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.
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
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, 9to5Mac and @sarafischer
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, Engadget, Adweek, The Hill, @alenapopova and @beefeater_fella, more at Techmeme »
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
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, TVNewsCheck, WORLD SCREEN, TVBEurope and Deadline
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, Next TV, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
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.
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:
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, @dfwsam.bsky.social, Google Cloud and The Keyword, more at Techmeme »
Katie Paul / Reuters:
Source: Meta plans to launch the voices of Judi Dench, Kristen Bell, John Cena, Awkwafina, and Keegan-Michael Key for its Meta AI chatbot at Connect this week — Facebook owner Meta Platforms (META.O) is planning to announce this week that it has secured deals with actors including Judi Dench …
Discussion:
MEDIANAMA and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »
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:
TechCrunch, Spotify, MobileSyrup, Engadget, 9to5Mac, @spotifynews, Mashable, iPhone in Canada Blog and MSPoweruser, more at Techmeme »
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
TikTok rolls out its redesigned Subscription feature, which lets creators offer three tiers, to eligible creators in select regions, including the UK and the US — TikTok announced on Monday that its redesigned “Subscription” monetization offering is rolling out to eligible creators in select regions …
Discussion:
TikTok, TVNewsCheck, Music Ally, Mashable, @wildtiktokss, @liahaberman, @zachbussey, @tiktokcomms, MediaPost, ZDNET and Fast Company