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12:15 PM ET, January 31, 2024

Mediagazer

 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
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 …
RELATED:
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.
RELATED:
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
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube Q4 2023 ad revenue rose 15.5% YoY to $9.2B, roughly in line with expectations; in Q4 2022, YouTube's ad sales fell almost 8%
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: Adweek and Talking Biz News
The New York Times Company:
The New York Times introduces a new format to its byline pages, called enhanced bios, highlighting journalists' expertise and ethics, how they operate, and more  —  The New York Times is introducing a new format to its byline pages.  —  Our journalists are what set The New York Times apart.
RELATED:
Emilia David / The Verge:
The NYT starts hiring for a team that will explore the use of generative AI in the newsroom “to help with reporting and how the Times is presented to readers”
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
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 …
Ben Sisario / New York Times:
USC: in 2023, 35% of Billboard's Hot 100 singles in the US were performed by women and 56% of the most popular songs had at least one female songwriter  —  The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative's latest report finds that women's involvement in the biggest hits of 2023 was greatly improved over previous years.
Discussion: Billboard and Variety
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
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
 
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 More News: 
Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
Bookstat: the US audiobook market grew 14% YoY in Q4 2023, excluding Spotify; with Spotify, it grew 28% YoY; Spotify had an 11% market share, behind Audible
Bloomberg:
French media conglomerate Vivendi formally proposes splitting into four separately traded companies, including one for the film and TV studio Canal+
Discussion: Reuters
Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
Talent agency WME partners with tech startup Vermillio to protect WME clients from thefts of their likeness and IP by using AI technology to track images
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
The Los Angeles Times Interim Executive Editor Terry Tang names Hector Becerra as the paper's managing editor; Becerra joined The Times in 1999
 Earlier Picks: 
Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
The Daily Iowan, the University of Iowa's independent student newspaper, purchases two weekly local newspapers, the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun and Solon Economist
Matthew Kish / Oregonian:
The Oregonian plans to appeal a court order to not publish info from docs that a lawyer accidentally sent it, saying prior restraint goes against 1A
 

 
From Techmeme:

Gavin Anderegg / anderegg.ca:
Bluesky is working to become fully decentralized but it could take years amid financial concerns as it makes money only by selling domains for usernames

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: ByteDance is valuing itself at about $300B as part of a recent buyback offer, one of its highest valuations ever

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: T-Mobile's network was among the systems hacked by the China-linked Salt Typhoon group, and some foreign telecommunications firms were also compromised
 
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