Mediagazer: Disney may bypass French cinemas for its biggest movies and go straight to streaming in 2023, unless the country changes its “anti-consumer” distribution rules (Financial Times)

4:45 PM ET, October 17, 2022

Top News:

Jon Porter / The Verge:

Parler agrees to be acquired by Ye, formerly Kanye West, to create “an uncancelable ecosystem where all voices are welcome”; the deal is set to close in Q4 2022 — Kanye West, the musician also known as Ye, is buying Parler, a social media platform that styles itself as a “free speech” alternative to Twitter.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Parler, @sarafischer, @bobbyallyn, Axios, CNN, Los Angeles Times, Adweek, @meridithmcgraw, The Desk, Wall Street Journal, ScreenRant, New York Magazine, Insider, Protocol, The Register, Associated Press, UPROXX, The A.V. Club, The Daily Beast, Vanity Fair, New York Times, Vibe, Quartz, @goldengateblond, @reedgalen, Mediaite, Al Jazeera, TMZ.com, CNBC, Observer, @parismartineau, @espiers, NPR, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, @oneunderscore__, Reuters, @jamesrbuk, @kinyanboy, @loudmouthjulia, The Guardian, @dgisserious, IndieWire, Billboard, Footwear News, @suka_hiroaki, @phil_lewis_, @trackinflation, @danlesac, @mlfromdeep, @karengeier, @imore, Variety, Rolling Stone, The Wrap, @mollyjongfast, FinSMEs, @mattyglesias, The Triad, @jordanonrecord, MediaPost, @pressgazette, @mmasnick, @jeffjarvis, @keithedwards, @cenkuygur, @seldo, Newser, @scobie, @justin_ling, @pierce, @sonnybunch, @eramdam, @caseynewton, @jbarro, Breitbart, abc7NY, Politico, CBS News, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Boing Boing, The Hill and Dystopian Living, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Rupert Murdoch's plan to recombine News Corp and Fox Corp. would boost the balance sheet for acquisitions and expand Lachlan Murdoch's responsibilities — Fox and News Corp are considering a proposal that they reunite though hurdles to a deal remain

Discussion: Media Matters for America, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, @asharma, @kimmasters, @simonostrovsky, @peter_f_ryan, Digital TV Europe, Broadband TV News, @jbflint, The Hill, @cararlombardo, @jbflint and New York Times

Reuters:

Sources: activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which has a $150M stake in News Corp, wants the company to split its media and online real estate units — Activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which has a $150 million stake in News Corp (NWSA.O), wants the company to split …

Discussion: New York Times, @edmundlee, Axios and @benmullin

Zeynep Tufekci / New York Times:

After defamation lawsuits against Alex Jones, Fox News, and others, new regulations are needed to make it harder and less lucrative to lie to huge audiences — Alex Jones achieved the epitome of despicability and now has been ordered to pay for it. His lies — that parents of children killed …

Discussion: @zeynep, @jamesgleick, @cwarzel, @gmbutts, @brooklynmarie, @nytimes, @davidoatkins, @bkcharvard, @zeynep, The Atlantic, Media Voices, @jason_kint and @drneilstone

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Comcast's Spectacor division shuts down its video game-centric network G4, a year after its relaunch; Spectacor CEO Dave Scott told staff revival efforts failed — EXCLUSIVE: Comcast's Spectacor division is pulling the plug on video game-centric network G4 TV, whose early incarnation …

Discussion: Variety, Next TV, The Streamable, @goodmanw, @burnettrm, @brittonpeele, @toddmartens, @qtrblackgarrett, @originalpsp, @toadsanime, The Desk, @savinthebees, @bonniebellg, The Hollywood Reporter, The Verge and The Wrap

Mashable:

TikTok's infinite scroll and lack of live links raise the risk of viral misleading info; news outlets using the app should establish editorial standards early — On TikTok, screenshots and a lack of context reign supreme. — It's not an uncommon occurrence these days for a friend to tell …

Discussion: Newsweek, @matthewstoller, @jenmercieca, @hackingbutlegal and @cnyari

Mia Sato / The Verge:

TikTok plans to raise the age requirement for hosting a livestream from 16 to 18 on November 23 and let hosts limit their livestreams to adult-only audiences — TikTok is updating its livestream system to limit kids from going live and to allow streamers to only reach adults.

Discussion: TikTok, MediaPost, TechCrunch, Engadget and @zachbussey, more at Techmeme »

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:

Kantar: the number of UK homes with at least one paid video streaming service fell by 937K to 16M+ from January to September 2022, driven by the need to save — Exclusive: total number of homes with at least one subscription fell by 937,000 from January to September

Discussion: Deadline

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Forbes says the outlet is on pace to host 80+ events in 2022, increasing its events revenue by 60%; event partnerships represent 35% of Forbes' total ad revenue — Sponsorships now account for 35% of its advertising revenue — The business news publisher Forbes has seen revenue …

Discussion: Talking Biz News and @markstenberg3

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

The Los Angeles Clippers launch livestreaming service ClipperVision with 70+ games and six channel feeds, available in Southern California for $200 per season — Nearly a decade after acquiring the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, Steve Ballmer is finally realizing his dream to build a bigger …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Ad Age, Sportico, Media Play News, Next TV, KTLA, NBA and The Streamable

Financial Times:

Disney may bypass French cinemas for its biggest movies and go straight to streaming in 2023, unless the country changes its “anti-consumer” distribution rules — Black Panther movie will hit screens after months of debate but US company says distribution laws must be reformed

Discussion: Variety, The Guardian, @labboudles and Deadline

J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:

YouTube plans to roll out 30-second audio ads on videos globally and let US advertisers target podcast listeners, narrowing their campaigns using podcast genres — Marketers will also be able to purchase 30-second audio ads — up from the 15 second slots available during the beta launch.

Discussion: Next TV, 9to5Google, Sound Awareness and The Tolle Lege Podcast

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Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

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More News:

Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Netflix rolls out a feature globally to let users transfer all their personalized viewing data to a new account, ahead of a crackdown on account sharing in 2023

Discussion: Next TV, The Streamable, TechCrunch, IndieWire, The Verge and 9to5Mac

Alex Barker / Financial Times:
Sources: ITV explores options, including whether to sell a stake, for production arm ITV Studios, estimated to be worth more than the £2.5B market cap of ITV

Discussion: Deadline and @hayekmg

Ina Fried / Axios:
Flipboard confirms it has laid off 24 staffers, or 21% of its workforce, last week, citing bad economy and tough outlook for the digital ad business

Discussion: @keithkurson, @tomaxwell and Gizmodo

Todd Spangler / Variety:
May 2022 survey of non-professional creators in nine regions: 48% monetize content, including 53% in the US; 77% of those who monetize started in the past year

Discussion: Gizmodo and Adobe Press Releases

Agence France-Presse:
A lawyer for Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who protested the Ukraine war on live TV, says she left Russia for Europe, after fleeing house arrest

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Politico and The Hill

K.J. Yossman / Variety:
BBC Studios announces the full acquisition of Sid Gentle Films, the production company behind Killing Eve and Ragdoll, after buying a 51% stake in 2018

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Advanced Television

Earlier Picks:

Ernesto Van der Sar / TorrentFreak:
MUSO: visits to pirate sites from January to August 2022 grew 21.9% YoY to 141.7B; 46.6% of traffic went to TV content, 27.8% to publishing, and 12.4% to film

Suranjana Tewari / BBC:
Former and current Al Jazeera staff allege that their complaints of harassment and bullying by journalist Kamahl Santamaria and others went largely unaddressed

Discussion: @risj_oxford, @madversity, @julie70627827, @mrandyngo, @sfrantzman, @sanaakhouri and @davidhundeyin

Issac J. Bailey / Nieman Reports:
“Objectivity” is a vague, unevenly applied term; transparency, accuracy, and fairness in journalism matter more, as old terms like “values voters” lose meaning

Discussion: @mayerjoy

Raphael Satter / Reuters:
In a lawsuit, former WSJ reporter Jay Solomon accuses law firm Dechert LLP of working with hackers from India to sabotage his career; Dechert disputes the claim

Discussion: Washington Post, @reuterslegal, Understandably, @joeycoleman, @razhael and United States District Court, District of Columbia

Shanti Das / The Guardian:
Qatar's government imposes strict restrictions on broadcasters covering the FIFA World Cup, including banning filming at migrant workers' accommodation sites

Discussion: Awful Announcing, @sgalpin, @pressgazette, @justinelimlaw, @danfriedmanme, @jagodagrondecka, @kgrgas, @tvietor08, @guardian_sport, @strollingrabbi, @shellykittleson, The Desk and Sohail's Newsletter

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
The NFL's Sunday Ticket broadcast rights have yet to be awarded, as Apple wants to partner with sports leagues rather than act as a standard rental conduit

Discussion: @cnbctechcheck, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @506sports and AppleInsider

From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered making a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

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