Top News:
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Netflix reports Q4 revenue up 12.5% YoY to $8.83B vs. $8.71B est., global paid memberships up 12.8% to 260.28M vs. 256M est., net income of $938M, up from $55M — - Netflix added 13.1 million subscribers during the fourth quarter. — The company now has 260.8 million paid subscribers.
Discussion:
NBC 7 San Diego, Associated Press, Netflix, @sherman4949, @tvmojoe, Axios, FOX8 WGHP, Reuters, Forbes, @lucas_shaw, Thurrott, @tvgrimreaper, Los Angeles Times, IndieWire, The Streamable, @sherman4949, Business Insider, Financial Times, @lucas_shaw, Sarah Whitten on LinkedIn, The Wrap, @lucas_shaw, CNN, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, NBC Bay Area, The Messenger and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »
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Emma Roth / The Verge:
Netflix says it's looking to retire its ad-free Basic plan in some countries where ad-supported plans are available, starting with Canada and the UK in Q2 — Although Netflix no longer allows new or returning members to sign up for the ad-free Basic subscription that costs $11.99 per month …
Pranav Dixit / Engadget:
Netflix says user engagement with games on its service tripled in 2023 and Grand Theft Auto has become its most successful launch to date — The company added the Grand Theft Auto trilogy to its offerings late in the year. — Netflix said that user engagement with games on the service tripled in 2023.
Discussion:
Benzinga and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos says the WWE deal “fits within” its anticipated $17B spending on content in 2024 and is not a change to Netflix's sports strategy — Netflix extended its lead as the world's biggest premium video-streaming platform — pulling in a better …
Peter White / Deadline:
Netflix says it's not interested in acquiring “linear assets”, and it does not believe further M&A will “materially change the competitive environment”
Discussion:
The Wrap, @tvgrimreaper, Forbes and Bloomberg
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+
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Verge, WWE, Axios, Barrett Media, TKO Group Holdings, Inc., Variety, NBC 7 San Diego, The Information, @edludlow, @teamkaos1998, @tim_bays, @chriswelch@threads.net, USA Today, Awful Announcing, Tubefilter, Platformer, Front Office Sports, Mashable, @conorsen, NBC Bay Area, @sherman4949, @tripleh, @sarafischer, Ramiro Montiel on LinkedIn, Deadline, @cinesonny@threads.net, @conorsen, @conorsen, The A.V. Club, @buccocapital, @tvgrimreaper, Jared Lake on LinkedIn, The Drum, @wwe, Financial Times, @sherman4949, The Ringer, Wired, @sherman4949, @netflix, Emil Protalinski on LinkedIn, @ianjsilvera, NME, Sportico, Engadget, New York Post, The Guardian, Benzinga, Mediaite, Business Insider, The Desk, The Messenger, New York Times, Gizmodo, Soap Opera Network, Jeff Jenkins on LinkedIn, The Wrap, 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, Bloomberg, 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 and Slashdot, more at Techmeme »
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
The Los Angeles Times announces it is laying off at least 115 people, or more than 20% of the newsroom, citing annual losses of $30M-$40M — The Los Angeles Times announced Tuesday that it was laying off at least 115 people — or more than 20% of the newsroom — marking …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @nickbaumann, New York Times, @davidfolkenflik, @cmsub, @borisk, @jeongpark52, @bcmerchant, @byjackharris, @jeffbercovici, Associated Press, @latguild, @morgan_sung, @jbflint, LAist, @passionweiss, @josephfcox, @sorayamcdonald@threads.net, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, @josephfcox, @aaschapiro, @rogerwcheng, @tim_bays, @melissagomez004, @aritbenie, The Guardian, @bryancurtis, @cwarzel@threads.net, @emma_dumain, The Messenger, @emilybellnyc@threads.net, CNN, @noahshachtman, HuffPost, @mikeisaac, @jason_koebler, Daniel Melling on LinkedIn, @lydiadepillis, @lpolgreen@threads.net, @blowryontv, Talking Biz News, @jeridansky@sfba.social, @ferniecommaalex, @alexbruell, @mcwm@threads.net, @bernstein, Variety, @fbajak, @morgan_sung, New York Post, @erinoverbey, @erinblogan, 6abc, The Daily Beast, @elex_michaelson, @laura_nelson, The Hollywood Reporter, @lucas_shaw, @buffywicks, @ivanthek, @loisbeckett, @taylorlorenz@threads.net, @justinbaragona, @kbode@threads.net, @jbflint, Reuters, @sammy_roth, @joaquincastrotx, @sagaftra, @farhip, @kalihays1@threads.net, The Wrap, Fox News, Silicon Valley and Poynter
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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:
Talking Biz News, @alemolina, NBC News, @sarahdwire, Awful Announcing, @froomkin, @sarahscire, @ximena_bustillo, @shiramstein, @byjulialove, @jherrerx, @izzieramirez, @chels_hylton 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:
Washington Post, Variety, Adweek, @brianstelter, Page Six, NewscastStudio, TVLine, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Bobby Lee on LinkedIn, Metro, Hollywood Life, @lanceulanoff, The Daily Beast, Radio & Television …, @jaketapper, The Hollywood Reporter, Politico, New York Daily News, @cbssunday, The Wrap, Inside Radio, @tvmojoe, Steve Gosset on LinkedIn, @benmullin, TV Insider, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, @johnjharwood, New York Post, KUSA-TV, Fox News, Associated Press, The Messenger and Deadline
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:
Digiday, MediaPost, @quinnypig, Google, Social Media Today, @googleads and The Decoder, more at Techmeme »
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:
Cointelegraph
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
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Study commissioned by the UK government says the BBC does not serve as a “one-to one substitute for commercial providers in online local news provision” — Ofcom will publish annual report on BBC position in local news sector. — The BBC's online local news output does not add up to a …
Discussion:
GOV.UK, The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, @pressgazette and The Mirror
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:
@alicemurphypyle, @iancarterim, @stejck, @mattlcapon, @joshi and @philpem@digipres.club
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