Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Antenna: Peacock's exclusive stream of the NFL AFC Wild Card game drove a record 2.8M sign-ups for the streaming service — NBCU already claimed the Jan. 13 playoff game was the biggest live-streamed event in U.S. history — delivering an average audience of 23 million viewers.
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Comedy Central says Jon Stewart will return to The Daily Show as Monday host during the 2024 election cycle, starting on February 12, and as executive producer — Comedy Central is reaching back to the past to keep its long-running “The Daily Show” going in the present.
Discussion:
CNN, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Business Insider, @pkafka@threads.net, The Guardian, The Messenger, Benzinga, New Jersey Online, IndieWire, CBS News, Polygon, @mollyjongfast, The A.V. Club, Rolling Stone, @shawnhils, The Playlist, The Hill, New York Post, TVLine, Reuters, Adweek, @lucas_shaw, @jbflint, @tvgrimreaper, @jalefkowit@octodon.social, @mattbelloni, @lanceulanoff, @joelmathis.bsky.social, @cmconseils@mastodon.social, New York Daily News, BGR, @paninid@mastodon.world, @walthickey, Fox News, Axios, SlashFilm, @jbflint, Newser, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Mashable, Los Angeles Times, Boing Boing, Next TV, Vanity Fair, TV Insider, @hebennigatu, The Verge, Mediaite, Bloomberg, ComingSoon.net, Screen Rant, NewscastStudio, Irish News, FOX8 WGHP, New York Times and MyStateline.com
David Folkenflik / NPR:
NPR names Web Summit CEO and former Wikimedia Foundation chief Katherine Maher as its 12th permanent CEO and president — NPR has selected former Wikimedia Foundation chief Katherine Maher to lead the network through an era of declining broadcast listenership, financial uncertainty and technological turbulence.
Discussion:
New York Times, TechCrunch, @kevinbankston, @davidfolkenflik, @digiphile, @lpolgreen@threads.net, @krmaher, @brandyzadrozny@threads.net, Independent.ie, Radio & Television …, Current, Malcolm Phelan on LinkedIn, @davidfolkenflik, Variety, @lorakolodny@threads.net, The Wrap, Inside Radio and RADIO ONLINE, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Sources: Skydance CEO David Ellison has made a preliminary offer to buy Redstone family's National Amusements, as a way to take control of Paramount Global — - Both sides have advisers, are sharing financial information — Son of Oracle Corp. co-founder has met with Shari Redstone
Discussion:
Reuters, The Wrap, CNBC, The Information, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, @tvgrimreaper, @lucas_shaw and Cord Cutters News
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
Originality AI: 88%+ of the top US news outlets now block AI companies' web crawlers; leading right-wing outlets, like Breitbart and Newsmax, mostly permit them — Nearly 90 percent of top news outlets like The New York Times now block AI data collection bots from OpenAI and others.
Discussion:
Fast Company, @ppatel@mstdn.social, @jeffjarvis, @thebrianpenny@threads.net, @michellemanafy@journa.host, @matthewfacciani@threads.net, Kate Knibbs on LinkedIn, @simondowens@threads.net, @lolgop.bsky.social, @willoremus@threads.net, @carnage4life, @knibbs and @sauthoff.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Sources: G/O Media is shopping around its portfolio of editorial assets on an individual basis, with an emphasis on offloading The Onion, which isn't profitable — The company, after working to sell its whole portfolio, is now shopping individual properties
Discussion:
The Information, @markstenberg3, @brianvan, Awful Announcing, @theadmiralty, @benwessel, @susanrinkunas and @megreenwell
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Bloomberg names veteran technology journalist Brad Stone as the next editor of Bloomberg Businessweek, as the magazine shifts from weekly to monthly publication — Mr. Stone will take the helm as the 94-year-old magazine shifts from weekly to monthly publication.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, MediaPost, @emilychangtv, @bradstone, @ashleevance, @joelwebershow, @ericnewcomer and @markgurman
Alison Frankel / Reuters:
A US judge denies Smartmatic's motion to dismiss Fox's counterclaim that argues Smartmatic's $2.7B damages claim is baseless and is an attempt to intimidate Fox — CommentaryOn the Case by Alison Frankel — Fox won the right on Wednesday to proceed with a counterclaim accusing voting …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, Deadline, Courthouse News Service, The Messenger and The Hill
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Warner Bros. Discovery, which replaced its HBO Max name with Max in May 2023 in the US, plans to expand the change to Latin America on February 27 — The HBO Max makeover to Max is heading overseas. — In the U.S., Warner Bros. Discovery in May 2023 killed off the “HBO Max” …
Discussion:
9to5Mac, Rolling Stone and @patrickdehahn
Ash Parrish / The Verge:
Twitch changes the Prime Gaming subscription payout model to a fixed rate, expands the Partner Plus Program, and removes the $100K cap for 70/30 revenue share — Twitch is making big monetization changes again in an attempt to make a more sustainable system, lowering earnings in some places and raising them in others.
Discussion:
Forbes, Gizmodo, Engadget, @morgan_sung, Twitch, @morgan_sung, @shindags, @twitch, TechCrunch and @greibach_vt, 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:
@dylanbyers, Deadline, @tvmojoe, Screen Rant, @tvgrimreaper, Media Play News, @deeketweak, Niels Langereis on LinkedIn, @tim_bays, @pkafka, TVLine, The Hollywood Reporter, @jbflint, Variety, The Wrap, Cord Cutters News, NBC Bay Area, Sarah Whitten on LinkedIn, Rolling Stone, TV Insider and CNBC
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
HuffPost UK increased its freelancer invoicing period from 30 to 60 days in September 2023, telling some freelancers that the outlet had “cash flow problems” — Freelances paid outstanding money after Press Gazette enquiries made. — Buzzfeed-owned Huffpost has belatedly paid …
Discussion:
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