Mediagazer: Nielsen: the NFL's two Christmas Day games that streamed on Netflix averaged 24.2M US viewers, peaking at 27M for Beyoncé's Ravens-Texans halftime show (Rick Porter/The Hollywood Reporter)

7:40 PM ET, December 26, 2024

Top News:

Nielsen: the NFL's two Christmas Day games that streamed on Netflix averaged 24.2M US viewers, peaking at 27M for Beyoncé's Ravens-Texans halftime show — The NBA's annual Christmas showcase also grows substantially, with all five games up year to year.

Richard Deitsch / New York Times:

Netflix's first livestream of NFL games avoided major buffering and freezing issues that plagued the Tyson-Paul fight for the most part, after early glitches — If you believe in omens, Netflix appeared to be in for a very long day on Wednesday. As the streaming giant began …

Discussion: Variety, Front Office Sports, The Desk, @awfulannouncing, @nflmedia, Netflix Tudum, NPR, Awful Announcing, NBCSports.com, @joepompliano, @kevinmkruse.bsky.social, USA Today, @lriddickespn, @tvgrimreaper, Defector, @tvgrimreaper, @bkoo.bsky.social, NBC News, Sports Business Journal, @joepompliano, Barrett Media, The Desk, @lucas_shaw, @joepompliano, @buccigross, @terrymeiners, Awful Announcing, @theathletic.bsky.social, @mgsiegler, @gruber, @iam_johnw, @aaronnagler.bsky.social, USA Today, @wingoz, @claytravis, @joepompliano, Barrett Media, Business Insider, @claytravis, @w_b_rick, Status, Awful Announcing, The US Sun, Deseret News, Cord Cutters News, @colincowherd, @sizpatel, @james.loadingreadyrun.com, @nfldraftscout, @fos, Associated Press, @richarddeitsch.bsky.social, @amandamull.bsky.social, Media Play News, New York Post, Fox News, ABC News, People and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

Lynette Rice / Deadline:

Netflix says it will provide on-demand access to Beyoncé's full NFL Halftime Show as a standalone special “later this week” — Don't fret if you missed Beyoncé's halftime performance during Netflix's first-ever NFL Christmas Gameday.

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Richard Parsons, who had a long career as chairman, CEO, and as a board member of media companies including CBS and Time Warner, died at 76 of bone cancer — Mr. Parsons's lengthy résumé is a catalog of corporate emergencies at Time Warner, Citigroup and the Los Angeles Clippers.

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Reuters:

Palestinian sources say an Israeli airstrike killed five journalists from Al-Quds Today; the Israeli military called the five “operatives posing as journalists” — Gaza authorities said an Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinian journalists in a vehicle outside a hospital …

Inside Radio:

iHeart reduces its total debt by over $440M and extends most of its debt maturities by three years, by using debt exchange transactions — The year is ending with a vote of confidence in where iHeartMedia is heading in 2025 and beyond from the financial community.

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How NewsGuard, which attained “sustainable profitability” six years after its launch, became a prime target of the GOP's battle against disinformation watchdogs — NewsGuard, which prizes its nonpartisan criteria, has become a prime target of the GOP's battle against disinformation watchdogs.

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Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:

CNN hopes its paywall can offset some of the losses from its TV business, after seeing a 45% drop in prime-time viewership since the November 5 election — With traditional viewership on a decline, the cable news network leans into its strong digital presence as it heads into uncertain times covering the second Trump administration.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, @ruralfreedomnet.bsky.social, @dceiver.bsky.social, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, @mhlevinson.bsky.social, @chriscillizza.bsky.social, The Independent, @markjacob.bsky.social, @sleavenworth.bsky.social, Frontpage Mag, Fox News and r/Journalism

BBC:

The BBC says Gavin & Stacey: The Finale topped UK Christmas Day overnight ratings with 12.3M viewers, and its shows were the top 10 most-watched of the day — The BBC's cracking line-up dominated the ratings with ten out of ten of the most watched shows of the day

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Predictions for the media industry in 2025 by 13 anonymous media executives: Comcast acquiring Charter, Trump bullying Bezos into selling the WaPo, and more — Ho, ho, ho! It's a holiday tradition: Anonymous media executives make their 2025 industry predictions.

Discussion: The Mirror, Deadline, @sherman4949 and TVNewsCheck

Reuters:

Maoyan: China's Christmas Eve box office revenue hit its lowest point in at least 13 years at only $5.26M, less than 25% of 2023's $23.37M — China's box office revenues for Christmas Eve plummeted to the lowest in at least 13 years, data from ticket booking platform Maoyan (1896.HK) showed on Wednesday.

Discussion: Benzinga

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:

Newsweek says its “fairness meter”, added in Oct. 2023 to let readers decide if an article is biased based on five potential choices, has gotten strong support — - The LA Times is introducing a new bias tracker for editorials — Public support for the media has been hitting all-time lows

Discussion: @drpatsoonshiong

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