Mediagazer: Sources: Essence Magazine's parent company is in talks to buy Refinery29 from Vice Media, which acquired the women's lifestyle site in 2019 for $400M (Alexandra Bruell/Wall Street Journal)

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

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, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Deadline, @jeremymbarr, @pressgazette, @mehdirhasan, @mehdirhasan, Mediaite and The Wrap

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, Tim Gaynor on LinkedIn, @alexcrawfordsky, The Hill, Lucy Carrigan on LinkedIn, @clarissaward and Press Gazette

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Essence Magazine's parent company is in talks to buy Refinery29 from Vice Media, which acquired the women's lifestyle site in 2019 for $400M — Vice, which acquired the women's lifestyle site in 2019 for $400 million, is retrenching under new ownership

Thania Garcia / Variety:

Universal Music plans $270M+ in annual run-rate savings by 2026, through headcount reduction and efficiencies, and reports 9% YoY revenue growth in Q4 to $3.5B — In its latest earnings report, Universal Music Group touted top-selling acts including Taylor Swift, the Rolling Stones, Drake …

Discussion: Billboard, Billboard, Reuters, Music Business Worldwide, UMG and The Hollywood Reporter

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 »

Angelique Jackson / Variety:

Study: 77 of the top 100 top-grossing domestic films in the US in 2023 featured more male characters than female characters in speaking roles — The latest 'It's a Man's (Celluloid) World' report shows 77% of movies had more male than female characters — A new study indicates that the tenets …

Discussion: Screen Rant, IndieWire and Deadline

Los Angeles Times:

Netflix names Dan Lin, the producer of the Lego movies and the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, as head of film, replacing Scott Stuber — Netflix announced Wednesday that film producer Dan Lin has been tapped as chairman of the streaming company's film division, replacing longtime movie chief Scott Stuber.

Discussion: New York Times, Variety, IndieWire, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, @lawrence.r.lasky@threads.net, @thewrap@threads.net, @kimmasters, @pkafka, @rfaughnder and Deadline

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

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: New York Post, @scotian.bsky.social, @rustyhammer.bsky.social, @davidfolkenflik, @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

Max Tani / Semafor:

In an email to some staff, ABC News president Kimberly Godwin said Trump's recent comments about Black Americans were “as racist as they come” — The Scoop — Kimberly Godwin, the president of ABC News, said privately that recent comments by President Donald Trump about Black people were “as racist as they come.”

Discussion: Fox News, New York Post, The Hill, @maxwelltani, Reuters and Boing Boing