Top News:
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Spotify and Joe Rogan sign a new multiyear deal, estimated to be worth $250M; Rogan's show will be available across podcast platforms and as videos on YouTube — Hit show to be distributed broadly, including on YouTube, rather than exclusively on audio-streaming service
Discussion:
Spotify, Semafor, Variety, Bloomberg, The Verge, Variety, @dada_drummer, @spotify, Billboard, @dada_drummer, @brianstelter, Rolling Stone, @dada_drummer, @scottnover, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @carnage4life@mas.to, The Information, @pearlmania500@threads.net, New York Daily News, DNyuz, Mumbrella, Newser, Inside Radio, NBC Bay Area, Business Insider, Axios, Gizmodo, New York Post, Reuters, Engadget, Brandon Bauman on LinkedIn, CBS News, @profgalloway@threads.net, TechCrunch, @charlesbarbour@threads.net, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, The Hollywood Reporter, @hagen@mastodon.social, The Wrap, @simondowens@threads.net, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, AppleInsider, Cord Cutters News and Digital Music News
David Pegg / The Guardian:
Azerbaijan is accused of cracking down on independent media in the run-up to snap elections; 13 journalists, including from Abzas Media, have been detained — Sevinc Vaqifgizi is one of 13 independent journalists detained since snap presidential vote announced
Financial Times:
China-based advertisers now account for 10% of Meta's annual revenue and contributed 5 percentage points to its total worldwide revenue growth — The US group has benefited from huge but unsustainable outlays from Chinese advertisers — Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp may be banned in China.
Discussion:
The Information and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
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Andy Greenberg / Wired:
How the EFF, Techdirt, MuckRock, and DDoSecrets are pushing back against legal threats aimed at censoring their reports on Appin's alleged hacker-for-hire past — A loose coalition of anti-censorship voices is working to highlight reports of one Indian company's hacker-for-hire past …
Discussion:
Techdirt, @freedomofpress, @a_greenberg, @a_greenberg, @jkdbchr, @taylorbuley, @amys_here, @a_greenberg, @robchapman@ohai.social, @jsrailton, @nsnadeemsarwar, MuckRock, @jeff@honeytree.social, @mmasnick@mastodon.social, @DaveMWilburn@infosec.exchange, @evacide@hachyderm.io and Hacker News
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: Amazon spending on content rose 14% YoY to $18.9B in 2023 despite Hollywood strikes — While other media companies have been paring back content spending, Amazon shelled out more than $2 billion more in 2023 for TV shows, movies and music than it did a year earlier.
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw, @xpangler, @tvgrimreaper, The Streamable, The Wrap, Broadband TV News, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Media Play News
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Selome Hailu / Variety:
HBO cuts Miloš Biković from The White Lotus cast, after Ukraine accused him of supporting Russia since its war; Biković calls the move a “disturbing precedent” — HBO has cut Miloš Biković from the cast of “The White Lotus” Season 3 following a callout …
Discussion:
TV Insider, DNyuz, The Independent, Business Insider, New York Post, @twmcltd, EW.com, The Daily Beast, @variety, CBR, New York Times, TVLine, IndieWire, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline
Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
Interviews with Disney executives about Apple Vision Pro, how the device is changing the studio's production pipelines, future plans for the device, and more — Years in the works, the new Disney+ app has an immersive new twist. But the company sees it as one small step into a new entertainment medium with rich possibilities.
Will Sommer / Washington Post:
The WSJ lays off ~30 staffers as it restructures its DC bureau and shutters the US-China news team; laid-off staffers will be allowed to apply for some new jobs — The Wall Street Journal took a hatchet to its Washington bureau on Thursday, laying off roughly 20 staffers in a restructuring …
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, HuffPost, @byrontau, @bgrueskin, @bgrueskin, @katie_robertson, @dnvolz, @rubinations, @compliancememe, Politico, DNyuz, Talking Biz News, The Daily Beast, @katie_robertson, @bgrueskin, @corbinbolies, @azambelich, @samro, @theamarareport, @theamarareport, @katie_robertson, @jhweissmann, @katie_robertson, @kaivanshroff, @feliciasonmez, @rhcm123, @bgrueskin, The Wrap, Talking Biz News and @maxwelltani
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: federal authorities have been investigating sexual assault and sex trafficking allegations against WWE co-founder Vince McMahon since 2022 — Authorities have been interviewing women who accuse longtime WWE boss of sexual misconduct — Federal authorities have been investigating sexual assault …
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Wrestlezone, POST Wrestling, Awful Announcing, WFLA, Fox News, DNyuz, The Wrap, Deadline, BroBible, The Morning Call, USA Today, NBC 7 San Diego, The Sun, Metro and VICE
Tom Jones / Poynter:
While reporting on a woman who sought assisted suicide, a Boston Globe columnist signed a form helping her to proceed, raising questions about journalism ethics — While reporting on a woman who sought assisted suicide, Kevin Cullen got personally involved, putting the Globe in an ethical dilemma.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Media Nation, The Boston Globe, @kirkmin, @farhip, @bostonglobe, @poynter and The Boston Globe
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Charter lost 248K video customers in Q4 2023, partly due to the Disney carriage dispute in September, after losing 145K video customers in Q4 2022 — UPDATED with closing price. Shares in Charter Communications dropped 16.5% Friday after the company reported disappointing fourth-quarter earnings …
Discussion:
MediaPost, @tvgrimreaper, Charter Communications, Media Play News, Hollywood Reporter and Reuters
Jonathan Randles / Bloomberg:
Diamond Sports strikes a deal to continue broadcasting Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, and Texas Rangers games through the upcoming MLB season — - Broadcaster's deals with three MLB clubs runs through 2024 — Diamond said agreements averts potential fan disruption
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