Top News:


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, Chad Coleman on LinkedIn, Andrew Yaffe on LinkedIn, @danprimack, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter


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, The Wrap, Bloomberg, New York Post, The Verge, UPROXX, All Elite Wrestling, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and POST Wrestling


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


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


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


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 …


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


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


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.


The New York Times launches its biggest app overhaul since 2008, adding personalized recommendations and content from The Athletic, The Wirecutter, and others — It's the first major redesign since the app launched in 2008. — I've had the New York Times app on my phone for pretty …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, @michaelsocolow, @duncanwc and Fast Company


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, Quartz, Digiday, Engadget, Deadline, The Media Leader and @raydouglasuk, more at Techmeme »


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 — Whatnot, the livestream marketplace platform for trading card collectors and sneakerheads alike, is offering a bit of positive news …
Discussion:
News & Whatnot