Top News:
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, Mediaite, BBC, The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, Politico, BBC, @maxseddon, @ozkaterji, @rferl, @jason, @ianbremmer, Barrett News Media, @justinbaragona, @sarahrainsford, @jonathanlanday, @maxseddon, @karaswisher@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, @mediaite@threads.net, The Daily Beast, Deadline, @warrenterra.bsky.social, @everythingism.bsky.social, New York Times, The Kyiv Independent, The Kyiv Independent, The Hill, The Wrap, @kevinrothrock@infosec …, The Daily Beast, The Hollywood Reporter, Columbia Journalism Review and Daily Kos
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Claudia Chiappa / Politico:
Tucker Carlson faces backlash from American and Russian journalists after claiming that Western media is not making an effort to hear Putin's side of the story — The controversial pundit is interviewing the Russian leader. Now other journalists are raging at “this SoB.”
Discussion:
Mediaite, Reuters, @amanpour, @shayan86, Poynter, @ianbremmer, @abbydphillip, Reason, @adamscochran, @john_mcguirk, @phillipspobrien, @walshfreedom, @repdonbeyer, @dkaleniuk, @dszeligowski, @decodingfoxnews, @edwardgluce, @gretagrace20, @jakluge, @shteyngart, @radiofreetom, @p_kallioniemi, @eliothiggins, @oalexanderdk, @florida_sophia, @fermerzpolissia, @saintjavelin, @maxseddon, @2russophobic4u, @growing_daniel, CNBC, CNN, @albats, @anneapplebaum, @bbcstever, @yarotrof, The Wrap, HuffPost, New York Post, Media Matters for America, New Republic, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Variety, CBS News, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, New York Times and The Hill
The New York Times Company:
The NYT reports Q4 revenue up 1.3% YoY to $676M, subscription revenue up 3.3% YoY to $404M, and a $129M operating profit; Athletic revenue grew 31.3% to $38.5M — NEW YORK, February 7, 2024 - The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today fourth- quarter and full-year 2023 results.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @nataliekorach and @pressgazette
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Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The NYT finished 2023 with 10.36M subscribers, 9.7M of them digital-only, helping push annual revenue for digital subscriptions above $1B for the first time — At the end of the year, The Times had 10.36 million subscribers, 9.7 million of them digital-only.
Discussion:
The Information, @thestalwart, @thestalwart and @katie_robertson
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, Axios, Cord Cutters News, ESPN Press Room U.S., @michaelsaves, @jbflint, Poynter, Andrew Wamugi on LinkedIn, Charlie Boss on LinkedIn, 9to5Mac, USA Today, The Hill, Reuters, Deadline, @fiddleelphier, @mattbelloni, @sherman4949, @tvmojoe, @sherman4949, @eriqgardner, @novy_williams, @sherman4949, @jacobfeldman4, @jeffjarvis, @tim_bays, @lucas_shaw, @tvmojoe, Newser, @jacobfeldman4, @sherman4949, @bristei, Sports Media Watch, @jtoonkel, @loudmouthjulia, The Hollywood Reporter, Associated Press, Sportico, Awful Announcing, Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn, The Daily Caller, Adweek, The Streamable, Engadget, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, MediaPost, The Verge, New York Times, Dakotah Rice on LinkedIn, @pkafka@threads.net, Barrett Media, AllEars.Net, @blackamazon.bsky.social, Bloomberg, UPROXX, The Desk, Media Play News, Ad Age, Digital Trends and Forbes, more at Techmeme »
Patrick Frater / Variety:
Alibaba takes a ~$1.2B impairment charge against its video streaming service Youku, acquired in November 2015 and attributed a $5.5B valuation at the time — Chinese e-commerce and entertainment giant Alibaba has taken a $1.2 billion goodwill impairment charge against its video-streaming operation Youku.
Discussion:
The Information and Bloomberg, 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:
Forbes, @ginacarano, ComingSoon.net, New York Daily News, Gizmodo, Wall Street Journal, TVNewsCheck, HuffPost, Mumbrella, Film Stories, Business Insider, New York Times, CBS News, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, National Review, The Hill, Us Weekly, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Reclaim The Net, Metro, The A.V. Club, Engadget, @stevesilberman@newsie.social, TV Insider, The Daily Beast, AllEars.Net, TMZ.com, @ampersine@mastodon.online, Screen Rant, CBR, UPROXX, TVLine, IndieWire, BroBible, Deadline, The Wrap, Variety, Consequence, Fox News, The Verge, Associated Press, Bloomberg and Daily Disney News
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Fox Corp reports Q2 revenue down 8.7% YoY to $4.2B, net income down 64% YoY to $115M, affiliate fee revenue up 4% YoY to $1.8B, and ad revenue down 20% to $2B — The owner of Fox and Fox News saw affiliate fees rise, but ad revenue fall. — Fox met Wall Street earnings expectations …
HEATED:
The New York Times' The Daily ran a greenwashing BP ad on its January 31 podcast, despite a 2021 pledge by the NYT to ban sponsorships by oil and gas companies — The Daily promised to end fossil fuel sponsorships in 2021. BP promised to stop “corporate reputation advertising” in 2020.
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @emorwee, @ben_inskeep, @emorwee and Global Investigative …
Charles Pulliam-Moore / The Verge:
Disney+ begins emailing subscribers about new changes to its TOS that will make sharing accounts harder, days after Hulu sent out similar notices — Today, Disney Plus began sending out emails informing subscribers about new changes to its terms of service that will, among other things …
Discussion:
Inc.com, Engadget and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
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, Digiday, @benmullin, @youtube, @pkafka@threads.net, Alex Kruglov on LinkedIn, The Streamable, Neowin, Axios, The Information, Media Play News, @daveleebbg@threads.net, @pkafka@threads.net, @simondowens@threads.net, @lucas_shaw@threads.net, Business Insider, Deadline, Digital Trends and Cord Cutters News
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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:
@usc_cclp, @juliaturner, @juliaturner, Adam Powell on LinkedIn, The Wrap and MediaPost
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