Top News:
Jon Lafayette / Next TV:
DirecTV introduces a “No Locals” package, which allows customers to opt out of receiving their local TV stations and receive discounts of $12 per month — Subscribers would get $12 discount if they opt out — DirecTV said it would be allowing customers to opt out of receiving …
Discussion:
MediaPost, The Desk, Cord Cutters News, @tvgrimreaper, @sportstvratings, The Verge, @bristei, @tvanswerman, Dallas Morning News, Variety and Deadline
Max Tani / Semafor:
Few news outlets seek hard hitting pieces that confront power due to the legal climate, business relationship concerns, online news outlets' downfall, more — There's too much to read and watch, too many places to read and watch it. It's enough to distract you from the biggest news …
Discussion:
@semaforben, @brianstelter, @sarahscire, @samjmintz, @walldo, @nsnadeemsarwar, @alexip718, @dpyoung13, @maxwelltani, @davidsirota and @nkulw
Belle Cushing / Columbia Journalism Review:
US high school papers are ditching digital only strategies for print, which has a retro appeal and offers students a respite from digital content overload — In 2022, on the day they met, Zoe Otto and Orlena Fella decided they wanted to start a newspaper at their school …
Discussion:
@joshuahersh, @localnewsini, @thandiloveslife, @sauthoff.bsky.social and Washington Post
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
A look at Disney's leading internal candidates to replace Bob Iger and how their lack of comprehensive experience at Disney should not be the board's sole focus — None of the four leading candidates has the perfect resume for the top job. Neither did Bob Iger when he was first named CEO.
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw
Bill Grueskin / Columbia Journalism Review:
Lessons learned from the 77-page letter sent to Axel Springer by a lawyer for Neri Oxman, whose MIT thesis faced scrutiny for plagiarism in a BI investigation — Last fall, as then-Harvard president Claudine Gay was facing her first allegations of plagiarism, the Clare Locke law firm sent …
Discussion:
@sulliview, @jason_kint, @bgrueskin, @gregtsargent, @bgrueskin, @bgrueskin, @bgrueskin and Talking Biz News
Josef Adalian / Vulture:
Q&A with CBS' George Cheeks on choosing which shows to put on Paramount+ or broadcast, rethinking the show development cycle, developing franchises, and more — The failure of Hollywood studios to strike a timely deal with writers and actors last summer meant the traditional fall TV season was canceled in 2023.
Discussion:
Justin Dini on LinkedIn
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
Two British YouTubers dupe Tucker Carlson into interviewing a fake Kensington Palace whistleblower about Kate Middleton's doctored image — Tucker Carlson has been pranked over Kate Middleton's infamous edited photo. — The former Fox News anchor was duped by British YouTubers Josh & Archie …
Discussion:
@joshua_pieters, Mediaite, Business Insider, @ndrew_lawrence, @brianstelter, @eyesontheright, @pourmecoffee, @jamesstout, @taylorlorenz, @mehdirhasan, Mother Jones, @kaysertommasi.bsky.social, @lazylazyjane.bsky.social, HuffPost, The Wrap, The A.V. Club, The Guardian, UPROXX, TMZ.com and ABC News
Benoit Berthelot / Bloomberg:
French shipping billionaire Rodolphe Saadé agrees to buy Patrick Drahi's Altice Media, including French news channel BFM TV, in a deal valued at €1.55B — - Altice Media includes French news channel BFM TV, RMC radio — Deal with Saadé family could help Drahi cut debt pile
Discussion:
LinkedIn, Dow Jones Newswires, Politico, Deadline, Financial Times, Reuters and Broadband TV News
Tim Higgins / Wall Street Journal:
How Elon Musk courted Don Lemon to show that X isn't a right-wing tool, as the breakup highlights Linda Yaccarino's thankless task of trying to assure brands — Unexpected split leaves X CEO Linda Yaccarino with another loss — Don Lemon got to see both sides of Elon Musk.
Alexandra Topping / The Guardian:
Local news website The Guildford Dragon News has become the UK's first charitable public interest news provider and can now benefit from a range of tax breaks — Guildford Dragon will be able to benefit from tax breaks after becoming UK's first charitable public interest news provider
Discussion:
@keithpp, Tom Murdoch on LinkedIn and Jonathan Heawood on LinkedIn
Financial Times:
Sources: TikTok's US revenue hit a record $16B in 2023 while ByteDance saw revenue grow ~40% YoY to $120B in 2023 and recorded a $28B net profit — Parent company ByteDance on track to become world's biggest social media group with $120bn in global sales — TikTok has hit $16bn in sales in the US …
Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Gumroad, an e-commerce company for creators, updates its rules to more strictly limit NSFW content, citing policies of payment processors like Stripe and PayPal — Gumroad, an e-commerce company for creators, updated its rules to more strictly limit NSFW content, citing restrictions from payment processors like Stripe and PayPal.