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, Radio & Television …, MediaPost, @tvgrimreaper, @lucas_shaw, @tvgrimreaper, @lucas_shaw, Cord Cutters News, Next TV, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
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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:
The Hill, YouTube Official Blog, MediaPost, The Verge, Mashable, Media Play News and CNET
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.
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Wall Street Journal, The Desk, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, Variety, Next TV, The Wrap, Awful Announcing, Julia Boorstin on LinkedIn, Sportico, Puck, Ad Age, @soshnick, MMA Fighting, The Verge, The Drum, The Information, Deadline, Bloomberg, WORLD SCREEN, Front Office Sports, Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn, Screen Rant, @benmullin, Media Play News, MarketWatch, @eriqgardner, The A.V. Club, The Streamable and Cord Cutters News
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., Variety, Adweek, The Hill, Siddharth Vishwanathan on LinkedIn, @seldo@alpaca.gold, Cory Davis on LinkedIn, Axios, Andy Barr on LinkedIn, NBC 7 San Diego, @eric_seufert, MarTech, @simondowens@threads.net, AdExchanger, @thetranscript_, Johanna Bauman on LinkedIn, CBS News, Chris Williams on LinkedIn, Jon Gibs on LinkedIn, @carnage4life, @rasmus_kleis, Observer, Forbes, Fast Company, Rio Longacre on LinkedIn, Ian Baer on LinkedIn, New York Post, Ars Technica, @sarafischer, Jason Goldberg on LinkedIn, The Streamable, The Information, Broadband TV News, Rob Leathern on LinkedIn, @lucas_shaw, Deepak Maini on LinkedIn, The Drum, Joseph Artuso on LinkedIn, @rasmus_kleis, Media Play News, The Desk, MediaPost, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, The Verge, CNN, MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Search Engine Land, Ad Age, ABC4 Utah, NBC Bay Area and Cord Cutters News, 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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HouseFresh:
How some big publishers are inundating the web with subpar product recommendations without testing the products, and how Google is helping them through inaction — And why you shouldn't trust product recommendations from big media publishers ranking at the top of Google
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Alison Barretta on LinkedIn, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, Jean-Christophe Chouinard on LinkedIn, Jill Caren on LinkedIn, Ian Betteridge on LinkedIn, Search Engine Land, @jason_koebler, @mhucka@fediscience.org, @weaselproof.bsky.social, @metin@graphics.social, @Infloop@indieweb.social, Mark Williams-Cook on LinkedIn, @mpesce@arvr.social, @mdekstrand@hci.social, @danack@threads.net, Jonathan Berthold on LinkedIn, @clive@saturation.social, @dmitriid, @ichbingisele, @ichbingisele, @thishousefresh, @shanejones, @stevage1 and Hacker News, more at Techmeme »
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Sony Pictures Entertainment strikes a deal to manufacture, distribute, and market Disney's DVD, Blu-ray discs, and other physical media in the US and Canada — Disney is outsourcing a big piece of its home entertainment division to Sony Pictures Entertainment, which will manufacture …
Discussion:
The Digital Bits, The Wrap, Deadline, IndieWire, SlashFilm, The Verge, Cord Cutters News, Bloomberg, Screen Rant, Media Play News, The Hollywood Reporter and ComingSoon.net
Will Sommer / Washington Post:
Five alleged neo-Nazis held flares and made “sieg heil” gestures outside the NC home of Raw Story reporter Jordan Green, who was investigating extremist groups — The chilling visit to Raw Story reporter Jordan Green's home represents an increasingly common tactic by extremist groups
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:
The Verge, Ars Technica, Cord Cutters News, Music Business Worldwide, Wall Street Journal, Billboard and Variety
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.
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Voice of America
Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple debuts a monthly Apple Music Replay, offering insights like total listening time, top songs, artists, and albums, and releases 2024's Replay Mix playlist — Apple today updated the Apple Music Replay experience, available at replay.music.apple.com, with visualizations of your favorite music habits …
Discussion:
CNET and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Brishti Basu / CBC News:
Canada's Local Journalism Initiative, which gave $50M over five years for journalists' salaries, expires March 31, with no word on whether it will be renewed — After mass layoffs across country's largest news outlets, independent publications await news of their fate
Discussion:
Paul Deegan on LinkedIn, Theresa Blackburn on LinkedIn, @sunlorrie, @cbcnews, @lukerdegruchy and @pagmenzies