Top News:
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Nielsen: US monthly TV viewership rose 1.4% YoY to a four-year high in January, which included three of the top 10 days with the most TV viewing since May 2021 — Monthly TV usage hit a four-year high in January 2024, according to Nielsen, with three of the top 10 days (Jan. 1, 14 and 28) …
Discussion:
Nielsen, MediaPost, Cord Cutters News, Radio & Television …, Next TV, @tvgrimreaper, @lucas_shaw, @tvgrimreaper, The Hollywood Reporter, @lucas_shaw and Deadline
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Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Nielsen: YouTube has been the top streaming service in the US for 12 consecutive months; YouTube says viewers watch 1B+ hours of YouTube per day on their TVs — Nielsen today released its January report on viewing usage across linear TV and streaming, which revealed that YouTube is once again …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Mashable, YouTube Official Blog, CNET, The Verge and Media Play News
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
As YouTube marks one year as Nielsen's top US streaming service, a Q&A with YouTube VPs Nicky Rettke and Tara Levy on the NFL, ad innovation, creators, and more — EXCLUSIVE: YouTube has been racking up milestones lately. Its pay-TV bundle, YouTube TV, just passed 8 million subscribers.
Discussion:
TechCrunch and Leander Blumenthal on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »
Arijit Barman / The Economic Times:
Sources: Zee has re-engaged with Sony in a last-ditch attempt to revive their $10B merger, which had been called off on January 22; ZEEL closed up 7.93% — Zee Entertainment Enterprises has re-engaged with Sony Group Corp in a last-ditch attempt to revive their $10-billion merger.
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Bloomberg:
Sources: India's market regulator has found a $241M gap in Zee Entertainment's accounting — - Diverted funds may be 10 times of what was estimated initially — Zee's merger with Sony's local unit was called off last month — India's market regulator has found a hole of more than $240 million …
Discussion:
The Economic Times
Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
Walmart agrees to acquire TV maker Vizio for $2.3B, or $11.50/share, to boost its ad business via Vizio's SmartCast OS, which lets users stream content with ads — - Walmart is buying TV maker Vizio for $2.3 billion in cash. — The move is a bid to boost the big-box retailer's high-margin ad business.
Discussion:
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Blake Brittain / Reuters:
A US appeals court rules a $1B jury verdict from 2019 against Cox for users' music piracy was unjustified; a new trial to be held to determine suitable damages — Cox Communications [RIC:RIC:COXC.UL], the cable television and internet service provider, convinced a U.S. appeals court to throw …
Discussion:
Billboard, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Cord Cutters News and Music Business Worldwide
CNBC:
Lawsuit document: FuboTV sues Disney, Fox, and WBD over their planned joint venture in sports streaming, citing “extreme suppression of competition” — - FuboTV is suing Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery over their recently announced sports streaming joint venture, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by CNBC.
Discussion:
The Streamable, Screen Rant, Wall Street Journal, Puck, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, The Hollywood Reporter, @eriqgardner and Cord Cutters News
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The New York Times is recruiting select advertising partners to test its new generative AI ad-targeting tool, which it plans to make widely available in H2 2024 — The New York Times is recruiting partners to test new ad-targeting solutions using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) beginning next quarter, executives told Axios.
Discussion:
The Wrap and @sarafischer
Nate Ostiller / The Kyiv Independent:
Russia labels RFE/RL an “undesirable organization”, following an earlier decision by Russian tax authorities to begin bankruptcy proceedings against the outlet — Russia labeled Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) an “undesirable organization,” the outlet reported on Feb. 20, citing Russia's Justice Ministry.
Discussion:
Voice of America
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple Music introduces a monthly version of Replay, with insights like total listening time, top songs, artists, and albums — Apple today updated the Apple Music Replay experience, available at replay.music.apple.com, with visualizations of your favorite music habits by month, rather than just by year.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
UMG pays $240M for a 25.8% stake in Chord, a company that owns 60K+ songs, giving UMG an outlet to invest in music catalogs without being the primary owner — - Chord was founded by KKR and the investment firm Dundee — Business controls copyrights to more than 60,000 songs
Discussion:
Billboard, The Wrap, Reuters, The Information, The Hollywood Reporter and Music Business Worldwide
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