Top News:
Kashish Tandon / Reuters:
India's Zee Entertainment remains committed to its $10B Sony India merger, calling media reports of the deal falling through “baseless and factually incorrect” — India's Zee Entertainment (ZEE.NS) on Tuesday said it was committed to its merger with Sony's (6758.T) local arm …
Discussion:
Financial Times, Anto Antony on LinkedIn, Advanced Television and Bloomberg
RELATED:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Zee misses a deadline to pay $200M to Disney's India unit for cricket TV rights, citing a cash crunch; Zee agreed to pay $1.4B+ in August 2022 — - Payment was part of a $1.4 billion cricket rights purchase — Network is saving cash ahead of likely collapse of its merger
OpenAI:
OpenAI responds to The New York Times' lawsuit: training is fair use and there is an opt-out, “regurgitation” is a rare bug, and NYT “manipulated” its models — We support journalism, partner with news organizations, and believe The New York Times lawsuit is without merit.
Discussion:
MediaNama, The Guardian, The Hill, @jeremymbarr, @altryne, @themacrosift, @ndiakopoulos, @garymarcus, @acidflask, @selmarsmit, @rohanposts, @froomkin, @verge, @gdb, @techau, @giordanorogers, @drcolinwplewis, @isaiahporitz, @jamesrbuk, @sai_prasanna, @andrewyng, @minimaxir, @obscure_jazz, @nicky_bonez, @quasarfortress, @nomadsvagabonds, @aimee_maree, @tomwarren, @saurabhsachan, @carnage4life, @maxkannen, Jason Wong on LinkedIn, Puck, New York Times, @jacquesthibs, The Information, The Register, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @reporterzoe@threads.net, @thatadamguy@threads.net, Thurrott, CNBC, Futurism, Financial Times, The Verge, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, @karlauerbach@sfba.social, TechCrunch, CNN, @martin@openedtech.social, @fifilamoura@eldritch.cafe, @willoremus@mastodon.social, Stratechery and CMU, more at Techmeme »
Mia Sato / The Verge:
How the internet reshaped itself around Google's algorithms, including by using SEO tricks, and the company's role in many websites now using similar designs — How the internet reshaped itself around Google's search algorithms — and into a world where websites look the same. — Animations by Richard Parry
Julia Kollewe / The Guardian:
Memo: Channel 4 Chair Ian Cheshire says the government-approved appointments of four white directors to the broadcaster's board lag behind its diversity targets — Chair says government-approved appointments lag behind broadcaster's diversity targets — A row has broken out over the lack …
Discussion:
The Express & Star, Daily Mail, Telegraph, @roziebreen, @jake_kanter and Deadline
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Substack plans to remove some Nazi publications, but its new policy interpretation won't include proactively removing neo-Nazi and far-right extremism content — Substack is removing some publications that express support for Nazis, the company said today.
Discussion:
The Verge, @jasonkoebler@threads.net, @jbenton, @brian.fishman.5@threads.net, @brianstelter, @fraying@xoxo.zone, @LyleDAL@universeodon.com, @neurovagrant@masto.deoan.org, Engadget, @crumbler@threads.net, @ernie@writing.exchange, @thisismissem@hachyderm.io, Rolling Stone, NBC News and New York Post, more at Techmeme »
Jody Godoy / Reuters:
Netflix defeats a shareholder lawsuit over accusations of hiding the impact of account sharing; Netflix lost ~50% of its value in 2022 after growth warnings — Netflix (NFLX.O) has defeated a lawsuit filed by shareholders in a federal court in California that accused the streaming entertainment company …
Discussion:
Broadband TV News and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Press Gazette:
An analysis of 23 leading paywalled publishers: the price of a digital news subscription rose by 20% on average in the UK in 2023; Bloomberg's grew by 50% — How annual digital subscription prices at the biggest news titles compare to one year ago. — The price of a digital news subscription …
Discussion:
Media Voices, @baekdal and Press Gazette
Steve Pond / The Wrap:
Out of 321 Oscar-qualifying films of 2023, just 265 are eligible for Best Picture, as the Academy starts enforcing its Representation and Inclusion Standards — “Dumb Money,” “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” are among those not in the running for the top prize
Discussion:
@davidpoland, @expert_oscar, Gizmodo, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and IndieWire
The Guardian:
Some Israeli journalists say Israeli media's uniformly patriotic vision of reality that omits the plight of Palestinians leaves viewers dangerously disconnected — Coverage that omits plight of Palestinians leaves Israeli public dangerously disconnected from the rest of the world, critical journalists say
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, Stephan Bianchi on LinkedIn, @glynmoody@mastodon.social and Politico
Mia Sato / The Verge:
YouTube updates its cyberbullying policy to ban AI-generated content that “realistically simulates” deceased children or victims of crimes or deadly events — YouTube is updating its cyberbullying and harassment policies and will no longer allow content that “realistically simulates” …
Discussion:
@iedamarcondes.com, @easygenie, @ivanofhk, MediaNama and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Jon Lafayette / Next TV:
Roxi, a voice-activated video music service backed by Simon Cowell and others, plans to expand from UK to the US in Q1 on most streaming devices and smart TVs — Backed by Simon Cowell, Kylie Minogue and Sheryl Crow, streaming service looks to supplant smart speakers
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Music Ally, Billboard and Advanced Television