Top News:
Hamish Morrison / The National:
Report: BBC chairman Richard Sharp helped Boris Johnson secure a loan of £800,000 just weeks before the former prime minister recommended him for the job — BBC chairman Richard Sharp reportedly helped Boris Johnson secure a loan of £800,000 just weeks before he was recommended for the role by the then-prime minister.
Discussion:
The Sunday Times, @gabriel_pogrund, @samcoatessky, Deadline, @pippacrerar, @arusbridger, @annettedittert, @dianecoyle1859, @simonmccoytv, @brucemcd23, @maitlis, @gabriel_pogrund, @pickardje, @martinsfp, @campbellclaret, @mrjamesob, @sangitamyska, @peterjukes, @evansthecrime, @gabriel_pogrund, The Guardian, @snellarthur, @mikegalsworthy, @anna_soubry, @peterjukes, @harryyorke1, @shonamurray_ and @greenrupertread
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Q&A with Netflix co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos about shared leadership, what role Reed Hastings may play, adding FAST channels, the ad tier, and more — So that's what an orderly transfer of power looks like. — While Disney chief Bob Iger ousted every potential threat …
Discussion:
@laceyvrose, @lucas_shaw, @kirstenacuna, @sarthakgh, Insider, Reuters, GameSpot, The Hollywood Reporter, CBR, Broadband TV News, Free Press Journal, The Information, Media Play News, Fast Company, The Guardian, The Streamable, The Desk, The Hill, Fortune, IndieWire, TechCrunch, Deadline, WORLD SCREEN and Axios, more at Techmeme »
Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:
A year in, Axios Pro has 3,000+ paid subscribers who generated ~$2M in revenue; Axios publisher Nick Johnston says total 2022 revenue was in the $50M-$60M range — Axios launched its subscription business, Axios Pro, in January 2022 and within that first calendar year …
Discussion:
@rafat
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Memo: Vox Media is laying off 7% of its staff, or ~133 people, across editorial, revenue, operations, and core services, after cutting 39 positions in July 2022 — Vox Media is laying off 7% of its staff, according to a memo sent internally from CEO Jim Bankoff, obtained by Axios.
Discussion:
@molly_knight, @sarafischer, @vox_union, New York Times, Free Press Journal, @terriciccone, @davidsirota, @natalieweiner, @jason, The Information, @gmgunion, @sarafischer, @jasoncolavito, @muizz_akhtar, @megmccarron, @walsha, @atrupar, @dada_drummer, @saramorrison, @jeffrueter, @the_bonnfire, @jimlaporta, @henereyg, @sokane1, @paulzeise, @levirstev, @benjones_5, @jasonschreier, @hearstunion, @emilyvdw, @qualityrye, @starsstripesfc, @wusijiex, @nowthisunion, @daviddoel, @mbolotnikova, @jorcru, @michaelnagrant, @alex_kirshner, @blazindw, @matchstickscgy, @kerrymflynn, @jayasax, The Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, Deadline, @oliverdarcy, The Wrap, CNN, Bloomberg, The Wrap and Variety
Nilesh Christopher / Rest of World:
Creators from India's hinterland are going viral on YouTube Shorts and running into copyright issues for “fact channels” that add context to other users' videos — A new generation of creators found success on YouTube Shorts. Now, YouTube is after them for violating its community guidelines.
Ariel Shapiro / The Verge:
Listen Notes: ~219K podcasts were created in 2022, down nearly 80% from a peak of ~1M in 2020 and lower than the pre-pandemic high of ~337K in 2019 — Hope you all had a great weekend! We've got some big Hot Pod Summit updates for you all, as well as the latest in audio news.
Discussion:
Listen Notes, @bombur, @trengriffin, @glenngabe, @mattnavarra, Blubrry Podcasting and Podstack
Jocelyn Noveck / Associated Press:
Anti-harassment org Time's Up, often accused of aligning with Hollywood's rich and powerful, will halt operations and shift its remaining ~$1.7M to a legal fund — The Golden Globes carpet typically glitters with crystal-studded gowns in pastel hues, but it looked different in January 2018 …
Discussion:
National Women's Law Center, The Wrap, Rolling Stone, Variety, @ap, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
Emily Baker-White / Forbes:
According to six employees and an internal doc, TikTok and ByteDance staff engage in “heating”, or inflating video view counts, to court influencers and brands — TikTok and ByteDance employees regularly engage in “heating,” a manual push that ensures specific videos …
Discussion:
@ebakerwhite, @stokel, Brightcove, The Guardian, @kevincollier, @hootsuite, @doctorow, @kathmschmidt, The Prism, @itsjoekent, @trungtphan, Semafor, @nikbroduff, @sowmyak, Digital Music News, @_shamgod, @egavactip, @forbes, @aginnt, @ebakerwhite, @ebakerwhite, @matthewfoldi, @michaelsobolik, @daveleeft, @ebakerwhite, @lollardfish, @paulszoldra, @morgan_sung, @davemcclure, @dellcam, @katienotopoulos, @iblametom, @chinmayiarun, @forbes, @mattnavarra, @forbes, @jeffjarvis, The Verge, Watch Me Write, Adweek, Gizmodo, The Information, Insider, The Wrap, Observer and FOX News Radio
Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:
Comscore: Variety averaged 28.5M unique monthly users in 2022, beating all other trade news sites and eclipsing Vanity Fair and Entertainment Weekly audiences — Variety.com, the online home of entertainment business magazine Variety, scored record-breaking traffic in 2022.
Discussion:
Variety
Ronan Shields / Digiday:
Sources: Google is directing advertisers to work with third-party resellers directly to reduce its ad services overhead and position itself as a SaaS outfit — Alphabet today has confirmed that it plans to cut 12,000 jobs, reportedly the largest round of layoffs in its history …
Discussion:
The Keyword, The Wrap, MediaPost and 901am, more at Techmeme »
Ashutosh Joshi / Bloomberg:
Indian government asks Twitter and YouTube to take down videos and tweets about a BBC documentary on 2002 religious riots in Modi's home state of Gujarat — The Indian government has asked social media giants Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube to take down videos and tweets …
Discussion:
Reuters, UPI, @kanishka183, The Indian Express, @narundarm, Reclaim The Net, @awryaditi, TechCrunch, Free Press Journal and Scroll.in
Nieman Lab:
In interviews with 16 US whistleblowers who contacted journalists between the 1970s and 2010s, about half say the media is antagonistic and not a good partner — There is perhaps no more studied — or worried-about — dimension of news over the past five to ten years than the decline of media trust.
Discussion:
@markcoddington, @sethclewis, @mayerjoy and @janebsinger
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Netflix Q4: revenue up 1.9% YoY to $7.85B, $55M net income, down from $607M YoY, and 231M paid memberships, adding 7.66M vs. 4.57M est.; stock closed up 8.46% — - Netflix is scheduled to report fourth quarter earnings after the bell. — The streaming service's new ad-supported service will be in focus.
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Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings steps down as co-CEO but plans to stay on as executive chair; the company promotes COO Greg Peters to co-CEO with Ted Sarandos
Discussion:
@loudmouthjulia, @reedhastings, About Netflix, @raydalio, The A.V. Club, GameSpot, @gerberkawasaki, @carnage4life, The Playlist, @tvgrimreaper, @film_girl, @samro, @pythianism, @mattbelloni, @wholemarsblog, Quartz, Music Ally, The Register, AdExchanger, New York Times, Rappler, Deadline, CNBC, Deadline, Engadget, Adweek, SlashFilm, CNN, Bloomberg, Forbes, Observer, Vanity Fair, GeekWire, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Information, Insider, Media Play News and The Verge
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