Mediagazer: Fox, ESPN, and WBD announce a new joint venture to launch a streaming sports service in the US in the fall of 2024; each entity will own a third of the JV (Wall Street Journal)

11:05 PM ET, February 6, 2024

Top News:

Fox, ESPN, and WBD announce a new joint venture to launch a streaming sports service in the US in the fall of 2024; each entity will own a third of the JV — The service will be available to ESPN+, Hulu and Max subscribers.

Dave Lawler / Axios:

Former Fox host Tucker Carlson says he has traveled to Moscow to interview Vladimir Putin and will air the interview “unedited” on his website and on X — Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said in a video posted to X on Tuesday that he is in Moscow to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Todd Spangler / Variety:

YouTube says YouTube TV now has 8M+ subscribers, up from 5M+ in mid-2022, and that the YouTube Partner Program has 3M+ channels receiving ad revenue share — CEO Neal Mohan also says more than 3 million channels now receive ad-revenue share, touts 1 billion hours viewed on TV daily

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

YouTube says Shorts averages 70B+ daily views and the number of channels uploading Shorts rose 50% YoY — YouTube CEO Neal Mohan today shared what the video service is focusing on in 2024. At a high-level, it's AI, elevating creators, safety, and the “next frontier” of the living room and subscriptions.

Discussion: Next TV, Tubefilter, The Desk, Observer, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

Gina Carano, who was fired from The Mandalorian after controversial social media posts, sues Disney and Lucasfilm for wrongful termination in a suit funded by X — The actress claims the entertainment giant discriminated against her for voicing right-wing opinions on hot-button issues.

John Hanna / Associated Press:

Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn sues the city of Marion and local officials, saying the Aug. 2023 raid caused her physical and mental health problems — A reporter for a weekly Kansas newspaper that police raided last year filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against its hometown and local officials …

Discussion: KEYT-TV and @jessmcmasterkc

Lachlan Cartwright / The Hollywood Reporter:

Richard Beckman and Jimmy Finkelstein paid themselves seven-figure salaries at the shuttered Messenger; sources: two staffers filed HR complaints about Beckman — The shuttered site The Messenger, run by Jimmy Finkelstein and Richard Beckman, spent $50 million in less than a year …

Discussion: Buttondown, The Daily Beast, Nieman Lab, @miketanier.bsky.social and @miketanier.bsky.social

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

Julia Turner, who led LA Times' entertainment coverage before becoming SVP for content business strategy, is leaving, the fourth high-ranking editor to depart — Julia Turner, who led culture and entertainment coverage for the Los Angeles Times before taking on a business strategy role …

Discussion: Adam Powell on LinkedIn, @juliaturner, @juliaturner, @usc_cclp, MediaPost and The Wrap

Melanie Goodfellow / Deadline:

Dubai-based Camb.ai, which makes a translation tool that “instantaneously” dubs speech in 100+ languages and was used at the Australian Open, raised a $4M seed — Dubbing Platform Camb.ai, which has recently been used for coverage of the 2024 Australian Open tennis tournament …

Discussion: Sports Business Journal, Business Wire and The Hollywood Reporter

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:

Betches, acquired by LBG Media last year and aimed at young women, partners with TikTok creator UnderTheDeskNews on a political podcast, American Fever Dream — The brand says it's not shy about leaning liberal — A company best known for its posts on Instagram announced on Tuesday …

Discussion: Betches and @underthedesknews@threads.net

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:

Snap reports Q4 revenue up 5% YoY to $1.36B, vs. $1.38B est., DAUs up 10% YoY to 414M, a net loss of $248M, vs. $288M YoY; SNAP drops 30%+ after hours — - Snap said fourth-quarter revenue rose about 5%, while the company's net loss narrowed 14% from a year earlier.

Discussion: The Information, NBC 7 San Diego, The Guardian, TechCrunch, Variety, Deadline, Search Engine Land, Reuters, Bloomberg, @thestockmarketnerd …, CNN and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Spotify says Q4 ad-supported revenue grew 12% YoY to €501M, a quarterly high; CFO Paul Vogel expects the podcast segment to reach positive gross margin in 2024 — Spotify pulled in more than new listeners than it expected for the fourth quarter, as the streamer narrowed its net loss …

Discussion: The Verge, @xpangler, @xpangler, CMU, Reuters and The Wrap

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to €3.7B, MAUs up 23% YoY to 602M, subscribers up 15% YoY to 236M, a €75M operating loss, and expects 618M MAUs in Q1 2024

Washington Post:

The Atlantic cuts ties with prominent contributor Yascha Mounk after writer Celeste Marcus accused him of rape; Mounk calls the claims “categorically untrue” — The Atlantic magazine has cut ties with writer Yascha Mounk, one of its prominent contributors, after a woman accused him of rape …

Discussion: Poynter, @celestemarcus3, @esotericcd, @mskellymhayes, @2600@mastodon.online, @brandyljensen, @davidklion, @moiradonegan, @juliaioffe, @moiradonegan, @annacbross, @roddreher, @willsommer, New York Post, The Wrap and Mediaite

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Adam Chitwood / The Wrap:
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Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Linda Wertheimer, an NPR “founding mother” who joined the outlet at its 1971 launch and directed and hosted All Things Considered, is retiring after 53 years

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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Substack is running a pilot program to help creators on the platform sell ads; a writer says Substack contracted an outside team to approach advertisers

Katie Kilkenny / Hollywood Reporter:
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Alex Ritman / Variety:
Arthouse streamer Mubi acquires a majority stake in leading Benelux indie distributor Cinéart, marking the first acquisition of a distributor by Mubi

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Mike Isaac / New York Times:
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Discussion: TechCrunch, The Information, Neowin, The Register, @andymstone, Fast Company, @metanewsroom, Saanya Ojha on LinkedIn, @nickclegg, Engadget, The Hill, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Wired, Axios, NBC News, The Guardian, The Verge, CNN and Meta, more at Techmeme »

Amy Or / Bloomberg:
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Discussion: The Information

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From Techmeme:

Gavin Anderegg / anderegg.ca:
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Wall Street Journal:
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Wall Street Journal:
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