Top News:
Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
DirecTV plans to drop One America News Network after its current agreement expires, which a source says is in early April; DirecTV is OANN's largest distributor — DirecTV, one of the largest U.S. pay-TV providers, plans to drop One America News Network, dealing a major blow …
Discussion:
@evan_rosenfeld, Media Matters for America, @brianstelter, @dangillmor, @chrispalmeri, @mmfa, @lucas_shaw, @rvawonk, Variety, CNN, nexttv.com, @mmfa, @hongpong, Deadline, @jeffjarvis, The Wrap, @mmfa, @popehat, Salon, The Hill, @secnav75, @gerryfsmith, @karlbode, HuffPost, @atrupar, @jbflint, @justinhendrix, @oneunderscore__, @sree, Newsweek, @mmfa, @rolandsmartin, RFI, @charlie_white, The Daily Beast, Insider, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, @exavierpope, @projectlincoln, @jennaellisesq, CBS News, @jeremylittau, @emilykrebs6, Mediaite, @jenniferjjacobs, @ideagov, The Streamable, @schotthappens, National Review and Free Press
Wall Street Journal:
State AGs' lawsuit alleges Google misled publishers and advertisers for years about ad pricing by deflating sales for some while increasing prices for buyers — Details show Google employees fretting its ad tech auctions were ‘untruthful’ and based in ‘insider information’
Discussion:
@caseynewton, Wired, @keachhagey, @keachhagey, @alex, @natematias, @trippmickle, @cdixon, @hoofnagle, @mattrosoff, @markdistef, @wsj, @froomkin, @alex, @moonalice, @keachhagey, @profcarroll, @epsilontheory, @djtgallagher, @asharma, @blackamazon, The Guardian, @keachhagey, @cbedforddc, @keachhagey, @alistairmbarr, @carnage4life, @lpolgreen, @justinhendrix, @jason_kint, @benedictevans, MediaPost and TheStreet, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Leah Nylen / Politico:
In court docs, state AGs allege that Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai personally approved a secret 2018 deal giving Facebook advantages in Google's ad auctions — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai personally approved a secret deal that gave the social network …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Protocol, @profcarroll, @mmasnick, @dcnorg, NDTV, @leah_nylen, AdExchanger, @_jack_poulson, @josh_bersin, @sachalouise, The Wrap, Android Police, Bloomberg, CNET, New York Post, The Verge and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »
Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:
A guessing game arises over who will land the NYT's Media Equation column, as anonymous insiders float names including Wesley Lowery and Katie Rosman — Ben Smith's abrupt exit has sparked a newsroom guessing game for his successor—Katie Rosman? Wesley Lowery?—though, as one insider put it …
Lisa Richwine / Reuters:
Netflix raises its monthly subscription prices by $1 to $2 in the US and Canada; the standard US plan has increased from $13.99 to $15.49 per month — Netflix Inc has raised its monthly subscription price by $1 to $2 per month in the United States depending on the plan, the company said on Friday …
Discussion:
Variety, SlashFilm, CNBC, The Verge, Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, UPROXX, Los Angeles Times, @trengriffin, CNN, TheStreet, The A.V. Club, Ars Technica, The Week, Collider, CNET, Gizmodo, WAVY-TV, Cord Cutters News, MediaPost, Polygon, TechCrunch, New York Post, Deadline, The Wrap, Ad Age, nexttv.com, Insider, Protocol and UPI, more at Techmeme »
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: Amazon, Condé Nast, DraftKings, and TPG were interested in The Athletic, and the NYT bumped its initial offer by 10% to secure the deal — - The Athletic's $550 million sale to The New York Times is seen as a major success by some close to the company but disappointing to others.
Haroon Siddique / The Guardian:
The trial begins for Carole Cadwalladr's libel case brought by Brexit funder Arron Banks, who is suing the journalist over a Ted Talk and a related tweet — Carole Cadwalladr's team sets out defence in first day of libel trial brought by Leave.EU founder — The libel action brought …
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
The Sun's coverage of the Downing Street party scandal prompts scrutiny after revelations that its deputy EIC had a party during lockdown when he quit No. 10 — Leaving do claims prompt scrutiny of tabloid's coverage of Downing Street alleged lockdown-breaking events
Discussion:
Telegraph, @owenjones84, Unmade, @dandrezner, @brokenbottleboy, @davidyelland, @otto_english, @kelvmackenzie, @patrickwintour, @mattietk, @josiahmortimer, @theneweuropean, @brokenbottleboy, @justsnoozing, @lewis_goodall, @jakubkrupa, @jimwaterson, Press Gazette, BBC, Politico and Guido Fawkes
Sports Business Journal:
Sources: Sinclair's Diamond Sports plans to charge over $20 per month for its streaming service; filings: it projects 975K paying subscribers by year end — In the best-case scenario that it presented to investors over the past several weeks, Sinclair's Diamond Sports Group projected …
Discussion:
@ourand_sbj, @mrworkrate and Cord Cutters News
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Netflix signs deals with PGA Tour, ATP, and WTA for golf and tennis docuseries, following the blueprint of its hit Formula 1 show, which grew the sport's fandom — Novak Djokovic's fight to get into the Australian Open could soon be featured in a Netflix Inc. TV show.
Discussion:
Radio Times, @business, @mgsiegler, @tomgara, Awful Announcing and The Comeback
Bloomberg:
How Netflix succeeded in South Korea, including by developing ideas considered too risky for broadcasters and licensing local content overseas — It took “Squid Game” just four weeks this past fall to become the most-watched Netflix Inc. show ever released in any language.
Dan Primack / Axios:
Marc Benioff says Time projects 30% revenue growth to $200M+ in 2022; EIC says about one-quarter of the revenue will come from a two-year-old studio unit — When Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne bought Time magazine from Meredith Corp. in 2018, it read to many as a vanity purchase.
Discussion:
@mikemongo, @stevesi and @benioff