Mediagazer: Sony Pictures reports Q2 revenue down 14% YoY to ~$2.39B, profit down 39% YoY to $124M, weighed down by lower TV series deliveries due to 2023 Hollywood strikes (Nancy Tartaglione/Deadline)

4:05 AM ET, November 8, 2024

Top News:

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Memo: WaPo CEO Will Lewis tells staff they'll be expected to work from the office five days a week, instead of three, by June 2, and by February 3 for managers — All employees at The Post will be expected to return to the office by June 2. Managers must be back in the office full time by Feb. 3.

Discussion: @benmullin, Washingtonian, @mkarolian@threads.net, Benjamin Mullin on LinkedIn, @benmullin, New York Post, @talia.barrington@threads.net, @scotian.bsky.social, @ellaeliz@threads.net, @patriciaeguino, @benmullin, @film_girl@threads.net, @benmullin, @juwanthecurator.bsky.social and MediaPost

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

TikTok launches Share to TikTok, which lets users directly share music from Apple Music and Spotify in a post to their TikTok Feed or in DMs via TikTok Messages — TikTok on Thursday debuted a new feature that will more closely connect its app, which already influences which songs top the charts …

Discussion: TikTok, Spotify, Digital Music News, Billboard, Music Business Worldwide and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

In an earnings call, David Zaslav says the Trump Administration may be more merger friendly, enabling a “real positive and accelerated impact on this industry” — Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said Donald Trump's re-election as president bodes well for media M&A.

Discussion: Status, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Awful Announcing, Bloomberg, @kennysmith.bsky.social, @burnoutqueen@tech.lgbt, Reuters, @401matthall@mastodon.xyz, The Hill, The Verge, @2xaught7.bsky.social, AV Club, Mediaite, The Streamable, The Information, Yahoo Finance and The Wrap

Deadline:
WBD report Q3 revenue down 3% YoY to $9.62B, adjusted EBITDA down 18% YoY to $2.4B, and net income of $135M, as its box offices numbers drop

Discussion: Adweek, Benzinga, The Streamable and Variety

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD reports Q3 adjusted EBITDA for DTC, including streaming and pay-TV, of $289M, up from $111M in Q3 2023, and 110.5M subscribers, up 7.2M from Q2 2024

Discussion: MediaPost, RetailWire, Streaming Better, Tv Technology, The Desk, StreamTV Insider, IndieWire, Quartz, Variety, WORLD SCREEN, The Information, Media Play News, CNBC and The Wrap

Blake Brittain / Reuters:

A US judge dismisses a copyright lawsuit by Raw Story and AlterNet against OpenAI over AI training, for now, saying the outlets couldn't show enough harm — A New York federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit against artificial intelligence giant OpenAI that claimed it misused articles …

Discussion: @reuterslegal and Press Gazette, more at Techmeme »

Taylor Lorenz / User Mag:

How conservatives nurtured and funded a vast network of online influencers and creators, and how structural disadvantages prevent the left from replicating it — Minutes after Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2024 election, Dana White took the stage to thank the influencers who helped lead Trump to victory.

New York Times:
How Trump, a master of the media, embraced online celebrities and podcasts in the 2024 election cycle, evolving beyond tabloids, reality TV, X, and cable news

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Guardian, Deadline, HuffPost, Arijit Bhaduri on LinkedIn, The Hill and The Boston Globe

Nancy Tartaglione / Deadline:

Sony Pictures reports Q2 revenue down 14% YoY to ~$2.39B, profit down 39% YoY to $124M, weighed down by lower TV series deliveries due to 2023 Hollywood strikes — That's a 39% decrease versus the similar quarter in 2023, on a U.S. dollar basis. Adjusted OIBDA (Operating Income …

Discussion: Variety

Austin Fuller / Current:

How public media newsrooms in Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Oklahoma are enhancing their statehouse journalism with funding from CPB — With a new round of CPB funding for state government coverage, public media newsrooms in seven more states are hiring reporters and building collaborations to strengthen statehouse reporting.

Discussion: @kosuradio, @cory_gaines, @coreyhutchins, Austin Fuller on LinkedIn and TVNewsCheck

Clay Risen / New York Times:

Jim Hoagland, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, foreign correspondent, editor, and columnist for The Washington Post, died on November 4 at age 84 — A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, he was a reporter, editor and columnist for The Washington Post, renowned for his deeply sourced dispatches.

Discussion: Washington Post

Amanda Gerut / Fortune:

Streams Charts: Election Day livestreams generated nearly 84M hours watched with 80.6% on YouTube; Fox News was the top outlet with a record 1.14M+ peak viewers — A man seen watching the broadcasting of the U.S. election results at the restaurant in Bangkok.

Discussion: Tubefilter, Tatiana Stronskaya on LinkedIn, The Wrap, Streams Charts and Benzinga

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
Perplexity's US election hub offered helpful, real-time election insights and maps on November 5, linking to reliable resources and providing historical context

Discussion: Bloomberg, San Francisco Business Times, Nayan Ambali on LinkedIn, Aravind Srinivas on LinkedIn, Maxwell Zeff on LinkedIn, Business Insider and Wired

Lili Loofbourow / Washington Post:
A look at Amazon Prime Video's election night show, with former NBC News anchor Brian Williams, a wide array of news team members and guests, and a surreal set

Discussion: @thr, @estellasrevenge@threads.net, @chaseman777@threads.net, @baratunde@threads.net, Salon, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and New York Times

Deadline:
Nielsen: 42.3M viewers watched election night coverage across 18 US TV networks, down 25% from 2020; Amazon Prime Video was not included in the measurement

Discussion: The Ankler, MediaPost, @jeremymbarr, @alexweprin, Tv Technology, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, The Desk, Variety, Nielsen, @benjaminmullin@threads.net, Barrett Media, Wall Street Journal, Media Play News and The Wrap

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:

Nine Entertainment's acting CEO predicts AU$100M in cuts over the next two years and says staffers found to have engaged in harassment will be “held to account” — ‘There will be change at Nine and individuals will be held to account for behaviour of this nature’ acting CEO tells AGM

Discussion: news.com.au, Mumbrella, Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

Lionsgate's CEO calls Q2 results “disappointing”, with revenue of $948.6M and a net loss of $163.3M; Starz lost 800K North American streaming subscribers QoQ — Executives at Lionsgate did not attempt to sugarcoat the company's financial results for its latest financial quarter.

Discussion: The Wrap, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate and Variety

WashPostPR / Washington Post:

WaPo launches Ask The Post AI, an experimental generative AI tool that gives curated article results and summary answers based on stories published since 2016 — Today, The Washington Post debuted “Ask The Post AI” a generative AI tool leveraging the publication's deeply-sourced …

Discussion: Gwanhoo Lee on LinkedIn, Washington Post and @kyefox.com

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

UK-based Digitalbox buys three entertainment and lifestyle sites from GRV Media; GRV's executive chairman says his company has pivoted to sports journalism — Digitalbox wants a niche in entertainment while GRV Media doubles down on sports. — Online publisher Digitalbox has bought three sites …