Mediagazer: Some top YouTube channels are spending millions on production; Mr. Beast says he spent $3.5M on his Squid Game video, a budget reminiscent of prestige TV (Simon Owens/Simon Owens's Media Newsletter)

3:10 PM ET, December 6, 2021

Top News:

CNN says it has fired Chris Cuomo after “additional information has come to light” about the help he gave his brother Andrew Cuomo — The network said it had “terminated him, effective immediately,” a move that came days after a lawyer for a former colleague accused the host of sexual misconduct.

Discussion: @cnnpr, Washington Post, @chriscuomo, The Hill, The Wrap, @marceelias, New York Post, CNN, Mediaite, Fox News, American Press Institute, Observer, Vanity Fair, @badfoxgraphics, @brianstelter, Washington Post, @jeremymbarr, @benmullin, Associated Press, @grynbaum, Steve Self-Cancels, @jayrosen_nyu, Los Angeles Times, @jodikantor, The Guardian, Press Watch, @randpaul, @grynbaum, @koblin, Poynter, Los Angeles Times, Slate, National Review, @poynter, NBC News, Newser, NPR, @erikwemple, @juliettekayyem, @sorayamcdonald, TMZ.com, NPR, @juddlegum, @grynbaum, Media Nation, @stevebattaglio, @ericmgarcia, @jodikantor, @benyt, @shoq, @glennbeck, FTVLive, NBC News, MediaPost, @jodikantor, @jodikantor, @jodikantor, @jodikantor, @benyt, @grynbaum, @grynbaum, @michelemclellan, @davidfolkenflik, @davmicrot, @thrasherxy, @janicedean, @ichotiner, @badfoxgraphics, @megjameslat, @baseballot, @jazayerli, @dick_nixon, @rontkim, @grynbaum, @maddoxrules, @jordanchariton, @jayrosen_nyu, @brentbozell, @jadler1969, @iamsophianelson, @benmullin, @studentactivism, @studentactivism, @originalspin, @froomkin, @jbflint, @mayatcontreras, @josephwulfsohn, @davidfolkenflik, @kenklippenstein, @cernovich, @redsteeze, @meganbitchell, @_cingraham, @matthardybrand, @attorneynora, @shoq, @brianstelter, @jeremymbarr, @mollyjongfast, @phil_lewis_, @froomkin, @jasminestylestv, @jdwackrow, @frankconniff, @a_newsman, @elisestefanik, @adriennelaw, @chrisloesch, @erikwemple, @mrbeaks, @lmoses, @erikwemple, @noahshachtman, @noahshachtman, @timheidecker, @erikwemple, @ditzkoff, @alexthomp, @nycsouthpaw, @jeremymbarr, @benyt, @brianstelter, @grynbaum, @sdkstl, Insider, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, E! Online, Financial Times, Fox News, Bloomberg, Axios, Poynter, NPR, Deadline, TVLine, TVNewser, Hollywood Life and CNBC

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: CNN's Cuomo U-turn came after NY AG records, a law firm report, and an unrelated sexual misconduct allegation against him from an ex-ABC colleague — Network boss fired the star anchor on Saturday, leaving a hole in the channel's prime-time lineup

Discussion: New York Post, Associated Press, @asharma, @benmullin, CNN, @wsj, @ewerickson, @yuhline, @pkafka, @jbflint, @benmullin, The Hill, Mediaite, The Wrap and Fox News

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:

BuzzFeed shares fall after rising by as much as 45% in its Nasdaq debut, after raising less than expected from its SPAC — - Company is in talks to make Michael Del Nin its new president — Sector needs ‘strong public company,’ co-founder Peretti says

Discussion: @benmullin, CNN, BuzzFeed, YouTube, CNBC, New York Times, @silviakillings, @kerrymflynn, @tomgara, @rmac18, @sherman4949, @gerryfsmith, @alex and @sherman4949

Peter Kafka / Vox:

A look at BuzzFeed's rocky transformation into a public company, as Bustle CEO says its fate will determine the fortunes of many digital media companies — “The fate of BuzzFeed is going to determine the fortunes of a lot of other companies.” — The transformation from startup to public company is supposed to be a very big deal.

Discussion: @pkafka, Gawker, Financial Times, @pkafka and Fast Company

Matt Schudel / Washington Post:

Fred Hiatt, The Washington Post's editorial page editor since 2000, dies at 66 — Fred Hiatt, a onetime foreign correspondent who in 2000 became The Washington Post's editorial page editor and greatly expanded the global reach of the newspaper's opinion writers in the era of 9/11 …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Disney scraps the FX on Hulu branding two years after it launched, to make FX branding consistent worldwide across its DTC and linear TV services — Disney has decided kill off the “FX on Hulu” name less than two years after it launched — a piece of brand-management microsurgery many people probably won't even notice.

Discussion: The Streamable, The Wrap, Cord Cutters News, Adweek, @sonnybunch, @oliverdarcy, TVLine, Deadline, Decider and Hollywood Reporter

Ben Smith / New York Times:

A document from TikTok's engineering team in Beijing details the app's addictive algorithm, which pursues DAUs by optimizing for “retention” and “time spent” — It's the most successful video app in the world. Our columnist has obtained an internal company document …

Alistair Gray / Financial Times:

GroupM: global ad revenue will reach $763B in 2021, up 18.7% from 2019; Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon control 80-90% of the digital ad market outside of China — Alphabet, Meta and Amazon have doubled their share of ad revenues in past 5 years, industry estimates

Discussion: Ad Age, Wall Street Journal, @megancgraham, Midday Macro, @1br0wn, MediaPost, Digiday, @digitalshields, Hollywood Reporter, The Drum and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Interview with Anna Wintour and Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch as they transform its biggest publications into global brands while streamlining content sharing — Anna Wintour is the embodiment of the glory days of the magazine dynasty. Now she is pitching its global, digital future.

Discussion: @katie_robertson, @heyitsfranklin2, @thepacketrat, @lmoses, @jeffjarvis, @marcatracy, @juliabainbridge, @andreasharsono, @dmitryshishkin, @nytimesbusiness, @benmullin, @katie_robertson, @theferocity, @katie_robertson and @baekdal

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Analysis of 200K+ articles from 65 news sites: coverage of Biden for the past four months has been as bad as, or worse than, Trump in the same period of 2020 — A sampling of headlines atop the influential Politico Playbook newsletter over the past month: — “Let the Democratic freakout begin.”

Discussion: @joshtpm, Public Notice, @milbank, @edbott, @milbank, @froomkin, @whcos, @milbank, @tysonbrody, @dkthomp, @kyleclark, @milbank, @milbank, @milbank, @ryanlizza, @ewerickson, @milbank, @mehdirhasan, @cathyndavidson, @jjohnsonlaw, @ryanlizza, @ryanlizza, @soledadobrien, @atrupar, @retiredorrin, @milbank, Today's Edition Newsletter, @gopchairwoman, @tysonbrody, @jesselee46, @adrienneelrod, @wajahatali, @leablackmiami, @elilake, @bobcesca_go, @joyannreid, @marmel, @davidharsanyi, @maggienyt, @realdrothschild, @blueboxdave, @alfonslopeztena, @ericschultz, @josh_moon, @bennettjohnt, @amy_siskind, @donmoyn, @margotroosevelt, @mollyjongfast, @mollyjongfast, @tvietor08, @greenhousenyt, @alexthomp, @mikegehrke, @mikegehrke, @froomkin, @soledadobrien, @protecttruth_, @fred_guttenberg, @jayrosen_nyu, @fpwellman, @natsechobbyist, @mlcalderone, @sulliview, @ericboehlert and New York Post

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

FT says all editorial staff will get a £5,600 bonus as the paper surpassed its revenue expectations for the final quarter and will end the year with profits — Financial Times journalists are to receive bonuses of £5,600 this month after the publisher reported profits “well ahead of our business plan”.

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @alicemuwu, @jerometaylor, @stokel and @niemanlab

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

Some Amazon sellers are backdating books to fool Amazon's algorithms into changing where they appear, often allowing the sellers to charge exorbitant prices — A 2011 thriller was supposed to cost $15. One merchant listed it at $987, with a 17th-century publication date.

Discussion: @bcmerchant, @aaron_renn, @angieholan, @runwithskizzers, Insider, @ravenbookstore, @stacyfmitchell, @mattzollerseitz, @kyweise, @jake_bernstein, @thenuminous1 and @william_m_clark, more at Techmeme »

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More News:

Mia Sato / The Verge:
YouTube publishes its first Copyright Transparency Report, showing H1 2021 had 2.2M+ videos hit with incorrect copyright claims and 729M total copyright claims

Discussion: Engadget, more at Techmeme »

K.J. Yossman / Variety:
UK's Channel 4 issues best practice guidelines on working with disabled talent and adopts recommendations by new pressure group Underlying Health Condition

Josef Adalian / Vulture:
HBO CCO Casey Bloys says 50% of HBO viewership comes from linear, down from 90% in 2011, with the rest from HBO Max, and he's not “rushing” to share ratings

Discussion: nexttv.com

Simon Owens / Simon Owens's Media Newsletter:
Some top YouTube channels are spending millions on production; Mr. Beast says he spent $3.5M on his Squid Game video, a budget reminiscent of prestige TV

Discussion: @ashkan and @jessesingal

Reuters:
Analysis: at least 25 US election workers were targeted by 100+ violent threats or hostile messages citing the Gateway Pundit since the 2020 election

Discussion: @dangillmor and @bradheath

Earlier Picks:

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Profile of Twitch streamer Tyler Steinkamp, including the loneliness and rage that comes with streaming game battles and real-world moments for 50 hours a week

Discussion: Bloomberg, MargeM newsletter, @s_m_i, @jadedcreative, @wplyndarobinson, @micahloewinger, Protocol, @brianstelter, @drvolts and @brandyzadrozny

Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Spotify removed the work of hundreds of comedians, including John Mulaney and Kevin Hart, amid a fight with royalty administration agency Spoken Giants

Discussion: CNN, The A.V. Club, Gizmodo, Mediaite, The Wrap, Consequence, TMZ.com, Rolling Stone, The Verge and Insider

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
Architectural Digest shifts to a global strategy where all 10 editions around the world coordinate content, helping increase traffic and amortize costs

Discussion: @baekdal

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Twitter says it mistakenly suspended 12 accounts after “coordinated and malicious reports” targeted researchers and journalists, and will review its new policy

Jack Shafer / Politico:
With a tiny audience, the cable news industry has devolved from a useful headline service to a 24/7 eldercare operation; few would notice if it disappeared

Discussion: Too Much TV Newsletter, @ericmcdanieldc, @michaelsocolow, @bgrueskin, @danvock, @secnav75, @joanespositochi, @dceiver and @carloslozadawp

From Techmeme:

Richard Lawler / The Verge:
Okta fixes a flaw present since July 23, 2024, that let users log in under specific circumstances with any password if the account's username had 52+ characters

Jeffrey Dastin / Reuters:
Intel's CEO scraps forecast of selling $500M+ worth of Gaudi AI chips in 2024, blaming slower uptake on Gaudi 2 to Gaudi 3 transition and software ease of use

Bloomberg:
Nvidia will replace Intel in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on November 8, after Amazon replaced Walgreens in February 2024; Intel joined the index in 1999

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