Mediagazer: Hulu launches Top 15 Today, updated daily to list trending movies and TV shows; source: the list uses a formula weighing viewership, popularity surges, and more (Josef Adalian/Vulture)

7:25 PM ET, September 14, 2023

Top News:

Sources: Disney held talks exploring selling its ABC network and TV stations to Nexstar Media Group, which has 200 owned or partner TV stations in 116 markets — Walt Disney Co. has held exploratory talks about selling its ABC network and TV stations to local broadcaster Nexstar Media Group Inc. …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, Variety, Insider, The Hill, Deadline, Sports Media Watch, The Verge, Reuters, The Messenger, Next TV, 9to5Mac, Cord Cutters News, Deadline, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and The Desk

Emma Roth / The Verge:

TikTok and Billboard launch the TikTok Billboard Top 50 Chart to track the most popular songs on the app each week in the US, refreshed every Thursday morning — TikTok is partnering with Billboard to launch a top 50 chart that tracks the most popular songs on the platform.

Discussion: Billboard, MediaPost, Billboard, TechCrunch, TikTok, The Messenger, Variety, Forbes and TMZ.com

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:

Pixis, which sells AI tools that help marketers run and monitor campaigns, raised an $85M Series C1 led by Touring Capital, taking its total funding to $209M — Pixis, an AI-powered platform for brands to monitor and orchestrate their marketing campaigns, today announced that it raised $85 million …

more at Techmeme »

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

X CEO Linda Yaccarino hires media executives to lead sales teams, including former TNT and TBS GM Brett Weitz as X's head of content, talent, and brand sales — Yaccarino also unveiled a new sales leadership team, including former NBCUniversal and Dow Jones executives.

Discussion: MediaPost, The Messenger, The Information, Variety, The Wrap and Deadline

Josef Adalian / Vulture:

Hulu launches Top 15 Today, updated daily to list trending movies and TV shows; source: the list uses a formula weighing viewership, popularity surges, and more — Hulu is finally getting into the numbers game — but on its own terms. Vulture has learned that the Disney-owned streamer …

Discussion: Variety, The Verge, The Streamable, Decider, 9to5Google, The Walt Disney Company and Cord Cutters News

Carolyn Giardina / The Hollywood Reporter:

Generative AI startup Metaphysic claims its new system can help actors navigate AI likeness rights, and says its early users include Tom Hanks and Anne Hathaway — The generative AI tech firm announced a new toolset on Thursday and revealed multiple actors who are using its products.

Discussion: National Review

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Newsquest reports 2022 revenue up 6% to £150.6M, passing 65K paying digital subscribers, and that almost 50% of its advertising revenue now comes from digital — Digital now makes up almost half of ad revenues, and digital subs have surpassed 65,000.

Bloomberg:

Sources: Disney expects to fall far short of its Disney+ subscriber target for 2024, set in mid-2022; its Charter deal will add millions, at a reduced price — Walt Disney Co. expects to fall tens of millions of subscribers short of its last publicly stated 2024 target for the Disney+ streaming service …

Discussion: The Wrap and New York Times

Victor Tangermann / Futurism:

Microsoft's Start news website published a garbled, seemingly AI-generated obit for former NBA player Brandon Hunter, headlined, “Brandon Hunter useless at 42” — Former NBA player Brandon Hunter passed away unexpectedly at the young age of 42 this week, a tragedy that rattled fans …

Janko Roettgers / Lowpass:

Amazon adds IAP back to Prime Video for Android, letting users buy VOD rentals and more, after removing IAP from its apps in 2022 to avoid Google's 30% fee — Next up: The Kindle app, maybe? — Some news from the someone-must-have-struck-a-deal department: Amazon is once again allowing users …

Discussion: 9to5Google and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Axios:

Source: audience and ad measurement company VideoAmp laid off ~10% of its workforce last week, or 40+ people, just before announcing raising a $150M Series G — Media measurement firm VideoAmp quietly laid off about 10% of its workforce last week, Axios has learned. … VideoAmp now has about 400 employees.

Discussion: Ad Age, VideoAmp and @sarafischer

Matthew Keys / StreamTV Insider:

US House hearing: lawmakers expressed frustration over rising pay TV prices and blackouts, and four industry experts called cable and broadcast rules outdated — Federal lawmakers this week expressed their frustration over rising cable and satellite television prices and numerous programming blackouts …

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Automattic releases ActivityPub 1.0.0 for WordPress, letting fediverse users follow WordPress blogs on apps like Mastodon and receive replies as blog comments — In March, WordPress.com owner Automattic made a commitment to the fediverse — the decentralized social networks that include …

Discussion: @chrismessina@mastodon.xyz, more at Techmeme »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 7:25 PM ET, September 14, 2023.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Commissioning Editor - Practical Law — Reuters

Energy Markets Reporter, London — WSJ

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

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — Toronto Star

Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — Newcomer

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

News Reporter, MA — Berkshire Eagle

Multimedia Journalist, PA — Observer-Reporter

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

Senior Media Editor — Digiday

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

Staff Reporter, CA — Daily Kos

Data Editor, NY — ProPublica

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:

Bloomberg:
DAZN plans to bid for Ligue de Football Professionnel media rights for which the local league is seeking €800M+ per year; source: beIN is also considering a bid

Virginia Chamlee / People:
Fox News adds Lawrence Jones as a permanent co-host of Fox & Friends, starting on September 18; at 30, Jones will be the youngest Black co-host on cable news

Discussion: TVLine, Mediaite, TV Insider, Deadline, The Wrap, Fox News, Fox News, Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, @blackamazon, @lawrencebjones3, The Hill and The Messenger

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Hipgnosis plans to sell 29 music catalogues, including Shakira, Kaiser Chiefs, and Nelly songs, to a Blackstone-owned fund for $465M, to strengthen its finances

Discussion: Billboard, Reuters and Music Business Worldwide

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Nielsen names Karthik Rao, a 23-year veteran of the company, as its CEO, succeeding David Kenny, who was CEO for five years and will become executive chairman

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Insider Intelligence, Adweek, RAIN News, Variety, Inside Radio, @nielsen, Axios, @bristei, Ad Age, Nielsen, WORLD SCREEN and MediaPost

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
UK fact-checking charity Full Fact names Chris Morris as its CEO, succeeding founding CEO Will Moy; Morris was BBC Reality Check's first on-screen correspondent

Discussion: @fullfact and Full Fact

Caitlin Vogus / Freedom of the Press Foundation:
Some US lawmakers retaliate against local news outlets for coverage they dislike by revoking public notice contracts or changing laws about newspaper notices

Discussion: Palm Beach Post and Media Nation

Tyler Cowen / Bloomberg:
Child content creators, or “kidfluencers”, some of whom make $20M+/year, show that protecting kids from labor exploitation is difficult in the social media age

Discussion: @michellemanafy@journa.host, @tylercowen and @anecdotal, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Futurism:
Analysis: the bulk of The A.V. Club's AI-generated articles appear to be copied verbatim from IMDb and have a “reviewed and edited by the editorial staff” note

Discussion: Plagiarism Today, @shivvyshiv.bsky.social, @kbeninato@mstdn.party, @charlescmann, @jhoffman, @thehighsign, @kphipps3000, @samuelaadams, @dceiver, @jon_christian, @pierogipowered.bsky.social, @dell.bsky.social, @baldur@toot.cafe, @Lazarou@mastodon.social and @tante@tldr.nettime.org

Kat Tenbarge / NBC News:
Rick & Morty creator Justin Roiland is accused of sexual assault and grooming underage fans, per interviews with 11 people, pictures, emails, texts, and more

Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times:
Bill Maher says his show will return sans writers, as some talk shows resume production amid strikes; HBO says Real Time With Bill Maher returns on September 22

Discussion: @billmaher, Awful Announcing, TMZ.com, New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, @wgawest, Breitbart, @stephenking, @elonmusk, @davidkusnet, @fmanjoo, @nickknudsenus, Decider, @bradleywhitford, @michaelsocolow, Fox News, New York Post, @parkermolloy, Bleeding Cool News, @parkermolloy, NPR, TV Insider, Vanity Fair, Boing Boing, Screen Rant, @joshgnosis, @gennefer, @wgawest, @wgawest, Deadline, @dannyzuker, @thor_benson, @thor_benson, @drewzachary, @ironstache, @guyendorekaiser, @robynelyse, @andrewperezdc, @cmclymer, @harrymwood, @ashtonpittman, @clairewillett, @annamerlan, @lehmannchris, @geoffreyplitt, @aletheion.bsky.social, Variety, UPROXX, Rolling Stone, Deadline, Rolling Stone, The A.V. Club, CBS News, The Messenger, The Daily Beast, @EarthIsOurHome@mastodon.world, @nedhamson@campaign …, The Hill, @tylerjameshill.bsky.social, The Wrap, TVLine, @fazz.bsky.social, @fazz.bsky.social, @fazz.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter, @fazz.bsky.social, @fazz.bsky.social, Consequence and The A.V. Club

Ben Hallman / The Examination:
Nonprofit health news outlet The Examination launches, publishing collaborative investigations with Der Spiegel, The Washington Post, The Guardian US, and more

Discussion: @marinawalkerg, @sheilacoronel, @examinationnews, @mujschool, @mujschool, @examinationnews, @ben_hallman, @ben_hallman, @ben_hallman, @ben_hallman, @ben_hallman, @ben_hallman, The Examination and Columbia Journalism Review

Andrea Grimes / Dame Magazine:
Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter has led to a loss of income, opportunities, and connections for independent journalists, and alternatives are lacking so far

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
TikTok expands its revamped creator fund Creativity Program Beta beyond the US to eligible creators in Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the UK

Discussion: Insider, MediaPost and Music Ally

From Techmeme:

The Information:
Sources: in recent months, Nvidia has asked its suppliers to change the design of server racks for Blackwell GPUs several times to overcome overheating problems

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
How Tim Cook may navigate Trump's presidency, a closer look at Apple's upcoming smart home command center, sources detail a new AirTag coming in 2025, and more

Nextgov/FCW:
Sources: CISA's director Jen Easterly and deputy director Nitin Natarajan plan to leave the agency on January 20, 2025, the day Trump will be inaugurated

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