Top News:
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
TikTok says it plans to shut down TikTok Music on November 28 and will delete customer data; the app, originally called Resso, first launched in 2019 — TikTok Music will go offline on Nov. 28 and customer data will be deleted, the music division said in a post on its website.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The NYT aims to sell podcast subscriptions via Apple Podcasts and Spotify, requiring users to pay to access older episodes, starting Oct. for $6/mo. or $50/year — - “A big part of our strategy is building direct relationships with our customers,” said Ben Cotton, The Times' head of subscription growth.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, The New York Times Company, 9to5Mac and @sarafischer
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount's Pluto TV and M6+ strike a partnership that includes content channels and ad sales in France; French TV company M6 launched the AVOD platform in May — The strategic commercial and editorial partnership is designed to “scale and expand their free streaming and digital businesses in France.”
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Variety, Broadband TV News, WORLD SCREEN, TVNewsCheck, Deadline and TVBEurope
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Reach CEO Jim Mullen says there is “too much power in the hands of platforms and their algorithms” and calls for regulation to make platforms pay for content — The chief executive of the UK's biggest commercial news publisher has called for big tech regulation so the platforms pay …
Discussion:
Liverpool Echo and HoldtheFrontPage
New York Times:
How WhatsApp Channels, launched in late 2023, are driving traffic to digital news outlets, especially readers from outside the US, as social media traffic falls — An illustration of a man sitting on a green chair reading a newspaper called “World News” as he looks at his phone behind it.Jackson Gibbs
Discussion:
@simondowens@threads.net, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac and @hanaatameez
Ryan Browne / CNBC:
Warner Bros. Discovery partners with Google to add its “caption AI” tool built on Vertex AI to Max to automatically generate captions for unscripted programming — Warner Bros. Discovery is partnering with Google to integrate the internet giant's AI technology …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Variety, Quartz, @dfwsam.bsky.social, The Keyword and Google Cloud, more at Techmeme »
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Memo: Paramount unveils “phase two” of layoffs and says 90% of them will be complete after this round, following its August plan to cut 15% of its US workforce — Paramount Global unveiled a second wave of staff cuts Tuesday morning, part of a larger bid by the owner of CBS …
Discussion:
The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, Advanced Television, Bloomberg, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Next TV
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Roku unveils the $100 Roku Ultra, which is 30% faster than its other streaming players and has Wi-Fi 6, HDMI 2.1, Dolby Atmos, the Voice Remote Pro, and more — One day after the Google TV Streamer hit stores, Roku is announcing its own latest streaming player.
Discussion:
The Streamable, Bloomberg, Engadget, Streaming Better, MobileSyrup, Business Insider, CNN, TechRadar, Engadget, CNET, Tom's Guide, Next TV, Roku on YouTube, @roku, TechHive, How-To Geek, Digital Trends, The Nerdy, CNET on YouTube, The Shortcut, 9to5Google and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
David Ingram / NBC News:
TikTok permanently removes accounts associated with the parent organizations of Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik, citing “covert influence operations” — Social media rivals Meta and YouTube have announced similar suspensions of Russian state media accounts this month.
Discussion:
CNN, KSTP-TV, Engadget, Adweek, The Hill, @alenapopova and @beefeater_fella, more at Techmeme »
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
Sources: UK's Evening Standard has made plans to use AI to write reviews under the name of its former art critic of 30 years Brian Sewell, who died in 2015 — Deadline understands that London's historic Evening Standard newspaper has been making plans to revive its former writer using artificial intelligence.
Discussion:
@jscalzi@threads.net, @siddhantadlakha, @eddiehenryjames, @chrismoranuk, @_zeets, @sturgios, @wendyide, @willardfoxton and @nina_metz
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
WP Engine sends a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic to “retract false, harmful, and disparaging statements”, after Matt Mullenweg called it a “cancer” — WordPress hosting service WP Engine on Monday sent a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic …
RELATED:
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Trending Now, which offers AI-powered B2B newsletters, changes its logo after BuzzFeed sent a cease-and-desist letter over alleged copyright infringement — What happened next after Buzzfeed sent copyright warning letter to AI newsletter start-up Trending Now.
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Spotify rolls out its AI Playlist feature in beta to Premium subscribers in the US, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, after launching in the UK and Australia — Spotify is expanding an AI feature that creates customized playlists from your text descriptions to additional English-speaking regions.
Discussion:
Reuters, TechCrunch, Spotify, 9to5Mac, MobileSyrup, Engadget, @spotifynews, Mashable, iPhone in Canada Blog and MSPoweruser, more at Techmeme »