Mediagazer: Indian streaming service JioCinema launches an ad-free subscription plan with the lowest tier costing $0.35/month for a single device, undercutting rivals (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)

8:20 PM ET, April 24, 2024

Top News:

Lauren Feiner / The Verge:

President Biden signs the ByteDance-TikTok divest-or-ban bill into law, after the Senate passed it by 79-18; the House passed the legislation 360-58 on April 20 — The divest-or-ban bill is now law, starting the clock for ByteDance to make its move. The company has an initial nine months …

Discussion: CNBC, Wall Street Journal, Zack Stern on LinkedIn, @tiktokpolicy, Morten Rand-Hendriksen on LinkedIn, Washington Post, The White House, Bloomberg, The Guardian, New York Times, India Today, @alexheath@threads.net, DJ Mag, @jw@threads.net, @hankgreen, Dexerto, @cinemasai_, @maxwinebach, @adamkovac, Tom's Guide, @yashar, @themaxburns, Bloomberg, KnowTechie, Android Authority, @ldrogen, Neowin, @mattontech@mastodon.sdf.org, Semafor, Benzinga, NBC News, @alexbarinka, Newsweek, @rlheinrichs, Florida Politics, Mothership.SG, @tomwarren, Digital Music News, @munster_gene, @kyurieff, PetaPixel, @deedydas, @potus, @lanceulanoff, @blackleftaf, @michaelsobolik, Business Insider, @aripap, Variety, Engadget, Social Media Today, TechCrunch, @repdancrenshaw, Total Telecom, @alexgrayforok, Rolling Stone, The Independent, 9to5Mac, XDA Developers, @jameeljaffer, The Information, @michaelsobolik, @viacristiano, Mastodon, Infosecurity, Forbes, @nathanleamerdc, @djvlad, London Evening Standard, @jeromysonne, Politico, @viacristiano, @michaelsobolik, Silicon UK, Kiplinger.com, Music Business Worldwide, @kellymakena, @therecount, @ezeekat@threads.net, Comic Book, Wired, @drjessmaddox, Far Out Magazine, Australia & World, @deanbaker13, KnowTechie, @alyssafarah, Semafor, PR Daily, @aghamilton29, Android Police, GSMArena.com, @steventdennis, Android Headlines, PCMag, Tubefilter, Axios, @tiktokpolicy, @mtracey, Bloomberg, @ddimolfetta, The Guardian, @carnage4life, @mkraju, @brendancarrfcc, @danprimack, Android Headlines, Fast Company, CNN, One Man & His Blog, AppleInsider, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, BGR, Sydney Morning Herald, ComingSoon.net, The Daily Beast, CNN, The Indian Express, Reuters, @NeoNacho@mastodon.social, The Daily Beast, Neowin, Wired, The Register, Engadget, The Wrap, GB News, Mumbrella, Gizmodo, MediaPost, South China Morning Post, New York Daily News, The Hill, The Verge, CBS News, r/politics, r/popculturechat and Beehaw, more at Techmeme »

Alex Barinka / Bloomberg:

Biden signing the TikTok divestment bill starts a 270-day countdown for a sale or a US prohibition; sources say ByteDance sees divestiture as a last resort — - China's ByteDance faces deadline to sell app under new US law — Company braces for legal fight against divest-or-ban efforts

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:

TikTok is suspending the rewards program in TikTok Lite while it tries to resolve EU concerns about the potentially addictive nature of the program for children — TikTok will voluntarily suspend its new app TikTok Lite's reward programme while it tries to resolve EU concerns, the company said on X social media platform on Wednesday.

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Meta, Google, Snap, and Amazon all benefit from the US TikTok ban; Mark Zuckerberg criticized TikTok's Chinese roots in 2019, part of Meta's broader campaign

Discussion: Fast Company, Inside Radio, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, The Atlantic, WFAA-TV, The Sun, @willoremus@mastodon.social and The Indian Express, more at Techmeme »

M.G. Siegler / Spyglass:
Whether TikTok is banned or not, this is the end as we know it for the loss-making app, which may lose focus due to advertiser, creator, and staff uncertainty

Discussion: Reuters, Wired, CNBC and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Casey Newton / Platformer:
Legal scholars discuss how the TikTok divestment bill could survive a First Amendment challenge and why the US will likely rely on a national security argument

Discussion: MediaPost, Social Media Today, Light Reading, Music Ally, Wired, @digiphile, @crumbler@threads.net and @kevintgates@threads.net

Meta Investor Relations:

Meta reports Q1 revenue up 27% YoY to $36.46B, net income up 117% YoY to $12.37B, and family daily active people up 7% YoY to 3.24B for March 2024 — Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META) today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.

Discussion: Fast Company, New York Times, Variety, Social Media Today, @edludlow, The Information, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Ashley Capoot / CNBC:

Meta's stock drops 15%+ as the company issues a light Q2 revenue forecast and higher FY 2024 capital expenditures due to increased AI infrastructure investments — Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Big Tech and the Online Child …

Discussion: The Information, Roderick Mann on LinkedIn and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Indian streaming service JioCinema launches an ad-free subscription plan with the lowest tier costing $0.35/month for a single device, undercutting rivals — JioCinema, the popular Indian on-demand video streaming service, introduced a new monthly subscription plan on Thursday, with the lowest tier costing just 35 cents.

Discussion: The Media Leader, Reuters, Variety, Bloomberg and The Indian Express

Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:

Warner Music Group sells Uproxx, HipHopDX, and other assets to a new company, Uproxx Studios, formed by Jarret Myer, Rich Antoniello, and will.i.am — In February, Robert Kyncl - CEO of Warner Music Group - confirmed that WMG was in active discussions to sell its ‘owned and operated’ media properties UPROXX and HipHopDX.

Discussion: Billboard, UPROXX Studios, Forbes, Maria Weaver on LinkedIn, The Hollywood Reporter and Digital Music News

New York Times:

Sources detail NPR's struggles with declining audiences, falling sponsorship revenue, internal conflicts over turning things around, and a diversity push — NPR employees tuned in for a pivotal meeting late last year for a long-awaited update on the future of the public radio network.

Discussion: @benmullin, @davidfolkenflik, @benmullin and @benmullin

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

An interview with NPR CEO Katherine Maher, who defends NPR and accuses critics of “bad faith distortion” of her past comments about the First Amendment — Katherine Maher said controversy stemming from an editor's essay criticizing the radio network has been a distraction

Discussion: Inside Radio, @edbmarsh, The Hill and @jonathanturley

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

The FTC bans noncompete clauses that restrict job switching, potentially complicating hiring in Hollywood as firms try to protect trade secrets and other info — The FTC on Tuesday voted to prohibit noncompete provisions in contracts, which could usher in a sea change to worker mobility …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Federal Trade Commission, Fortune, Nicholas Macdonald on LinkedIn, WOOD-TV, Jamie Olson on LinkedIn, CBS News, Harry Cosgrove on LinkedIn, @carnage4life, @bryanranderson, @quinnypig, Amy Barnes on LinkedIn, @cjjsaez, @ftc, Adam Taft on LinkedIn, Reuters, Semafor, @gergelyorosz, @ftc, Peter Williams on LinkedIn, New York Times, @reporterashley, Todd Saunders on LinkedIn, @bongcapital, Alan Lasky on LinkedIn, Garth Stevens on LinkedIn, The Register, Owais Durrani on LinkedIn, Jeffery Commaroto on LinkedIn, @nick_bunker, Phil Cooper on LinkedIn, Wesley Kennedy-Sita on LinkedIn, Engadget, Sang Park on LinkedIn, Steve Katcher on LinkedIn, Peter Dziedzic on LinkedIn, Girish Nadkarni on LinkedIn, Michael Shea on LinkedIn, STAT, Washington Post, @katachora@hachyderm.io, @lexfri@hachyderm.io, The Hill, @stevestreza@indieweb.social, @geerlingguy@mastodon.social, @karabaic@mastodon.social, @tacertain@infosec.exchange, @LLS@wandering.shop, @MisuseCase@twit.social, Sportico, Deadline, Variety, Wired, HousingWire, The Information, HuffPost, New York Daily News, Gizmodo, Ad Age, Fast Company, CNN, The Verge and KING-TV, more at Techmeme »

Tom Jones / Poynter:

How the Columbia Daily Spectator, the independent student newspaper of Columbia University, is covering the tense protests over the Israel-Hamas war — The Columbia Daily Spectator has expertly documented tense protests over the Israel-Hamas war inside and outside the campus.

Discussion: Washington Post, Columbia Journalism Review, Wall Street Journal, Jacobin, The Indian Express, @nicdawes, @will_bunch, @poynter, Why Evolution Is True, @mukta_jo, @samaakhu, GQ, The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times, The Daily Beast and The Present Age

Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:

Members of the iHeart Podcast Union file an unfair labor practice claim against iHeartMedia; the union represents around 100 producers, hosts, and others — Staffers who are unionized with the Writers Guild of America East are alleging that management has engaged in intimidating behavior …

Discussion: @wgaeast, @iwriteok, Writers Guild of America … and Radio & Television …

E. Alex Jung / New York Magazine:

A profile of Mehdi Hasan, whose aggressive interviewing helped him get an MSNBC show, as he now embraces the “canceled” label to launch his Zeteo substack — Mehdi Hasan's aggressive interviewing style landed him a Sunday show on MSNBC. Until he started talking about Palestine.

Discussion: @acrosshertable, @mehdirhasan, @arjafi, @nick_field90, @roolockwood, @wajahatali, @roxana_hadadi, @gazelleemami, @bilgeebiri, Adweek, @e_alexjung, @freddydeknatel, @hkanji, The Daily Beast, @mehdirhasan, @e_alexjung and @madelesque

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Apollo-backed US investment group Concord increases its bid for Hipgnosis Songs Fund, to $1.5B, just over the last offer from Blackstone — Offer for music rights group rises to $1.5bn as Apollo-backed investor beats rival's bid — Hipgnosis Songs Fund has found itself at the centre …

Discussion: Billboard, CMU, Digital Music News, Music Business Worldwide and City A.M.