Top News:
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
Joe Rogan apologizes for his past use of the N-word after a compilation video of him using the slur went viral; 70 JRE episodes have been removed from Spotify — His apology came as listeners said that as many as 70 episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast had been quietly taken off Spotify …
Discussion:
Washington Post, JRE Missing, Instagram, @sulliview, Instagram, Variety, Bloomberg, Deadline, Variety, NewsOne, @joenbc, @brianstelter, ScreenRant, RADAR, Rolling Stone, @popcrave, OutKick, @therock, Media Matters for America, @scottiebeam, Vanity Fair, @caseynewton, @davidvorick, The Wrap, @michaelshermer, @brownandbella, @mollyjongfast, Page Six, The Hollywood Reporter, @eduardosuarez, @oliverdarcy, @edcnn, @seldo, @donwinslow, @lukeobrien, @eugene_scott, @eacrunden, @mattdpearce, @karaswisher, @eoinhiggins_, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, NME, @nycsouthpaw, @teroterotero, @soledadobrien, @ericboehlert, @salhernandez, @lucas_shaw, @craigsj, @blgtylr, @reckless, @reckless, @keithedwards, @anitam86, @eoinhiggins_, @scottiebeam, @daviddtss, @caitlyn_jenner, @jackposobiec, @tressiemcphd, @matthewacherry, @marcushjohnson, @nadine_writes, @michaelmalice, @zackfox, @scottiebeam, @timcast, @penenberg, @penenberg, @yourmusicwhore, @kazeem, @carnage4life, @vickerysec, @dijahsb, @daviddtss, @slpng_giants, @timmarchman, @theclaudiablack, @xeni, @dantethecomic, @vinn_ayy, @cherijacobus, @ericboehlert, @soledadobrien, @scobie, HuffPost, Newser, @michaelmalice, Axios, The Verge, The Verge, EW.com, Complex, BBC and TODAY.com
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J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:
In a staff email, Daniel Ek says “silencing” Rogan is not the answer and commits $100M to licensing, developing, and marketing content from marginalized groups — Over the weekend, videos resurfaced by the musician India.Arie showed the podcaster repeatedly using the n-word …
Discussion:
Axios, The Verge, @sarafischer, @espiers, @pkafka, The Verge, TechCrunch, @reckless, Protocol, @ashleyrcarman, @reckless, @sarafischer, Rolling Stone, @pkafka, @popcrave, @sam_l_shead, Mediaite, @blackamazon, @nycjim, Daily Mail, CNET, @reckless, @joshdcaplan, @pkafka, @popcrave, NME, The Independent, @atrupar, Reuters, @carnage4life, @slpng_giants, Breitbart, @future_of_music, RELEVANT, @karlitaliliana, QTR's Fringe Finance, @jordanbpeterson, @rudepundit, @karlitaliliana, @reckless, Deadline, Music Ally and The A.V. Club, more at Techmeme »
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Source: Spotify took down episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience at Rogan's request; all the removed episodes were recorded before he signed a deal with Spotify — Joe Rogan apologized Saturday for using a racial slur in past episodes of his popular podcast, many episodes of which have been removed from Spotify without explanation.
Discussion:
@karaswisher, CNET, Forbes, Rolling Stone, USA Today, The Drum, @kevinroose, Scriberr News, @slpng_giants, @levinejonathan, Wall Street Journal, Complete Music Update, @jordanbpeterson, @_richardhall, @oliverdarcy, @slpng_giants, @reckless, @sarafischer, @reckless, @reckless and @lucas_shaw
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
The Matrix Resurrections co-producer Village Roadshow sues Warner Bros. over WarnerMedia's decision to release the film on HBO Max and in theaters concurrently — Lawsuit alleges decision to release ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ movie simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters hurt its box-office performance
Discussion:
Variety, ScreenRant, SlashFilm, Forbes, The Streamable, CNET, MediaPost, The Wrap, @mattbelloni, The Verge, The Week, @jbflint, Media Play News, The A.V. Club, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, The Playlist, @claireatki, @lanceulanoff, Deadline, @alexeheath, @kimmasters, @jbflint, @benfritz, IndieWire and Hollywood Reporter
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Leaked audio: some of CNN's biggest on-air hosts pressed Jason Kilar about Jeff Zucker's resignation and whether WarnerMedia would pay Chris Cuomo severance — Jason Kilar declines to tell staff whether CNN parent WarnerMedia would pay former anchor Chris Cuomo severance
Discussion:
Puck, The Wrap, @jeremymbarr, Mediaite, @jeremymbarr, @claireatki, @alexeheath, @benmullin, @benmullin, New York Post and @benmullin
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Jennifer Maas / Variety:
NBC Sports says 16M US viewers watched the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony across broadcast and streaming, down 43% from 2018 and an all-time low — NBC Sports says 16 million viewers tuned in to watch the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Jonah Goldberg, one of the political analysts who resigned from Fox News in protest of Tucker Carlson's January 6 streaming special, joins CNN as a contributor — Jonah Goldberg, one of the two conservative political analysts who resigned from Fox News Channel in colorful fashion over its coverage …
Discussion:
@bristei, Mediaite, The Hill, @sebgorka, TVNewser, @jeremymbarr, @jbenton, @maassp, Barrett Media, @jerrydunleavy, @ericboehlert, @owillis, @atrupar, @parkermolloy, @julie_kelly2, @nedryun and @froomkin
Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:
Innovid, an adtech company focused on streaming TV, acquires measurement and attribution service TVSquared for approximately $160M in cash and stock — Innovid is acquiring the ad measurement and attribution platform as Nielsen's dominance of TV metrics wobbles, leaving the field in flux
Discussion:
Beet.TV, AdExchanger, Variety, TVSquared, Ad Age, Axios, MarTech, MediaPost, Next TV, Adweek, Deadline, @davemorgannyc, @digitalshields, Broadband TV News, @innovid and Radio & Television …
Josh Ye / South China Morning Post:
In a rare reversal, Tencent Video restores the original ending of Fight Club after censorship of the final scene sparked widespread backlash online in China — The restored ending adds back about 11 out of 12 minutes cut from the film, but some scenes featuring nudity are kept …
Discussion:
CNN, Wall Street Journal, The A.V. Club, @therealjoshye, The Guardian, Mashable, @anthony, @mrsimoningram, @therealjoshye and @therealjoshye
Andrew Kersley / Press Gazette:
To “bring back” 16 to 24-year-olds, the newly relaunched BBC Three is running a nightly “relaxed” two- to four-minute news bulletin in the style of social media — Newly relaunched TV channel BBC Three is running news bulletins mimicking the style of social media in an attempt to …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Robin Williams' estate and four comedians sue SiriusXM's Pandora for allegedly failing to license their comedy recordings for years — Pandora, the digital music platform owned by SiriusXM, is ripping off comedians by streaming their recordings without properly licensing the works …
Discussion:
Billboard, @jpriceofmusic and Piffany
Financial Times:
Private equity firms like Apollo, which recently bought a $760M stake in Legendary, are betting that streaming demand for scripted content will endure for years — Apollo and Blackstone are betting that fierce demand for hot scripts will continue for years
Parker Higgins / Freedom of the Press Foundation:
How new rules in Kansas and Iowa and a proposal in Utah restricting journalist access to legislature floors, a long-held tradition, create a dangerous precedent — In a growing number of state legislatures across the country, journalists are facing new rules and proposed legislation that breaks …
Discussion:
@freedomofpress, @callaghanpeter, @xor, @jesseapaul, @freedomofpress, @trevortimm, @freedomofpress and U.S. Press Freedom Tracker