Top News:
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Netflix reports Q4 revenue up 12.5% YoY to $8.83B, vs. $8.71B est., paid users up 12.8% to 260.3M vs. 256M est., $938M net income, up from $55M; NFLX jumps 8%+ — - Netflix added 13.1 million subscribers during the fourth quarter. — The company now has 260.8 million paid subscribers.
Discussion:
NBC 7 San Diego, Netflix, Associated Press, @sherman4949, @tvmojoe, Axios, @lucas_shaw, Thurrott, @tvgrimreaper, IndieWire, Business Insider, The Streamable, @sherman4949, Financial Times, @lucas_shaw, Sarah Whitten on LinkedIn, @lucas_shaw, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, NBC Bay Area and The Messenger, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Netflix plans to to retire its ad-free Basic plan in some countries where ad-supported plans are available, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2 2024 — Although Netflix no longer allows new or returning members to sign up for the ad-free Basic subscription that costs $11.99 per month …
CNBC:
Netflix buys the exclusive rights to WWE programs like Raw, airing in 2025 in the US, Canada, Latin America, and more; filing: the 10-year deal is worth $5B+ — - Netflix and TKO Group Holdings said Tuesday that the streaming platform will air the WWE's flagship program Raw starting next year.
Discussion:
The Verge, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, WWE, Axios, TKO Group Holdings, Inc., @edludlow, FOX8 WGHP, @teamkaos1998, NBC 7 San Diego, Awful Announcing, Platformer, Mashable, NBC Bay Area, @sarafischer, Ramiro Montiel on LinkedIn, @cinesonny@threads.net, The Information, The A.V. Club, Barrett Media, @tvgrimreaper, The Drum, Front Office Sports, Financial Times, Wired, @sherman4949, @ianjsilvera, NME, The Ringer, Benzinga, @conorsen, @conorsen, @conorsen, @sherman4949, @buccocapital, @wwe, @sherman4949, @tripleh, @netflix, Jared Lake on LinkedIn, @tim_bays, USA Today, Emil Protalinski on LinkedIn, Tubefilter, @chriswelch@threads.net, Variety, Deadline, Sportico, Engadget, New York Post, The Guardian, Mediaite, Business Insider, The Desk, The Messenger, New York Times, Gizmodo, Soap Opera Network, Jeff Jenkins on LinkedIn, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Julie DeTraglia on LinkedIn, David Giles on LinkedIn, iPhone in Canada Blog, USA Today, IGN, T3, Polygon, Thurrott, GameSpot, ComingSoon.net, Amy Newton on LinkedIn, Barrett Media, USA Today, Media Play News, Ad Age, The Information, WORLD SCREEN, MediaPost, The Wrap, FOX8 WGHP, CBS News, Awful Announcing, Cord Cutters News, Sportico, The Streamable, Dexerto, Ars Technica, Next TV, TVLine, New York Post, Reuters, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg and Slashdot, more at Techmeme »
John Koblin / New York Times:
Sources: Netflix plans to begin streaming HBO's Sex and the City in early April 2024, but the series' spinoff And Just Like That will remain exclusive to Max — Media companies that had been reluctant to are increasingly offering shows to Netflix, which is pulling further ahead in the streaming wars.
Discussion:
The Wrap and Rolling Stone
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
The Los Angeles Times plans to lay off off at least 115 people, or more than 20% of the newsroom, citing annual losses of between $30M and $40M — The Los Angeles Times announced Tuesday that it was laying off at least 115 people — or more than 20% of the newsroom — in one of the largest …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @mattdpearce, Deadline, The Guardian, @nickbaumann, Newser, The Overspill, @davidfolkenflik, @cmsub, New York Times, @borisk, @jeongpark52, @bcmerchant, @byjackharris, @jeffbercovici, @latguild, @morgan_sung, @jbflint, LAist, @passionweiss, @josephfcox, @josephfcox, @aaschapiro, @rogerwcheng, @tim_bays, @melissagomez004, @aritbenie, @bryancurtis, @cwarzel@threads.net, @emma_dumain, @emilybellnyc@threads.net, @noahshachtman, HuffPost, @mikeisaac, @jason_koebler, Daniel Melling on LinkedIn, @lydiadepillis, @lpolgreen@threads.net, @blowryontv, @jeridansky@sfba.social, @ferniecommaalex, @alexbruell, @bernstein, Politico, @fbajak, @morgan_sung, New York Post, @erinoverbey, @erinblogan, @elex_michaelson, @laura_nelson, @lucas_shaw, @buffywicks, @ivanthek, @loisbeckett, @justinbaragona, @kbode@threads.net, @jbflint, @sammy_roth, @joaquincastrotx, @sagaftra, @farhip, @kalihays1@threads.net, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, @sorayamcdonald@threads.net, @mcwm@threads.net, The Hill, The Messenger, @taylorlorenz@threads.net, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, 6abc, Variety, Talking Biz News, The Wrap, CNN, The Wrap, Fox News, Silicon Valley and Poynter
RELATED:
Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
The Los Angeles Times' layoffs have hit the outlet's Latino-focused vertical De Los, which was launched in 2023, and the Washington, DC bureau — “We are not in turmoil. We have a real plan,” the paper's owner, billionaire businessman Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, said.
Discussion:
@alemolina, NBC News, @sarahdwire, @froomkin, Awful Announcing, @sarahscire, @ximena_bustillo, @shiramstein, @byjulialove, @jherrerx, @izzieramirez, @chels_hylton, Talking Biz News and The Wrap
CBS News:
Charles Osgood, who joined CBS News in 1971, anchored CBS Sunday Morning for 22 years, and spent decades as a radio commentator, dies at age 91 — Award-winning journalist Charles Osgood, who anchored “CBS Sunday Morning” for 22 years and was host of the long-running radio program “The Osgood File,” died Tuesday at home in New Jersey.
Discussion:
Variety, Washington Post, @brianstelter, NewscastStudio, Adweek, Bobby Lee on LinkedIn, Hollywood Life, @lanceulanoff, Radio & Television …, @jaketapper, New York Daily News, @cbssunday, @tvmojoe, Steve Gosset on LinkedIn, @benmullin, Wall Street Journal, @johnjharwood, KUSA-TV, Associated Press, TV Insider, New York Post, Inside Radio, The Daily Beast, Fox News, Page Six, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, CNN, The Wrap, TVLine, The Hollywood Reporter, Metro, The Messenger and Deadline
James Tapper / The Guardian:
A filing in a class action suit by 10 US artists against Midjourney and others lists 16,000 artist names whose work Midjourney had allegedly used for training — US lawyers approached about class action against Midjourney and other AI firms accused of ‘copyright laundering’
Discussion:
Isabelle Doran on LinkedIn and Cointelegraph
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Some independent outlets in Baltimore are seeing a spike in online traffic, subscribers, donations, and social media followers, after The Baltimore Sun's sale — “We're taking the opportunity to remind people that we are an independent, trustworthy news source in the Baltimore region — and they are responding.”
Discussion:
@halleteri, @sarahscire, @sarahscire and MediaPost
New York Times:
In 2023, no US films ranked among the 10 highest grossing in China, which is producing more high-quality movies that resonate with domestic audiences — No American films ranked among the 10 highest grossing in China last year as viewers who once flocked to foreign blockbusters continued to disappear.
Discussion:
@thedragonfeeder
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Google unveils a new Gemini-powered chat-based tool in Google Ads to build Search ad campaigns, out in beta to all English language advertisers in the US and UK — Google announced today that Gemini, its family of multimodal large language models, now powers the conversational experience within the Google Ads platform.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Digiday, Google, @googleads, Social Media Today, @quinnypig and The Decoder, more at Techmeme »
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
At a town hall, Reach CEO says staff have to face the “inconvenient truth” over its declining sale of print titles, but shift to digital will stabilize revenue — Reach chief tells staff to face ‘inconvenient truth’ over print but says digital will stabilise profitability
Discussion:
Media Voices, @alicemurphypyle, @iancarterim, @stejck, @mattlcapon, @joshi and @philpem@digipres.club