Top News:
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Paramount's stock jumps ~14% over reports Skydance Media CEO David Ellison and RedBird Capital's Gerry Cardinale are “kicking the tires” on acquiring its assets — The companies are reportedly interested in parent company National Amusements' majority stake in the media conglomerate
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
CBS News journalist Catherine Herridge could face a contempt of court sanction and fines if she does not reveal a source for Fox News stories she wrote in 2017 — First Amendment advocates are alarmed by the case of Catherine Herridge, who is facing an imminent court deadline and steep fines
Discussion:
@fatalpolitics, @brandonmillman, @jeremymbarr and CBS News
Nick Robertson / The Hill:
ABC News plans to host the sixth Republican presidential primary debate, in New Hampshire on January 18, three days before a CNN debate at the same location — ABC News announced Thursday that it will host the sixth GOP debate on Jan. 18 in Manchester, New Hampshire, set to take place just days before a CNN event at the same location.
Discussion:
New York Times, Drake University Newsroom, Adweek, HuffPost, The Mary Sue, Associated Press, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, Fox News, ABC News, The Messenger, WMUR, Politico and CNN
RELATED:
CNN:
CNN plans to host two Republican presidential primary debates, set for January 10 in Iowa and for January 21 in New Hampshire; CNN Max will stream both debates
CNN plans to host two Republican presidential primary debates, set for January 10 in Iowa and for January 21 in New Hampshire; CNN Max will stream both debates
Discussion:
Politico, @rondesantis, Wisconsin Examiner, Bloomberg, The Hill, @dylanbyers, The Messenger, Newser, @daveweigel, @bgrueskin, @a_newsman, @alessandrobenc, @mollyjongfast, @muellershewrote, @dylanbyers, @shanegoldmacher, @cnnpr, New York Times, Mediaite, WFAA-TV, The Daily Beast, UPI, New York Post, The Wrap, Bloomberg and Florida Politics
Andy Maxwell / TorrentFreak:
Forty nine record labels file a lawsuit against Altice for allegedly facilitating “massive copyright infringement committed by thousands of its subscribers” — Around 50 record labels, all members of the RIAA, have filed a mass copyright infringement lawsuit against Altice, owner of U.S. ISP Optimum.
Discussion:
Reuters and TorrentFreak
Poynter:
Challenger, Gray & Christmas: the news sector of the media industry has seen 2,681 job cuts from January through November 2023, more than in all of 2022 or 2021 — The news sector alone has lost 2,681 jobs so far in 2023 — more than it did in all of 2022 or 2021.
Discussion:
Challenger …, @jaimeblack, @danackerman, @skyler_higley, @pranavdixit, Donovan Farnham on LinkedIn and Variety
Reuters:
After a Reuters report found that Israel fired the shells that killed journalist Issam Abdallah on October 13, Israel says Abdallah was in an active combat zone — The Israeli military, responding on Friday to a Reuters investigation that determined its forces killed a Reuters journalist …
Lee Enterprises, Inc.:
Lee Enterprises reports Q4 operating revenue down 15.3% YoY to $164M, net loss down 80% YoY to $1.3M, and digital-only subscribers up 36% YoY to 721K — Total Digital Revenue(1) was $73M in the quarter, representing 44% of revenue — Digital-only subscribers total 721,000, exceeding guidance and up 36% YOY
Discussion:
@byjonharris and MediaPost
Todd Spangler / Variety:
SEC filing: Netflix details 2024 pay plans for co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, with base salaries of $3M, target cash bonuses of $6M, and stock worth $31M — For Sarandos, $40 million is the same level of pay he is set to receive in 2023, while Peters is getting a 5% step …
Discussion:
US Securities …, Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap
Bloomberg:
Sources: DAZN Group, the sports streaming company backed by Len Blavatnik, is exploring ways to raise as much as $1B, seeking to accelerate its global expansion — - Blavatnik's sports broadcaster holds talks with advisers — CEO previously said DAZN would welcome strategic partners
Discussion:
@hellierd and Cord Cutters News
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: X has held preliminary talks with Amazon to make ads available via Amazon's ad-buying software, and PubMatic, seeking to attract more small advertisers — Social-media platform has had preliminary talks with Amazon to sell ads through e-commerce giant's ad-buying software
Discussion:
The Guardian, @iedamarcondes.com, Reuters, The Messenger, Vanity Fair, Forbes, The Hill, The Daily Beast, NPR, New York Post, Financial Times and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
An untitled countdown timer viewable only on the Threads.net homepage in EU countries suggests that the service will be expanded to EU users on December 14 — Following its rollout in countries like the US and UK this past July, Threads will finally be expanded to users in the European Union on December 14th.
Discussion:
Engadget, Interhacktives, The Messenger, @Cafeine@mastodon.social, 9to5Google and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Lisa Heyamoto / LION Publishers:
Lessons from LION's Revenue Growth Fellowship: revenue growth requires operational readiness, a clear strategy, leader involvement, and hiring the right person — How strategy, structure and consistency are essential for revenue growth, and other lessons learned from our Revenue Growth Fellowship
Discussion:
Anika Anand on LinkedIn