Top News:
John Ourand / Sports Business Journal:
Sources: WBD seeks to shed regional sports networks, telling teams they need to take rights back from AT&T SportsNet by March 31 or channels face bankruptcy — Warner Bros. Discovery has told teams that it plans to exit the regional sports network business entirely within the next several weeks.
Derek Willis / ProPublica:
Politwoops, a ProPublica project that tracked and archived politicians' deleted tweets since 2012, is shutting down as the required Twitter tools no longer work — Whether officials were deleting an embarrassing post or just correcting a typo, Politwoops tracked them all.
Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Memo: Vice Media Group CEO Nancy Dubuc says she is leaving the company after five years; sources say she was at the end of her contract and decided to move on — EXCLUSIVE: Nancy Dubuc is leaving Vice Media Group where she was CEO for the past five years. She just announced her decision …
Sahil Patel / The Information:
Source: Apple hired TV and digital video advertising executive Lauren Fry to build a video ad business for Apple TV+, which doesn't have an ad-supported tier — Apple has hired Lauren Fry, a TV and digital video advertising executive, to help build a video advertising business …
Discussion:
IndieWire, AppleInsider, @tvgrimreaper, @amir, 9to5Mac, Rolling Stone and Wired, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
The Trace, a nonprofit outlet covering gun violence, launches Chicago and Philadelphia bureaus with a community-focused engagement reporter for every writer — The nonprofit newsroom The Trace is experimenting with a new approach to its award-winning coverage of gun violence in the United States.
Discussion:
@niemanlab, @joy_resmovits and The Trace
CBS News:
Penguin Random House plans to publish original versions of Roald Dahl's novels after facing a backlash over plans to edit them to be more “suitable” for readers — Publisher Penguin Random House said Friday it will publish “classic” unexpurgated versions of Roald Dahl's children's novels …
Discussion:
Penguin Books UK, NPR, @suzannenossel, Fox News, Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, The Week, @profmarkcollard, @paulbernaluk, @odd_really, @puffinbooks, @emzanotti, @sarahwebbishere, @zunguzungu, @jaycaspiankang, @s_insley_h, @thefireorg, Vanity Fair, New York Post, Mediaite, Associated Press, @harrymccracken, National Review, Axios, The A.V. Club, Metro.co.uk, @whduryea, @jaceycockrobin, The Guardian, The Wrap and Fox 8 Cleveland WJW
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
HBO Max parent company WarnerMedia sues Paramount Global over allegedly breaching their contract by steering South Park specials and other content to Paramount+ — The suit, filed Friday in New York state Supreme Court, asserts that Paramount breached the contract by steering “South Park” …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Screen Rant, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Deadline, IndieWire, The Daily Beast and @awestruckvox
Stephen Lurie / Wired:
A look at IMDb's top 300 contributors, including one who wrote 35K+ plot summaries, and the history of the Amazon-owned crowdsourced website predating Wikipedia — Powered by obsessed film buffs, it's a crowdsourced juggernaut that's older than Google and Wikipedia. Now AI is threatening to steal the starring role.
Discussion:
@wired, @luriethereal, @michellelegro and @grahamdavida
John Eggerton / Next TV:
The FCC designates the Standard General-Tegna merger for a hearing before an administrative law judge, a move that historically delays if not kills such deals — Move is big blow to proposed station-group merger — In a blow to the prospects for the Standard General-Tegna-Cox Media transaction …
Discussion:
Radio & Television …, Bloomberg, @gaufre, Communications Workers …, Deadline, Reuters, Seeking Alpha, @notaaroncraig and @gaufre
Peter White / Deadline:
The New York Post signs a first-look unscripted deal with producer Asylum Entertainment to adapt its stories into documentaries, limited series, and docuseries — EXCLUSIVE: The New York Post is looking to get into the TV game with a first-look unscripted deal with producer Asylum Entertainment Group.
Sergiu Gatlan / BleepingComputer:
News Corp says attackers behind a data breach the company disclosed in February 2022 gained access in February 2020, stealing some personal data including SSNs — Mass media and publishing giant News Corporation (News Corp) says that attackers behind a breach disclosed in 2022 first gained access …
Dominic Patten / Deadline:
In WBD's Q4 2022 earnings call, CEO David Zaslav praised CNN's “more inclusive range of voices and viewpoints” and pledged to “continue advancing” the strategy — Call “2023 will be a year of building,” Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav made a point today …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, @wajahatali, @lionelmedia, @brucebartlett, New York Post, The Verge, The Week, @brianstelter, Variety, Insider and Inside Radio
RELATED:
Alexandra Canal / Yahoo Finance:
Warner Bros. Discovery misses Q4 estimates with a $2.1B net loss and $11.01B in revenue, vs. $11.23B expected, and grew global DTC subscribers by 1.1M to 96.1M
Warner Bros. Discovery misses Q4 estimates with a $2.1B net loss and $11.01B in revenue, vs. $11.23B expected, and grew global DTC subscribers by 1.1M to 96.1M
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Deadline, Observer, Warner Bros. Discovery, CNBC, The Streamable, Next TV, IndieWire, @tvgrimreaper, The Streamable, SlashFilm, The Hollywood Reporter, @azalben, @azalben, @azalben, @azalben, @azalben, The Wrap and Variety
Larry Edelman / The Boston Globe:
Boston Globe Media plans to launch a half-hour weekday TV news show featuring Globe journalists this spring, available on NESN, BostonGlobe.com, and their apps — “Boston Globe Today” will dig into the region's biggest news, sports, and entertainment stories
Discussion:
@bostonglobe, @alexagagosz, @bostonradio, @bostonglobe, MediaPost, Media Nation and Barrett Media