Top News:
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Podcasting is becoming an industry of megastars with huge deals and the biggest audiences; Edison: the top 25 podcasts reach nearly 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:
@lucas_shaw and Dexerto
London Evening Standard:
Former BBC presenter Huw Edwards is charged with three counts of making indecent images of children; Edwards resigned from the BBC in April 2024 — The former BBC newsreader has not appeared in public since allegations about his personal life were made in The Sun
Discussion:
CNN, Press Gazette, The Guardian, Reuters, Variety, CBS News, Sky News, @jake_kanter, @jamesrbuk, PinkNews, The Hollywood Reporter, The Mirror and Deadline
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:
The Media Leader, Outsports, The Hollywood Reporter, ComingSoon.net, NBCSports.com, Axios, TVNewsCheck, Sports Media Watch, Forbes, New York Times, HuffPost, Bloomberg, Sportico, TVLine, The Desk, The Wrap, Variety and Reuters
Dylan Byers / Puck:
Sources: several Nikkei boardmembers push for consideration of a sale of the Financial Times as they have grown impatient with its economic performance — But first... 🗞️ Will the Financial Times head to the block?: Might the FT, the august salmon-hued internationalist business broadsheet, eventually hit the market?
Discussion:
Talking Biz News
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 Desk and 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
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.
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, The Desk, Barrett Media and Inside Radio
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:
The Verge, The Guardian, @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
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
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