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.
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:
NPR, New York Times, TechCrunch, @kevinbankston, @davidfolkenflik, @digiphile, @krmaher, @davidfolkenflik, @amandalitm@threads.net, @brandyzadrozny@threads.net, Malcolm Phelan on LinkedIn, Current, @lorakolodny@threads.net, @lpolgreen@threads.net, Radio & Television …, Variety, Independent.ie, 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:
CNBC, @sherman4949, Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, @lucas_shaw, The Information, Deadline, @sherman4949, Reuters, The Wrap, @tvgrimreaper and Cord Cutters News
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 Guardian, @mollyjongfast, The Wrap, The A.V. Club, @shawnhils, @lucas_shaw, @jbflint, @tvgrimreaper, @mattbelloni, Business Insider, @lanceulanoff, @pkafka@threads.net, @walthickey, The Messenger, @jbflint, @hebennigatu, Mashable, Reuters, @jalefkowit@octodon.social, Newser, Next TV, @cmconseils@mastodon.social, Adweek, Benzinga, The Hill, New York Post, The Playlist, New Jersey Online, The Verge, Mediaite, Polygon, ComingSoon.net, SlashFilm, Vanity Fair, Fox News, CBS News, Associated Press, TV Insider, Boing Boing, BGR, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, Rolling Stone, TVLine, @paninid@mastodon.world, @joelmathis.bsky.social, Bloomberg, Axios, IndieWire, NewscastStudio, Screen Rant, Irish News, New York Times, FOX8 WGHP and MyStateline.com
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:
@emilychangtv, @bradstone, @ashleevance, @joelwebershow, @ericnewcomer, @markgurman, Bloomberg Media and Talking Biz News
Robbie Whelan / Wall Street Journal:
Bob Iger's ex-colleagues and others say he is making the same mistakes as his predecessor Michael Eisner, when faced with investor attacks and other challenges — Two decades after replacing Eisner, CEO faces many of the same challenges — Disney's embattled CEO was under fire from activist investors.
Discussion:
Business Insider
Thomas Buckley / Bloomberg:
How the rising prices of streaming services are driving a new era of US pirate sites, bringing ~$2B per year in ads and subscriptions with a 90% profit margin — Illegal subscription services that steal films or TV shows bring in $2 billion a year in ads and subscriber fees.
Yona Tr Golding / Columbia Journalism Review:
Q&A with Ann Cooper, co-author of an upcoming book about the AP in Nazi Germany, on AP's choice to submit to censorship, the politics of war reporting, and more — In 2016, seventy-one years after the end of World War II, Harriet Scharnberg, a German historian, published a report alleging …
New York Times:
How Sports Illustrated, whose cover was once the most coveted real estate in sports journalism, lost its power to set the agenda as its elite photographers left — It used to be the most coveted real estate in sports journalism. But its power to set the agenda disappeared along with its elite photographers.
Discussion:
Barrett Media, Orlando Sentinel and Boing Boing
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:
@patrickdehahn, 9to5Mac and Rolling Stone
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, Courthouse News Service, The Messenger, Deadline and The Hill
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:
@markstenberg3, @brianvan, @theadmiralty, The Information, @benwessel, @susanrinkunas, @megreenwell, AdExchanger and Awful Announcing