Top News:
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency — Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced today that she will leave the agency on January 20, 2025, the day of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
Discussion:
Federal Communications …, Reuters, TechCrunch, Digital Music News, Radio Ink, The Hollywood Reporter, @jrosenworcel@threads.net, Variety, @waltmossberg.bsky.social, @arstechnica@mastodon.social, Media Play News, Cord Cutters News, Radio & Television …, Deadline, TVNewsCheck, Advanced Television, Inside Radio and CNET
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.
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
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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:
TVNewsCheck, 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, CNET, Tom's Guide, Digital Trends, @2xaught7.bsky.social, Cord Cutters News, @simondowens@threads.net and Streaming Better
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 …
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 Guardian, The Times, National Union of Journalists …, Telegraph, Guido Fawkes, The New European and New Statesman
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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, @dominicponsford.bsky.social, @danielthomasldn, Guido Fawkes, @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
Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Internal memo: Hearst Magazines president announces layoffs as part of a decision to “reallocate resources” to “continue our focus on digital innovation” — The company is home to more than 25 brands in the U.S. including Elle, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar and Town & Country.
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 …
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:
The Wrap, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, Alex Sherman on LinkedIn, Business Insider, Associated Press, The Streamable, Reuters and MediaPost
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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, @barbarasobel.bsky.social, BizPac Review, The Post Millennial, @radleybalko.bsky.social, @ryanlcooper.com, Poynter, Deadline, @sherman4949, @tvmojoe, Associated Press, @colbyhall, @bristei, @bristei, @maxwelltani, Barrett Media, @jbflint, Mediaite, Fox News, Bloomberg, 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:
Yahoo Finance, The Independent, Fox News, @matthewkeyslive, @kellycripe, @jeremymbarr, @jeffjarvis, Associated Press, 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
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:
Benzinga, Comcast, Deadline, CNN, Raw Story, Doug Herzog on LinkedIn, New York Times, Engadget, @brianjmoylan.bsky.social, TVNewsCheck, @sherman4949, Marketplace, @mediaite, @brianstelter, Los Angeles Times, @benmullin, @colbyhall, @sarafischer, @benmullin, @brianstelter, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @jeffjarvis, RetailWire, 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, acecomments.mu.nu, Washington Examiner, Axios, 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, Semafor, 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
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:
Engadget, @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:
@ellenenders.bsky.social, The Conversation and r/Journalism
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