Mediagazer: The US House of Representatives passes the PRESS Act, protecting reporters from being compelled by the government to disclose their sources and information (Gillian Brassil/Sacramento Bee)

6:50 PM ET, January 18, 2024

Top News:

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Filing: Apple details new US App Store rules letting devs link to external payments, says apps in its Video Partner and News Partner program are not eligible — Apple this week updated its App Store rules to comply with a court order after the Supreme Court declined to hear …

Discussion: Variety, @timsweeneyepic, @mgsiegler@threads.net, @dhh, @carnage4life, @neilcybart, @timsweeneyepic, Wired, United States District Court Northern District of California, @snazzylabs, Gizmodo, Wall Street Journal, Computerworld, The Messenger, CMU and MediaNama, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:

YouTube and, according to a source, Spotify are not planning to launch a native Apple Vision Pro app or to allow their iPad app to run on the platform — - Users of those services will be steered toward the web — Searches indicate apps from Meta may also be unavailable

Discussion: The Verge, AppleInsider, @the.gay.nautie.autie …, MacRumors, @tylerm, @gergelyorosz_@threads.net, @leguilloux, @zacbowden, @markgurman and @viticci@mastodon …, more at Techmeme »

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Netflix is not planning to launch a native Apple Vision Pro app or support its iPad app on the AR/VR platform, and says users can watch Netflix in the browser

Joseph Cox / 404 Media:

Google News is boosting sites that use AI to rip off other outlets and churn out content; Google says News doesn't focus on whether articles are by humans or AI — Google News is boosting sites that rip-off other outlets by using AI to rapidly churn out content, 404 Media has found.

Discussion: Engadget, @lawrenceabrams, @emilymbender, @martyswant, @lmatsakis, Gizmodo, @brianmfloyd, @nkulw, @jason_koebler, @jessicalessin, @jason_koebler, @isaiah_bb, @emilymbender@dair …, @vahn16, Emil Protalinski on LinkedIn, @bkoo and @telefontelaviv, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

A look at the struggles of billionaire-owned Time, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times, all of which, sources say, lost millions of dollars in 2023 — Time magazine, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times — owned by Marc Benioff, Jeff Bezos, and Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong — are still losing money.

Discussion: @hshaban, @emilybellnyc@threads.net, @kenli729@threads.net, @mattrosoff, @alexpsbj, @dastdn, @skamidi, @froomkin, @jasoncolavito, @aidanfitzryan, @froomkin, @edmundlee@threads.net, @benmullin, Axios and @tvgrimreaper

Gillian Brassil / Sacramento Bee:

The US House of Representatives passes the PRESS Act, protecting reporters from being compelled by the government to disclose their sources and information — The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to strengthen journalists' protection of confidential sources from federal investigation.

Discussion: Freedom of the Press …, @digiphile, @repkiley, @freedomofpress and The US Congress

Reuters:

Sources: Reddit has drawn up plans for an IPO in March 2024, with a public filing in late February, the first major social media IPO since Pinterest's in 2019 — Social media platform Reddit has drawn up detailed plans to launch its initial public offering (IPO) in March …

Discussion: Mumbrella, TechCrunch, Deadline, Quartz, The Information, New York Post, The Messenger, TechStartups, Cointelegraph, The Wrap, Anirban Sen on LinkedIn, CoinGape and CityAM, more at Techmeme »

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Warner Bros. Discovery rebrands its US Sports division as TNT Sports, which has rights to the NBA, NHL, MLB, and March Madness basketball — Warner Bros. Discovery has rebranded its U.S. sports division, which has rights to the NBA, NHL, and MLB, as well as March Madness basketball.

Discussion: Awful Announcing, The Desk, Sports Business Journal, @jeffgreco.com, @wiretaup, Barrett Media, Cord Cutters News and The Streamable

Natalie Korach / The Wrap:

The LA Times Guild calls an emergency meeting after being told that the newspaper intends to “imminently execute another major round of layoffs” — The newspaper intends to “imminently execute another major round of layoffs,” according to the bargaining committee

Discussion: @craigwelch@threads.net, @benmullin, @davidfolkenflik, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, @parismarx, @bcmerchant, @awprokop, @gabemschneider, @benmullin, @pkafka, @aritbenie, The Hollywood Reporter, @evanrodge@threads.net and The Daily Beast

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Luminate: US program premieres dropped 21% YoY to 1,784 in 2023, the lowest level since at least 2018; US theatrical-wide film releases were up 41% YoY — Premieres of new and returning TV shows fell sharply last year while the number of movies getting a theatrical wide release went way up.

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Sources: Twitch didn't renew partnerships with Rolling Stone, Complex, and Vice in 2023; the publishers were paid between $1M and $5M for exclusive content — Publishers were paid between $1 million and $5 million to cover costs in exchange for exclusive content

Discussion: Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn, @zachbussey and @zachbussey

K.J. Yossman / Variety:

Email: Amazon Prime Video is restructuring its European teams to focus on regional content, and cuts local content and staff in Africa and the Middle East — Amazon Prime Video is restructuring its international business to focus on European originals. The re-org includes cutting content and staff in Africa and the Middle East.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Techpoint Africa, @joeyakan, @eboigbeanita, @i_am_gwingy, Tech Labari and TechCabal

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Some video podcasts are using AI-generated product placements from a company called Rembrand to supplement their typical host-read ads — A startup backed by United Talent Agency and L'Oreal is aiming to give podcasters a new line of revenue — Hello and welcome back to Soundbite.

Discussion: @ashleycarman@threads.net and @ashleycarman@threads.net

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Karissa Bell / Engadget:
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Earlier Picks:

Abigail Summerville / Reuters:
LiveRamp, which matches up customer datasets for brands, advertisers, and retailers, plans to acquire marketing data startup Habu for $200M in cash and stock

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Ellen Huet / Bloomberg:
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Amazon now lets US users create AI-generated backgrounds using Alexa prompts on the second-gen Fire TV Stick 4K Max and the Fire TV Omni QLED Series

Discussion: Mashable India, Joshua Danovitz on LinkedIn, 9to5Google, Cord Cutters News and The Verge

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
In a note to staff, Condé Nast announces it is bringing Pitchfork into the GQ organization, and lays off Pitchfork EIC Puja Patel and some Pitchfork employees

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By previewing smarter Siri vaporware at WWDC and the iPhone 16 launch, Apple burned a reputation earned over decades for only promising actual working products

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