Top News:


Medium creates its own Mastodon instance, plans to offer it as a service for members, promises reliable moderation and smoother onboarding, and more — The fediverse is a breath of fresh air for writers and social media — Today, Medium is launching a Mastodon instance at me.dm to help our authors …


WBD signs a deal with Amazon to offer a “Warner Pass” on Prime Video Channels in France with all HBO programs and 12 other channels, including CNN — The offer will be available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video Channels in France, and will boast all of HBO programs …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Broadband TV News and Media Play News


Tim Davie says the BBC isn't “proactively putting a date on a digital switchover” and that the shift won't “remove things used by lots of people too soon” — The BBC is “not proactively putting a date on a digital switchover or anything stupid like that,” …


Sources: Coinbase's internal “sentiment” tracker showed Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX was consistently viewed more favorably by the media right up until its collapse — Crypto exchange Coinbase has for years tracked how the company is portrayed in the press and online, and that …


After enabling online subscription cancellation, Minnesota Star Tribune finds the online process retains 18.5% of customers vs. 8.8% when done via a call center — 2023-01-12. “Our goal is to discuss retention as often as we discuss acquisition,” says Toby Collodora …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab


Prince Harry's memoir, Spare, sold 1.43M copies on its first day, including pre-orders, a record for any nonfiction book ever published by Penguin Random House — The steady drumbeat of revelations that preceded the book's release helped push early orders and initial sales, making “Spare …
Discussion:
The Hill, Vanity Fair, UPI, Variety, Insider and The Hollywood Reporter


Research: UK vinyl sales reached £150.5M in 2022, surpassing CD sales, which fell 17.4% YoY to £124M, the first time vinyl outsold CDs since 1987 — Vinyl Outsold CDs in the UK Last Year — Sales from 2018 to 2022 — Source: The Digital Entertainment and Retail Association
Discussion:
ERA Ltd


The GroundTruth Project, home of Report for America and Report for the World, names Rob Zeaske as its new CEO, starting January 23 — The GroundTruth Project, home of Report for America and Report for the World, is pleased to announce the selection of Rob Zeaske as its CEO and president …
Discussion:
@stevenwaldman


Warner Bros. Discovery announces the first price hike for HBO Max, with the ad-free monthly subscription in the US increasing from $14.99 to $15.99 — Effective Thursday, Jan. 12, the price of a new HBO Max no-ads monthly subscription in the U.S. will increase from $14.99 to $15.99 (plus applicable taxes).
Discussion:
CNBC, Forbes, The Streamable, SlashFilm, MediaPost, The Verge, The Wrap, The Streamable, Reuters, TechCrunch, CNET, Engadget, BGR, Deadline, Collider, IndieWire, The TV Answer Man!, TVLine, Rolling Stone, Bloomberg, ComingSoon.net, masslive.com, @joshuaneall, @benjaminjs, Media Play News and The Hollywood Reporter


A look at ratings growth for Fox News' The Five, surpassing shows from Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, and second only to Yellowstone in 2022 cable ratings — How ‘The Five’ surpassed Tucker Carlson in the ratings: It's the ‘Avengers of Fox News’ — but at an hour that reflects the increasing dominance of older viewers.
Discussion:
@amyargetsinger


Q&A with The Last of Us showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann on working with HBO, adapting a video game, avoiding past failures, fan reactions, and more — Hollywood has mostly failed to adapt successful video games into satisfying series and films.
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, IGN, Empire, NPR, Washington Post, Collider, The Escapist, Rolling Stone, New York Times, Engadget, The Guardian, CNET, Digital Spy and New York Post


Some creators are protesting YouTube's policy changes to regulate swearing and violence, which demonetize gaming videos and retroactively impact old content — YouTube's policy changes on swearing and violence are being retroactively applied to old gaming content
Discussion:
@vahn16 and @mattnavarra, more at Techmeme »