Top News:


Sources: CNN is considering hiring a comedian to host a prime time show; executives have floated Bill Maher, Trevor Noah, Jon Stewart, and others — CNN is considering hiring a comedian to host one of its prime time shows. — The “news entertainment” personality could fill the primetime 9 …


As the number of shows and movies depicting real events has grown, screenwriters are taking liberties with the facts, often leading to public spats and lawsuits — The entertainment genre of historical drama is flourishing — and riddled with inaccuracies. The untrue parts are leading to more public spats and lawsuits.
Discussion:
@nytimes, @marshacollier, @mikeaztec28, @bubbaprog and @stormmela


The UK's Reach told The Sunday Mirror and Sunday People staff that the two Sunday tabloids will begin sharing most of their content under new cost-saving plans — The Sunday People and Sunday Mirror have been under the same editor since 2014. — The Sunday Mirror and Sunday People newspapers look set …
Discussion:
One Man & His Blog


Reliance and Paramount's Viacom18 buys five-year rights to the new women's Indian Premier League cricket tournament for $116M, after buying the men's IPL rights — Viacom18 Media Pvt., backed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, scooped up the television and digital broadcasting rights …
Discussion:
@jayshah, Variety, ThePrint, cricket.com, The New Indian Express, @jayshah, @vvslaxman281, @jhulang10, The Indian Express, @imharmanpreet, @rickeyrecricket and TheCricketer


A look at the costs of reporting on Iran for BBC Persian journalists: death threats, online harassment, and threats to family members who remain in the country — In Iran, the anti-government protests of 2022 have continued into the new year. Reporting on one of the biggest international stories …


Q&A with MGM+ head Michael Wright on rebranding from Epix, plans for eight original series per year under Amazon's ownership, and more — The top-to-bottom rebrand of the service that debuted in October 2009 (as a joint venture among MGM, Paramount Pictures and Lionsgate) …


Parks Associates: 63% of US households with internet have a connected TV, a 65% increase over 2015, and 87% of them subscribe to at least one streaming service — Smart TVs are an increasingly important tool for consumers. They allow users to navigate between their various streaming apps and services …
Discussion:
@harrymccracken, Media Play News, Broadband TV News and Light Reading


TikTok, Instagram, and other social media apps expect age verification measures in the UK's Online Safety Bill to reduce their user numbers, hurting ad revenue — UK's Online Safety Bill requires stronger age verification measures for platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat
Discussion:
@the_avpa, ExchangeWire.com, Digiday, Communicate Online, @webdevlaw, What's New in Publishing and Future News, more at Techmeme »


Comcast-owned Sky plans to offer free Discovery+ access to subscribers in the UK and Ireland, saving them £6.99 per month — “We know value is incredibly important right now,” Comcast-owned Sky says. … “Sky Q, Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers can now sign up for Discovery+ as part …
Discussion:
Broadband TV News, Deadline and Daily Express


A profile of the Investigative Journalism Foundation, “Canada's ProPublica”, a new nonprofit set to publish investigations and build public interest databases — “Think of us like ProPublica meets OpenSecrets.” That's how editor-in-chief Zane Schwartz describes Canada's newly launched Investigative Journalism Foundation.
Discussion:
@michellemanafy, @zaneschwartz and @fatimabsyed


MoviePass raised a seed of undisclosed size led by Animoca Brands and plans to accelerate its beta movie theatre subscription relaunch and set a Web3 strategy — MoviePass Inc. announced it has raised its seed financing led by Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based game software, blockchain and venture capital company.
Discussion:
AppleInsider and Financial Times


How Finland, ranked first of 41 European countries in a media literacy survey, teaches students to spot misinformation on social media, starting in preschool — The Nordic country is testing new ways to teach students about propaganda. Here's what other countries can learn from its success.