Mediagazer: WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels says the company has ended its 12-month restructuring phase after merging with WarnerMedia and 2023 is for “relaunching and building” (Jennifer Maas/Variety)

6:45 PM ET, January 5, 2023

Top News:

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Pop-Up Magazine, which hosted live storytelling shows since its 2009 launch, shuts down, citing the pandemic and economic downturn and affecting 18+ staffers — The live events publisher explored a sale or investment prior to closing — The live performance publisher Pop-Up Magazine …

Discussion: Pop-Up Magazine, @jodyavirgan, @rachellevinsf, @bessbell, The San Francisco Standard, @clarajeffery, @fluentmundo, @megreenwell, @jeffjarvis and @pkafka

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Facebook dropped plans to heavily demote content on politics and sensitive topics, after views for “high quality news publishers” fell, and more — Hitting mute button on political content recommendations brought unintended consequences

Discussion: @keachhagey, @jason_kint, @emilyglazer, @mattzeitlin, @wexler, @justinhendrix, @reaganbrad, @mattnavarra and @jeffhorwitz, more at Techmeme »

Dave Biscobing / ABC15:

The Wall Street Journal asks the Phoenix PD to conduct an internal review after an officer handcuffed and detained WSJ reporter Dion Rabouin in November 2022 — PHOENIX — The Wall Street Journal is demanding the Phoenix Police Department conduct an internal review and take action …

Leyland Cecco / The Guardian:

Apple quietly launches a catalog of books narrated by AI on its Books app, in a move that publishers, authors, and agents warn may upend the audiobook market — Exclusive: tech firm quietly launches new audiobook catalogue narrated by AI - but move expected to spark backlash

Lauren Thomas / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Vince McMahon plans to return to WWE to pursue a sale of the business, after retiring as CEO and chairman in July 2022 amid a sexual harassment scandal — Vince McMahon, the majority owner and former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., WWE 2.26%increase …

Discussion: CNN, @laurenthomas, Variety, CNBC, Bloomberg, Sportico, Deadline, New York Post, Front Office Sports, The Hollywood Reporter, The Comeback, @therajgiri, @otd_in_wwe, @glennrubenstein, @laurenthomas, @laurenthomas and @brandolightshed

Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:

NYT is yet to fill its media columnist role one year after Ben Smith left the paper; Sources: Sarah Ellison, Brian Stelter, and Dylan Byers held talks with NYT — One of the highest perches in the industry has been vacant for a year, leaving journalists inside and outside the paper puzzled about management's lack of urgency.

Discussion: @charlottetklein, The Present Age, @nbj914, @joshgerstein and @vanityfair

Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:

Google says Android TV OS, the underlying platform for Google TV and Android TV, now has 150M monthly active devices, up 36%+ YoY — At CES 2023 this week Google is sharing an update on how many devices are now using Google TV and Android TV, with 150 million devices in the hands of users.

Financial Times:

The UK government confirms it will not proceed with Channel 4's privatization, instead opting for reforms to preserve the broadcaster's financial sustainability — Whitehall rejects privatisation in favour of reforms to preserve broadcaster's financial sustainability

J. Clara Chan / The Hollywood Reporter:

TikTok plans to license IMDb data to let US and UK users tag movies and TV shows and access an in-app page with information about the titles — Users will be able to tag a specific work and have access to a dedicated in-app page with relevant information about the title, such as cast, crew release date, run time and more.

Discussion: Ad Age, Amazon, Engadget, IndieWire, Adweek, TechCrunch, Tubefilter, @tiktokcomms, @discussingfilm, @manofbeskar and BGR

Erin Woo / The Information:

Source: Twitter laid off ~40 ad optimization data scientists and engineers, as the company targets areas that leadership considers to be failing or unimportant — Twitter laid off about 40 data scientists and engineers working on advertising late Wednesday night in what amounted to at least …

Discussion: Adweek, Fortune, Gizmodo, The Wrap and Insider, more at Techmeme »

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

A profile of New Lines, an online-only magazine with a remote staff of 25 focused on local reporting from around the world, now printing quarterly editions — “Often when an editor declines or dilutes a good story, it's to say it's too in the weeds. I always joke, 'What's wrong with weeds?'"

Aisha Majid / Press Gazette:

Analysis: UK's top four regional publishers control 88% of daily print market; Reach and Newsquest account for 32% and 29% of average circulation respectively — Analysis shows the UK's top four regional publishers control close to 90% of the print market.

Discussion: @pressgazette

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More News:

Ronan Shields / Digiday:
The Trade Desk announces Galileo, a demand-side platform based on its Unified ID 2.0 tool, and says that more than 50 North American media owners are using UID2

Discussion: @alextcone, @alextcone, @alextcone, @digiday, Adweek, The Trade Desk, Next TV and MediaPost

Jennifer Maas / Variety:
WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels says the company has ended its 12-month restructuring phase after merging with WarnerMedia and 2023 is for “relaunching and building”

Discussion: The Streamable, The Wrap, TVLine, The A.V. Club, The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Deadline, @mtfiii, Media Play News and @variety

Daniel Tilles / Notes From Poland:
Private media outlets in Poland republish a report critical of the government by Warner Bros. Discovery-owned TVN, after Poland launched proceedings against TVN

Discussion: @notesfrompoland

Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
An investment group led by LionTree takes a majority stake in Transmit.Live, which develops ad technology for live streaming, valuing the company at $350M

Discussion: The Streamable, Radio & Television …, Transmit.Live, Front Office Sports and @ericfranchi

Melanie Burney / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signs a law requiring public schools to teach media literacy to K-12 students, making NJ the first US state to do so

Discussion: Fast Company, State of New Jersey, @tauhidchappell, Politico, @phillyinquirer and @cyn_mccrackan@mastodon.world

Earlier Picks:

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:
After FTX collapsed, “citizen journalists” like @AutismCapital, Coffeezilla, and Doomberg beat out mainstream outlets by alleging wrongdoing and adding analysis

Discussion: @robinwigg, @patrickeboyle, @robinwigg, @trengriffin, @ranjanxroy, @robinwigg, @niubi and @molly0xfff, more at Techmeme »

Agence France-Presse:
Iran warns France of an “effective and decisive response” after Charlie Hebdo published cartoons depicting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Tehran deemed insulting

Discussion: Ministry of Foreign Affairs …, Politico, Associated Press, The Guardian, New York Post, The Hill, Politico, Bloomberg and Semafor

Dana Gerber / The Boston Globe:
A look at three independent Marblehead, Massachusetts news outlets launched in 2022 to fill the void left by Gannett making the Marblehead Reporter go regional

Discussion: @virginiabuckin1, @jimdao, @bostonglobe, @jrebosglobe, @jenniferlevitz, @deborahblum, @nytimescramer, @sarahscire, Digiday, Marblehead Current and Media Nation

Vincent Manancourt / Politico:
The Irish DPC fines Meta €390M over GDPR breaches related to its ad and data handling practices, giving the company three months to comply; Meta plans to appeal

Discussion: noyb.eu, Data Protection Commission, New York Times, @eric_seufert, @vmanancourt, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, @jezcorden, NewsLab, @anewman_forward, The Privacy Whisperer, AppleInsider, Reclaim The Net, Insider, @jason_kint, @brentnyt, @tamaleaver, @alexgibneyfilm, @nytimesbusiness, @moreperfectus, MediaNama, @jason_kint, @douglascarswell, @themusicpimp, @maxschrems, Music Ally, @danrussell12000, @nicholasvinocur, @modestproposal1, @senmarkey, MediaPost, @s8mb, @missig_geek, @profcarroll, @gabrielazanfir, @justinhendrix, @robertjbateman, @noybeu, @carlszabo, @johnnyryan, @glynmoody, Digital Music News, @jesselehrich, @brianhonan, @jonathanmendez, @floorter, @thetranscript_, @montezumachavez, @robertjbateman, @dpcireland, @adrianweckler, @adrianweckler, @andymstone, @adrianweckler, @martinsfp, @maxschrems, @johnnyryan, @jason_kint, @ekmokaya, @maxschrems, @maxschrems, Meta, scargo, Quartz, AdExchanger, Variety, MarTech, The Record, Gizmodo, IAPP Daily Dashboard, Ad Age, New York Post, The Guardian, BleepingComputer, Engadget, Associated Press, The Information, Observer, The Verge, Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Roku plans to launch its own TVs in spring 2023 across two brands, Roku Select and a higher-end Roku Plus, ranging from 24 inches for $119 to 75 inches for $999

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Adweek, US - The Official Roku Blog, @davezatz, @mcwm, Roku, The Information, TechCrunch, IGN, ScreenRant, The Streamable, Light Reading, Insider, Media Play News, Gizmodo and Engadget

From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Thoughts on Apple TV's history and future; sources: Apple postponed a larger-than-usual number of iOS 19 features to spring 2026, when iOS 19.4 is set to debut

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: in the past year, Cantor Fitzgerald agreed to invest as much as $600M in Tether for about a 5% stake; Cantor holds most of Tether's $134B in assets

Washington Post:
Sources: Marc Andreessen, Travis Kalanick, and others are involved in Department of Government Efficiency; Andreessen is acting as a networker for recruitment

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