Top News:
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
David Smith's purchase of The Baltimore Sun raises concerns about the paper's future, considering Sinclair's political influence and controversial actions — Its new owner, Sinclair executive chairman David D. Smith, has pushed local TV news hard to the right.
Discussion:
Poynter, @sarah_mearhoff, @davidfolkenflik, @jbenton, @gmarkham, @davidfolkenflik, @dylanbyers, @mikeorren, Media Nation, Observer, Hollywood Reporter, Newser, Washington Post, TVNewsCheck, The Baltimore Banner, The Hill, Next TV, The Desk, Baltimore Sun, The Wrap, WBFF-TV and Talking Biz News
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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:
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.
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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.
Discussion:
CNN, @joerussotweets, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap and US Securities and Exchange Commission
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Diamond Sports unveils a restructuring plan with creditors: Amazon will make a minority investment and become streaming partner, and Sinclair will pay $495M — Prime Video will become the primary partner through which consumers can purchase streaming services from the largest U.S. operator …
Discussion:
Radio & Television …, Next TV, New York Post and Sportico
Will Nelson / PCGamesN:
Ned Luke, who voiced Michael De Santa in GTA 5, calls out WAME over using his voice in an AI chatbot, saying there is “nothing cool about ripping people off” — GTA 5 star Ned Luke has called out the use of his voice as part of an unofficial and now-removed Grand Theft Auto 5 AI chatbot from WAME.
Discussion:
@mickmellamphy, @ned_luke, @ned_luke, IGN, Video Games Chronicle and Eurogamer.net
Louis Menand / New Yorker:
Generative AI is just the latest innovation to put pressure on the copyright system but might be the one that brings the whole legal structure of copyright down — Generative A.I. is the latest in a long line of innovations to put pressure on our already dysfunctional copyright system.
Discussion:
@artsjournalnews and @newyorker
Reuters:
A Malaysian court charges two local filmmakers for intentionally “wounding the religious feelings of others” via their Mentega Terbang movie, released in 2021 — A Malaysian court on Wednesday charged two local filmmakers for intentionally “wounding the religious feelings of others” …
Discussion:
Associated Press
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:
Adweek, Washington Post, ABC News, New York Times, @benjysarlin, @shelbytalcott, Newser, New York Post, @lizchar, @gartenberg, CNBC, New Hampshire Bulletin, Mediaite, The New Arab, Associated Press, Axios, ABC News, Deadline, Reuters, Fox News, The Desk, The Messenger, Rolling Stone, TVLine, The Hill and Politico
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, TVNewsCheck, @theinsneider, @jbflint, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @tvmojoe, @tzmorsy, @tvmojoe, @dylanbyers, The A.V. Club, Adweek, Los Angeles Times, IndieWire, Deadline, New York Times and The Wrap
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:
@paulimeth, @sharonwaxman, @sharonwaxman, @zpleat, The Objective, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @ckrewson, @dicktofel, @dabeard and @jayrosen_nyu
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.
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