Top News:
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Tech startup Channel 1, which debuted a newscast hosted by AI-generated anchors in 2023, unveils AI tools to improve the production and distribution processes — The products, First Cut and Prism, help automate workflows and put videos into different formats.
Kendall Tietz / Fox News:
Forbes editorial staffers walk off the job, saying that management has been stalling at the bargaining table for nearly three years — The annual launch of Forbes' 30 Under 30 list is a significant day for the company — FIRST ON FOX— The Forbes Union, which represents the magazine's editorial staffers …
Marc Schneider / Billboard:
Stephen King will close his three radio stations in Bangor, Maine, on New Year's Eve, citing financial losses and his advancing age as reasons for the shutdown — A desire to “get his business affairs in better order” leads the 77-year-old horror author to shutter his trio of stations in the Bangor area.
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sean Hannity will debut a new monthly longform interview program on Fox News Media's streaming service Fox Nation, with the first episode premiering today — The longtime Fox News opinion host will debut a new monthly longform interview program on Fox Nation, the subscription-backed streaming outlet …
Discussion:
Adweek, TVNewsCheck, The Desk, The Real Deal, Media Play News, Fox News, @seanhannity, @bristei and Deadline
Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
BuzzFeed is $123.5M in debt with interest payments due, and a plan to cut debt will likely come soon; it earlier tried to sell Hot Ones' parent company for $70M — - A few years ago BuzzFeed was supposedly worth close to $2 billion. — Now it's worth much less, and it has been scrambling …
Discussion:
@katienotopoulos.bsky.social
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Walmart completes its $2.3B acquisition of TV maker Vizio, saying the purchase will let it offer new ways for advertisers to reach customers via Walmart Connect — Walmart announced the completion of its $2.3 billion all-cash acquisition of TV maker Vizio, a move by the retailing giant to expand its advertising business.
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
The Verge unveils a $7/mo. or $50/year “dynamic metered paywall”; some content like the social feed-like homepage, live blogs, and core news posts will be free — Okay, we're doing this. — Today we're launching a Verge subscription that lets you get rid of a bunch of ads …
Discussion:
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Bloomberg:
Sources: David Ellison plans sweeping changes at Paramount after merger, including consolidation of its TV networks; co-CEO Brian Robbins is expected to leave — - CBS Chief George Cheeks is expected to stay after deal closes — Plans include consolidation of the company's TV networks
Noor Nanji / BBC:
The BBC pulls MasterChef Christmas specials following allegations of inappropriate behavior against host Gregg Wallace, after initially saying it would air them — The BBC is pulling its MasterChef Christmas specials after the allegations against presenter Gregg Wallace.
Discussion:
The Mirror, The Independent, @braddesmond.bsky.social, The Sun, Telegraph, @annolivarius, Deadline, @sarahmanavis, Metro.co.uk, London Evening Standard, spiked, London Evening Standard, Daily Mail, @cantseyy, The Mirror, The Guardian, The Independent, Sky News, Daily Express, ITV News, The Guardian, LBC, Daily Star, The Irish Sun, Sky News, Daily Mail, GB News, The Sun, Variety, @parodypm.bsky.social, Associated Press, Us Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter
Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar / Science:
India plans to pay ~$715M over three years to let ~18M students, faculty, and researchers access ~13K journals for free, under a scheme launching on January 1 — Deal allows scholars to read paywalled articles for free and will cover open-access fees — India was the third largest producer …
Discussion:
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K.J. Yossman / Variety:
AMC's and PBS' UK arms, GB News, and shopping channel QVC sign a deal with Everyone TV to offer their channels on free UK streamer Freely, starting early 2025 — AMC Networks International U.K. and PBS America are among the latest channels to join free TV streamer Freely in the U.K.
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Inside CI, Broadband TV News, GB News, Broadcast, Cord Busters, C21Media and Deadline
Alex Heath / The Verge:
Nick Clegg says Meta's moderation “error rates are still too high” and pledges to “improve the precision and accuracy with which we act on our rules” — Meta is mistakenly removing too much content across its apps, according to a top executive.
Discussion:
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