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Sources: Comcast plans to announce Wednesday that it will be spinning off its NBCUniversal cable TV networks including MSNBC and CNBC, with Mark Lazarus as CEO — New venture will house channels like E!, USA and MSNBC; company to announce several leadership changes
Discussion:
Axios, Awful Announcing, The Desk, The Wrap, CNN, Variety, Bloomberg, TVNewsCheck, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, CNBC, @great_katzby, @sallyshin, @tvgrimreaper, @asharma, @asharma, @asharma and @brianstelter


Bluesky has 20M+ users after hitting 15M on November 13, and according to Appfigures, has been #1 in the US App Store since November 13 — Bluesky, the social network and X competitor has been benefiting from a surge of departures from the Elon Musk-owned app formerly known as Twitter.
Discussion:
Engadget, The Hollywood Reporter, Similarweb, Washington Times, @Tibor@mastodon.social, @jay.bsky.team, @paleofuture.bsky.social, @nachristakis.bsky.social, @conorsen.bsky.social, @o.simardcasanova.net, @tkaz99.bsky.social, @keithedwards.bsky.social, @henrymance.bsky.social, @oremus.bsky.social, @evankirstel.bsky.social, @aarnegranlund.bsky.social, theJasmineBRAND, @mosseri@threads.net, @willoremus@threads.net, @timboard.bsky.social, @johnspurlock.com, @lif3asmaj.bsky.social, The Irish Times, Business Insider, Forbes and CNET, more at Techmeme »
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The Economist, The Week, ITV News, and others have joined Bluesky in the past week, while Politico, Semafor, Tortoise have resumed their activity on the site — A wave of news publishers have arrived on Bluesky in recent days, following audiences and journalists departing X/Twitter.


In a statement, Jay Penske says The Hollywood Reporter has replaced co-EIC Nekesa Mumbi Moody with Shirley Halperin, following staff cuts in June and August — Halperin recently resigned as editor of Los Angeles Magazine — The Hollywood Reporter replaced co-editor in chief Nekesa Mumbi Moody …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter and Talking Biz News


Brendan Carr says Trump's complaint over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris is “likely to arise” in the FCC's review of the Skydance-Paramount deal — In an interview with Fox News' America's Newsroom, Carr said, “Broadcasters are differently situated to other speakers.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, New York Post, Fox News, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck and Radio & Television …


Filings: The Onion's Infowars bid was $7M, including backing from Sandy Hook families and $1.75M in cash; Alex Jones-linked First United's bid was $3.5M in cash — A hearing is scheduled for Monday to review the auction process, which is being contested by a losing bidder associated with Alex Jones, the Infowars founder.
Discussion:
Breitbart, Politico, Business Insider and @benmullin.bsky.social
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Filing: Alex Jones asks a judge to halt the sale of Infowars; a company affiliated with him, which was the losing bidder, seeks to disqualify The Onion's bid
Discussion:
The Desk, CNN, Austin American-Statesman, @benmullin, @passantino@threads.net, Bloomberg Law, Associated Press, Reuters and New Republic


Sources: MSNBC's Morning Joe meeting with Trump was driven by fears of retribution from the incoming administration, including governmental and legal harassment — New York CNN — — “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski announced Monday, in dramatic fashion …
Discussion:
New York Post, Trending Politics …, Check Your Fact, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, @keitholbermann, Digby's Hullabaloo, @brianstelter, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @wjcarter, @mediaevan, @emmavigeland, @adamjohnsonchi, Variety, The Independent, @prettybadlefty, Raw Story, @brianstelter, @schooley.bsky.social, The Guardian, @marceelias, @cherijacobus, The Wrap, @daveweigel, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @meidastouch.bsky.social, @mattwelch, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @timfullerton.bsky.social, @brendannyhan.bsky.social, New Jersey Online, @jeffgoldesq, Adweek, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, al.com and CNN


Spines, an AI-powered self-publishing service for book authors that provides suggestions on edits, cover design, more, raised a $16M Series A after a $6.5M seed — Generative AI has upended how we write things, or even if we write at all. Now a startup wants to be the main character …
Discussion:
Michael Eisenberg on LinkedIn, Spines and Oren Zeev on LinkedIn


The NYT's The Daily tops Apple Podcasts' most popular US shows in 2024, followed by Crime Junkie, The Joe Rogan Experience, Dateline NBC, and SmartLess — Today, Apple shared the most popular podcasts of 2024, with year-end charts localized for listeners in nearly 100 countries and regions.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, The Information, Jake Shapiro on LinkedIn, BGR, @alexweprin, 9to5Mac and AppleInsider


Trump picks TV personality and 2022 US Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — - Kennedy, Trump's pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, would be Oz's boss if both are confirmed by the Senate.
Discussion:
CNN, Mediaite, The Wrap, Variety, PBS NewsHour, Los Angeles Times, Breitbart, Le Monde, Roll Call, Entertainment Weekly, Benzinga, Virginia Mercury, @edburmila.bsky.social, Associated Press, New Republic, KTVU-TV, CNBC, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, The Guardian, MM+M, The Lever, New York Times, The 19th, FierceHealthcare, NPR, Alternet.org, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, USA Today, Bloomberg, New York Daily News, Healthcare Dive, Politico, @petermorley.bsky.social, @ronfrankl.bsky.social, The Independent, @timobrien.bsky.social, @joel_montfort@threads.net, @pnwdreadpirate.bsky.social, @BrianJopek@mastodon.world, TVNewsCheck, @ejfagan.com, @jakesherman, @keithboykin.bsky.social, @thedesk.net, STAT, @davidmwessel.bsky.social, Trending Politics …, Rolling Stone, People, Protect Our Care, CBS News, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, Business Insider and WHEC.com


Sources detail continued financial losses at WaPo, internal competition for the top newsroom job, and staff dissatisfaction with a new return-to-office policy — Even before 250,000 digital readers unsubscribed from the Washington Post in protest, the paper was on track to lose at least as much money as it lost last year: $77 million.
Discussion:
@claeshs.bsky.social, @charlottetklein.bsky.social, New York Post and @nymag


Source: Microsoft signs a deal with News Corp's HarperCollins to use nonfiction titles to train an unannounced AI model; HarperCollins says authors can opt out — - Nonfiction books will be used for training AI models — AI companies and publishers have butted heads in lawsuits
Discussion:
The Information, The Guardian, @kagan@wandering.shop, @samleecole.bsky.social, Publishers Weekly, @uwestenderphd.bsky.social, @felixgillette.bsky.social, @tylerking.bsky.social, The Bookseller, Music Ally, @nicolap.bsky.social, @amykristinsanders.bsky.social, The Verge, @tylerking.bsky.social, @adrienneleigh.bsky.social, @parodius.bsky.social, BGR and Library Journal infoDOCKET, more at Techmeme »