Top News:
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
A survey of 400+ Hollywood insiders: ~50% would sell a show to Netflix over its rivals, Yellowstone's Taylor Sheridan is the most in-demand producer, and more — Hollywood insiders answer 20 burning questions about the entertainment business. — For the last 12 months, you've had to read more than 100,000 words of my writing.
Discussion:
@trungtphan and @lucas_shaw
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix secures exclusive US streaming rights to the 2027 and 2031 editions of the FIFA Women's World Cup, plans to produce documentaries around the tournaments — The streaming giant will exclusively stream the 2027 an 2031 tournaments, with documentaries also planned.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, The Wrap, Sportico, Variety, Inside FIFA, TVLine, The Sun, The Verge, Associated Press, @sherman4949, Barrett Media, Sports Media Watch, @sam__carp, @austinkarp, Netflix Tudum, Deadline and City A.M.
Charlotte Van Campenhout / Reuters:
The European Commission opens a probe into Liberty Media's proposed $3.62B acquisition of Dorna Sports, citing possible reduced competition for broadcast rights — The European Commission said on Thursday it had opened an in-depth investigation into the proposed 3.5 billion euro ($3.62 billion) …
Discussion:
Light Reading, Broadband TV News, Bloomberg, Advanced Television, MotoMatters.com and @motomatters, more at Techmeme »
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
YouTube plans to start a crackdown on “egregious clickbait”, or videos where the titles or thumbnails make claims the videos don't back up, beginning in India — A lot of YouTube videos have flashy, misleading titles and thumbnails, such as “BREAKING NEWS” or “The president steps down …
Discussion:
Google, TVNewsCheck, Engadget, @mashableindia, @steved3, @culturecrave, Cord Cutters News, Financial Express, The Indian Express, Neowin, Digit, Gadgets 360, Mashable India tech, Tubefilter, @alexhogan.bsky.social, @ianboudreau.com, @moonlitlycan.bsky.social, @tascha.bsky.social, @hushwave.bsky.social, @heroknight.bsky.social, @angelofalls.bsky.social and MEDIANAMA, more at Techmeme »
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
A look at the merchandise, contests, and in-person experiences Netflix has rolled out in advance of the release of Squid Game Season 2 on December 26 — It starts in the gift shop. … Players begin the journey in a room styled as a night market stocked with icons from the series …
Discussion:
Forbes, Adweek, Fortune, Neowin, BGR, AV Club, SlashFilm, Business Insider, Entertainment Weekly, VentureBeat and The Tab
Robert Booth / The Guardian:
The UK ICO criticizes Google as “irresponsible” after the company announced plans to let advertisers employ fingerprinting techniques from February 16, 2025 — ICO says allowing advertisers to track digital ‘fingerprints’ will undermine consumers' control over information
Washington Post:
WaPo names Karen Pensiero as standards editor, a new masthead position reporting to Executive Editor Matt Murray; she earlier worked with Murray at The WSJ — The role is a newly formed masthead position that will report to the executive editor Matt Murray. — By WashPostPR
Wall Street Journal:
Sources detail creative differences between the Broccoli family, which has creative control over the James Bond franchise, and Amazon, which owns the franchise — A clash between the Broccoli family, which has creative control over 007, and the e-commerce giant, which owns the franchise, has put Bond's future on pause
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, CNN, @jb007_news, @joegalarn, SFGATE, Daily Mail and CBS News
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
The Baltimore Banner, launched in June 2022, expects 2024 revenue to rise 37% YoY to $13M+, with subscriber count growing 50%+ in 2024 to ~55,000 — The 2.5-year-old non-profit generates nearly half of its business from paying readers — Nonprofit newsroom The Baltimore Banner will bring …
Charles Ornstein / ProPublica:
ProPublica details its efforts to bolster local investigative journalism, including launching an initiative with The Texas Tribune to cover major state issues — Managing Editor Charles Ornstein explains the many ways ProPublica is trying to help fill the void left by local newsrooms shrinking and closing across the country.
Discussion:
@propublica, @propublica and @smmills1960
Mina Haq / PEN America:
Q&A with Mother Jones Senior Reporter Anna Merlan on disinfo's role in the 2024 election, the importance of using TikTok and Instagram for journalists, and more — The forces behind Donald Trump's election win are still being dissected, and it would be unwise and simplistic to point to any single factor.
Discussion:
@annamerlan.bsky.social and @penamerica.bsky.social
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Gower Street predicts 2025 global box office revenue to hit $33B, up 8% from 2024's estimated $30.5B, and the North American market rising 9% YoY to ~$9.7B — Global box office revenues are expected to rebound to $33 billion in 2025, marking an 8% increase from 2024's estimated $30.5 billion take …
Discussion:
@dailycosmicmarvel.bsky.social and Deadline
Kiyoshi Takenaka / Reuters:
Sony buys ~$320M of shares in Japanese media powerhouse Kadokawa, which owns FromSoftware, taking its stake to ~10% and becoming Kadokawa's top shareholder — Sony Group (6758.T) said on Thursday it will invest about 50 billion yen ($320 million) to acquire new shares of Kadokawa (9468.T) …
Discussion:
Reuters, @ssstylishhuntr, @cattheplayed11, @jawmuncher, Neowin, @madcap412, @_nixne, @crylowe_, @playstationsize, @naijeru03, @gibbogame, @hoeglaw, Engadget, Polygon, Comic Book, The Verge, Gematsu, Newsweek, Screen Rant, @stealth40k.bsky.social, The Japan Times, Wccftech, Eurogamer.net, Sony Group Portal, Benzinga, r/Games, r/GamingLeaksAndRumours and r/PHGamers, more at Techmeme »
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