Mediagazer: Q&A with Bobbi Althoff about The Really Good Podcast, her rise to fame as part of “Mommy TikTok”, chaos after her Drake interview, brand deals, and more (Katie Drummond/Wired)

8:10 PM ET, October 2, 2024

Top News:

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

YouTube channel Dude Perfect hires former NBA executive Andrew Yaffe as CEO; Yaffe had been the NBA's head of social, digital, and original content — - Ex-NBA executive Andrew Yaffe to lead digital media company — The channel has more than 60 million followers on YouTube

Discussion: Variety, Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, Andrew Yaffe on LinkedIn, Chad Coleman on LinkedIn, @danprimack, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter

Katie Drummond / Wired:

Q&A with Bobbi Althoff about The Really Good Podcast, her rise to fame as part of “Mommy TikTok”, chaos after her Drake interview, brand deals, and more — From Mommy TikTok to that Drake interview and beyond, the podcast host is proof you can brute-force your way to online fame …

Discussion: WIRED on LinkedIn, Simon Owens on LinkedIn, Vanity Fair, @laurengoode@threads.net and @katiedrumm

Evan Drellich / New York Times:

Diamond Sports Group, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, says in 2025 it will stop carrying all but one of the 12 MLB teams it now televises — Embattled broadcaster Diamond Sports Group says in 2025 it will stop carrying all but one of the 12 MLB teams it now televises …

Discussion: CNBC, TVNewsCheck, Orange County Register, Awful Announcing, Sportico, The Streamable, The Desk, @vtuss, @jluckhaupt.bsky.social, Streaming Better, Cord Cutters News, @crupicrupicrupi, @matthewkeyslive, Front Office Sports, @2xaught7.bsky.social, @jasoncollette.bsky.social and KSTP-TV

Josh Ocampo / New York Times:

Q&A with The New York Times media reporter Ben Mullin about building relationships with sources, challenges of the media beat, social media, and more — To report on the business of media, the journalist Ben Mullin says he is “endlessly curious” about the people populating his own industry.

Discussion: @benmullin and @semaforcomms

Joe Otterson / Variety:

WBD and All Elite Wrestling sign a multiyear deal, sources say worth $150M+ per year; AEW shows remain on TBS and TNT and stream live on Max in the US in 2025 — All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has officially signed a new multi-year multimedia rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Discussion: Awful Announcing, Advanced Television, The Wrap, Bloomberg, New York Post, Mark Caplan on LinkedIn, Bennett Wolin on LinkedIn, The Verge, UPROXX, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and POST Wrestling

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Memo: Disney's ABC News and local TV stations cut staff; source: about 75 staffers will be let go, split about evenly between national news and the TV stations — Employees were notified Wednesday of the staff reductions, according to a person familiar with the matter …

Discussion: Adweek, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, @jbflint, The Desk, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, Bloomberg and Deadline

Angela Fu / Poynter:

Journalists in western North Carolina hustled to cover Hurricane Helene's aftermath with sparse internet access, and radio broadcasts became crucial connectors — Local journalists are working to reach isolated communities to fill in information gaps — while dealing with damage in their own lives

Discussion: The Asheville Citizen Times, @ellekehres, @cislmunc, @poynter, @amariscastillo, @poynter, @solomonlexib, @poynter, Poynter, Radio World, The Urban News, NewsLab, NPR and Asheville Watchdog

Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:

Nielsen: the vice presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz drew 43.15M US viewers across 15 networks, down 25.5% from the 2020 vice presidential debate — Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz faced off in the CBS News-produced debate. — The lone debate between …

Discussion: CNN, Variety, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, Politico, Axios, New York Post, Forbes, Bloomberg, Deadline, DNyuz, Media Play News and Mediaite

Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:

TechCrunch unveils a redesign with a better UI, fresh color palette, more modern aesthetic, and new ways to show breaking news, after its last redesign in 2018 — Sometimes, you have to start from scratch to make something amazing. Sometimes, you already have most of the ingredients …

Discussion: @zeffmax

Peter Kafka / Business Insider:

Q&A with Matthew Yglesias about leaving Vox, launching his own Substack, and more; Yglesias says Slow Boring has ~18,000 subscribers paying ~$80 per year — - Matthew Yglesias, a prolific political writer, co-founded Vox in 2014. Six years later, he left to run his own Substack newsletter.

Discussion: Washington Post, @pkafka@threads.net, @renee.diresta@threads.net, @pkafka, @pkafka, @pkafka@threads.net and @renee.diresta@threads.net

Joe Mandese / MediaPost:

Sources: ad-tech startup Hudson MX, controlled by UK holding company Ascential, discontinues operations; Ascential had been trying to find a buyer for Hudson MX — Editor's Note: An initial version of this story incorrectly reported that Comcast's FreeWheel division had acquired certain assets …

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Amazon plans to increase the number of ads on Prime Video in 2025 after not seeing a sharp drop in subscribers since adding advertisements in January 2024 — Ecommerce group attempting to win over more brands as it steps up push into ad-funded streaming services in 2025

Discussion: The Information, Ars Technica, Quartz, Engadget, The Media Leader, @raydouglasuk, Deadline and Digiday, more at Techmeme »

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More News:

Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Livestream marketplace Whatnot says its GMV passed $2B+ in 2024 and its top 500 sellers each sold $1M+ on the platform; 66% of its sellers earn $10K+ per month

Discussion: News & Whatnot

Emma Roth / The Verge:
Automattic demanded an 8% cut of WP Engine's monthly revenue to use the WordPress trademark in a seven-year deal proposed on September 20; WP Engine declined

Discussion: The Register, Automattic and @j12t@j12t.social, more at Techmeme »

Neel Dhanesha / Nieman Lab:
The New York Times launches its biggest app overhaul since 2008, adding personalized recommendations and content from The Athletic, The Wirecutter, and others

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, @michaelsocolow, @duncanwc and Fast Company

Adam Chitwood / The Wrap:
NBCUniversal and Charter strike a new multiyear deal, including making Peacock free for all Spectrum TV Select video customers soon

Discussion: The Verge, Deadline, @jbflint, Media Play News, Cord Cutters News, The Streamable, The Desk, Streaming Better, @jbflint, Alexander Groysman on LinkedIn, TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters and Bloomberg

Mark Yarm / Depth Perception:
Q&A with Ben Collins on moving from a disinformation reporter to running The Onion, reviving its print edition and video newscast, expansion plans, and more

Kelcee Griffis / Bloomberg:
DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow says the combined DirecTV and Dish company plans a one-stop shop for streaming apps like Hulu and smaller bundles of live TV channels

Discussion: @tvgrimreaper, Ars Technica, @tamerspotlight and Digiday

Earlier Picks:

Maxwell Tani / @maxwelltani@threads.net:
Source: Politico and Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza agreed that he will take a leave of absence during an internal investigation, after Olivia Nuzzi's lawsuit

Discussion: New York Post, DNyuz, New York Times, Fox News, Newser, Adweek, Page Six, HuffPost, The Daily Beast, The Independent, The Wrap, Business Insider and CNN

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
ITV Director of News and Current Affairs Michael Jermey plans to leave the UK channel at the end of the year after 16 years in the position

Discussion: Deadline and Press Centre

Andreo Calonzo / Bloomberg:
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signs a law imposing a 12% value-added tax on non-resident digital service providers, such as Netflix, HBO, and Disney

more at Techmeme »

Janya Sundar / Fast Company:
A look at Local Lede, an AI tool from AP and startup AppliedXL that helps journalists sift through large datasets from federal agencies to find local news tips

Discussion: @SuffolkLITLab@esq.social, Francesco Marconi on LinkedIn, Orange County Register and TVNewsCheck

Financial Times:
Sources: Pink Floyd agrees to sell the rights to their music catalogue, including the band name and the artists' “likeness”, to Sony for about $400M

Discussion: Billboard, Variety, AV Club, Rolling Stone, Music Ally, DNyuz, @followtheh, @danielthomasldn, Digital Music News and Music Business Worldwide

Elias Leight / Billboard:
Memo: Spotify Global Head of Music Jeremy Erlich is leaving the company after joining in June 2019; he will advise Spotify until the end of February 2025

Discussion: The Information, Hits Daily Double!, Digital Music News and Music Business Worldwide

From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says the DOJ's “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision”, would hurt US consumers, and jeopardize the US' global tech leadership

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

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