Mediagazer: 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 (Dade Hayes/Deadline)

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, Radio & Television …, Cord Cutters News, Next TV, @tvgrimreaper, @lucas_shaw, @tvgrimreaper, The Hollywood Reporter, @lucas_shaw and Deadline

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 »

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, CNET, YouTube Official Blog, The Verge and Media Play News

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.

Discussion: NBC Bay Area, Moneycontrol, Business Insider, NewsBytes, Livemint, News9live, Moneycontrol, ABP Live, News18, India Today, Free Press Journal, Business Standard, Hindustan Times, @arijitbarman76, India Today, Fortune India and ThePrint

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.

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

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

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, Reuters, The Wrap, The Information, The Hollywood Reporter and Music Business Worldwide

Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:

HBO delays posting Last Week Tonight With John Oliver segments on YouTube for a few days after episodes premiere, to nudge more people to watch the show on Max — The delay in posting to the video site is intended to nudge more people to watch the show on Max.

Discussion: @iamjohnoliver, Variety, The Verge, @aagave, @tvgrimreaper, @tvgrimreaper, @ernie@writing.exchange, CarterMatt, Deadline, The Wrap, The Desk, TVLine, 9to5Google and Cord Cutters News

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Q&A with Monty Sarhan, CEO of European streamer SkyShowtime, on adding a cheaper ad-supported tier, not revealing subscriber numbers, cutting spending, and more — The European streaming joint venture of Comcast and Paramount is not cutting back because “the U.S. narrative is not our narrative …

Discussion: Media Play News

Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:

Fremantle plans to buy Asacha Media after taking an 80% stake in TV group Beach House; both acquisitions combined will cost Fremantle's parent RTL Group €200M+ — The deal, which is still subject to closing conditions, adds eight more production labels to Fremantle's growing portfolio.

Discussion: Variety, Fremantle, Deadline and WORLD SCREEN

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Pinterest plans to release its first streaming show with Tastemade on February 23 for free on Tastemade's channel and apps, featuring QR codes of shoppable Pins — Pinterest is readying the launch of its first-ever streaming show, cooking and lifestyle series “Deliciously Entertaining” …

Discussion: Media Play News