Top News:
CNBC:
Comcast confirms plans to spin off its NBCUniversal cable TV networks, including MSNBC and CNBC, with Mark Lazarus as CEO; the separation may take about a year — Comcast is moving forward with the spinoff of its cable network channels, including CNBC, MSNBC and E!, the company said Wednesday.
Discussion:
The Desk, Axios, Variety, New York Times, Advanced Television, HuffPost, TVNewsCheck, Bloomberg, NBC News, The Verge, Cord Cutters News, @stark.soy, @benmullin, @colbyhall, @sarafischer, Comcast Corporation, @benmullin, @brianstelter, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @jeffjarvis, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The Hollywood Reporter, Barron's Online, @timkarr.bsky.social, Stephanie Smith on LinkedIn, @brianstelter, The Information, @great_katzby, @amolsharma.bsky.social, The Desk, Reuters, Financial Times, TVNewsCheck, Matthew Keys on LinkedIn, NBC News, Benzinga, Media Play News, Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn, @sallyshin, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, Variety, @asharma, Ad Age, @tvgrimreaper, @asharma, CNN, Awful Announcing, @amolsharma.bsky.social, Cord Cutters News, Status, @asharma, Deadline, Business Insider and The Hill
RELATED:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Comcast spinoff: Matt Strauss will be NBCUniversal Media Group Chairman, overseeing Peacock; Donna Langley will be NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios Chair — Matt Strauss and Donna Langley have been named to top roles at the new NBCUniversal, a move that pairs a business executive …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Comcast spinoff: cable channel Bravo, the NBC broadcast network, and Peacock will remain part of NBCUniversal; the new entity's ownership will mirror Comcast — NBCU CFO Anand Kini will become CFO and COO of the new channels company. … Cable channel Bravo, the NBC broadcast network …
Discussion:
Business Insider and @pkafka
James Warrington / Telegraph:
Almost 93% of 600 Guardian and Observer staff organized by the NUJ vote in favor of strike action over the proposed sale of The Observer to Tortoise — Union leaders say walkouts can be avoided if the company ends discussions with Tortoise — The Guardian is braced for strike action …
Kanis Leung / Associated Press:
Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai testifies for the first time in his years-long national security trial; he is already serving a jail term for a fraud conviction — Former Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai began testifying Wednesday in his landmark national security trial that is widely seen …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Reuters, Semafor, The Wire China, The Japan Times, Agence France-Presse, Reuters, New York Times, South China Morning Post, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, CBS News, Bloomberg, Raw Story, London Evening Standard and Reporters Without Borders
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
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.
Discussion:
American Press Institute, Hindustan Times, @handle.invalid and @johnspurlock.com
RELATED:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Bluesky says it now has 20M+ users after hitting 15M on November 13, and the app has been #1 in the US App Store since November 13, per Appfigures
Discussion:
Fast Company, The Independent, Engadget, @jaz.bsky.social, @bryanruby.com, @randfish.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter, @Tibor@mastodon.social, Washington Times, @gordonshorten.bsky.social, Similarweb, @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social, @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social, @lif3asmaj.bsky.social, @tkaz99.bsky.social, @willoremus@threads.net, @mosseri@threads.net, @aarnegranlund.bsky.social, @henrymance.bsky.social, @timboard.bsky.social, @nachristakis.bsky.social, @evankirstel.bsky.social, @johnspurlock.com, @conorsen.bsky.social, @jay.bsky.team, @o.simardcasanova.net, @keithedwards.bsky.social, @oremus.bsky.social, theJasmineBRAND, @paleofuture.bsky.social, The Irish Times, Business Insider and Forbes, more at Techmeme »
Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
A profile of The Green Line, a Toronto-based local news site that combines traditional reporting, community events, and solutions and action — The Green Line combines events, explainers, and solutions to appeal to young Torontonians. — Toronto-based local news site The Green Line …
Discussion:
@niemanlab, @carolynjack and @tassosmorfis
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
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:
Fox News, The Daily Beast, Bloomberg, New York Post, Mediaite, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and TVNewsCheck
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Google tightens its rules against “parasite SEO” content, or articles that have little to do with the website's focus, after cracking down on “reputation abuse” — Google is tightening its rules against “parasite SEO” content, or articles and pages that often have little …
Discussion:
MEDIANAMA, Search Engine Roundtable, Entrepreneur and CNET, more at Techmeme »
Anil Dash:
Substack wants writers to call their work by its brand name because “they control your audience and distribution” and “want to own your content and voice” — Email's been here for years. But the reason Substack wants you to call your creative work by their brand name …
Discussion:
@kottke@mastodon.social, @waxy@xoxo.zone, @herhandsmyhands … and Observer
Amanda Gerut / Fortune:
A Brooklyn federal grand jury indicts two brothers over allegedly running illegal sports streaming service 247TVStream, offering live NFL, NBA, and NHL games — “Thanks to the work of our prosecutors, along with our domestic and international law enforcement partners, the illicit digital streaming site …
Discussion:
The Desk and US Department of Justice
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
A lawsuit against Netflix and Meta claims the two made a deal where Meta scaled back original video programming in trade for Netflix data and ad spending — The proposed class action points to Meta's streaming ambitions with Facebook Watch, whose original programming division shuttered last year.
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
ProRata.ai agrees licensing deals with Daily Mail-owner DMG Media, the Guardian, Sky News, and others; sources say DMG bought a stake that values it at ~$130M — Groups including Guardian and Daily Mail agree licensing deals to ensure payment for content — ProRata.ai, a US artificial …
Discussion:
Press Gazette, The Hollywood Reporter and @davidgrayrhodes, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
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:
Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, @benmullin.bsky.social, Politico and Business Insider
RELATED:
Aaron Katersky / ABC News:
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:
NPR, Newser, Raw Story, The Desk, @benmullin, Austin American-Statesman, @passantino@threads.net, CNN, Bloomberg Law, Associated Press, Reuters and New Republic
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