Top News:
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
How podcasting is turning into an industry of megastars with huge deals and the biggest audiences; Edison: the top 25 podcasts reach ~50% of US weekly listeners — The top shows are adding video, merchandise and live tours and signing megadeals with Spotify, Sirius and Amazon.
Discussion:
9to5Mac, @robenfarzad, @samro, @joshthomastn, @davidharsanyi, @ckwitt3 and @wsj, more at Techmeme »
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Thelma, Longlegs, and Civil War are some of at least a half a dozen independent films to break out at the box office in 2024, a much needed boost for the sector — The decline of the independent film business has been a major concern among Hollywood producers and executives in recent years.
Discussion:
Dexerto and @lucas_shaw
Deadline:
Nielsen and Adobe Analytics: the Paris Olympics opening ceremony drew 28.6M viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 60%+ from Tokyo, plus 666K on Telemundo Deportes — Good news for NBCUniversal: The Paris Olympics are off to a great start with a big win out of Friday's Opening Ceremony.
Discussion:
Outsports, The Hollywood Reporter, Axios, TVNewsCheck, New York Times, Forbes, Sports Media Watch, HuffPost, Bloomberg, NBCSports.com, Sportico, TVLine, The Desk, The Wrap, Variety and Reuters
Reuters:
Russia's state-run news agency TASS says the Olympic organizing committee revoked the accreditations of four of its journalists in Paris — Russia's state-run TASS news agency said the Olympic organising committee revoked accreditations for four of its journalists in Paris on Sunday …
Discussion:
The Moscow Times
Max Tani / Semafor:
A look at Kamala Harris' efforts since early 2022 to improve her relationship with the national media, increasing the cadence of her interactions with reporters — The News — Kamala Harris has spent her last two years as vice president repairing a difficult relationship with the national media …
Discussion:
@semaforben and HuffPost
Cameron Coats / Radio & Television Business Report:
BIA Advisory Services: 2024 US local media ad spending is expected to rise 9.5% YoY to $173.7B, with the gap between traditional and digital media spend closing — In October, BIA Advisory Services' initial forecast for 2024 had local advertising revenues hitting $175.6 billion.
Discussion:
Aspire, Barrett Media, The Desk and Inside Radio
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
A few newspaper companies, including Lee and Alden's MediaNews Group, are offering ad-free premium subscription tiers as privacy concerns grow — It's not a new idea, but more publishers are offering it. Audiences, wary of privacy issues and primed by streaming, may be coming around.
Kate Conger / New York Times:
Sources detail how Elon Musk undermined CEO Linda Yaccarino's efforts to repair X's business over the past year; X's US revenue fell 53% YoY to $114M in Q2 — Linda Yaccarino, the C.E.O. of X, has worked hard to bring back advertisers and fix the platform's business.
Discussion:
@alexandregiess@threads.net, @renee.diresta@threads.net, @lessin@threads.net, @goldman@threads.net, @lessin@threads.net, @rmac18, @rmac18, @documentingmeta@threads.net, @lindayax, @renee.diresta@threads.net, @pkafka@threads.net, @renee.diresta@threads.net, @tvmojoe, Awful Announcing, @carnage4life@mas.to, @so_treu, @reddirtsport, @ron_fournier, @jeffjarvis, @hay_banda, @amydiehl@mstdn.social, @elistuy@threads.net, @crumbler@threads.net, @moskov@threads.net, @renee.diresta@threads.net, @hunterwalk@threads.net, @cachiporra.bsky.social, @nonlinear@social.praxis.nyc and @self.agency, more at Techmeme »
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
WGA West: TV and film writer earnings fell ~32% to $1.29B in 2023, the lowest level since the 2007-08 strike, and employment fell 19.5% to 5,501 working writers — TV and film writer earnings fell $603 million last year, or about 32%, as the end of “Peak TV” coincided with a 148-day strike by the Writers of Guild of America.
Discussion:
Writers Guild America West, WGA Contract 2023, The Wrap and Deadline
Caroline Davies / The Guardian:
In a documentary, Prince Harry said his choice to take legal action against UK tabloid newspapers was a “central piece” contributing to the rift with his family — Duke of Sussex tells ITV documentary that legal battles against newspapers ‘central’ to deterioration in relations
Discussion:
Associated Press, NBC News, CNN, Los Angeles Times and New York Times
Wall Street Journal:
Filing: the US DOJ says TikTok collected data about its users' views on gun control, abortion, and religion, and censored content at ByteDance's direction — Justice Department defends new law requiring the sale or ban of the popular app — TikTok collected data about its users' views …
Discussion:
Music Ally, 9to5Mac, The Information, The Register, The Hill, @tiktokpolicy, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Financial Times, CNN, New York Times, Reuters and Toledo Blade
RELATED:
James Warrington / The Telegraph:
Sources: Apple met with UK TV ratings body Barb to discuss options for tracking ads on Apple TV+, in another sign that it plans to introduce ads on the service — Apple has held talks with the UK's TV ratings body in the latest sign that the tech giant is planning to introduce adverts on its streaming service.
Discussion:
9to5Mac, @tvgrimreaper and @carnage4life@mas.to, more at Techmeme »
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD sues the NBA over the league's “unjustified” decision to sell a package of media rights to Amazon, to which WBD claims to have a “contractual right” — The company had sought to match a proposal from Amazon Prime Video, but the league said that it “did not match the terms” of the deal.
Discussion:
Barrett Media, @wallachlegal, @wallachlegal, @brandonthurston, @pkafka, @morningbrew, @sherman4949, @mmccarthyrev, @bkoo, Puck, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Information, Washington Post, Bloomberg Law, USA Today, Axios, Associated Press, Forbes, Yahoo Finance, ESPN, Front Office Sports, Variety, New York Times, Quartz, Sports Media Watch, Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, Sportico, CNBC, Deadline, New York Post, CNN, The Wrap, Awful Announcing, The Streamable, Los Angeles Times, Awful Announcing and Reuters
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