Top News:
Lora Kolodny / CNBC:
Elon Musk scoffs at advertisers leaving X because of his controversial posts: “If somebody's going to try to blackmail me with advertising ... go fuck yourself” — - In recent weeks, Musk has promoted and sometimes verbally endorsed what the White House called “antisemitic and racist hate” …
Discussion:
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Kim Masters / The Hollywood Reporter:
Linda Yaccarino's former associates describe her as difficult and volatile, but hardworking, and say her self-regard made her think she could manage Elon Musk — The former NBCUniversal ad sales chief thought she could manage the mercurial Elon Musk. Her former colleagues are baffled at the result …
Discussion:
@nsedef, @halmarshall2309, @karaswisher, @nash076, @thr and The Information, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Tubi hires David Salmon, former CTO of Endeavor Streaming, as executive VP and managing director of international, and plans to launch in the EU and the UK — Tubi, Fox Corp.'s ad-supported video-on-demand service, is eyeing a bigger international footprint: The streamer has tapped David Salmon …
Discussion:
WORLD SCREEN, The Hollywood Reporter and Cord Cutters News
Sports Business Journal:
NASCAR announces media rights deals with Amazon's Prime Video, WBD's TNT Sports, Fox Sports, and NBC Sports, for 2025 to 2031; sources: deals are worth $7.7B — NASCAR is on the cusp of announcing $7.7B worth of media rights deals with Fox Sports, NBC, Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon.
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: MSNBC cancels Mehdi Hasan's show and expands Ayman Mohyeldin's program to replace Hasan's show; Hasan will become an on-camera analyst and fill-in host — MSNBC is canceling outspoken opinion host Mehdi Hasan's weekend program and show on the streaming service Peacock.
Discussion:
@wesleylowery, @brianstelter, @bristei, @maxwelltani, @jeremymbarr and @curtishouck
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Bari Weiss' Free Press attracts readers miffed with “unfair” Israel media coverage; Free Press now has ~520K subscribers, including nearly 75K paying $8/month — At the Free Press, the site launched by the former New York Times opinion editor, traffic and subscriptions have surged during Israel-Hamas war
Sheena Vasani / The Verge:
TikTok launches verified artist accounts, offering various tools to deepen engagement and improve discoverability, seemingly inspired by Spotify — These accounts can be activated by any musician and come with tools to help artists reach new fans and increase engagement with existing ones.
Discussion:
The Messenger
CBC News:
Google and Canada reach an agreement in their dispute over the country's Online News Act; Google plans to pay news companies around CA$100M, or ~$74M, per year — Agreement comes 3 weeks before Online News Act rules come into force — Google and the federal government have reached …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Verge, Media Voices, @cpac_tv, @bcmerchant, @bcmerchant, @andrewlawton, @bcmerchant, @supriyadwivedi, @slikk519, @doncochraneyow, Android Headlines, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, The Hollywood Reporter, Ars Technica, CNN, The Hill, New York Post, Financial Times, Gizmodo, Canadian Press, News/Media Alliance, Bloomberg, iPhone in Canada Blog, Agence France-Presse, Engadget, Android Central, Reuters and @johnefrancis@mastodon.social, more at Techmeme »
Alexandra Topping / The Guardian:
The BBC says Newsnight will become a “30-minute interview, debate, and discussion show” and cuts 30+ jobs to save £7.5M as part of plans to make £500M in cuts — More than half of jobs at flagship BBC Two political programme to be lost as corporation diverts money to digital platforms
Discussion:
BBC, Telegraph, BBC, @markurban01, @robburl, @markayresrws, @lewis_goodall, @jamesrbuk, @katierazz, @katierazz, @katierazz, @scouselakes, @liamfjournalist, @nujofficial, @georgiebingham, @liammustapha, @abdulmohamed02, @lorna_tveditor, @xtophercook, @redmadden, @johnsweeneyroar, @katierazz, @drfrancesryan, @silvesterldn, @jonlis1, @louisdegenhardt, @katierazz, Financial Times, National Union of Journalists … and The Wrap
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Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta plans to launch Threads in the EU in December, its largest expansion since its July 2023 debut, but only for consumption, no profiles or posting — Expansion is expected in December, a signal of company's commitment to microblogging service — Facebook parent Meta Platforms plans …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Engadget, @edcarson1971@threads.net and @newley, more at Techmeme »
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Analysis: 11 of the 13 local news websites that UK-based Reach plans to close before the end of 2023 saw double-digit percentage audience drops in the past year — Ten sites have announced they will no longer be updated from Thursday. — Eleven of the 13 local news websites being closed …
Discussion:
Local News Initiative
Institute for Nonprofit News:
The INN board announces that Karen Rundlet will become CEO of the Institute for Nonprofit News on January 8, succeeding Sue Cross — Philanthropy leader and multimedia journalist Karen Rundlet will become chief executive officer of the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) …
Discussion:
Chris Krewson on LinkedIn and Current
Lisa Richwine / Reuters:
Disney CEO Bob Iger says ABC is not for sale, despite his earlier comment that it might not be “core” to Disney, and he'll “definitely” step down in 2026 — Walt Disney (DIS.N) Chief Executive Bob Iger said on Wednesday he would “definitely” step down when his current contract ends …