Top News:
CNN:
In an about-face, Fox Corp says it will let its streaming platform Fox Soul do the traditional pre-Super Bowl presidential interview, after “initial confusion” — Hours after the White House said Fox had called off its pre-Super Bowl interview with President Joe Biden, the network said the president was still welcome.
Discussion:
Variety, Variety, @oliverdarcy, Mediaite, The Hill, The Daily Beast, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Mediaite, Bloomberg, @oliverdarcy, Insider, @oliverdarcy, The Wrap, SheKnows, New York Daily News, @jeremymbarr, TVLine, @vincecoglianese, Forbes, New York Post, CNN, @rossalincoln, @nycsouthpaw, The Comeback, IndieWire, @oliverdarcy, @tommyxtopher, @oliverdarcy, @tommyxtopher, @ltthompso, @variety, @pettylupone, @geoffpilkington, Deadline, @isaiah_bb, @blanchardjrb, @claytravis, Awful Announcing and TVNewsCheck
New York Times:
After a three-month strike, the HarperCollins union and the company reach a tentative deal that includes increasing minimum salaries and a one-time $1,500 bonus — After a three-month strike, the two parties reached a tentative deal that includes wage increases and a one-time bonus.
Discussion:
Vox, Gothamist, @hcpunion, @mclendaniel, @bonesleopard, Publishers Weekly, @liz_a_harris, @maureenjohnson, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and The Bookseller
Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Sources: Fox turned down $2B+ unsolicited offers for Tubi, which the company acquired for $440M in 2020; Tubi lost ~$50M in Q4 and grew sales 25% YoY to $200M+ — Fox Corp. has turned down unsolicited offers of more than $2 billion for its Tubi streaming service, over four times …
Discussion:
The Streamable, Insider, The Wrap, @tsoh_investing, @tvgrimreaper, Media Play News and @carlquintanilla
Alex Williams / New York Times:
Marianne Mantell, who co-founded Caedmon, a groundbreaking label that issued recordings of writers reading their words, the precursors to audiobooks, dies at 93 — In her early 20s she co-founded the groundbreaking spoken-word record label Caedmon, which had a hit with Dylan Thomas's “A Child's Christmas in Wales.”
Discussion:
@susannahfox, @edoballerini, @libraryamerica and @penamerica
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
News Corp plans to cut its headcount by ~5%, or ~1,250 positions, by the end of 2023 and says the company is still in talks to sell its digital real estate unit — The owner of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones was impacted by a difficult economic environment.
RELATED:
Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:
Report: ads next to tweets from 10 extremist Twitter accounts restored by Musk generate enough engagement to likely bring in $19M in ad revenue annually — Ads from major brands are running alongside hateful content and dangerous conspiracy theories from far right Twitter users, group claims
New York Times:
An excerpt from an upcoming book on the Redstone family and its media empire: how Shari Redstone took control of Paramount, which emerged from CBS and Viacom — Her father doubted her much of her career. Les Moonves launched a bid at CBS to overrule her. That was before sexual misconduct allegations came to light.
Discussion:
@jamesstewartnyt, @craigsilverman, @benmullin, @nytimes and Bloomberg
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Sources: Amazon is in talks with Times Internet to acquire MX Player, a top VOD streaming service in India; Times Internet acquired MX Player for $140M in 2018 — Amazon is engaging with Times Internet to explore the acquisition of MX Player, one of the largest on-demand video streaming services in India …
Discussion:
The Information and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
Jenna Burrell / Poynter:
Journalists must challenge the notion that AI will replace humans; ChatGPT proves that finding the truth is trickier than pairing data with the right algorithm — Don't let these tools dazzle you beyond reason. Don't anthropomorphize them. Ask hard questions about what they're purported to do.
Discussion:
@jennaburrell, MediaPost, Boing Boing, @mike_salter, @spj_tweets, @poynter and @datasociety
NBC News:
White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield plans to step down at the end of February 2023; Obama administration veteran Ben LaBolt will succeed her — Another core Biden veteran is leaving the administration but the communications director is expected to consult a re-elect campaign.
Discussion:
The White House, The Hollywood Reporter, CNN, Mediaite, PRWeek, New York Post, @mcgregormt, @paniskoff, @steveschale, WKBN-TV, @mcbyrne, CBS News, @andrewjbates46, @creynoldsnc, The Wrap, Fox News, @david_darmofal, Deadline and Politico
Donie O'Sullivan / @donie:
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan returns to Twitter to cover Twitter, after being suspended in December 2022 for tweeting about Elon Musk and deleting the offending tweet — https://twitter.com/...
Discussion:
@julibriskman
Harry Lambert / New Statesman:
A look at the UK's Evening Standard and Independent under owner Evgeny Lebedev; while the Indy is profitable, the media outlets have lost £150M over 11 years — Buying British newspapers gave the Lebedevs clout in Tory high politics. Over a decade on, it remains unclear what they hope to achieve.
Discussion:
@newstatesman, @harrytlambert, @newstatesman and @newstatesman
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Analysis: 27 of the highest earning Substack newsletters generate at least $22M in annual revenue together; at least five of them make $1M annually each — The figures reveal that at least five Substacks draw in $1m annually. — The 27 highest-earning email newsletters on the platform Substack generate …
Discussion:
@mikeorren, Media Voices, @pressgazette, @jackmarshall, Quillie's Substack, @robinwigg, Empowered Way and Hassan's Substack
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