Top News:
Scott Nover / Slate:
Websites that shut down make it hard for journalists to preserve writing clips, but maintaining a defunct site creates technical issues including security risks — Vice workers scrambled this week to save their work, just in case. Would keeping it online really cost so much?
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Chris Thompson / Defector:
Vice leadership failed to act as responsible stewards of a good product, and instead paid themselves lavish salaries and burned through hundreds of millions
Vice leadership failed to act as responsible stewards of a good product, and instead paid themselves lavish salaries and burned through hundreds of millions
Discussion:
Pluralistic, @lfitzmaurice, @doctorow, @doctorow, @doctorow, @doctorow, @jason, @sorayamcdonald@threads.net, @jeremymbarr, @davidclinchnews, @tvgrimreaper, @mjgault, @ninastarner, @adamjkovac, @sarahscire, @sharonwaxman, @nick_kapur, @nina_metz, @juliaccarpenter, @defectormedia, Business of Fashion, CBS News, Slate, MobileSyrup, @quillmatiq@threads.net, Ian Greenleigh on LinkedIn, Gail J. Cohen on LinkedIn, 404 Media, @KarlBode@masto.ai, WWD, CNN, TVNewsCheck, CMU, Raw Story, Press Gazette, @jswatz.bsky.social, New York Times and UPI
Helen Bushby / BBC:
British film censors change the age rating for the classic 1964 film Mary Poppins from U to PG citing “discriminatory language” — Mary Poppins, the classic film starring Julie Andrews, has had its age rating raised by British film censors because it features “discriminatory language”.
Discussion:
The Wrap, IndieWire, Daily Mail, Variety and Deadline
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
BLKFAM, a free, ad-supported streaming service focused on Black families, launches in the US with 1,000+ hours of kid-friendly animation titles and more — BLKFAM is a free, ad-supported, Black-focused family streaming service launching today to give Black Americans access to more than 1,000 hours …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and The Wrap
The Guardian:
Former TV news executives and others criticize Ofcom for allowing GB News to violate broadcasting impartiality rules by dragging its feet with investigations — Ofcom is accused of not treating all broadcasters the same and of dragging its feet with investigations into the rightwing channel
Discussion:
Mediaite
Sam Buckingham-Jones / Australian Financial Review:
Australian businessman Kerry Stokes launches The Nightly, a daily online newspaper with backing from billionaires Katie Page, Chris Ellison, and Gina Rinehart — Billionaires Katie Page, Chris Ellison and Gina Rinehart are the key backers of Kerry Stokes' new daily online newspaper …
Discussion:
Sydney Morning Herald, Crikey and Mumbrella
Columbia Journalism Review:
A profile of Dale Anglin, first director of Press Forward, a philanthropic effort to invest $500M over five years in local news and aiming to raise $500M more — Dale R. Anglin has spent more than twenty years in the nonprofit sector, channeling millions of dollars to social service organizations.
Discussion:
NewsLab, MediaPost, Inside the News in Colorado and @geisler_jill@threads.net
Bloomberg:
While Netflix is profitable in South Korea, local rivals Tving and Wavve lost a combined ~$165M in 2023 and are reportedly in talks to merge — After years of pumping out hit shows, South Korea's biggest media companies are cutting back and consolidating to survive a global pullback in entertainment.
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw
Max Goldbart / Deadline:
UK's Ofcom delivers its roadmap for implementing the Media Bill, saying regulation of streaming services will not come into place in full for two years — Streamer regulation in the UK will not come into place in full for two years, Ofcom said today. — Delivering its roadmap for implementing …
Discussion:
Broadband TV News
Patrick Frater / Variety:
France's Canal+ Group says it has increased its stake in Asian streaming platform Viu to 30%, worth ~$300M, and retains an option to increase its stake to 50% — UPPING THE ANTE — France's Canal+ Group said that it has increased its stake in multi-territory Asian streaming platform Viu to 30%.
Discussion:
Deadline and Broadband TV News
Janko Roettgers / Lowpass:
A look at possible effects of Walmart's Vizio purchase: a negative impact on Roku, for whom Walmart is a big retail partner, and Vizio's data unit shutting down — Big box bucks — Together with … Tuesday's news that Walmart is acquiring Vizio for $2.3 billion has the potential …
Discussion:
Janko Roettgers on LinkedIn and Fast Company
Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
A preview of the NetChoice cases to be argued at SCOTUS on February 26, about the constitutionality of Texas and Florida laws regulating social media content — The ruling could impact other publishing industries and future social media regulation. … Social media companies have long …
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Three years after Spotify's original announcement that it would launch a higher-quality audio subscription, the company has yet to roll out the feature — I was really hoping I wouldn't have to do this again. Last year, it seemed like there was no reason to believe Spotify would ever roll …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
WBD reports Q4 revenue down 7% YoY to $10.3B, adjusted EBITDA down 5% YoY to $2.5B, 97.7M global streaming subscribers, and a $103M streaming profit for 2023 — The owner of the TNT and TBS cable networks,. the Warner Bros. studio and the Max streaming service reported a loss of $400 million …
Discussion:
Forbes, @royprice, @lucas_shaw, @picklemaddierix, @jbflint, @richlightshed, @jbflint, @lmoses, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, The Desk, CNBC, The Wrap and Warner Bros. Discovery
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