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 »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 3:10 PM ET, December 6, 2021.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

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:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says the DOJ's “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision”, would hurt US consumers, and jeopardize the US' global tech leadership

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page