Top News:
Jon Keegan / Sherwood News:
A case study of the amount and kinds of ads in 12 shows on the ad-supported tiers of Netflix, Peacock, Disney+, Max, Paramount+, and Hulu — We watched 12 shows on six platforms to find out how much of your life you give up to save a few bucks each month. — 7H — It's getting harder to avoid ads on streaming video.
Discussion:
@walthickey, @jonkeegan.com, Mashable and The Streamable
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Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
Disney says it has an estimated 157M global MAUs watching ad-supported content across its streaming services Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, including 112M US users — Disney said Wednesday it has an estimated 157 million global monthly active users watching ad-supported content across its streaming platforms — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
DirecTV and EchoStar's Dish ask a district court judge to reconsider dismissing Fubo's claims against Venu Sports, following Fubo's merger with Hulu + Live TV — The pay TV distributors raised a red flag to a U.S. district judge over a bid to dismiss an earlier injunction against the sports streamer …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: Amazon is exploring news show concepts, probably tied to events, such as Brian Williams' election special on Prime Video that drew ~4M viewers — As the results of Election Night 2024 became known, Brian Williams looked to the future. “Our country is about to change again,” …
Discussion:
The Information, @bristei and Adweek
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Internal data: Spotify had ~55M US subscribers as of Q3 2024, of which only ~607,000 had switched to the cheaper “basic” plan that doesn't include audiobooks — Until now, no specifics have been shared publicly about the company's new ‘basic’ plan — Hello, and welcome back to Soundbite.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Court docs: Mark Zuckerberg approved the Meta team that trains AI Llama models to use data from LibGen, a “links aggregator” to pirated, copyrighted material — Counsel for plaintiffs in a copyright lawsuit filed against Meta allege that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave the green light …
Discussion:
MEDIANAMA, The Register, @kortizart.bsky.social, Neowin, @brianfung.me, Nina George on LinkedIn, @jwharris.bsky.social, @donmoyn.bsky.social, @benkline.bsky.social, @kortizart, @SuffolkLITLab@esq.social, @lilithsaintcrow.com, @alextecplayz@techhub.social, @the-jaguarr.bsky.social, David Atkinson on LinkedIn, Evan Winston on LinkedIn, @botwiki@mastodon.social, Reuters, @brunojnavarro.bsky.social, Wired, @ncweaver.skerry-tech.com and Bloomberg Law, more at Techmeme »
Reuters Institute:
Reuters Institute global survey of media leaders: 41% are confident about journalism prospects in 2025, 74% worry about a decline in search referrals, and more — News organisations are braced for multiple challenges in 2025 that will likely include further attacks from hostile politicians …
Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy.bsky.social:
Sources: HuffPost EIC Danielle Belton, who has served as EIC since 2021, is leaving the BuzzFeed-owned outlet; her last day is at the end of the month — HuffPost Editor-In-Chief Danielle C. Belton is exiting the outlet, with her last day at the end of the month, I'm told. More details in @status.news tonight.
Discussion:
@maxwelltani, RedState, The Wrap, Fox Business, MediaPost, New York Post and @benmullin
Ben Strauss / @benjstrauss:
The NYT declines to recognize Athletic staff as part of the Times Guild but says it would recognize a separate bargaining unit; staff seeks an NLRB hearing — NEW: The New York Times has declined to voluntarily recognize the Athletic as part of the Times Guild. In letter to staffers, Times says it would recognize a separate Athletic bargaining unit, a la Wire Cutter. Staffers have petitioned the NLRB for a hearing.
Discussion:
@nytimesguild, @nytimesguild, @nyguild, @katie_robertson and Awful Announcing
Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
Vox.com announces layoffs, WGA East says affecting 12 members; memo: Vox Media names Pam Wasserstein and Ryan Pauley as co-presidents, Wasserstein as vice chair — Vox Media laid off staff on Thursday for the second time in just over a month, this time at its general news site Vox.com.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @landmanspeaking, The Wrap, @maxwelltani and r/Journalism
Max Tani / Semafor:
Memo: the deputy editor of The Root pressed writers to increase the number of stories they publish a day in part to “offset” a colleague's recent death — The Scoop — The staff of The Root spent the beginning of 2025 mourning the death of a colleague, Stephanie Holland …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
NYC-based Captions, an AI-powered video editing app, introduces a free tier with basic video editing tools, while keeping AI features in its $10/month Pro tier — Video editing app Captions is looking to cash in on uncertainty around TikTok and ByteDance's video editing app CapCut's future in the U.S. by turning to a freemium model.
Discussion:
Android Police, more at Techmeme »
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