Top News:
Ben Bowman / The Streamable:
YouTube TV reaches a deal with Disney to bring back 17+ channels including ABC, Disney, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic — After one day of being dark, YouTube TV and Disney have reached a deal which will see more than 17 Disney-owned channels, including local ABC affiliates, Disney Channel, and ESPN return to the service.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Radio & Television …, The Verge, Dana Blankenhorn, @youtubetv, @reckless, UPI, @cnn, 9to5Google, @thestreamable, Deadline, CNET, @mgsiegler, Awful Announcing, @film_girl, MediaPost, @pkafka, @epro, Variety, Cord Cutters News, The Verge, nexttv.com, Sports Illustrated, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, Newser and Sportico, more at Techmeme »
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Internal memo: CNN is closing its US offices to all nonessential employees as COVID-19 cases rise at the network and nationwide — President Jeff Zucker cited a surge of cases at the network in a memo on the decision — CNN is closing its offices to nonessential employees …
Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:
The pursuit of “scale” drives media companies to merge, such as in the Vox-Group Nine deal, but what constitutes sufficient scale changes when valuations shrink — On Tuesday, Vox Media and Group Nine announced plans to merge their operations, in what Jim Bankoff …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, @chronotope, @cjr, @mathewi and @jackmarshall
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Spotify, Meta, and Netflix find Gen Z elusive in a way TikTok never has; Spotify says Gen Z accounts for the majority using its Blend playlist feature — Good afternoon from Puerto Rico. Hope you all are staying safe out there. Hollywood is celebrating the good news of a record-breaking weekend …
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw and @sleepwellcap, more at Techmeme »
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Spider-Man: No Way Home generated $587M globally during its opening weekend, $253M in the US, making it the third-largest debut on record — Don't underestimate Peter Parker. — That's the takeaway this weekend after Sony's comic book adventure “Spider-Man: No Way Home” …
Discussion:
SlashFilm, Observer, ScreenRant, @murrelldan, Numlock News, @variety, @paulsmovietrip, The A.V. Club, @dkthomp, CNN, Rambling Mind, @variety, Murphy's Multiverse, TIME, Rotten Tomatoes, @variety, MediaPost, The Week, UPI, JoBlo, Vanity Fair and Hollywood Reporter
The Atlantic:
Mark Leibovich, the chief national correspondent for The New York Times Magazine, will join The Atlantic as a staff writer in the spring — Leibovich to begin this spring, as The Atlantic continues to train its editorial focus on the crisis facing democracy
Discussion:
The Hill, @film_girl, @carloslozadawp, @jeffreygoldberg, @grace_segers, @hotlinejosh and @brendanbuck
Andy Maxwell / TorrentFreak:
Malaysia passes a bill to imprison people who facilitate access to pirated content via illegal streaming, for up to 20 years — Laws that forbid the illegal uploading and downloading of copyrighted content are common around the world but the rise of streaming has sometimes exposed gaps in legislation.
Discussion:
Malaysiakini, thesundaily.my and Lowyat.NET
William Turvill / Press Gazette:
Axel Springer reports 2020 revenue of €2.97B, down 5% YoY, with adjusted EBITDA of €653.8M, down 13% YoY, and says its US business is “booming” in 2021 — Axel Springer, the German news publishing giant that owns Insider and Politico, has revealed that its revenues fell by €150m …
Discussion:
Reuters
Sophie Zeldin-O'Neill / The Guardian:
The Guardian ends its Inside The Guardian series, which gave readers a behind the scenes look at the newsroom, after six years and over 250 pieces — We revisit favourite contributions as our series on life behind the news agenda comes to an end — fter six years and more than 250 pieces …
Barbara Allen / Poynter:
How NYT reporters handled a recent feature on online resources for suicide without prominently naming the service, by speaking to experts, veterans, and editors — The team relied on advice and conversations with experts, veterans, editors and each other — The ethical issues running throughout …
Discussion:
@poynter and @benjamingoggin
Alex Pasternack / Fast Company:
How Chinese Wikipedia volunteers are exposing threats to Wikimedia's free-knowledge mission in their fight against censorship, threats, and violence — This past July, before he was banned from Wikipedia, Techyan was one of dozens of volunteers preparing to speak at the free-knowledge movement's annual conference, Wikimania.
Discussion:
@pasternack, @charlesmok, @frankpasquale, @pasternack, @harrymccracken and @juhasaarinen
Danny Leigh / Financial Times:
Universal Pictures chair Donna Langley on releasing Trolls World Tour online at the start of the pandemic, shrinking theatrical release windows, and more — Donna Langley only looks ahead. She moves at pace through the packed dining room of La Petite Maison, a French Mediterranean restaurant in a Mayfair side street.
Discussion:
@patrickvons, @markghuneim and @raju
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