Top News:
OpenAI:
OpenAI responds to the NYT lawsuit, says training is fair use and there is an opt-out, “regurgitation” is a rare bug, and NYT is not telling the full story — We support journalism, partner with news organizations, and believe The New York Times lawsuit is without merit. — Authors
Discussion:
CNN, Stratechery, @fifilamoura@eldritch.cafe, @quasarfortress, @nomadsvagabonds, @themacrosift, @selmarsmit, @drcolinwplewis, @obscure_jazz, @aimee_maree, @maxkannen, @acidflask, @rohanposts, @sai_prasanna, @nicky_bonez, @gdb, @garymarcus, @jacquesthibs, @techau, @altryne, @willoremus@mastodon.social, Media Makers Meet and CMU, more at Techmeme »
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Internal memo: Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon says the broadcaster needs to “accelerate” its digital shift and confirms “an impact on jobs”, citing an ad slump — Exclusive: Broadcaster looks to hasten shake-up amid TV advertising slump with most job losses likely to affect London-based workers
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Alan Blinder / New York Times:
How US News & World Report licenses “badges” that US colleges use to promote their rankings, as critics say the payments incentivize a harmful ranking system — U.S. News sells “badges” to colleges, so they can promote their rankings — whether they are 1st, 10th or much, much lower.
Discussion:
Jonathan Henry on LinkedIn, @halsinger and @jselingo
Mark Kleinman / Sky News:
Sources: SoundCloud owners Raine Group and Temasek Holdings are preparing for a sale of the music streaming service that could fetch $1B+ — Backed by Raine Group and Temasek Holdings, SoundCloud is to be put up for sale later this year as its owners anticipate a substantial payday, Sky News learns.
Discussion:
RAIN News, Music Ally, CMU, @pivic@kolektiva.social and Cory Brown on LinkedIn
Erik Gruenwedel / Media Play News:
Netflix, Max, and Hulu won a combined 12 awards at the 81st Golden Globes; HBO's final Succession season won four awards and Netflix's Beef won three awards — Netflix, Max and Hulu led all streamers with 12 combined key category trophies at the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards held Jan. 7 in Los Angeles.
Discussion:
The Streamable, SlashFilm, The Verge, @ayotristan, @appleinsider, Engadget, Awardsdaily, The Hollywood Reporter, People, Deadline, NBC News, AppleInsider, Deadline and Next TV
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Wall Street Journal:
A look at the ambitious bid to turn around the Golden Globes, as a source say CBS is paying a significantly lower licensing fee than the ~$60M NBC used to pay
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, The Ringer, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Slate, Variety, Associated Press, New York Times, Billboard, CBS News, TMZ.com, abc7NY, @albertfong98, Vox and KTFT
Max Tani / Semafor:
Axel Springer launches a review of the editorial processes at BI, after a BI story claimed many instances of plagiarism by MIT's Neri Oxman, Bill Ackman's wife — The Scoop — Business Insider's parent company is divided over the publication's recent article about plagiarism allegations …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Washington Post, New York Post, @benmullin, @mjnblack, @karaswisher@threads.net, @niallstanage, @alex.stamos@threads.net, @hshaban, @karaswisher@threads.net, @lorakolodny@threads.net, @billackman, @carnage4life, @billackman, Why Evolution Is True, @esqueer_@threads.net, @jamesrbuk, @chancerydaily@threads.net, @lpolgreen@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, @alexheath@threads.net, @benmullin, @maxwelltani, Talking Biz News, The Wrap, CNN, The Daily Beast and Boing Boing
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: Will and Jada Smith's Westbrook struggled to land deals after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock and its 2023 revenue dropped to $100M, forcing steep cuts — The Scoop — The fall of 2021 was the perfect time for Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith to sell their media company, Westbrook.
Discussion:
Poynter and David Adeleke on LinkedIn
Nate Raymond / Reuters:
SCOTUS declines to hear a case filed by Twitter in 2014, in which Twitter argued that disclosing data requests in national security probes was protected by 1A — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by Elon Musk's X Corp to consider whether the social media company …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Daily Caller, @nothingsmonstrd.bsky.social and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Steven J. Horowitz / Variety:
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour becomes the highest-grossing concert film of all time, earning $261.6M+ globally, surpassing Michael Jackson's This Is It from 2009 — Taylor Swift is starting off 2024 with yet another historic milestone under her belt. — Following the release of “Taylor Swift …
Discussion:
Forbes, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, ScreenRant and Rolling Stone
Kateryna Kadabashy / Bloomberg:
MBC Group, the Middle East's biggest broadcaster, rises 20% on its first day of trading on the Saudi exchange, after raising $222M by selling a 10% stake — - MBC has raised $222 million selling a 10% stake in IPO — Company was founded by Waleed Al Ibrahim in London in 1991
Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
TikTok restricts Creative Center, used by advertisers to track hashtags, after it was used by critics to scrutinize content on the Israel-Hamas war and more — People and groups had harnessed the tool to scrutinize content on the site related to the Israel-Hamas war and other topics.
Emilia David / The Verge:
Getty Images and Nvidia launch Generative AI by iStock, a text-to-image service that generates stock photos and is aimed at SMBs — Getty Images and Nvidia are deepening their AI partnership with the launch of Generative AI by iStock, a text-to-image platform specifically designed to make stock photos.
Discussion:
NVIDIA, more at Techmeme »
Christine Burke / Bloomberg:
Radio network Audacy reaches a deal with a supermajority of its debt holders that allows Audacy to reduce its total debt load by 80% to ~$350M — - Deal announced Sunday will reduce total debt load by 80% — Radio, podcast company also files for Chapter 11 protection
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