the standard RT functionality, and says QT use increased but overall sharing dropped by 20% — Well, it was worth a shot. — Twitter announced Wednesday that it will cease prompting users to quote tweet in lieu of the standard retweet.
Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:
Pubs like BI and WaPo are partnering with non-publisher brands in sectors like health to attract new subs; WSJ now has 40+ bundling partnerships in 25 countries — It's a new era of subscription bundling and it's a lot more sophisticated than selling readers on a two-for-one deal.
Discussion:
@_bmturner_ and @jackmarshall
Tatiana Siegel / Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: Biden is considering Bob Iger for a key ambassadorship, either to China or the UK, and Jeffrey Katzenberg is also being considered — The Disney executive chairman is at the top of the president-elect's wish list for a diplomatic assignment with the DreamWorks and Quibi mogul also in the mix.
Discussion:
The War Room, National Review, @albertomiguelf5, @repgallagher, @stanyeahman, @jaxalemany, @oknox, @ewong, @swanniontv, @repmarkwalker, @alexburnsnyt, @jrubinblogger, @aalali44, @sepinwall, @beijingpalmer, @joshrogin, @matthewstoller, @robillard, @alexsalvinews, @jacobdfilm, @zaidjilani, The Hill and The Week
David Pierce / Protocol:
A look at Reelgood, which lets users watch content from 300+ streaming services in the same app and says it now has 6M users, up from 2M at the start of 2020 — David Sanderson's journey to fix the future of TV started with a simple and extremely familiar problem: He canceled cable and suddenly couldn't find anything to watch.
Discussion:
@pierce
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Google says its new Chromecast with Google TV will get an Apple TV app in early 2021, giving users access to TV+ originals and iTunes purchases — Coming in early 2021 to the Chromecast with Google TV — Google's latest Chromecast with Google TV is filling in one of its biggest missing apps …
Discussion:
The Keyword, The Streamable, Pocket-lint, Engadget, @richlightshed, The Desk, @richlightshed, @cgartenberg, @joemaring1, @chriswelch and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »
Manuel Vonau / Android Police:
Netflix is rolling out a Video Off button at the top of the full-screen video player and an audio only mode in settings for its Android app — Netflix might not be playing nicely with Google TV for some reason, but the company is pouring tons of resources into its Android app.
Discussion:
Variety, 9to5Google, @bjhiddenjokes, @derekmross, io9, Engadget and CNET, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Facebook attacks Apple in full-page newspaper ads, claiming upcoming iOS 14 changes that limit data gathering and targeted ads are bad for small businesses — - Ads criticize Apple's plan to require opt-in for ad tracking — Facebook placed ads in the NYT, WSJ and Washington Post
Discussion:
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