Mediagazer: Omnicom Group agrees to buy Interpublic Group in a deal that will create the largest ad company in the world, with a combined $25B+ in annual revenue (Bloomberg)

9:05 PM ET, December 9, 2024

Top News:

Sealed doc: Rupert Murdoch failed in an attempt to change his family trust to consolidate Lachlan's control of his empire and lock in Fox News' right-wing bent — A Nevada commissioner ruled resoundingly against Mr. Murdoch, who was trying to give full control of his empire to his son Lachlan …

Discussion: Crikey, Adweek, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Reuters, Sydney Morning Herald, ABC, Agence France-Presse, The Hill, Raw Story, Newser, Axios, Deadline, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Wrap, @davidkarol.bsky.social, Variety, @timobrien.bsky.social, The Information, Financial Times, Quartz, Al Jazeera, Australian Financial Review, Benzinga, The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, @danielthomasldn, @hadas_gold, @joypress.bsky.social, Financial Times, @karaswisher.bsky.social, Adam Heimlich on LinkedIn, @aeppel.bsky.social, @kimmasters.bsky.social, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @katie_robertson, @owillis.bsky.social, @brianstelter, @clarajeffery.bsky.social, @pgourevitch.bsky.social, @bernardzuel.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @annabower.bsky.social, @loudmouthjulia, @ericcolumbus.bsky.social, The Independent, @srl, @nowhere.bsky.social, @mediaevan, TVNewsCheck and Alternet.org

OpenAI:

OpenAI launches Sora in select countries; ChatGPT Pro offers up to 500 videos per month at up to 1080p, and ChatGPT Plus offers up to 50 videos at up to 720p — We're moving our video generation model out of research preview. — Learn more System Card — Our video generation model …

Discussion: TechCrunch, The Wrap, Axios, Reuters, @willdepue, The Hollywood Reporter, 9to5Mac, @joannastern, @gdb, @nickadobos, @billpeeb, CNBC, Digital Trends, @openai, @sama, The Verge, @sama, @cnbctech, @joannastern, @joannastern, VentureBeat, @sama, Los Angeles Times, BGR and Quartz, more at Techmeme »

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
OpenAI says it will give only a “subset” of Sora users access to a feature for creating videos of a real person using uploaded photos or footage of the person

Discussion: @thisguyoftheai and Benzinga, more at Techmeme »

Marques Brownlee / Marques Brownlee on YouTube:
Review of OpenAI's Sora video generator: can depict very real looking news anchors with news-style cutaways, but telltale signs of AI generated videos remain

Bloomberg:

Omnicom Group agrees to buy Interpublic Group in a deal that will create the largest ad company in the world, with a combined $25B+ in annual revenue — Under the terms of the agreement announced Monday, Interpublic shareholders will receive 0.344 Omnicom shares for each share of Interpublic common stock they own.

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Taylor Swift Touring says the Eras Tour made $2B in ticket sales, double the gross of any other concert tour in history, with an average seat price of ~$204 — Over 21 months, the pop superstar's culture-dominating stage show doubled the gross of its closest competitor, according to ticket sales figures confirmed for the first time.

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast and WBD announce a multiyear distribution pact, including letting Comcast bundle Max in the US; Sky will launch the Max app in the UK in April 2025 — Sky gets U.K. rights to HBO's forthcoming Harry Potter series, will distribute Max in the country

Max Tani / Semafor:

Source: Vox Media will not renew its deal to distribute Taylor Lorenz's video podcast, set to expire at the start of 2025; the first episode aired in March 2024 — The Scoop — Vox Media is ending its deal to distribute Taylor Lorenz's podcast and YouTube show.

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

The Guardian publishes a letter by 125 Guardian and Observer staff contradicting Scott Trust claims of “extensive consultations” with staff over Observer sale — The Guardian has published two letters from current and former staff attacking the chair of the Scott Trust, the limited company which owns Guardian Media Group.

Jason Koebler / 404 Media:

404 Media is fighting a subpoena from Texas AG Ken Paxton that demands info on reporting and a source to help in an unrelated case TX is pursuing against Google — In October, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton subpoenaed 404 Media, demanding that we hand over confidential information …

Discussion: @mshelton.bsky.social, @samleecole, @SnowshadowII@beige.party, @newsnut.bsky.social, @dhm.bsky.social, @oliviamesser.bsky.social, @josephfcox, @jason_koebler, @emanuelmaiberg.bsky.social, @katie-drummond.bsky.social, @greene.haus, @hoonofthe.day, @michaelsderby.bsky.social, @seanokane.bsky.social and @josephfcox

Ben Smith / Semafor:

Source: Fox is talking to potential acquisition targets in political media, particularly on the right, including Daily Wire and Red Seat Ventures — THE SCOOP — My colleague Liz Hoffman has written that “SpinCo,” the new proprietor of NBC's cable assets, will be born with a strong balance sheet …

Discussion: @brianstelter, @semaforben and @bmccandless

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:

ITV CEO Carolyn McCall has fared well in an embattled sector, turning around the UK's biggest commercial public broadcaster despite a stubbornly low share price — CEO has fared well in an embattled sector, turning around the UK's biggest commercial public broadcaster despite the stubbornly low share price

Oliver Darcy / Status:

Q&A with Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff on The Verge's paywall, New York Magazine's new app, podcast renewal talks, and layoffs at Thrillist, PS, and Eater — The Vox Media boss spoke to Status about the tough reality digital publishers are facing, with “compounding changes in technology …

Discussion: @oliverdarcy.bsky.social and @carlquintanilla.bsky.social

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Brendan Carr, Donald Trump's pick to chair the FCC, vowed to back local TV stations even if it conflicts “with the interests of national broadcast networks” — Video … Appearing Friday on CNBC's Squawk on the Street, Carr continued to draw attention to broadcast networks' …

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, CNBC and Business Insider

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 9:05 PM ET, December 9, 2024.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Output Producer, CA — AP

News Publishing Specialist, Bengaluru — Reuters

Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

Switzerland Bureau Chief, Zurich — Bloomberg

Research Director, CA — OCBJ

Immigration Enforcement Reporter — Documented

Jackson Reporter, MS — Mississippi Today

Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — SFGATE

Copy Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Legislative Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Editorial Assistant, FL — Launch Potato

Elon Musk Reporter, NY or CA — The Information

Government & Politics Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Reporter, FL — Palatka Daily News

Sports Reporter, WA — Everett Herald

Energy Reporter, TX — Houston Chronicle

Senior Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Politics Editor, TX — Texas Tribune

Local Editor - Midwest, Remote — Axios

Staff Writer, ME — Mainebiz

L.A. Issues Reporter, CA — CalMatters

Senior Editor, Remote — Raw Story

Political Newsletter Writer, CO — The Lever

Jackson Reporter, MS — Verite

Audience Dev. Editor, NY — Adirondack Explorer

Climate Finance Reporter, VA — Politico

Breaking News Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Fearless Reporter/Producer, IA — BPC

Reporter II - Technology, Remote — NPR

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Senior Writer/Editor, FL — Gulfshore Business

Network TV Features Journalist, OR — Screen Rant

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
In a staff meeting, LA Times executive editor Terry Tang said Scott Jennings is “not joining staff of LA Times. He's not joining the editorial board”

Discussion: Newsbusters

Elsa Keslassy / Variety:
Vivendi's shareholders approve a plan to spin off Canal+, Havas, and Louis Hachette; Canal+ will list in London, Havas in Amsterdam, and Louis Hachette in Paris

Discussion: Advanced Television, Financial Times, Deadline, Reuters and Bloomberg

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
In a mockup posted on GitHub, Bluesky teases Bluesky+, an $8 per month paid subscription offering profile customizations, higher video upload limits, and more

Discussion: MediaPost, The Desk, @saeri.xyz, @koree.bsky.social, @dennisobell.bsky.social, @saeri.xyz, @daithikelly.com, @deck.blue, @idavey.me, @zoocoup.bsky.social, @jeffgreco.com, @saeri.xyz, @scalzi.com, @brianstorms@mastodon.social, @samuel.bsky.team and @themountaingoats.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Netflix scores the most Golden Globe nominations of any media company in 2024, with 13 nominations for film and 23 for TV

The New York Times Company:
Matea Gold, who has been a managing editor of The Washington Post for the past 15 months, joins The New York Times as Washington editor

Discussion: NPR, New York Times, MediaPost, @davidfolkenflik, @ktumulty, @francesssellers, @shaneharris, @deggans, Marc Lacey on LinkedIn, @raineytime, @cathleendecker, The Wrap, @ktumulty, @mateagold, @timjgraham, @maxwelltani, @dylanbyers and @cherijacobus

Earlier Picks:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
GroupM expects global ad industry revenue to hit $1T for the first time in 2024; Google, Meta, ByteDance, Amazon, and Alibaba are set to earn 50%+ of the total

Discussion: Adweek, The Times, Search Engine Land, The Irish Times, Simon Francis on LinkedIn, Tammy Thị Phan on LinkedIn, Axios, Wall Street Journal, The Media Leader, The Hollywood Reporter and Reuters, more at Techmeme »

Josef Adalian / Vulture:
Disney's addition of an ESPN tile within Disney+ shows how Bob Iger's strategy has evolved since 2019, when he wanted to avoid “one gigantic fat bundle”

Discussion: @tvgrimreaper and @tvmojoe.bsky.social

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
Time CEO Jessica Sibley describes Time's shift from reader revenue to direct-to-business sales, ending its paywall, increasing events, and making an OpenAI deal

Discussion: @wolfereports.bsky.social, Jessica Sibley on LinkedIn, @simonowens.bsky.social, @rafat.bsky.social and Simon Owens's Media Newsletter

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
CBS files to dismiss or at least transfer Trump's $10B lawsuit over 60 Minutes' editing of its Kamala Harris interview to the SDNY, citing 1A protections

Discussion: @brianstelter, US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, TVNewsCheck, Deadline, The Daily Beast and Washington Examiner

From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
Google debuts Gemini 2.0 and plans to test the model in search and AI Overviews, saying it enables “agents that can think, remember, plan, and even take action”

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
Apple rolls out iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, with Apple Intelligence features including ChatGPT integration, Image Playground, and Genmoji

Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer:
A global outage has hit Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, starting at approximately 12:40pm ET; Meta says it's “99% of the way” to resolving the issue

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page