Mediagazer: Fox Corp says Tubi surpassed 97M MAUs and 10B streaming hours in 2024, but doesn't say how it calculates MAUs; 77% of Tubi viewers say they do not have cable (Dade Hayes/Deadline)

7:35 PM ET, January 6, 2025

Top News:

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Disney and Fubo announce a deal wherein Disney will combine Hulu + Live TV with Fubo in a joint venture and Fubo will drop its Venu Sports antitrust lawsuit — Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery will pay Fubo $220 million to settle antitrust suit — Disney announced a deal …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, ir.fubo.tv, Bloomberg, Business Insider, AV Club, Investing.com, Ars Technica, 9to5Google, Mercury News, New York Times, Cord Cutters News, Light Reading, Motley Fool, The Verge, The Desk, 9to5Mac, @tvanswerman, Front Office Sports, The Wrap, @mgsiegler, CNN, @pkafka, TVNewsCheck, The Streamable, @matthewkeyslive, Streaming Better, @pkafka, @matthewkeyslive, @joesteel@duck.haus, @chrisharihar, The Hill, Yahoo Finance, @knox_vol865, @allie_canal, SportsPro, Quartz, Awful Announcing, @nycmikehenry, WORLD SCREEN, Broadband TV News, New York Post, Fast Company, Benzinga, @davidclinchnews, Axios, TechCrunch, Plain Dealer, @frankthetank111, Associated Press, @philthepill.online, Cord Cutters News, @michellef_davis, Latest from Tv Technology, @lucas_shaw, Media Play News, @jbflint, @mikestrawmedia, Reuters, Engadget, Deadline, Los Angeles Times, Sports Media Watch, New York Daily News and TVLine, more at Techmeme »

Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:

Fubo is expected to become immediately cash flow positive after its deal with Disney closes in 12 to 18 months; Fubo stock jumped 253.85% on Monday — WATCH NOW — Disney will combine its Hulu+ Live TV service with Fubo, merging together two internet TV bundles, the companies announced Monday.

Discussion: IndieWire, Awful Announcing, RetailWire, @mediaevan.bsky.social, CBS News, Advanced Television, Boing Boing, UPI, One America News Network, The Streamable, @labuzamovies.bsky.social, NBC News, Sportico and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Sources: Fubo and WBD restarted negotiations over a carriage deal, which could bring channels like TBS and TNT back to Fubo for the first time since 2020

Discussion: Forbes, @matthewkeyslive, Gizmodo, Adweek and @matthewkeyslive

Oliver Darcy / Status:

Sources: layoffs affecting “many dozens of employees” are expected at The Washington Post this week; star reporter Josh Dawsey is leaving WaPo for a job at WSJ — The Washington Post is expected to lay off dozens of staffers this week, Status has learned.

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Puck hires Leigh Ann Caldwell, the co-author of WaPo's Early 202 newsletter, as chief Washington correspondent, and plans a live events franchise in DC with her — - Last month, the company hired veteran Hollywood journalist Kim Masters, who had been The Hollywood Reporter's star investigative reporter for over a decade.

Discussion: @sarafischer, @desderamona.bsky.social and Liz Gough on LinkedIn

Ben Strauss / Washington Post:

The Athletic's editorial staff urges NYT management to recognize them as part of the Times Guild, which would expand the union to nearly 1,700 members. — It's unclear whether the Times, which shuttered its own sports desk after buying the Athletic, will fight the journalists' effort to join the bargaining unit.

Discussion: NewsGuild of New York, The Wrap, New York Times, @rondakaysen, @mediaevan, @benjstrauss, Front Office Sports, New York Post, Fox Business, Awful Announcing and The NewsGuild

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Google previews changes coming to Google TV, including adding Gemini, more natural voice commands, and deeper YouTube integration, rolling out later in 2025 — Alphabet Inc.'s consumer team will give TV sets running its Google TV operating system an AI upgrade by adding Gemini to its Google Assistant voice-control system.

Discussion: Engadget, Neowin, 9to5Google, iPhone in Canada Blog, @theaustinlyons, @markgurman and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Maxwell Zeff / TechCrunch:
Google unveils a Gemini-powered News Brief feature on Google TV that summarizes news stories from the internet and YouTube video headlines from trusted channels

Discussion: MacRumors, Yahoo News, Engadget, @seanokane.bsky.social, 9to5Google, @zeffmax, 9to5Mac and Digital Trends

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Fox Corp says Tubi surpassed 97M MAUs and 10B streaming hours in 2024, but doesn't say how it calculates MAUs; 77% of Tubi viewers say they do not have cable — Tubi continued to gain traction in 2024, surpassing 97 million monthly active users and 10 billion streaming hours.

Discussion: The Desk, Latest from Tv Technology, TVNewsCheck, Cord Cutters News, Streaming Better, @tvgrimreaper, MediaPost and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:

Comcast plans to launch Universal Ads in Q1 2025 to simplify ad buying and win over SMB advertisers from Big Tech, and signs deals with WBD and others — Comcast plans to launch a new advertising platform that will make it easier for smaller businesses to buy ad time — and, the company hopes …

Discussion: Ad Age, Comcast Advertising, Latest from Tv Technology, Varun Nahar on LinkedIn, @joshsternberg.com, MediaPost, Shane O Leary on LinkedIn, Charles F Manning on LinkedIn, Tomas Almonte on LinkedIn and Dan Abend on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »

Tara Deschamps / The Canadian Press:

Google makes a $100M payment to the Canadian Journalism Collective in exchange for an exemption from the Online News Act — Google has sent the $100 million it agreed to pay Canadian news outlets in exchange for an exemption from the Online News Act to a journalism organization designed to distribute the funds.

Discussion: Canadian Press, @tara_deschamps and @jfxryan.bsky.social

Variety:

A complete list of the 2025 winners at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — “The Brutalist,” a historical epic that examines the post-war immigrant experience, and “Emilia Pérez,” a musical about a drug lord who undergoes gender-affirming surgery …

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Free London business newspaper City AM confirms it is ending its Monday print edition and will invest instead in more video and audio products — Update 6 January 2025: City AM has confirmed it is ending its Monday print edition and will invest instead in more video and audio products.

Discussion: @wolfereports.bsky.social

Emma Roth / The Verge:

TiVo plans to launch TiVo OS in the US with a new Sharp TV, arriving as soon as February 2025, rivaling the likes of Roku, Google TV, and Amazon's Fire TV — More than a year after launching its smart TV platform in Europe, TiVo is now bringing it to the US.

Discussion: Engadget, Media Play News, Light Reading, Latest from Tv Technology and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »

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Sam Levin / The Guardian:
Some local US newspapers now allow people to request removal of names or deletion of old stories to protect the privacy of subjects involved in minor crimes

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John Koblin / New York Times:
A profile of Dick Wolf, the Law & Order creator who is debuting his show On Call on Amazon Prime Video, as streamers gravitate towards his style of programming

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NPR:
Q&A about “newsfluencers”, or news influencers, and journalism with TikTok creator V Spehar and Summer Harlow of Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas

Discussion: @karenbrimm@threads.net, @tvamy@threads.net, @underthedesknews@threads.net, @srcmings@threads.net, @ssfrigerio.bsky.social, @ssfrigerio.bsky.social, @Kjaerulv@mastodon.social, @micmuck.bsky.social, @thgerm.bsky.social, @ginamariegb.bsky.social and r/Journalism

Tatiana Siegel / Variety:
Amazon says Prime Video has exclusively licensed a Melania Trump documentary, directed by Brett Ratner in his first film after facing #MeToo allegations in 2017

Discussion: New York Magazine, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, USA Today, The Verge, The Wrap, @kathie-kew.bsky.social, AV Club, Decider, The Hollywood Reporter, IJR, @laurenmeidasa.bsky.social, @jennpozner.bsky.social, @jennpozner.bsky.social, @jerklamerk.bsky.social, CNN, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, @semaforben, @raminsetoodeh, @lucas_shaw, @tatianasiegel27, Los Angeles Times, The Gateway Pundit, @jacobhyphenated.bsky.social, Deadline, Axios, CBS News, NBC News, Associated Press, Fox News, The Independent, Benzinga, The Hill, CNBC, @davebullard.bsky.social, @tomrichardson.bsky.social, One America News Network, Rolling Stone, @yeargain.bsky.social, @alanzilberman.bsky.social, @paulconstant.com, @joshuaerlich.bsky.social, @mathandstuff.bsky.social, @benmoser.bsky.social, @infinitefreetime.com, @schooley.bsky.social, The Daily Beast, Breitbart, Semafor, @marcelias.bsky.social, Consequence and Daily Mail

Financial Times:
China Film Administration: China's 2024 box office sales fell ~23% YoY to $5.8B, as a lack of blockbusters and an ailing economy saw consumers turn to streaming

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