Top News:
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Disney does not endorse the nominations of Nelson Peltz and James Rasulo put forth by Peltz's Trian Fund, nor does it endorse the nominations made by Blackwells — Disney CEO Bob Iger's compensation totaled about $31.6 million for the company fiscal year ended Sept. 30. It includes most of the year.
Discussion:
Reuters, The Information, @laurenshirsch, The Walt Disney Company, @alexweprin and The Hollywood Reporter
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: Disney CEO Bob Iger's compensation was $31.6M in 2023, down from $45.9M in 2021, his last prior full year of employment at the company — Disney CEO Bob Iger saw his compensation hit $31.6 million in 2023 — down from $45.9 million in 2021, his last prior full year of employment at the company.
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
News outlets calling Trump as the winner of the Iowa caucuses early infuriates his Republican rivals and prompts new hand-wringing about the media and elections — No votes had been cast at some locations when The Associated Press and TV networks projected Donald Trump as the winner, half an hour after the caucuses began.
Discussion:
@andrewromeo33, The Wrap, ABC News, @michaelscherer, @mattwolking, CNN, @sonofhas, @daveweigel, Semafor, Washington Times, The Messenger, New Yorker, @michaelscherer, CBS News, The Messenger, Axios, @tightoff, Bloomberg, @grynbaum, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Columbia Journalism Review, Newsweek, Washington Post, @conrad_aml, Salon, Breitbart, Associated Press, Slate, Mediaite, The Hill, Heavy.com and Business Insider
Colin Salao / TheStreet:
Barstool Sports CEO Erika Ayers Badan says she is stepping down after joining in 2016 and overseeing massive growth at the outlet — Ayers Badan was sentimental in a video posted to social media. — Barstool Sports is losing its CEO. — Erika Ayers Badan, the CEO of Barstool Sports posted on X …
Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
Nielsen: the Emmy Awards drew their smallest audience ever with 4.3M viewers, down 27% YoY, hitting a low in viewers for the fifth time in the past six years — Airing opposite an NFL playoff game and Iowa caucus coverage, the delayed ceremony tumbles again.
Discussion:
Variety, Adweek, Los Angeles Times, IndieWire, New York Times, The Wrap, The A.V. Club, @jbflint, Deadline, @theinsneider, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @tvmojoe, @tzmorsy, @tvmojoe and @dylanbyers
The Wrap:
Sources: the LAT suffers from its owner meddling in editorial decisions and from a lack of vision without a CEO; a former editor estimates it's losing $50M/year — Respected editor Kevin Merida abruptly resigned last week after getting fed up with owner interference in the newsroom
Discussion:
Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, The Objective, @paulimeth, @sharonwaxman, @sharonwaxman, @dabeard, @ckrewson, @dicktofel, @jayrosen_nyu and @zpleat
Kenneth Li / Reuters:
Thomson Reuters acquires World Business Media, a subscription-based, 25-person outlet providing news and analysis on the insurance market — said on Tuesday it acquired World Business Media Limited, a subscription-based provider of news and analysis on the insurance and reinsurance market.
Discussion:
Thomson Reuters and Talking Biz News
David Folkenflik / @davidfolkenflik:
[Thread] In a meeting with staffers, The Baltimore Sun's new owner claims he paid nine figures, had read the paper just four times, and the Sun was profitable — The Baltimore Sun's new owner, David D. Smith, met with staffers today for more than two hours. Many left on edge. He claimed he had read the paper just four times. He grew up here; his family's local TV empire - Sinclair - is based in Baltimore Co. Other highlights:
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: Red Ventures has approached buyers about selling CNET for at least $250M, after acquiring the outlet and other sites for $500M in 2020 — Red Ventures, the digital media and marketing juggernaut based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, has approached strategic buyers about offloading tech news …
Rebecca Sun / The Hollywood Reporter:
Adobe and the Adobe Foundation commit $6M to launch The Adobe Film & TV Fund to support the work of existing nonprofits that help underrepresented creators — The company and its foundation is collaborating with the NAACP, Easterseals, Gold House, Latinx House, Sundance Institute and Yuvaa in its first year.
Discussion:
Adobe Press Releases, IndieWire, Deadline, Variety, @adobe, The Adobe Blog, @adobe and The Wrap
Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:
Worcester, MA-based The 016 says the news-oriented social network with no algorithmic feed had 17M email opens and 13M click-throughs over the past five years — Congratulations to Mark Henderson, a Worcester media entrepreneur who's celebrating the fifth anniversary of The 016 …
Discussion:
The 016, @henderson_mark and @dankennedy_nu@journa.host
Shelby Talcott / Semafor:
ABC News and WMUR-TV cancel their scheduled Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire after Nikki Haley and Donald Trump refused an invitation — The News — That appears to be it for the Republican primary debates. ABC News and WMUR-TV announced on Tuesday they were canceling …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Hill, TVLine, The Desk, Washington Post, @gartenberg, Axios, Deadline, Reuters, ABC News, @benjysarlin, @shelbytalcott and @lizchar
Winston Cho / Hollywood Reporter:
FilmLA: Los Angeles film and TV production fell 36.4% YoY to 5,520 shoot days in Q4 amid the Hollywood strikes, marking the fourth consecutive quarterly drop — The actors and writers strikes, combined with runaway production, led to some of the lowest production levels in the city's recorded history.
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
TelevisaUnivision plans to launch an ad-supported tier of its Spanish-language streamer, ViX, later in 2024 “at a lower price point with a moderate ad load” — TelevisaUnivision plans to launch an ad-supported version of its Spanish-language streamer, ViX, later in 2024 …
Discussion:
Next TV, The Hollywood Reporter and TelevisaUnivision