Mediagazer: The GroundTruth Project, home of Report for America and Report for the World, names Rob Zeaske as CEO and president, starting on January 23; Zeaske was once COO (Sam Kille/The GroundTruth Project)

3:55 PM ET, January 12, 2023

Top News:

Tony Stubblebine / The Official Medium Blog:

Medium launches a Mastodon instance on me.dm, promising members a service with reliable moderation, smoother onboarding, an interesting local feed, 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 …

Discussion: TechCrunch, @jlori, @medium, @asmartbear, @tmcw, @chrismessina, @brittanyjezouit, @kissane@mstdn.social, @kissane@mstdn.social, @kissane@mstdn.social, @coachtony@me.dm, @dansinker@omfg.town, @coachtony@me.dm and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Elsa Keslassy / Variety:

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 and Eurosport — The offer will be available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video Channels in France, and will boast all of HBO programs …

Discussion: Deadline, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Broadband TV News and Media Play News

Max Goldbart / Deadline:

Tim Davie says the BBC is “not proactively putting a date on a digital switchover” and the aggressive plan 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,” …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

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).

Reed Albergotti / Semafor:

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 …

Inae Oh / Mother Jones:

Letting C-SPAN choose what to film could increase transparency but would also play to some of politicians' worst instincts of grandstanding and viral content — Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Discussion: @motherjones, @abigailweinberg, @motherjones, @motherjones, @alibreland, @nhbaptiste, @eenayo, @timothypmurphy, Newser and New York Daily News

Brian Veseling / WAN-IFRA:

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

Discussion: Nieman Lab

Saksha Menezes / Bloomberg:

Research: in the UK, vinyl sales grew 11% YoY to £150.5M in 2022, topping 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

New York Times:

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 Guardian, Vanity Fair, The Hill, UPI, @molly_knight, @constancegrady, @fiverr, @henrymance, @nytimesbooks, Variety, @xanalter, Insider and The Hollywood Reporter

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts:

Senator Elizabeth Warren urges the FCC to block Standard General's Tegna acquisition, saying the merger may lead to higher prices, layoffs, and easier collusion — “FCC should block any transaction that it knows is likely to harm competition or the public interest such as Standard General's proposed acquisition of Tegna”

Discussion: Next TV, @newsguild, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and @gaufre

Sam Kille / The GroundTruth Project:

The GroundTruth Project, home of Report for America and Report for the World, names Rob Zeaske as CEO and president, starting on January 23; Zeaske was once COO — The GroundTruth Project, home of Report for America and Report for the World, is pleased to announce the selection of Rob Zeaske …

Discussion: @stevenwaldman

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:

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

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Earlier Picks:

Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Disney names Nike Executive Chairman Mark Parker as its chairman, succeeding Susan Arnold, and fights activist investor Nelson Peltz's effort to join its board

Helen Coster / Reuters:
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Discussion: @swodinsky, IAPE 1096, Second Rough Draft, Talking Biz News and Insider

Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
Sources: DirecTV, which has fewer than 10,000 employees, is laying off ~10% of its upper ranks to cut costs; the last day for affected staff will be January 20

Discussion: TechCrunch, Variety, Next TV, @tvanswerman, The Desk, Los Angeles Times, Light Reading, Deadline, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Cord Cutters News and Forbes

Frank Landymore / Futurism:
CNET has been using an “AI engine” to write financial explainers under a CNET Money byline since November 2022, reviewed, fact-checked, and edited by a human

The Information:
Sources: GroupM clients cut Twitter ad spend by 40%-50% since Elon Musk took over; Standard Media Index is seeing fewer January and February ad bookings in 2023

Discussion: Ad Age, New York Times, @amir, @adamconner, @abebrown716, @goldman, @erinkwoo, @kateconger, Insider and Android Police

From Techmeme:

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU may accept Apple's proposal to open its NFC payments tech to rivals, and may close its antitrust probe in May, letting Apple avoid hefty fines

George Steer / Financial Times:
Nvidia closed down 10% on Friday, falling the most since March 2020 and losing more than $200B of its market value, as investors pull back from AI bets

James Hunt / The Block:
Bitcoin's fourth halving is now complete, lowering miners' block subsidy rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC; the third halving was on May 2020

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