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 »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 9:30 AM ET, January 19, 2023.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

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:

Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says the DOJ's “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision”, would hurt US consumers, and jeopardize the US' global tech leadership

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Adam Mosseri says Threads is rebalancing ranking to prioritize content from people that users follow, warns that creators' “unconnected” reach may go down

Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
The CFPB will supervise tech companies with digital wallets, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Venmo, with 50M+ annual transactions, treating them more like banks

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page