Top News:
The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount CEO Bob Bakish steps down; Brian Robbins, Chris McCarthy, and George Cheeks will run Paramount on an interim basis as an “Office of the CEO” — The entertainment company, in the midst of a sale process, has tapped Brian Robbins, Chris McCarthy and George Cheeks to run Paramount on an interim basis.
Discussion:
@benmullin, @jeremymbarr, @dylanbyers, @sherman4949, @alexweprin, @benmullin, @jeremymbarr, New York Times, Deadline, Variety, StreamTV Insider, Adweek, CBS News, The Information, Axios, The Guardian, The Verge, Media Play News, Paramount, IndieWire, The Wrap, Variety, The Hill, Business Insider, Next TV, WORLD SCREEN and Wall Street Journal
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Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount reports Q1 revenue up 6% YoY to $7.69B and a $417M operating loss, down from $1.2B YoY; Paramount+ hit 71M+ global subscribers with revenue up 51% YoY
Discussion:
Paramount, @sherman4949, @jbflint, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, The Daily Beast, MediaPost, Bloomberg, The Wrap, Deadline, The Streamable and Media Play News
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: Shari Redstone agreed to take less than $2B for her Paramount stake as part of Skydance's “best and final” offer, lower than what was initially offered
New York Times:
Sources: in a revised bid, Skydance offered Paramount shareholders a larger stake in the combined company and a $3B cash infusion to pay debt and buy back stock
Discussion:
@sherman4949, @benmullin, @benmullin, Barrett Media, New York Post, Bloomberg, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and The Desk
Timothy B. Lee / Asterisk:
Tech journalism is often characterized by scandals, sensationalism, and shoddy research, and publishers are reluctant to invest in it without a clear ROI — A huge proportion of tech journalism is characterized by scandals, sensationalism, and shoddy research. Can we fix it?
Discussion:
@brianwilt, @tomaxwell, @adamkovac, @adamthierer, @rob_lh, @chastaylor, @binarybits, @robinwauters, @rao_hacker_one, LinkedIn, @kelseytuoc, @calebwatney and Observer, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: NBCUniversal is prepared to pay an average of about $2.5B per year to air a package of NBA games, as WBD makes last-ditch efforts to keep those rights — Comcast's NBCUniversal is prepared to pay an average of about $2.5 billion a year to air a package of National Basketball Association games …
Discussion:
The Desk, @tvgrimreaper, Awful Announcing, Deadline, @2xaught7.bsky.social, Barrett Media and Sports Media Watch
Benoit Berthelot / Bloomberg:
UAE-backed RedBird IMI withdraws from the Telegraph and Spectator auction, which starts today, and will look to sell on its rights to the UK outlets — After a bruising few months, UAE-backed investor RedBird IMI is withdrawing from its attempt to acquire the Telegraph newspaper and Spectator magazine …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Guardian, Telegraph, Financial Times, Reuters, Deadline, @steven_swinford and @pippacrerar
Alex Barinka / Bloomberg:
In its first TikTok Shop Safety Report, TikTok reports 500K+ sellers in the US and 15M+ sellers worldwide in December 2023, adding 6M+ in H2 2023 — - Company releases first safety report on its shopping platform — Merchants and approved users can link products for sale
Discussion:
The Independent
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Instagram updates its recommendation algorithms to promote original content, impacting aggregator accounts, and increase distribution for smaller accounts — Instagram is making significant changes to how its system recommends content, with a focus on original content and increased distribution for smaller accounts.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Engadget and @mosseri@threads.net
Sudip Kar-Gupta / Reuters:
Arnaud Lagardère resigns as chair and CEO of French publishing group Lagardère SA, after an indictment accused him of misappropriating company funds — Arnaud Lagardere, the chairman and CEO of French publishing group Lagardere SA (LAGA.PA), has resigned from his executive roles …
Discussion:
Financial Times, Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg, Le Monde.fr and Deadline
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Everyone TV, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5, launches free streaming service Freely on smart TVs, targeting internet-only homes — The service is backed by U.K. broadcasters BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Paramount Global's Channel 5.
Rachel Kurzius / Washington Post:
A profile of Samir Mezrahi, the ex-BuzzFeed social media director behind Zillow Gone Wild, which has 4M+ followers and a spin-off HGTV show debuting in May — Samir Mezrahi posted his first outrageous house in 2020. Now he has 4 million followers and an HGTV show on the way.
Discussion:
@jeremymbarr
Alexandra Topping / The Guardian:
As News UK's TalkTV closes its linear channel and moves online, experts say the future of both of UK's broadcasting upstarts, TalkTV and GB News, is uncertain — TalkTV's shift to online only is a moment of reckoning for the two broadcasting upstarts — In April 2021, the boss …
Bloomberg:
The EU opens a DSA investigation into Facebook and Instagram over deceptive ad and political content; sources say the move relates to a pro-Kremlin campaign — - Probe said to target pro-Putin Doppelganger campaign — Meta probe is under the EU's tough new Digital Services Act
Discussion:
European Commission, Reuters, TechCrunch, Al Jazeera, The Verge, Politico, @clothildegouj and Semafor, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
OAN retracts a story that said Trump's ex-lawyer Michael Cohen had an affair with Stormy Daniels and apologizes, part of a settlement with no monetary damages — Michael D. Cohen's lawyers took on OAN over the false story. The settlement came as right-wing news outlets face a barrage of defamation suits.
Discussion:
One America News Network, Poynter, The Daily Beast, @nycsouthpaw, HuffPost, CNN, Mediaite, Deadline and The Hill
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