Mediagazer: Spotify, Deezer, Proton, and others write to Margrethe Vestager, demanding the European Commission take action against Apple's “unfair practices”, like IAP fees (Chavi Mehta/Reuters)

9:30 AM ET, January 19, 2023

Top News:

Nexstar reaches a multiyear deal to broadcast the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour on The CW Network; so far, LIV events have been available online free — Partnership will determine the Saudi-funded golf tour's financial viability — LIV Golf, the controversial Saudi-funded golf tour that launched …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, @jyarow, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, Forbes, Front Office Sports, Palm Beach Post, Sports Illustrated, Mediaite, Awful Announcing and Barrett Media

Financial Times:

Patreon, Substack, and other “passion economy” startups are laying off staff and abandoning fundraising plans; Dealroom: investment fell 75% to $801M in 2022 — Once high-flying start-ups that serve online creators and influencers have been forced into a painful retrenchment …

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Wikimedia launches an updated Wikipedia design, including improved search and accessibility, a refreshed table of contents, and easier language switching — Wikipedia, one of the world's top 10 most visited websites, and a resource used by billions every month, is getting its first makeover on the desktop in over a decade.

Discussion: Wikimedia Foundation, Fast Company, OnlyTech and The Indian Express, more at Techmeme »

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:

FilmLA: Los Angeles film, TV, and commercial shooting days fell 19.5% from Q4 2021 to Q4 2022; commercials for the year were 24.5% below their five-year average — The newest quarterly report on Los Angeles on-location shooting from FilmLA shows a sharp downturn in shoot days in the final quarter of 2022 …

Discussion: Variety, FilmLA, Los Angeles Times, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Wall Street Journal:

Antenna: Amazon's music subscription market share fell from 21% in January 2022 to 17% in November 2022, when it introduced restrictions to listening on demand — Bigger song catalog brings less choice for some; ‘a lot of cussing’ — Dustin Bingham loves to play music when he cooks.

Discussion: @shiraovide and @sebasaherrera

Rich Johnston / Bleeding Cool:

Amazon's layoffs are heavily impacting digital comic book publisher and distributor ComiXology, acquired in 2014, with reports of up to 50% of staff leaving — ComiXology staffers are reporting widescale redundancies today across the digital comics publisher and distributor, as well as its parent company, Amazon.

Discussion: @uzionmain, @stuartmwilke, @robertsecundus, @henereyg, @johnnystorm0, @bclevinger, @cocktailsandink, @jrome58, @chasemagnett, @stonemtn, @cocktailsandink, @popversesays, CBR, @zackdavisson and @jongraywb

Erin Woo / The Information:

Source: Twitter's Q4 2022 revenue fell ~35% YoY to $1.025B, 72% of its Q4 goal; the company hopes to generate $732M in Q1 2023, which would be down 39% YoY — Twitter's fourth quarter revenue fell about 35% year over year to $1.025 billion, a top ad executive revealed at a staff meeting Wednesday …

Discussion: Engadget, @ianvisits, @charlesarthur, @awprokop, @amir, @yoda, @erinkwoo, @lauramandaro, @mvpeers, Insider, New York Post and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Erin Woo / The Information:
Source: Twitter engineering manager Siddharth Rao told employees that daily revenue was 40% lower YoY and 500+ of the company's top advertisers paused spending

Discussion: Adweek, @anthony, The Guardian, @emilygorcenski, @lessin, @seth_hettena, @bgrueskin, @adrianweckler, @jessicalessin, @carnage4life, @amir, New York Post, @zoeschiffer, @jsphctrl, Fortune, @lloydmathias, @erinkwoo, Financial Times, The Wrap, Observer and Reuters

Lauren Thomas / Wall Street Journal:

CoinDesk retains investment bankers at Lazard to help the outlet explore options including a partial or full sale after “numerous” indications of interest — The company has ‘received numerous inbound indications of interest,’ CEO Kevin Worth said. — 1x

Discussion: Insider, @wublockchain, Cointelegraph, @ap_abacus, MediaPost, Talking Biz News and The Block, more at Techmeme »

Jake Kanter / Deadline:

The BBC's US head of digital journalism, Saeed Ahmed, quits after four months, raising concerns about the BBC's international and domestic news channels merger — EXCLUSIVE: The BBC's head of digital journalism has quit after just four months, prompting further anxiety about the UK broadcaster's plans …

Discussion: @jake_kanter

Zoe Samios / Sydney Morning Herald:

The Age in Melbourne, Australia, appoints news director Patrick Elligett as its editor, replacing Gay Alcorn, who stepped down in December 2022 after two years — The Age has appointed news director Patrick Elligett as its new editor. — Elligett joined the masthead in 2019 and replaces Gay Alcorn …

Discussion: @billisdoing, @kristian_silva, @mediaanalystoz, @dalehof1234, @jacklong17, @brucerguthrie, @docavvers, Mediaweek and Mumbrella

Andy Maxwell / TorrentFreak:

The European Commission invites stakeholders to share experiences and potential solutions under existing laws to combat piracy of live events via IPTV services — Rightsholders involved in the creation and broadcasting of live events say their businesses face a persistent threat from unlicensed and illegal competition.

Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:

Avatar: The Way of Water hits $1.92B at the global box office, passing Spider-Man: No Way Home for the No. 6 all-time spot; China's audiences contributed $217M — Disney/20th Century's “Avatar: The Way of Water” is now the highest grossing film of the post-shutdown era with $1.92 billion …

Discussion: Screen Rant, Insider and Deadline

Chavi Mehta / Reuters:

Spotify, Deezer, Proton, and others write to Margrethe Vestager, demanding the European Commission take action against Apple's “unfair practices”, like IAP fees — Music streaming service Spotify Technology (SPOT.N), along with other media firms such as Deezer …

Discussion: Light Reading, Spotify, @spotifynews, @chrismessina, The Information, The Platform Law Blog, Thurrott, MarketWatch, The Verge and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Output Producer, CA — AP

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Senior Assignment Editor, DC — WaPo

Breaking News Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

Reporter - Ottawa Bureau — Globe & Mail

Local Government Reporter, IA — The Gazette

Research Director, CA — OCBJ

Immigration Enforcement Reporter — Documented

Presque Island Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — SFGATE

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Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — FT

Reporter, WI — Racine County Eye

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More News:

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
A California Superior Court judge throws out most of OANN's claims in a lawsuit filed in March 2022 over DirecTV dropping the network from its channel lineup

Discussion: Techdirt and Times of San Diego

Digiday:
Similarweb: Twitter referral traffic to a dozen major outlets fell 12% on average between November and December 2022; traffic to the New York Post and Fox grew

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @mehdirhasan, @cbeilinson, @anthony, @martyswant, Nieman Lab and @mattnavarra, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
TikTok expands its “state-controlled media” label to over 40 markets globally, including the US and China, after a pilot in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus in 2022

Discussion: MediaPost, TikTok, Adweek and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:
Sources: the GOP is in talks with CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, along with niche networks like Newsmax and NewsNation, about hosting presidential primary debates

Discussion: Fox News, @jdickerson, @jimrutenberg and New York Magazine

Aisha Majid / Press Gazette:
Edelman November 2022 survey: 37% of people in the UK said they trusted the media, up from 35% in November 2021, compared to ~43% in the US, up from 39% YoY

Discussion: @pippybing, @briancathcart, @michellemanafy, Journalism.co.uk, @drevanharris, @gem_ste and @mattnavarra

Earlier Picks:

The Hollywood Reporter:
A look at Disney's board power struggle and how investor Nelson Peltz lobbied for a seat since July 2022 with help from former Marvel executive Ike Perlmutter

Discussion: @kimmasters, @alexweprin, @scottgustin, Axios, @kimmasters, @alexweprin, @loudmouthjulia, @farhip, @farhip, Observer, Quartz, Variety, The Daily Beast, Investis Digital, Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
India proposes forcing social media companies to rely on the Press Bureau of India and its other agencies for fact checking, as part of amendments to IT rules

Discussion: MediaNama

Rachel Russell / BBC:
The BBC apologizes after pre-match soccer commentary had audible porn clip noises playing on a mobile phone taped to the set; a YouTuber claimed responsibility

Discussion: @garylineker, @o2, @_grimanditweets, The Sun, The Guardian, @caitlinlfcx, @chris_stark, New York Post, Bloomberg, Daily Mail, Daily Mail, Sky News, mirror, The Verge, NME, Newser, The Wrap, The Indian Express, Mediaite, TMZ.com, Awful Announcing and Deadline

Arjun Neil Alim / Financial Times:
Condé Nast plans to leave Vogue House, its iconic, seven-story office in London's Mayfair, in 2024, as part of its efforts to streamline editorial operations

Discussion: Life Insurance International, @oliviasolon, @edcumming, MediaPost, @arjunneilalim, The Guardian, WWD and The Independent

New York Times:
Semafor plans to buy out Sam Bankman-Fried's roughly $10M stake and put the money into a separate account; the investment was Semafor's largest in a ~$25M round

Discussion: Dame Magazine, Poynter, @dicktofel, @dougjballoon, @froomkin, Digiday, @jeffjohnroberts, Cointelegraph, @historyned, @eduardosuarez, @pressgazette, @benmullin, Financial Times, Insider, New York Post, The Information and Observer

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Gina Raimondo says holding back China in the chips race is a “fool's errand”, and investment, more than export controls, will keep US ahead of Beijing

Reuters:
Albania bans TikTok for a year from January 2025, part of a broader plan to make schools safer following the killing of a 14-year-old near a school in November

Paresh Dave / Wired:
Google says it wouldn't force its device makers, browser, and wireless carrier licensees to distribute Gemini to US users for three years, in a proposed remedy

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