Mediagazer: As Elon Musk posts memes about buying MSNBC, sources say one liberal billionaire expressed interest in buying the channel; Comcast is not looking to sell MSNBC (Brian Stelter/CNN)

David Gilmour / Mediaite:

Elon Musk appears to confirm that posts containing links in their main text are deprioritized on X, saying it is to stop “lazy linking” — Elon Musk confirmed that posts containing links in their main text are deprioritized on X in a revelation that renews criticism that the platform …

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Trade body data: copyrighted music revenue was $45.5B in 2023, above cinema box office spending of $33.2B in 2023 and $41.9B in 2019; record labels made $28.5B — Annual revenues from copyrighted music hit almost $46bn last year, against $33.2bn for cinema

Discussion: Pivotal Economics, Benzinga, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally, Billboard, CMU and Will Page on LinkedIn

Mark Kleinman / Sky News:

Sources: CVC Capital Partners and a major European broadcaster, thought to be France's Groupe TF1, are among those considering a takeover of the UK's ITV — The commercial broadcaster is back on alert for takeover approaches as financial and industry players evaluate offers which could lead …

Discussion: The Guardian, The Times, Deadline, City A.M., Bloomberg, Advanced Television and RTÉ

Bill Donahue / Billboard:

Drake launches legal action against UMG and Spotify for allegedly using bots, payola, and more to inflate Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us, a track attacking Drake — Drake has initiated legal action against Universal Music Group and Spotify over allegations that the two companies conspired …

Discussion: @phil_lewis_, Stereogum, Vibe, TMZ.com, UPROXX, Cele|bitchy and Entertainment Weekly

Brian Stelter / CNN:

As Elon Musk posts memes about buying MSNBC, sources say one liberal billionaire expressed interest in buying the channel; Comcast is not looking to sell MSNBC — Elon Musk has called MSNBC “the utter scum of the Earth.” He has said the channel “peddles puerile propaganda.”

Discussion: The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, HuffPost, @brianstelter, Mediaite, @elonmusk, Raw Story, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @passantino@threads.net, @brianstelter, Cord Cutters News, New York Post and The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:

The US DOJ and Google made their closing arguments in the ad-market antitrust case before Judge Leonie Brinkema, who expressed some skepticism toward both sides — Federal prosecutors say Google's dominance of online advertising illegally hurts consumers and small businesses, while the company says it earned its place by being better.

Discussion: Adweek, Bloomberg, New York Times, Reuters, Associated Press, Digiday and Benzinga, more at Techmeme »

Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:

IMAX partners with Dubai-based startup Camb.ai to use its AI speech models to translate original content, including documentaries — With global content consumption rising and demand for non-English content surpassing that for English movies and shows, IMAX is leveraging AI to scale localization on its original content.

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

The music industry is entering a cycle of consolidation, driven by a slowdown at the major labels, the growing market for independents, and the rapacity of PE — The music industry is entering new era, one driven by a slowdown at the major labels, the growing market for independents and the rapacity of private equity.

Discussion: @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw and @lucas_shaw

Geneva Abdul / The Guardian:

Internal email: the UK's Reach plans to merge staff at The Daily Mirror and celebrity magazine OK! to cut costs, but the move won't result in cutting of roles — Merging of daily newspaper and celebrity magazine employees is latest move by owner, Reach, to cut costs

Discussion: MediaPost and Telegraph

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: NBC's new deal with Macy's to keep the Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC and Peacock has an average annual fee of $60M+, up from ~$20M in the current deal — Macy's and NBC near pact that would raise the spectacle's annual average price to $60 million.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, New York Post, @bsdtectr.bsky.social and Just Jared

Max Tani / Semafor:

Sources: CNN is considering making network anchor Kaitlan Collins its chief White House correspondent and relocating her show from New York to DC — The Scoop — CNN's leadership says it doesn't want to go back to its wall-to-wall 24-hour coverage of Donald Trump when he returns to the White House in January.

Discussion: New York Post and TVNewsCheck

Manuel Roig-Franzia / Washington Post:

An interview with Alsu Kurmasheva of RFE/RL, a seasoned editor and broadcaster who spent months in a Russian prison before being released in a prisoner swap — Russian authorities put Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Alsu Kurmasheva behind bars, but they couldn't outsmart her.

Discussion: Kathleen Moore on LinkedIn, Voice of America and Freedom of the Press …