Top News:
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Vox Media agrees to merge with Group Nine; Vox CEO Jim Bankoff will run the combined company, while Group Nine founder and CEO Ben Lerer will join its board — Vox CEO Jim Bankoff would run the combined company, which would own New York magazine, PopSugar, The Verge, Vox and Thrillist.
Discussion:
Vox Media, @katie_robertson, New York Times, Vox, @tedleonsis, @meredithbalkus, @loudmouthjulia, Axios, @rafat, @voxmedia, @lanceulanoff, @sarafischer, @film_girl, @gjbarb, @tolles, @dicktofel, @bankoff, @pkafka, @rypauley, @davidfolkenflik, The Information, The Wrap, Deadline, Press Gazette and Wall Street Journal
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
Fox News hosts Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, and Brian Kilmeade texted Mark Meadows on January 6, urging him to get Trump to tell people to leave the Capitol — Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Brian Kilmeade expressed alarm, concern, according to messages shared during House select committee hearing.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, @oliverdarcy, @justinbaragona, Washington Post, Media Matters for America, The Guardian, Mediaite, Insider, The Bulwark, @jeremymbarr, American Press Institute, The Daily Beast, The Week, @sarahlongwell25, Politico, @asharangappa_, Pew Research Center, @theplumlinegs, @theplumlinegs, The Daily Beast, @steve_vladeck, Letters from an American, @ser1897, @mehdirhasan, @timodc, @brianrayguitar, @sykescharlie, @peltzmadeline, @amandacarpenter, @brianrayguitar, @timodc, @joyannreid, @jannwolfe, @maggienyt, Newser, Four Freedoms, @therickwilson, @davidfolkenflik, @samstein, @justinbaragona, The Hill, @juliettekayyem, @casssemyon, @emptywheel, @anneapplebaum, @chrismegerian, @tonypaul1984, @cliffordlevy, @billkristol, UPROXX, Fox News, The Independent, NBC News, HuffPost, Mediaite, Yahoo News, UPROXX, NPR, Insider, The Wrap, Rolling Stone, Boing Boing, Hollywood Reporter, Raw Story, Deadline, Mediaite, New York Post, Insider and abc7NY
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Former THR co-president Janice Min partners with Richard Rushfield to expand The Ankler, Rushfield's paid Substack newsletter about Hollywood — Janice Min, a media executive in Los Angeles, is joining forces with Richard Rushfield, a show-business columnist, to start a new media business …
Axios:
Source: 1.6M+ readers pay for the Guardian, of which 1M make recurring payments for digital content, 100K are print subscribers, and 500K make one-off donations — The Guardian now has 1 million people that pay for its digital content on a recurrent basis, Axios has learned.
Discussion:
@sarafischer, @rasmus_kleis, @vivian and @sarafischer
Vikas Sn / Moneycontrol:
Netflix slashes all its price tiers in India, with the Basic plan now starting at $2.60/month, down from $6.60/month, amid intense competition — Netflix is reducing its India pricing for the first time since the service's foray in 2016 as it looks to ramp up its user base amid intense competition …
Discussion:
@netflixindia, About Netflix, @netflixindia, MediaNama, Media Play News, Mashable India, @tsuvik, TechCrunch, Livemint and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Graydon Carter's Air Mail raises a $17M Series B, bringing its total funding to $32M; Carter says it has 130K readers and that subscriptions are up 50%+ YoY — Air Mail, the subscription-based digital magazine company launched by former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter …
Discussion:
@rafat, @sarafischer, @mikeorren and @claremalone
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Snap says it paid out over $250M to more than 12,000 creators through its Snapchat Spotlight programs in 2021, after dialing back its $1M+ per day pace — This year, Snap finally caught user-generated content fever: In 2021, the company has paid out more than $250 million …
Discussion:
TechCrunch
@wirecutterunion:
Wirecutter Union reaches a deal that includes a $59K salary floor, the elimination of NDAs in cases of harassment, and monthly remote work reimbursements — 🚨Bargaining Update🚨 We're excited to share we've reached a deal with management on our first contract! After 2 years of bargaining & a 5 day strike, we've secured an agreement that makes meaningful improvements to our working conditions. We came together to demand better & won!
Discussion:
@shiraovide, Bloomberg, @thenickguy, @lalabor, @juliareinstein, @danfrakes, @seduncan21, @gaufre, @sarah_witman, @lorenzofb, @glennf and The NewsGuild - CWA
Steven Perlberg / Insider:
G/O Media says the company will have an eight-figure operating profit in 2021 and is looking for acquisitions; source: Great Hill paid only $25M for G/O in 2019 — - G/O Media, owner of Gizmodo and The Onion, will post an eight-figure operating profit this year, CEO Jim Spanfeller says.
Discussion:
@perlberg
The New York Times Company:
NYT says Games and Cooking have 1M subscriptions each — The Times also marked one million international subscriptions in November. — The New York Times today announced that Cooking and Games have each reached one million subscriptions, a milestone that the Company noted it would soon reach during …
Reuters:
DAZN and Movistar buy domestic rights for Spain's LaLiga in a five-year deal for €4.95B — Spain's LaLiga has reached an agreement to sell its domestic broadcasting rights to Movistar and DAZN for 4.95 billion euros ($5.59 billion) over five years, it said in a statement on Monday.
Discussion:
PR Newswire, RTÉ and @tariqpanja
Sara Fischer / Axios:
TCG invests ~$80M in Food52, which is buying house decor company Schoolhouse for $48M; Food52 is on pace for $120M in revenue in 2021, 88% from commerce — TCG, the investment arm of The Chernin Group, is pouring roughly $80 million into Food52, a cooking and home goods brand …
Discussion:
@amandahesser, @sarafischer, @food52 and Architectural Digest