Mediagazer: A profile of influencer Jessica Reed Kraus, as Trump, RFK Jr., and other campaigns court her to reach her 1M Instagram followers and 300K Substack subscribers (Max Tani/Semafor)

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:

Whoopi Goldberg-backed BLKFAM, a FAST 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: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, NewscastStudio, @xpangler, @thestreamable, The Streamable, The Wrap, The Desk, @pauline98476699 and Deadline

Deadline:

Disney's President of Motion Picture Studios, Sean Bailey, steps down; Searchlight's co-President David Greenbaum takes over — EXCLUSIVE: Effective immediately, Walt Disney's President of Motion Picture Studios Sean Bailey, who turned the company's animation vault into a multibillion-dollar …

Discussion: Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Variety, New York Times, IndieWire, The Hollywood Reporter, The Playlist, @mattbelloni and The Wrap

Kate Knibbs / Wired:

Two ex-Meta employees find an AI clickbait network linked to a Polish IT company, which is “domain squatting” on URLs, including Iowa's Clayton County Register — When two former Meta employees dug into why the website of Iowa's Clayton County Register was spewing dubious posts about stocks …

Discussion: Sandeep A. on LinkedIn, @seoconspiracy and Anthony Eastin on LinkedIn

Jess Jones / City A.M.:

Sesamy, launched by Acast co-founders to let users in Sweden and Denmark purchase single articles or podcasts as a one-time transaction, plans to expand to UK — Could one-off articles and podcast purchases be the future of publishing? That's the vision of the co-founders of Acast …

Discussion: Benjamin Webb on LinkedIn, @johnspurlock and @rasmus_kleis

Emily Smith / The Wrap:

Sources: Don Lemon agrees to separate with CNN in a ~$24.5M deal, the full pay from his final contract, which extended 3.5 years from his ousting in April 2023 — Don Lemon, the former prime time host of CNN has finally agreed a deal to separate with the network.

Discussion: New York Post, Page Six, @yashar, @justinbaragona and r/Journalism

Bloomberg:

Sources: Charter Communications is exploring a takeover of smaller rival Altice USA, which serves ~5M customers across 21 US states; Altice stock is up 50%+ — - Charter working with advisers on pursuing smaller rival — Both firms have suffered with surge in wireless competition

Discussion: CNBC, The Desk, @fasulo_chris, @maffei_fake, @stopthecap, @lucas_shaw and Next TV

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Ampere Analysis: streaming revenue will overtake pay TV subscription revenue in the US for the first time in Q3 2024, helped by streamers' addition of ad tiers — Total streaming revenue will hit $17.3 billion, topping $16.7 billion from pay TV, in the third-quarter of 2024, predicts research firm Ampere Analysis.

Discussion: The Streamable, Next TV, IndieWire, @mtfiii, Media Play News, Broadband TV News, The Desk and WORLD SCREEN

Inside Radio:

Kagan: in 2023, radio industry revenue totaled $15.15B, down 1.5% from $15.39B in 2022, and there were $212.5M worth of radio deals, down 35.6% YoY from $329.9M — Faced with a pullback in advertiser spending last year, radio's hustle paid off. Thanks to a mix of revenue streams …

Discussion: RADIO ONLINE, S&P Global and Radio & Television …

Nilay Patel / The Verge:

Q&A with Crunchyroll president Rahul Purini about the streamer's focus on anime, working with creators in Japan, competing with Netflix, future plans, and more — The head of the fast-growing streaming service discusses the Funimation merger and shutdown and where he sees growth in anime.

Discussion: Ars Technica and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Jon Passantino / CNN:

The New York Times says Donald Trump has paid $392,000 to the paper to cover the legal costs from his failed lawsuit over disclosure of his tax documents — Donald Trump has paid $392,000 to The New York Times to cover the legal costs from his failed lawsuit against the newspaper …

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Max Tani / Semafor:

A profile of influencer Jessica Reed Kraus, as Trump, RFK Jr., and other campaigns court her to reach her 1M Instagram followers and 300K Substack subscribers — The News — One week in January, Jessica Reed Kraus attended Donald Trump's Iowa victory afterparty at the Hotel Fort Des Moines …

Discussion: @karavoght, @maxwelltani, @meridithmcgraw and @semaforben

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, Daily Mail, IndieWire, Variety, Deadline and Fox News