Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
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.
Discussion:
CNBC, Associated Press, Sportico, Awful Announcing, Axios, Adweek, The Streamable, ESPN Press Room U.S., Cord Cutters News, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, The Guardian, TVLine, MediaPost, Ad Age, The Desk, Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn, The Daily Caller, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Engadget, The Verge, USA Today, Bloomberg, @fiddleelphier, @mattbelloni, UPROXX, @tvmojoe, @sherman4949, @eriqgardner, @novy_williams, Sports Media Watch, @pkafka@threads.net, @jacobfeldman4, AllEars.Net, @jeffjarvis, @tim_bays, @lucas_shaw, @tvmojoe, Barrett Media, @jacobfeldman4, @sherman4949, @blackamazon.bsky.social, @bristei, Dakotah Rice on LinkedIn, @jtoonkel, @loudmouthjulia, Media Play News, Forbes and Digital Trends, more at Techmeme »
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.
Discussion:
@tuckercarlson, Washington Post, Politico, CNBC, Mediaite, BBC, Media Matters for America, @amanpour, New York Post, @maxseddon, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, New Republic, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Variety, Deadline, @karaswisher@threads.net, @rferl, The Daily Beast, @everythingism.bsky.social, New York Times, The Hill, @jason, The Kyiv Independent, @mediaite@threads.net, The Daily Caller, @karaswisher@threads.net, @justinbaragona, CBS News, @kevinrothrock@infosec …, @sarahrainsford, @warrenterra.bsky.social, @jonathanlanday, Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, The Wrap, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Kos, Newser, Spectator and Metro.co.uk
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
Discussion:
YouTube Official Blog, @youtube, The Streamable, @benmullin, @pkafka@threads.net, The Information, @daveleebbg@threads.net, Axios, Media Play News, @pkafka@threads.net, Alex Kruglov on LinkedIn, @lucas_shaw@threads.net, @simondowens@threads.net, Neowin, Business Insider, Deadline, Digital Trends and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
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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.
Discussion:
@ginacarano, Reuters, Gizmodo, The Guardian, New York Times, CBS News, Associated Press, Screen Rant, Los Angeles Times, National Review, TVLine, Us Weekly, The Hill, Rolling Stone, Engadget, TMZ.com, ComingSoon.net, Forbes, IndieWire, CBR, Variety, Reclaim The Net, UPROXX, @stevesilberman@newsie.social, The A.V. Club, The Wrap, BroBible, @ampersine@mastodon.online, AllEars.Net, TV Insider, Deadline, The Daily Beast, Fox News, Consequence, The Verge, Bloomberg and Daily Disney News
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
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:
@juliaturner, @juliaturner, @usc_cclp, MediaPost and The Wrap
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
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 …
RELATED:
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 …
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.
Adam Chitwood / The Wrap:
An 87% majority of editorial and creative employees at video game outlet IGN vote to unionize with the NewsGuild-CWA; the group will consist of 80+ employees — The newly formed IGN Creators Guild will consist of over 80 employees — A majority of editorial and creative employees at IGN …
Discussion:
Variety, The NewsGuild, The Hollywood Reporter, @sweetpotatoes and Kotaku
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