Top News:
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:
TVLine, @pkafka, Media Play News, Deadline, The Wrap and Rolling Stone
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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, The Hollywood Reporter, @pkafka, @jasonkilar, NME, Netflix, @sherman4949, @tvmojoe, @lucas_shaw, @tvgrimreaper, @sherman4949, Associated Press, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, Business Insider, Axios, Financial Times, Thurrott, NBC Bay Area, The Streamable, IndieWire, Sarah Whitten on LinkedIn, The Messenger and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »
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
Discussion:
Business Insider, Mashable, iPhone in Canada Blog, BGR, Benzinga, Broadband TV News, @tvmojoe, @alex, The A.V. Club, Engadget, @tim_bays, @tvgrimreaper, @sherman4949, The Messenger, AppleInsider, @dtgeek@mastodon.social, Variety, @ianbetteridge@writing …, Hollywood Reporter, 9to5Mac, CNBC and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
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
Discussion:
Benzinga and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »
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:
Variety, @tvgrimreaper, Forbes and The Wrap
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:
The Verge, Awful Announcing, Broadband TV News, @joebaia, NBC 7 San Diego, Barrett Media, The Verge, Wall Street Journal, @cinesonny@threads.net, @sherman4949, The Information, Platformer, WWE, Axios, NBC Bay Area, @edludlow, @ianjsilvera, FOX8 WGHP, @teamkaos1998, Mashable, @tvgrimreaper, Benzinga, Front Office Sports, @sarafischer, @conorsen, @conorsen, @conorsen, @sherman4949, @buccocapital, @wwe, @sherman4949, @tripleh, @netflix, @tim_bays, Wired, The Drum, The A.V. Club, Ramiro Montiel on LinkedIn, The Ringer, NME, Financial Times, Jared Lake on LinkedIn, USA Today, Emil Protalinski on LinkedIn, Tubefilter, @chriswelch@threads.net, Deadline, Sportico, Engadget, New York Post, The Guardian, Variety, Mediaite, Business Insider, The Desk, Bloomberg, The Messenger, New York Times, Gizmodo, The Wrap, Soap Opera Network, Jeff Jenkins on LinkedIn, 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, MediaPost, Barrett Media, USA Today, Media Play News, Ad Age, The Information, WORLD SCREEN, 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
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.
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.
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Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
The Los Angeles Times plans to lay off at least 115 people, or more than 20% of the newsroom, citing annual losses of between $30M and $40M
Discussion:
@mattdpearce, Washington Post, @nickbaumann, Deadline, The Guardian, @latguild, @borisk, @davidfolkenflik, @cmsub, @byjackharris, @bcmerchant, @jeffbercovici, @jeongpark52, @morgan_sung, @aaschapiro, @melissagomez004, @aritbenie, @emma_dumain, @alexbruell, @bernstein, Newser, @morgan_sung, @erinblogan, The Overspill, @lucas_shaw, @loisbeckett, @justinbaragona, @jbflint, @joaquincastrotx, @sagaftra, @farhip, @buffywicks, @josephfcox, @laura_nelson, @noahshachtman, @ivanthek, @ferniecommaalex, @erinoverbey, @elex_michaelson, @passionweiss, @jason_koebler, @rogerwcheng, @mikeisaac, @josephfcox, Daniel Melling on LinkedIn, @fbajak, @lydiadepillis, @jbflint, @blowryontv, @tim_bays, @bryancurtis, @sammy_roth, CNN, Associated Press, @kbode@threads.net, HuffPost, @jeridansky@sfba.social, Politico, @kalihays1@threads.net, @lpolgreen@threads.net, @emilybellnyc@threads.net, New York Times, LAist, The Wrap, New York Post, @cwarzel@threads.net, 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, NPR, Fox News and Poynter
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Zee Entertainment urges Sony to revive their $10B merger, sues the Japanese company over the deal's termination, and says Sony seeks a $90M breakup fee from Zee — - Indian entertainment conglomerate Zee Enrtertainment on Wednesday said it urged Sony to revive their blockbuster entertainment merger …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Forbes, India Today, Dow Jones Newswires, Business Standard, Moneycontrol, Reuters and The Economic Times
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:
@jim_edwards
Ariel Shapiro / The Verge:
An interview with NPR podcasting chief Collin Campbell on its “broadcast-to-podcast” strategy, navigating the new podcasting landscape, and more — Today, I have a preview of an interview with NPR's new podcasting chief, Collin Campbell. Campbell, who is an alum of WNYC …
Discussion:
The Verge and Blubrry Podcasting
Noam Cohen / Bloomberg:
As Wikimedia Russia shuts down, a look at the Kremlin-compliant Wikipedia alternative Ruwiki, which recently went live, led by an ex-Wikimedia Russia director — A campaign to replace the country's Wikipedia with a more pliant alternative seems near completion.
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
How podcast networks, like Acast and iHeartMedia, are testing AI tools to increase their ad sales, translate shows into different languages, and more — It seems it's not just big digital publishers like BuzzFeed and BDG looking to generative artificial intelligence tools as ways to streamline their sales process.
Discussion:
American Press Institute and Inside Radio
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
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
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
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