Mediagazer: The Independent's operating profit rose to £3.5M for a new 15-month reporting period, vs. £1.9M for a 2022 12-month period; 2023 revenue fell by 0.3% YoY (Charlotte Tobitt/Press Gazette)

3:10 PM ET, October 8, 2024

Top News:

Dylan Byers / @dylanbyers:

[Thread] CBS News leaders told staff that Tony Dokoupil's interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates about the Israel-Hamas war did not meet impartiality standards — SCOOP / THREAD @PuckNews: CBS NEWS has been roiling after a CBS Mornings interview in which anchor Tony Dokoupil pressed Ta-Nehisi Coates over his pro-Palestinian framing of Israel-Palestine conflict. The interview was celebrated by many—"tense and substantive," per WaPo—but

Abid Rahman / The Hollywood Reporter:

In a podcast trailer, Ta-Nehisi Coates says CBS' Tony Dokoupil commandeered the Israel-Hamas war interview and “I don't think he did Nate and Gayle a service” — In the trailer for the next episode of ‘What Now? with Trevor Noah’ podcast Coates offered more thoughts on the much-talked about ‘CBS Mornings’ interview.

Discussion: Media Nation, What Now? with Trevor Noah on YouTube, @jeremymbarr, @scottsloofman and @heerjeet

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:

Channel 4 reports 2023 revenue down 10.5% YoY to £1.02B and a pre-tax deficit of £52M, from a pre-tax £20M surplus in 2022, citing a “prolonged” UK ad downturn — CEO Alex Mahon lauded gains on YouTube and beyond as the U.K. broadcaster posted its annual report …

Discussion: The Guardian, Channel 4, CampaignUK, Telegraph, Broadband TV News, Radio News Hub, Deadline, The Media Leader, Variety, Financial Times, The Guardian, Telegraph and WORLD SCREEN

Jake Kanter / Deadline:

Channel 4 announces its first overnight US election coverage in 32 years, with guests including Boris Johnson and Stormy Daniels, and a partnership with CNN — UK broadcaster Channel 4 has booked Stormy Daniels and Boris Johnson to feature as guests on its first live U.S. election night show in 32 years.

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:

European streamer SkyShowtime unveils a premium plan that lets users stream on up to five devices simultaneously, starting at €8.99 per month on October 29 — With pricing starting at €8.99 per month, the Premium plan provides the ability to stream on up to five devices simultaneously …

Discussion: Advanced Television, Roberto Soto on LinkedIn, @skyshowtime, SkyShowtime press releases, Broadband TV News, FlatpanelsHD, The Desk, Media Play News and TVNewsCheck

Sara Fischer / Axios:

OpenAI signs a content deal with Hearst, letting it use content from 40+ local newspapers and 20+ magazines, after deals with Condé Nast and Dotdash Meredith — - Like its other recent publisher deals, OpenAI says Hearst content that's used to fuel answers to user queries in ChatGPT will feature …

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, MediaPost, The Wrap, OpenAI, The Hollywood Reporter, CNBC, Bloomberg and San Francisco Chronicle, more at Techmeme »

Kate Knibbs / Wired:
The number of outlets blocking OpenAI's GPTBot has decreased since Dotdash Meredith and Condé Nast announced licensing deals with OpenAI in May and August

Discussion: @palewire and @knibbs

CBS News:

60 Minutes says Trump backed out of an interview last week because it planned to fact check and Trump needed an apology for his 2020 interview with Lesley Stahl — It's been a tradition for more than half a century that the major party candidates for president sit down with 60 Minutes in October.

Gabrielle Russon / Florida Politics:

Florida's Department of Health sends a cease-and-desist letter to TV stations airing an ad supporting a pro-abortion amendment, calling it “false advertisement” — ‘Here, the Department is threatening the station with criminal prosecution if it does not cease running the Advertisement.’

Discussion: Adweek, Rolling Stone, HuffPost, @sonnymarchbanks, @patdennis, @matthew_d_green, @matthew_d_green, MSNBC, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Independent, Talking Points Memo and Boing Boing

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

The Independent's operating profit rose to £3.5M for a new 15-month reporting period, vs. £1.9M for a 2022 12-month period; 2023 revenue fell by 0.3% YoY — CEO Christian Broughton and chairman John Paton explain The Independent's five key growth areas.

Discussion: Financial Times

Mike Wheatley / SiliconANGLE:

Meta begins rolling out new AI tools that will let advertisers expand the aspect ratio of their videos as well as generate a video ad from a static image — Meta Platforms Inc. today said it's rolling out a full-screen video tab on Facebook and Instagram in recognition of the fact …

Discussion: MediaPost, Adweek, The Verge, Facebook, Bloomberg, MarTech and TVBEurope, more at Techmeme »

Digiday:

TikTok launches Smart+, an AI-powered ad tool that takes on Google's Performance Max and Meta's Advantage+, automating creative, ad targeting, and optimization — TikTok's cultural clout is undeniable, but the ad dollars? Not quite there — yet. — That's where Smart+ comes in …

Discussion: TikTok, MEDIANAMA, Tim Natividad on LinkedIn, The Media Leader and Adweek

Semafor:

The New York Times is beta testing Zorse, a “phrase guessing game where every puzzle is a mash-up of two phrases”, with subscribers in Canada — The Scoop — The New York Times is making a bigger play into online gaming. — On Tuesday, the paper will begin beta testing a new puzzle called Zorse, Semafor has learned.

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Verge, The New York Times Company, @pabloreports and @saksappeal

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Fox News Media plans to launch a daily Spanish-language news show on Fox Deportes on October 15 and debuts a machine-translated Spanish version of its site — - There have been a few conservative news startups launched since 2020, including Americano Media and Voz Media …

Discussion: The Desk, Mediaite, TVNewsCheck, Variety, Kansas Reflector, Newsbusters, Fox News and NewscastStudio

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:

Adobe launches a Content Authenticity web app to let creators use its Content Credentials “nutrition labels” to apply attribution and opt out of AI training — Adobe is expanding its Content Credentials “nutrition labels” to make it even easier for creatives to be credited for their work …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Adobe Newsroom, PetaPixel, Digital Trends, Fast Company, Axios, Reuters, PCMag, TechRadar, CNET, Hindustan Times, AIM, The Indian Express and MIT Technology Review, more at Techmeme »

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Kamala Harris, who mostly avoided interviews over the past few months, sets out on a media blitz, including the Call Her Daddy podcast, The View, and 60 Minutes — The vice president and Democratic nominee has set a slew of media appearances this week, including a live interview with 'The View …

Discussion: CBS News, The Hill, Fox Business, The Wrap, Daily Mail, WSVN-TV, HotAir, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, Scripps News, New Jersey Online, Business Insider, New York Post, ABC News, Axios, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, @brianstelter, The Daily Caller, New York Times, ComingSoon.net, El País, Fox News, @kevinrothrock@infosec …, Louder With Crowder, @stengel, People, NPR, The Atlantic, Althouse, Power Line, @audiecornish, @maxwelltani, Balloon Juice, @brianstelter, @victorshi2020, @jaspertylerkane, @laurachapin, Bossip, @notcapnamerica, @nancytwinmama, @qondintini, @peterdkramer, @morgan_murphy, @amy_siskind, @aaronparnas, @authorrandallb, @jessefferguson, ABC7, RedState, Newsbusters, Daily Caller News Foundation, @mayatcontreras@threads.net, Spotify, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Post, Page Six, New York Times, The Daily Beast, @PamelaBarroway@mstdn.social, American Greatness, @mastodonmigration …, Deadline, CNN and Twin Cities

Dan Pfeiffer / The Message Box:
Kamala Harris' appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast shows how the media environment has changed, as campaigns target those who don't consume political media