Top News:
Peter Kafka / Vox:
The NYT-Athletic deal is a big bet with significant risk, as growth slows for The NYT and profit remains elusive for The Athletic — A big bet with real risk and reward. — The New York Times wants more subscribers. The Athletic has lots of subscribers but loses money.
Discussion:
The Ringer, Bloomberg, @pottsmark, @markberman, Defector, @sizpatel, MediaPost, @ylichterman, Awful Announcing, @shanbow, Financial Times, @arctictony, @adamlevitan, @shanbow, @jeffschultzatl, @davidgura, @bryancurtis, @byscottpowers, @ringer, @profblackistone, @scohensea, @mattzeitlin, @oliviawitherite, @thegridkid, @jessegranger_, @tybatiste, @travonne, @melissalockard, @aarongleeman, @zpathletic, @electricalwsop, @liam_twomey, @aarongleeman, @ken_rosenthal, @adamlefkoe, @bydavidgardner, @vosdscott, @willystaley, @maxjrosenthal, @conordougherty, @sbienkowski, @thegridkid, Talking Biz News, @gintautasd, @rafat, @freightalley, @rafat, @pkafka, @cnyari, @mathewi, @pkafka, @pkafka, @mikeorren, @nw3, @pkafka, @rasmus_kleis, @brettkollmann, @realobf, @tvgrimreaper, @rafat, @danprimack, @danprimack, @nichcarlson, @rafat, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @mattietk, @ericliptonnyt, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @daryrezvani, @keganreneau, @john_p_carvalho, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @jeremylittau, @rafat, @freddiecampion, @arashmarkazi, @jeffveillette, @chrisryan_nj, @_zeets, @mathewi, @katie_martin_fx, @dylanbyers, UPI, Sportico, Deadline, The Spun, Financial Times, Nieman Lab, The Wrap and The Hill
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
NYT has agreed to acquire The Athletic in an all-cash deal valuing the startup at $550M; co-founders Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann will stay on after the deal — The New York Times has agreed to acquire The Athletic in an all-cash deal valuing the sports media startup at $550 million …
Discussion:
New York Times, @sarafischer, Axios, @sarafischer, Vanity Fair, @courtsidevc, The Drum, @sarafischer, Poynter, @business, @apompliano, Huddle Up, The Sport Marketeer, Bloomberg, @kaitlyncmcgrath, The Hockey Tactics Newsletter, @hiltontarrant, @tashanreed, @tomangell, Financial Times, @davidgura, @paulkuharskynfl, @joshsternberg, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sulliview, @dskok, @jessicalessin, @jeffjarvis, @pkafka, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @dangillmor, @rafat, @nytimesguild, Wall Street Journal, @hollyzachariah, @ckrewson, @ckrewson, Newser, CNBC, Front Office Sports and New York Post
Aron Pilhofer:
With The Athletic purchase, NYT will directly compete for subscribers with local news sites that cover college or pro sports, topics once owned by local papers — It turns out, The New York Times does really care about local news — just not in the way we thought.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @sharonwaxman, @jayrosen_nyu, @qhardy, @jackshafer, MediaPost, @pkafka, @pilhofer, @jeffjarvis, Poynter, @dkiesow, @chronotope, Defector, @jeffjarvis, @chronotope, @pilhofer, @davidclinchnews, @jeffjarvis, @pilhofer, @pilhofer, @jackshafer, @pilhofer, @pkafka, @jeffjarvis, @jeffjarvis, @pilhofer and The Information
Bloomberg:
Sources: Sinclair's sports group, Diamond Sports, is close to clinching a deal to stream NBA games on a new service to launch in the first half of this year — - Diamond said to be nearing loan for regional sports networks — The struggling subsidiary gets a boost from NBA digital rights
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, @business, @allisonmcneely, @richlightshed, @richlightshed and @aagave
Bloomberg:
John Legend sells the rights to his music catalog from late 2004 through early 2021 to BMG and investment firm KKR — - Companies strike deal for copyrights, royalties from his music — High valuations are pushing more and more musicians to sell — John Legend joined the growing list …
Discussion:
Variety, Billboard, Vibe, The Wrap, Axios, Music Business Worldwide, @danprimack, Rolling Stone, New York Post and Music Ally
Reuters:
Two journalists were killed in Haiti on Thursday after suspected gang members shot at a group of reporters who arrived to interview the leader of a rival gang — Two Haitian journalists were killed Thursday on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince after suspected gang members opened fire on a group …
Discussion:
CNN, The Guardian, LatAm Journalism Review, Al Jazeera, @kylieatwood, France 24 and Committee to Protect …
New York Times:
How Tucker Carlson, condoned by Fox management, revised the history of the January 6 riot along with right-wing podcasts and others, to deflect blame from Trump — How revisionist histories of Jan. 6 picked up where the “stop the steal” campaign left off, warping beliefs about what transpired at the Capitol.
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, Raw Story, @nytimes, Insider, @jimrutenberg and @peterbakernyt
Bloomberg:
Sources: Reddit could go public as soon as March 2022 at a valuation of up to $15B; the company was last valued at $10B in August 2021 — - Social media company could go public as soon as March — Reddit could be valued at as much as $15 billion in listing
Discussion:
Protocol, more at Techmeme »
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Google says Android TV and Google TV have over 110M monthly active devices combined, up 30M from May 2021 — While Roku and Amazon's Fire TV are often the first thing people think of when it comes to home entertainment platforms, Google's Android TV OS is growing quickly.
Discussion:
Light Reading and The Streamable
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Authorities in Kazakhstan have detained at least eight journalists and blocked at least two news sites since January 4, following their coverage of the protests — Kazakhstan authorities must allow journalists to report freely on ongoing protests in the country and ensure their safety …
Discussion:
Voice of America, @tommywalkerco, The Diplomat, @pressfreedom and USAGM
Lauren Johnson / Insider:
LinkedIn grew its editorial team from 75 to 95 journalists in 2021, its Daily Rundown reaches 159M users, and it has a 40-person team that works with creators — - LinkedIn continues to ramp up its editorial arm with 95 journalists that curate business news.
Discussion:
@lmoses and @mediaevan
Todd Spangler / Variety:
CTA survey of 2,084 US people aged 13+: user-generated content accounts for 39% of weekly media consumption, and about 7% monetize content in some way online — Americans now spend nearly as much time streaming user-generated videos on YouTube, TikTok and other online platforms as they do watching traditional TV.
Discussion:
@synopsi, @ritholtz, FinalScore, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter and Marketing Dive
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