Top News:
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney, Fox, and WBD say they have agreed to discontinue their Venu Sports streaming joint venture and will focus on existing products and distribution channels — The sports-focused streaming service will not move forward, the companies said Friday. — Venu is dead.
Discussion:
IndieWire, CNN, ESPN Press Room U.S., The Wrap, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Awful Announcing, Reuters, CNBC, Variety, TVLine, Sportico, The Information, New York Times, Bloomberg, Deadline, The Verge, WDW News Today, @morningbrew, @jasoninquires, @sherman4949, @pkafka, 9to5Mac, Front Office Sports, @bristei, @welch.bsky.social, Sports Media Watch, @compound248, DeepNewz, What's On Disney Plus, @matthewstoller, AOL, @jacobfeldman4, @novy_williams, @espnpr, @sherman4949, The TV Answer Man!, Barron's Online, USA Today and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Apple releases season 1 of Severance, one of its biggest TV shows, on the free Roku Channel to lure new Apple TV+ subscribers; the promotion ends on January 19 — Apple is using the Adam Scott thriller to try and drive new subscribers to its streaming service, following a number of moves …
Discussion:
Deadline, @simonowens, @burritoprophet, @mlsmoves, @moviemediax, @deadline, @lionesspike, @sum1saiditinnit, @hannahhamspoon, ComingSoon.net, @er0ckr@threads.net, The Manual, @selinaknope, Collider, @maxisntheree, Pocket-lint, MovieWeb, @tvgrimreaper, TechRadar, Just Jared, Screen Rant, Deadline, Gizmodo, @Taweret@octodon.social, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, BGR, The Mirror, r/television and r/tvPlus
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:
Engadget, The Guardian, @brianfung.me, Nina George on LinkedIn, The Register, @donmoyn.bsky.social, @benkline.bsky.social, @kortizart, @lilithsaintcrow.com, @alextecplayz@techhub.social, David Atkinson on LinkedIn, Evan Winston on LinkedIn, @brunojnavarro.bsky.social, @ncweaver.skerry-tech.com, AV Club, @elanderson.bsky.social, MEDIANAMA, @jwharris.bsky.social, Bloomberg Law, Neowin, Wired, @botwiki@mastodon.social, Reuters, @the-jaguarr.bsky.social, @kortizart.bsky.social and @SuffolkLITLab@esq.social, more at Techmeme »
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:
@peterschorschfl, @martinez_a, @evanhandler, @bristei, AV Club, The Information and Adweek
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Vogue Arabia's publisher Nervora filed a US lawsuit last summer claiming Condé Nast improperly terminated their licensing arrangement — The Scoop — Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch will host local partners on Jan. 30 at a party in Dubai ("Dress: A touch of gold!")
Discussion:
MediaPost and The Business of Fashion
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
More than half a dozen celebrity video game streamers returned exclusively to Twitch in 2024, after their multimillion-dollar YouTube and Kick contracts expired — YouTube, Kick offered multimillion-dollar deals but viewers didn't necessarily follow. — Video-game influencers are returning …
Discussion:
@cecianasta
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 …
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.
Discussion:
Music Ally, Fortune, Fox News and WWCP-TV, more at Techmeme »
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
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, The Wrap, RedState, 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:
Awful Announcing, @katie_robertson, @nytimesguild, @nytimesguild and @nyguild
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:
The Wrap, @landmanspeaking, @maxwelltani, TVNewsCheck and r/Journalism
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