Mediagazer: Tina Brown, who became synonymous with Manhattan media in the 1980s and 1990s, launches Fresh Hell, a weekly Substack diary newsletter in “notebook form” (Jessica Testa/New York Times)

2:05 PM ET, October 15, 2024

Top News:

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Spotify is paying hundreds of millions for audiobooks annually; US audiobook users average five more hours on the app in the 60 days after starting a book — - Without Spotify, the audiobook industry in the U.S. grew 14% in unit sales between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023, according to Bookstat.

Discussion: Spotify, Publishers Weekly, Neowin, The Bookseller, Digital Music News and Thurrott

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Five ex-Pitchfork journalists launch online subscription music outlet Hearing Things, aiming to capture Pitchfork's independent spirit, starting at $70 per year — After the popular publication was folded into GQ, a group of them is striking out on its own. One of the first orders of business: doing away with album scores.

Discussion: @ryandombal, @jillian_mapes, @tombreihan, @hearingthingsco, Hearing Things, Resident Advisor, @dada_drummer, @jeremydlarson, @jawnita, @benmullin, @benmullin, @pellz_, @markrichardson and @simondowens@threads.net

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

The NYT sends a cease-and-desist letter to AI startup Perplexity to stop using its content; Perplexity says it is “interested in working with every” publisher — Publisher demands that Perplexity stop accessing its content. Startup isn't interested “in being anyone's antagonist,” CEO says.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Reuters, The Information, The Verge, Seeking Alpha, PCMag, @scottadamssays, @rustybrick, @glenngabe, @brianstelter and @lutherlowe, more at Techmeme »

Jessica Testa / New York Times:

Tina Brown, who became synonymous with Manhattan media in the 1980s and 1990s, launches Fresh Hell, a weekly Substack diary newsletter in “notebook form” — Tina Brown's decision to join Substack is a coup for the newsletter company, which considers prestigious names to be magnets …

Discussion: Business Insider, Fresh Hell, @mediaevan and @jtes

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Internal memo: the BBC plans to cut 155 BBC News jobs, including closing Asian Network News and the HARDtalk program, to save £24M, or 4% of BBC News' budget — Broadcaster hopes move will save £24mn from budget, according to internal memo sent to staff

Associated Press:

Taliban-run media stops showing images of living beings in some Afghan provinces to comply with morality laws, sparking press freedom concerns — Taliban run-media have stopped showing images of living beings in some Afghan provinces to comply with morality laws, an official confirmed Tuesday.

Discussion: Telegraph, Times of India, Daily Mail, @natiqmalikzada, @visegrad24, LBC, The Independent, Global Village Space, @qaisalamdar, WION, Amu TV, Outlook India, Boing Boing and PetaPixel

Ross A. Lincoln / The Wrap:

WBD plans to launch Max in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand on November 19, with pricing details to be announced — Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand also among new countries where you'll be able to see “Dune: Prophecy”

Discussion: The Desk, Deadline, Media Play News, Broadband TV News, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Bloomberg, Reuters, WORLD SCREEN and Advanced Television

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

The Athletic names Fubo as its first streaming partner in a multi-year deal to integrate Fubo initially into live game blogs and then into newsletters and more — The partnership will see Fubo integrated throughout The Athletic's website — The New York Times sports publisher …

Discussion: Advanced Television, The Streamable, @financewithjohn, @tvanswerman, Cory Adelson on LinkedIn, Cord Cutters News and Streaming Better

Sifted:

UK tech journalist Steve O'Hear, who worked for TechCrunch for over a decade before leaving to work in tech in 2021, and had muscular dystrophy, died at age 49 — Former TechCrunch reporter Steve O'Hear has died after a short illness, his team announced today

Kathryn Lundstrom / Adweek:

Amazon expands its suite of AI-powered ad tools to let US advertisers use generative AI to make audio ads, available now in beta, and unveils AI creative studio — The tech giant announced new products at its annual ad conference — Soon, you'll hear more audio ads on Amazon's properties that were created with generative AI.

Discussion: MediaPost, About Amazon and Mumbrella, more at Techmeme »

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

YouTube rolls out new features: granular playback speed controls, an improved miniplayer on iOS and Android, updated playlists, a sleep timer, and more — YouTube is making official a number of updates that it's been testing in recent months, like the new miniplayer and several design updates.

Discussion: YouTube Official Blog, The Wrap, Engadget, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Neowin, The Verge, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Digital Trends and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

Spotify starts rolling out music videos in beta for Premium subscribers in 85 additional markets, after introducing the feature in 12 markets earlier in 2024 — Music streaming company Spotify said today that it is testing music videos for premium users in 85 additional markets.

Discussion: Thurrott, Benzinga, Spotify, The Verge, Neowin, Music Business Worldwide and Digital Music News, more at Techmeme »

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More News:

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Amazon plans to expand ads on Prime Video to Brazil, India, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand in 2025, joining the US, Canada, France, the UK, and more

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, Variety, Deadline and IN About Amazon

Mark Savage / BBC:
NewJeans star Hanni gives a tearful testimony on workplace harassment to South Korean lawmakers, alleging that the entertainment agency Hybe undermined her band

Discussion: Reuters, The Korea Times, Agence France-Presse, Agence France-Presse, ABC, @cato_o_o, Philstar Life, News18, Koreaboo, New York Times, @poppykpoppie, Koreaboo, Koreaboo, @kchartsmaster and Korea Joongang Daily

Poynter:
The Poynter Institute partners with Knight Foundation to educate philanthropic funders, who are interested in supporting local news, about journalism ethics

Discussion: The Impact Architects and Knight Foundation

Richard Fausset / New York Times:
A look at George magazine, which stopped publication in 1999 after co-founder John F. Kennedy Jr.'s death and was revived by a QAnon proponent in 2022

Discussion: @lkonstan, @azi and @xpangler

Tom Warren / The Verge:
The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine is back in a “provisional, read-only manner”, after a DDoS attack on the Internet Archive on October 9 and a data breach

Discussion: @brewster_kahle, Ars Technica, @brewster_kahle, Tom's Hardware, @internetarchive, 9to5Mac, @tariqkrim, Boing Boing, MEDIANAMA, PCMag, ZDNET, Mashable, Neowin, Fast Company, AV Club, Engadget and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

Jeremy Gray / PetaPixel:
Adobe says its Firefly Video Model is the first “commercially safe” text-to-video generative AI model that was trained on licensed and public domain content

Discussion: @joshgong10, @acostin, @joematoske, @lizkmiller, PCWorld, CNET, Neowin, Forbes, Neowin, Ars Technica, Silicon Valley Business …, Adobe Newsroom, Thurrott, TechCrunch, Engadget, Reuters, The Verge and Hindustan Times, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Jane Clinton / The Guardian:
BBC DG Tim Davie says funding cuts to BBC World Service have helped state-funded media operators from Russia and China broadcast “unchallenged propaganda”

Discussion: Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Deadline and The Guardian

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Fox Deportes and NBCUniversal's Telemundo will each produce separate Spanish-language broadcasts of Super Bowl LIX in 2025, an unusual arrangement

Discussion: Quartz, Awful Announcing, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Adweek, The Desk, Barrett Media, @jeremydstanley.com, TVNewsCheck and Sports Media Watch

Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Legendary Entertainment buys out Wanda Group's remaining 60% equity stake in the studio; Legendary board will be evenly split between management and Apollo

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, @mtfiii, @xpangler, Bloomberg, Variety, Los Angeles Times, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Reuters

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Filing: the UK's PA Media Group reports 2023 revenue up 6% YoY to £112.1M and operating profit up 53% YoY to £8.3M, as it grows through revenue diversification

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: Disney plans to simulcast six broadcasts of Monday Night Football, typically a mainstay of ESPN, on the ABC broadcast network

Discussion: Cord Cutters News and Adweek

From Techmeme:

Financial Times:
Sources: the US FTC plans to investigate allegations that Microsoft is abusing its market power in productivity software to prevent customers from leaving Azure

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
OpenAI says the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS can now read code from some developer-focused apps, including VS Code, Xcode, TextEdit, Terminal, and iTerm2

Decrypt:
Eighteen US states, led by Kentucky, sue the SEC and its commissioners, including Chairman Gary Gensler, over its crackdown on the crypto industry

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