Mediagazer: Axel Springer and 31 other media groups in Europe file a $2.3B lawsuit against Google, alleging that they suffered losses due to its digital ad practices (Foo Yun Chee/Reuters)

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Reliance and Disney merge their media businesses in India, creating the country's largest media conglomerate; Reliance values it at $8.5B and will invest $1.4B — Reliance, its portfolio Viacom18 and Disney are merging their media businesses in India, creating the largest media entity in the South Asian market.

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Filing: Disney will take non-cash pre-tax impairment charges of $1.8B to $2.4B related to Reliance JV; Disney will be a minority shareholder with a 36.8% stake

Discussion: Quartz, Reuters and Deadline

Yiwen Lu / New York Times:

Raw Story, AlterNet, and, in a separate case, The Intercept sue OpenAI in a NY federal court for copyright infringement; The Intercept is also suing Microsoft — Raw Story, AlterNet and The Intercept sued for copyright infringement over the way the ChatGPT creator trains its technology.

Discussion: The Wrap, The Verge, US District Court, Southern District of New York, The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast and Tech Startups, more at Techmeme »

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:

Mehdi Hasan raises $4M to launch Zeteo, a digital media company on Substack, offering a weekly streaming show he hosts, contributor pieces, a podcast, and more — Hasan, whose MSNBC cancellation triggered an outpouring from fans, follows other political pundits who have struck out on their own

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, @mehdirhasan, Mediaite, @jeremymbarr, The Hill, @pressgazette, The Daily Caller, @mehdirhasan and The Wrap

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:

Axel Springer and 31 other media groups in Europe file a $2.3B lawsuit against Google, alleging that they suffered losses due to its digital ad practices — Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google was hit with a 2.1-billion-euro ($2.3 billion) lawsuit by 32 media groups including Axel Springer and Schibsted …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Drum and New York Post, more at Techmeme »

Jake Kanter / Deadline:

A group of top journalists, including from CNN, BBC, and CBS, sign an open letter asking Israel and Egypt to provide foreign media “unfettered access” to Gaza — A group of top international journalists have joined forces to demand that Israel and Egypt provide foreign media with “unfettered access” to Gaza.

Discussion: Sky News, @clarissaward, Tim Gaynor on LinkedIn, @alexcrawfordsky, The Hill, Lucy Carrigan on LinkedIn and Press Gazette

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:

Adobe unveils Project Music GenAI Control, a platform that can generate audio from text descriptions or a reference melody and let users customize the results — There's plenty of GenAI-powered music editing and creation tools out there, but Adobe wants to put its own spin on the concept.

Discussion: The Verge and @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org, more at Techmeme »

Laya Neelakandan / CNBC:

Paramount reports Q4 revenue of $7.64B vs. $7.85B est., and profit of $514M, up from $21M the year prior; Paramount+ reached 67.5M global subscribers, up 4.1M — - Paramount Global missed revenue expectations for the fourth quarter Wednesday but posted a surprise quarterly profit …

Discussion: The Streamable, Next TV, The Hill, Paramount, The Wrap, Bloomberg, @jtoonkel, Media Play News, @sherman4949 and The Hollywood Reporter

Jem Aswad / Variety:

ASCAP reports $1.737B in 2023 revenue, up 14.1% YoY, and $1.592B available for royalty distributions; US performance revenue surpassed $1.327B, up 12.6% YoY — The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) announced record financial results for 2023 …

Discussion: Inside Radio, RAIN News and Billboard

Lachlan Cartwright / The Hollywood Reporter:

Source: Disney held talks in 2015 and 2016 about buying Vice for $3.4B; Shane Smith is believed to be paid millions in a 2019 deal finishing at the end of 2024 — How did a Brooklyn media giant valued at $5.7 billion just a few years ago wind up going bankrupt and folding its newsroom?

Discussion: @lachcartwright, @davelafontaine, @hunterduesing, @misterjohndoyle and @matthewkeyslive

Rhodri Talfan Davies / BBC:

The BBC says it is running 12 generative AI pilots, including reformatting and translating existing content and a “headline helper” for journalists — Rhodri Talfan Davies is the BBC's Director of Nations. He's responsible for bringing teams together across the BBC to shape …

Discussion: Clare Spencer on LinkedIn and MSPoweruser

Dara Kerr / NPR:

Time owner Marc Benioff tells a reporter, who is looking into his Hawaii land acquisition, that he knows where she is staying and her family's personal details — WAIMEA, Hawaii — A life-size bronze statue of a cowboy sits at the center of Waimea. The cowboy is riding a horse, lasso in hand, pursuing a wild bull.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, New York Post, @davidfolkenflik, @rustyhammer.bsky.social, @scotian.bsky.social, @brianmannadk and Mitakuye Oyasin, more at Techmeme »

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Magazine and newspaper subscription app Readly had 464K full-paying subscribers at the end of 2023, up 2.7% YoY, and a £9.10 ARPU, up from £7.80 in 2022 — Readly CEO Philip Lindqvist says there is still “ample” room to grow in UK and Europe. — The chief executive of …

Discussion: Philip Lindqvist on LinkedIn