Top News:
Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Byron Allen makes a ~$30B offer, including debt and equity, to buy all of Paramount; sources: Allen plans to sell the Paramount film studio and keep Paramount+ — - The media mogul offers to pay a 50% premium for voting stock — Allen already has interest from investors for assets
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Variety, Awful Announcing, The Streamable, Next TV, Hollywood Reporter, MediaPost, Los Angeles Times, Vibe, Media Play News, Deadline, The Messenger, @lucas_shaw, @solomonmissouri, @sherman4949, @tvgrimreaper, @richlightshed, @gracerandolph, @ipodave, @danprimack, @authorrandallb, Variety, Deadline, The Wrap, Cord Cutters News and Reuters
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: The Wall Street Journal plans to restructure its Washington bureau this week, including making a small number of layoffs and adding some new roles — The Wall Street Journal is planning to restructure its Washington bureau this week, sources told Axios.
Discussion:
@ethangach, @hugomartin and Talking Biz News
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Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
LA Times, WSJ, and others are cutting their DC bureaus in an election year, as they focus on their core competencies that are likely better sources of return — An emphasis on subscriptions and changing coverage landscapes help explain — Both the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal …
Discussion:
@markstenberg3
Todd Spangler / Variety:
UMG plans to stop licensing content to TikTok after their deal expires on January 31, saying they didn't reach terms over issues like artist compensation and AI — UMG said that its agreement with TikTok is set to expire on Jan. 31. “The companies have not agreed to terms for a new agreement …
Discussion:
UMG, New York Post, TikTok, NBC News, TMZ.com, UPROXX, The Drum, @tiktokcomms, RAIN News, New York Daily News, Financial Times, WHDH 7News, VIBE.com, CNN, Agence France-Presse, Axios, @mikeisaac, @lucas_shaw, Music Ally, Ars Technica, @annaknicolaou, Engadget, @mikeisaac, inews.co.uk, CMU, The Sun, @russdiemon, @jamesrbuk, @broderick, @broderick, The Guardian, Business Insider, @umg, @runciedan, @xpangler, TechCrunch, The Daily Beast, The Register, Consequence, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, Mumbrella, Music Technology Policy, CityAM, The Messenger, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, The Information, Los Angeles Times, 9to5Mac, Billboard, The Music Network, Reuters, PR Newswire, The Wrap, Second Hand Songs … and Digital Music News, more at Techmeme »
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Alex Cooper releases her hit Call Her Daddy interview podcast on all major audio platforms, after its three year, $60M deal with Spotify ended — Daddy Gang, rejoice! … Full episodes of “Call Her Daddy” have been available only on Spotify since July 2021, under a three-year deal worth more than $60 million.
Elizabeth A. Harris / New York Times:
A profile of Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya, who was tasked to lead PRH after the US DOJ won its fight to stop the $2B+ Simon & Schuster acquisition — As chief executive of Penguin Random House, Nihar Malaviya runs a global company and the largest book publisher in the United States …
Discussion:
@glecharles@zirk.us and @cfiesler@hci.social
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Alphabet CEO says its digital subscription services, including YouTube Premium and YouTube TV, are on a $15B annual revenue run rate, up fivefold since 2019 — Alphabet's suite of digital subscription services — including YouTube Premium, YouTube Music, YouTube TV and Google One cloud storage …
Discussion:
MediaPost, TechCrunch, @xpangler and The Desk
RELATED:
Reuters:
Alphabet reports Q4 Google advertising revenue up 11% YoY to $65.5B, vs. $66.1B estimated, and Google Search & Other revenue up 13% YoY to $48B
Discussion:
Street Fight, @thetranscript_, MarketWatch and Reuters
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler says “YouTube TV is doing well”, and the company is “closely looking” at a YouTube TV international expansion
Committee to Protect Journalists:
A Minsk court sentences photojournalist Aliaksandr Ziankou to three years on extremism charges; Belarus was the world's third-worst jailer of reporters in 2023 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Belarusian authorities to stop using extremism laws against journalists following …
Discussion:
Fox News
Mark Caro / Local News Initiative:
Q&A with Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy, the authors of the new book What Works in Community News, on local news, nonprofit outlets putting up paywalls, and more — Veteran journalists Clegg, Kennedy spotlight local news outlets that chart path forward — Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy brought …
Discussion:
@localnewsini, @dankennedy_nu and Media Nation
Reuters:
Mexican authorities confirm that government computers were hacked on January 22 and the personal data on 263+ journalists was illegally accessed and released — The theft of the personal data of hundreds of journalists in Mexico, including addresses and copies of voter ID cards and passports …
Discussion:
@murderousredcap.bsky.social
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount+ removes some international original content and will not debut some planned programming sourced outside the US as part of its goal to manage costs — Paramount Global's streamer will also not debut some planned programming, such as German anthology series 'Zeit Verbrechen …
Reuters:
Emails: Sony India and Zee disagreed over 20+ compliance issues, including Zee's failure to dispose of Russian assets and its $1.4B Disney cricket rights deal — Sony and Zee disagreed over more than 20 compliance issues, including the Indian firm's failure to dispose of some Russian assets …
Discussion:
Broadband TV News
Sam Nagarajan / Bloomberg:
UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer blocks any changes to the ownership or control of the Telegraph Media Group pending an investigation into the UAE-backed bid — - Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer issues order in latest move — UAE-backed consortium RedBirdIMI wants to buy the media group
Discussion:
Telegraph, Reuters, parliament.uk and The Guardian
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