Top News:
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: Tucker Carlson met NSA leaker Edward Snowden in Moscow, and taped an interview with Tara Reade, who accused President Biden of sexual assault in 2020 — The Scoop — Tucker Carlson has kept a busy agenda in Moscow, meeting with two key American figures living in exile there.
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:
Thomson Reuters, The Wrap and Talking Biz 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:
@edmundlee@threads.net, @edmundlee@threads.net, @johnbuckley_, @katie_robertson, The Guardian and The Wrap
Eric Fisher / Front Office Sports:
Sources: Sinclair is exploring strategic alternatives for the Tennis Channel, including bringing in an equity partner; Sinclair purchased it in 2016 for $350M — Sinclair Inc. is exploring bringing in an equity partner for the Tennis Channel as well as other strategic alternatives for the network …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, @fos, The Streamable, Bloomberg, Bloomberg and @aericfisher
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
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 …
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 Guardian, The Times, @nelsabbey, @joshgnosis, @mediaguido, @chaykak, @piersmorgan, @semaforben and @semaforben
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
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, Florian Pennings on LinkedIn, The Guardian, Dave Sloan on LinkedIn and Microsoft On the Issues
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:
Billboard, @spotifynews, The Ankler, Music Business Worldwide, Hypebot and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »
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 Group on LinkedIn, Bauer Media and Jan Rudolph on LinkedIn
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, @cbsdigitalunion, Writers Guild of America …, @wgaeast and The Hollywood Reporter
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 …
RELATED: