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, Radio & Television …, Cord Cutters News, Next TV, @tvgrimreaper, @lucas_shaw, @tvgrimreaper, The Hollywood Reporter, @lucas_shaw and Deadline
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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, Mashable, YouTube Official Blog, CNET, 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.
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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:
Walmart Inc., Fast Company, AdExchanger, Variety, Observer, The Streamable, MediaPost, Ars Technica, MarTech, Chris Williams on LinkedIn, Jon Gibs on LinkedIn, Rio Longacre on LinkedIn, Jason Goldberg on LinkedIn, Rob Leathern on LinkedIn, The Drum, Forbes, CBS News, @eric_seufert, @simondowens@threads.net, @thetranscript_, CNN, @carnage4life, The Hollywood Reporter, @rasmus_kleis, The Desk, The Verge, Ian Baer on LinkedIn, KNSD-TV, New York Post, Axios, @sarafischer, The Information, Broadband TV News, @lucas_shaw, Wall Street Journal, Deadline, MarketWatch, Joseph Artuso on LinkedIn, @rasmus_kleis, Media Play News, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Search Engine Land, WAVY.com, Ad Age, NBC Bay Area and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
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, @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
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
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