Top News:
Thomas Barrabi / New York Post:
News Corp CEO says it is in advanced talks with major AI companies to license its content and that Sam Altman understands “the social importance of journalism” — News Corp — the media giant that owns The Post and the Wall Street Journal — is in “advanced” …
Discussion:
@johnbuckley_, @katie_robertson, The Guardian and The Wrap
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour says the company had 3.17M digital-only subscriptions in Q4 2023, up 60% on Q3 2019, and 80% of its revenue comes from subscriptions — Dow Jones, the parent company to the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch, Investor's Business Daily and Financial News …
Kenneth Li / Reuters:
Thomson Reuters reports Reuters News Q4 revenue rose 11% YoY to $220M, driven mainly by generative AI licensing, and adjusted EBITDA grew 56% YoY to $61M — Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO) on Thursday reported higher than expected profit but sales of divisions impacted total revenue growth …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Thomson Reuters and Talking Biz News
Ben Smith / Semafor:
An interview with Piers Morgan on ending his live broadcast show Piers Morgan Uncensored on News UK's TalkTV to focus on YouTube — The Scoop — The British broadcaster Piers Morgan is giving up his live, daily, hour-long evening news show for a YouTube-first, digitally native …
Discussion:
The Times, @nelsabbey, @joshgnosis, @mediaguido, @chaykak, @piersmorgan, @semaforben and @semaforben
Martin K.N Siele / Semafor:
Sources: Kenya's media giants are weighing a legal fight with the government for awarding a contract to The Star, a newspaper with only 3% market share in 2022 — NAIROBI — Executives at two of Kenya's largest media houses are considering legal challenges to what they believe …
Discussion:
@semaforafrica and @gengetonedon
Ashley Fetters Maloy / Washington Post:
Q&A with millenial EICs of five fashion outlets on how the job has changed since its heyday, relationships with advertisers, accountability to readers, and more — Town cars are over, transparency has replaced aspiration and diversity finally exists. Top editors talk about leading a style magazine in 2024.
Discussion:
@laurahazardowen and Florencia Cavallo on LinkedIn
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Battle for the Bird book excerpt: how Jack Dorsey's plan to get Elon Musk to save Twitter failed, as Musk dismantled the company after taking over, and more — An excerpt from Battle for the Bird shows how Twitter's two most prominent leaders contributed to its current dilemma.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, @annmlipton, @kurtwagner8, @sarahfrier, @business, @danilo@hachyderm.io and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »
Jem Aswad / Variety:
Spotify paid out $9B to music rights holders in 2023, a “figure that has tripled over the past six years”, and more than $48B since its founding — Spotify paid the music industry some $9 billion in 2023, according to a statement from the streaming giant, which added that the …
Discussion:
The Ankler, @spotifynews, Music Business Worldwide, Hypebot and Music Ally
Connor Jones / The Register:
Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center says Iran's cyber operations in Israel show how Iran could target the 2024 US elections, including AI-generated fake news — Tactics are more sophisticated and supported in greater numbers — Iran's anti-Israel cyber operations are providing a window …
Discussion:
Adweek, Dave Sloan on LinkedIn, The Guardian and Microsoft On the Issues
Todd Spangler / Variety:
CBS News Digital staffers form a union with WGA East; WGA East also represents workers at CBS News and won a first collective bargaining agreement at MSNBC — Amid a wave of layoffs sweeping across the media industry, writers and editors at CBS News Digital have formed a union with WGA East for the purpose of collective bargaining.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @wgaeast, @cbsdigitalunion, Writers Guild of America … and The Hollywood Reporter
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Bauer Media Group says its UK publishing CEO Chris Duncan is leaving, amid its plans to split print and digital businesses and merge international operations — Bauer is splitting its print and digital operations and moving away from a localised structure.
Discussion:
Bauer Media, Bauer Media Group on LinkedIn and Jan Rudolph on LinkedIn
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Disney Q1: 111.3M Disney+ subscribers, down from 112.6M in Q3, Disney+ Hotstar adds 700K subscribers to 38.3M, and expects streaming profitability by Q4 2024 — In its financials, which cover the Mouse House's first quarter for its fiscal year 2024, Disney projects adding between 5.5 million …
Discussion:
CBR, The A.V. Club, KNSD-TV, @bristei, MediaPost, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei, AllEars.Net, Media Play News, The Streamable, IndieWire and ComingSoon.net
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Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Disney plans to invest $1.5B for a stake in Epic Games and collaborate on a new “universe” connected to Fortnite with content from Disney, Pixar, and more
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, MediaPost, Variety, Advanced Television, The Verge, The Walt Disney Company, UPROXX, Media Play News, @ballmatthew, @disney, @fortnitegame, @genepark, Emil Protalinski on LinkedIn, @great_katzby, @bristei, @tomwarren, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, Neowin, Ars Technica, @mgsiegler@threads.net, Yonatan Raz-Fridman on LinkedIn, Fast Company, Neil Duffy on LinkedIn, Polygon, The Information, TechCrunch, The Wrap, Bill Young on LinkedIn, Bloomberg, WORLD SCREEN, Engadget, Business Insider, Deadline, TVNewsCheck and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Disney plans to launch ESPN's D2C service in August or the fall of 2025, and include integration with ESPN's fantasy platforms and ESPN Bet
Discussion:
Front Office Sports, TechHive, @maccable, @richlightshed, @jtoonkel, @bristei, @thebauminator, @bristei, @bristei, @bristei, @sherman4949, @alex_kirshner, KNSD-TV, Sports Media Watch, AllEars.Net, Media Play News, Engadget, Cord Cutters News, Awful Announcing, Sportico, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, The Wrap, Gizmodo and New York Daily News
Sarah Whitten / CNBC:
Disney reports Q1 revenue of $23.55B, about the same from a year ago, operating income up 27% YoY to $3.9B, and raises its guidance; DIS up 5%+
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, KNSD-TV, MediaNama, @sherman4949, Reuters, @lucas_shaw, @sherman4949, @bristei, @sherman4949, @tvgrimreaper, @sherman4949, Disney, NBC Bay Area, Axios and @app_economy_insights …
Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
How the Alliance of Nonprofit News Outlets, launched in August 2023 and now with 32 member publications, helps small news nonprofits reach large funders — “There are haves and have-nots in the nonprofit journalism space. And this isn't right.” … Here's a question I bet …
Discussion:
@sarahscire, @laurahazardowen and @fara1
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: NFL, NBA, and other sports leagues were kept in the dark about the sports streaming platform being launched by Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox — NFL, NBA digest details of new platform looming over their businesses — Sports leagues including the National Football League …
Discussion:
Fast Company, Yahoo Finance, Jean Edhlund on LinkedIn, Sportico, @nikosray.bsky.social, Ad Age, Ars Technica, Financial Times, USA Today, AllEars.Net and CNBC
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