Top News:
Bloomberg:
The DOJ's proposal would require Google to divest from AI partnerships, like with Anthropic, and ban Google from offering exclusive deals to content providers — - Antitrust officials propose options in historic lawsuit — Google says government pushing ‘radical agenda’ beyond case
Discussion:
The Keyword, The Wrap, MediaPost, Neowin, Fast Company, WHEC.com, Total Telecom, Variety, The Register, 9to5Google, The Information, Advanced Television, Reuters, Forbes, BGR, Engadget, Washington Post, Wired, The Verge, CNBC, Axios, NPR, Politico, CNN, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, Fox Business, Search Engine Roundtable, Cord Cutters News, Benzinga and Washington Times, more at Techmeme »
Guthrie Scrimgeour / Wired:
Hawaii's The Garden Island stops using AI-generated newscasters on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram after two months, likely due to the negative public response — A local newspaper in Hawaii experimented with AI-generated presenters to engage and boost its readership. After two months, the bots have been shelved.
Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:
Ad software company Mediaocean buys Innovid, an ad tech company focused on CTV, for $500M; Innovid had a market cap of ~$240M at market close on November 20 — The privately held company will merge Innovid with Flashtalking, which it bought in 2021 — Advertising software …
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Analyzing Comcast's spinoff of cable networks, purposefully structured with low debt: the move might be a signal to the industry that it's time to consolidate — Comcast shares posted modest gains Wednesday after the company announced its plan to spin off all of NBCUniversal's cable networks …
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, Alex Sherman on LinkedIn, Business Insider, Associated Press, The Streamable, Reuters and MediaPost
RELATED:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: Comcast execs told staff that MSNBC may have to change its identity as part of the spinoff, including losing access to NBC News' newsgathering process
Discussion:
The Message Box, Washington Post, Poynter, Deadline, @barbarasobel.bsky.social, BizPac Review, The Post Millennial, @radleybalko.bsky.social, @ryanlcooper.com, Associated Press, @sherman4949, @tvmojoe, Barrett Media, @colbyhall, @bristei, @bristei, @maxwelltani, @jbflint, Mediaite, Fox News, New York Post, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, Awful Announcing, PoliticusUSA, @davidingram.bsky.social, @noblewatchman.bsky.social, @igotarock2.bsky.social, @tomgara@threads.net, @harveyjkaye.bsky.social, Instapundit, @bristei.bsky.social and The Desk
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Nielsen: Morning Joe's total audience fell 17% from the 6am hour to the 7am hour after Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski said they met Trump, an unusual drop
Discussion:
The Independent, @matthewkeyslive, Fox News, @kellycripe, @jeremymbarr, Associated Press, @jeffjarvis, Trending Politics …, Vanity Fair, Al Jazeera, Variety, StreamTV Insider, Forbes, @brianstelter, @sallyshin, @asharma, @tvgrimreaper, @asharma, @asharma, @claeshs.bsky.social, @michellesea.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, CNN, Mediaite, @timkarr.bsky.social, Stephanie Smith on LinkedIn, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, Daily Kos, The Desk, Reuters, TVNewsCheck, Matthew Keys on LinkedIn, Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn, @amolsharma.bsky.social, The Hill and Daily Mail
Liz Hoffman / Semafor:
Sources: under current plans, Comcast's new spun off entity would carry little of its $101B of debt, giving it the ability to borrow for acquisitions
Discussion:
@semaforben and Bloomberg
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
Discussion:
Comcast, TVNewsCheck, Deadline, New York Times, CNN, Raw Story, Doug Herzog on LinkedIn, Engadget, @brianjmoylan.bsky.social, Marketplace, @sherman4949, Los Angeles Times, @mediaite, @brianstelter, RetailWire, @benmullin, @colbyhall, @sarafischer, @benmullin, @brianstelter, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @jeffjarvis, Variety, AV Club, Radio & Television …, @nemalki.bsky.social, Philadelphia Business Journal, One America News Network, The Wrap, Front Office Sports, Forbes, Ars Technica, IJR, @great_katzby, Breitbart, Fast Company, USA Today, Total Telecom, TechCrunch, Axios, acecomments.mu.nu, Washington Examiner, Adweek, The Guardian, Media Play News, Stephani Shelton on LinkedIn, Newser, HotAir, Cord Cutters News, The Desk, NBC News, @stark.soy, Mediaite, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, @joshuabenton.com, Fox Business, The Verge, HuffPost, Yahoo Finance, Fortune, Barron's Online, Bloomberg, Talking Biz News, Benzinga, Financial Times, The Information, @amolsharma.bsky.social, NBC News, Media Play News, Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, Variety, Ad Age, CNN, Awful Announcing, Cord Cutters News, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Business Insider, The Hollywood Reporter and Wall Street Journal
Evan Drellich / New York Times:
The MLB is planning national packages for streaming companies to bid on in 2028, when its national TV deals with ESPN, Fox, and Turner expire — The year to watch in baseball is 2028. — At a time when Major League Baseball is offering employee buyouts at its flagship television station …
Discussion:
The Desk, The Streamable, Keith Stoler on LinkedIn, Cord Cutters News, Sports Media Watch and Awful Announcing
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Tubi launches Scenes, a mobile feature that lets viewers watch 60-to-90-second trailer-style clips from its library to help with content discovery — Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox, has unveiled a new feature designed to set it apart from its rivals …
Discussion:
Neowin, Streaming Better, Digital Trends, Tom's Guide, CNET, @2xaught7.bsky.social, Cord Cutters News and @simondowens@threads.net
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
James Harding says the Tortoise-Observer deal could create a profitable media group and there isn't a guaranteed future for the Observer with the Guardian — James Harding confronts fierce opposition but says sale to his digital start-up only way for Sunday title to thrive
Discussion:
The Times, The Guardian, National Union of Journalists …, Telegraph, Guido Fawkes, The New European and New Statesman
RELATED:
Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
Tortoise says it plans to invest £25M in Observer over five years, aiming to turn it into a self-funded, paywalled newsbrand with 100K new digital subscribers
Discussion:
Telegraph, Guido Fawkes, @danielthomasldn, @pressgazette, @jobmaynooth.bsky.social, @carolecadwalla.bsky.social, @dominicponsford.bsky.social, @jacksommers.bsky.social, @shattenstone.bsky.social, @shattenstone.bsky.social, @shattenstone.bsky.social, @annafazack.bsky.social, @pressgazette.co.uk, The Independent, @michaelgoodier.bsky.social, Yahoo News, Financial Times and The Times
Catherine McGrath / Fortune:
Las Vegas-based Monkey Tilt, which combines online gambling with a chat function and content made by influencers, raised a $30M Series A led by Pantera — Monkey Tilt launched just eight months ago and has amassed $200 million of monthly betting volume. — Online gambling used …
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Substack, very deliberately, tries to have it both ways by saying publications on their platform are independent while presenting them all as parts of Substack — I am upset by the above, but only insofar as I'm jealous that I had never thought to make the analogy to an author telling people to “read my Amazon”.
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Spotify adds new audiobook features for Premium users: video clips up to 30 seconds long, Author Pages, and visuals that appear while users listen — Spotify is enhancing the audiobook experience for premium users through three new experiments: video clips, author pages, and the ability to add visuals that appear while users listen.
Discussion:
@paulconstant.com and Spotify
Terry Gross / NPR:
Excerpts from a Q&A with Marty Baron and David Remnick on coming retribution against media: prosecutions for posting government leaks, public media cuts, more — Heading into a second term, New Yorker editor David Remnick says Donald Trump's anger “has been never so intense as it's been against the press.”
Discussion:
The Conversation
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Trump says Republicans must kill the PRESS Act, which would protect journalists' records and sources from the US government; the bill is stalled in the Senate — The bill, known as the PRESS Act, would codify protections against federal investigators seizing reporters' records.
Sam Gutelle / Tubefilter:
Streamlabs: Twitch accounted for 82.3% of Q3 total hours streamed, followed by YouTube Gaming at 5.6% and Steam at 4.6%; Kick grew ~204% from Q2 2023 to Q3 2024 — For years, the Logitech-owned creator dashboard Streamlabs and its data partner Stream Hatchet have compiled quarterly progress reports for the streaming industry.
Discussion:
@tvgrimreaper and Streamlabs, more at Techmeme »
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