Mediagazer: 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+ (Christopher Palmeri/Bloomberg)

3:50 PM ET, February 10, 2023

Top News:

CNN:

The White House says Fox Corp canceled a pre-Super Bowl interview with Biden on Fox Soul; Biden declined interview requests with Fox News hosts and anchors — President Joe Biden has snubbed a Fox News request for a pre-Super Bowl interview on Sunday, as the Democratic president continues …

Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy:

Fox Corp says Fox Soul “looks forward to interviewing the President for Super Bowl Sunday” and that there was “some initial confusion” about the interview — Update: Fox Corp. just sent me this statement: “After the White House reached out to FOX Soul Thursday evening, there was some initial confusion. FOX Soul looks forward to interviewing the President for Super Bowl Sunday.”

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New York Daily News, @vincecoglianese, CNN and Deadline

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 and Media Play News

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:

Report: ads next to tweets posted by 10 extremist accounts that Twitter restored under Elon Musk's “general amnesty” likely generated $19M in annual revenue — Ads from major brands are running alongside hateful content and dangerous conspiracy theories from far right Twitter users, group claims

Discussion: Center for Countering …, American Press Institute, Mashable, Media Matters for America, @taylorlorenz, @catthekin, Free Press, @teri_kanefield, @jeffjarvis, @taylorlorenz, @ccdhate, The Hill, Engadget and MediaPost

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, Publishers Weekly, @mclendaniel, @hcpunion, @bonesleopard, @liz_a_harris, @maureenjohnson, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and The Bookseller

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: MediaPost, @jennaburrell, Boing Boing, @mike_salter, @spj_tweets, @poynter and @datasociety

New York Times:

Excerpt from an upcoming book on the Redstone family and its media empire looks at how Shari Redstone asserted control of what has become Paramount Global — 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: Bloomberg

NBC News:

White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield is stepping down at the end of February and will be succeeded by Ben LaBolt — 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, Mediaite, PRWeek, Axios, CNN, The Hill, The Wrap, New York Post, CBS News, Fox News, @paniskoff, @steveschale, Deadline and Politico

Reuters:

News Corp Q2: revenue down 7% YoY to $2.52B, vs. $2.55B est., net income down 64% YoY to $94M, book publishing revenue down 14%, and news media revenue down 9% — Media conglomerate News Corp (NWSA.O) said on Thursday that it would cut 1,250 jobs after it missed estimates for second-quarter earnings due …

Discussion: The Wrap, News Corp, The Guardian and @pressgazette

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

Discussion: Press Gazette, Australian Financial Review, Reuters, @mvpeers, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Variety, Sydney Morning Herald and Advanced Television

Donie O'Sullivan / @donie:

CNN's Donie O'Sullivan returns to Twitter after being suspended in December for tweeting about Musk, having deleted the offending tweet — https://twitter.com/...

Harry Lambert / New Statesman:

A look at the UK's Evening Standard and Independent under owner Evgeny Lebedev: despite the Indy's profitability, the media outlets have lost £150M in 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

Tamar Sarai / Nieman Lab:

Q&A with Media 2070's founding director Alicia Bell and campaign manager Venneikia Williams on the project's origins, media reparations for racism, and more — It's said that journalism is the first rough draft of history, but journalists also shape present-day realities.

Discussion: @spj_tweets