Mediagazer: Antenna estimates Netflix gained 650K+ new US subscribers in the days surrounding the NFL games; the Paul-Tyson fight drove 1.43M US subscription sign-ups (Emma Roth/The Verge)

4:40 PM ET, January 22, 2025

Top News:

Max Goldbart / Deadline:

Settlement: Murdoch's NGN apologizes to Prince Harry over “unlawful” phone hacking by The Sun and “extensive coverage and serious intrusion on his private life” — In the past few minutes, the BBC reported NGN apologizing for phone hacking, and the impact this had on Harry …

Mark Landler / New York Times:

Prince Harry reaches a settlement with Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers over allegedly gathering unlawful information, an abrupt end to the London trial — Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers offered Harry an “unequivocal apology,” admitting for the first time to “unlawful activities” …

Chris Ship / @chrisshipitv:
Source: Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers agreed to pay Prince Harry £10M+ in damages as part of the settlement

Discussion: Associated Press, BBC, The Guardian, Reuters, NPR, @chrisshipitv, CBS News and Forbes

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Adobe makes an additional $5M commitment to support underrepresented film and TV creators and filmmakers, on top of its $6M pledge in 2024 — Company also donating $1 million toward L.A. wildfire relief — Software giant Adobe is making an additional $5 million commitment …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter and IndieWire

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:

YouTube adds experimental features for Premium users, including higher audio bitrate of up to 256kbps for music videos and faster playback on mobile — YouTube said Wednesday that it is adding new experimental features for Premium users, including high-quality audio, faster playback speed option on mobile …

Discussion: The Verge and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:

An analysis of two years of episodes by nine prominent podcasters shows how they became mainstream sources for young men and rallied support for Trump's agenda — Podcasters including Joe Rogan, Theo Von and Logan Paul are mobilizing America's men to lean right. An analysis of over 2,000 videos shows how.

Discussion: @ashleyrcarman, @ashleyrcarman, @ashleyrcarman, @ashleyrcarman, @ashleyrcarman, @emmalbriant@mastodon.online, @maxwelltani, @leonyin.org, @franciswilkinson.bsky.social, @datasociety.bsky.social, @michaelhobbes.bsky.social, @davey.bsky.social, @cajohnson-craig.bsky.social, @bloomberg.com and @zoeschiffer.bsky.social

Emma Roth / The Verge:

Antenna estimates Netflix gained 650K+ new US subscribers in the days surrounding the NFL games; the Paul-Tyson fight drove 1.43M US subscription sign-ups — Netflix's big bet on live events is paying off. New data published by the analytics firm Antenna indicates that Netflix added 1.43 …

Discussion: @trengriffin, New York Times, Antenna, Fast Company, Tubefilter, Fox Business, Sports Business Journal, Sportico, Axios and Barrett Media, more at Techmeme »

Dominic Patten / Deadline:

Chris Brown sues WBD and others for $500M over sexual assault claims in the documentary Chris Brown: A History of Violence, released on October 27, 2024 — Chris Brown may like Donald Trump, but the ‘Weakest Link’ singer really doesn't like Warner Bros. Discovery.

Discussion: People, Global News, The Root, Digital Music News, Decider, BET, Billboard, RADAR, The Mirror, Vibe, TVLine, Us Weekly, Cord Cutters News, CMU, Metro.co.uk, Daily Mail, FemaleFirst, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, New York Post, TMZ.com, Variety and Just Jared

Aidan Ryan / The Boston Globe:

Boston Globe Media is acquiring Boston Magazine and has offered jobs to the magazine staff; the magazine has a monthly circulation of 55K, down from 65K in 2022 — Boston Globe Media announced on Wednesday it is acquiring Boston Magazine, adding to a portfolio that includes The Boston Globe, Boston.com, and STAT.

Discussion: Media Nation, MediaPost and @aidanryan.bsky.social

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

The UK's ITV News appoints Channel 4 News executive Laura Wilshaw as editor, succeeding Andrew Dagnell, who will become director of news and current affairs — Laura Wilshaw has been appointed as ITV News editor, succeeding Andrew Dagnell who is becoming ITV's director of news and current affairs.

Discussion: Advanced Television

Mia Galuppo / The Hollywood Reporter:

Annapurna Interactive hires Leanne Loombe, who previously oversaw Netflix's second- and third-party game development and publishing, as its head of games — Loombe joins the Megan Ellison outfit from Netflix's gaming division. … Loombe has been named executive vice president, head of games …

Discussion: The Verge, Sharon Tal Yguado on LinkedIn, @knoebel.bsky.social and @wario64.bsky.social

Kerry Flynn / Axios:

Nielsen gains MRC accreditation for its Big Data + Panel measurement, which includes viewership data from 45M households across 75M+ set-top boxes and smart TVs — - The development cements Nielsen's reputation as the most authoritative provider of TV measurement.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, TV Tech, Radio & Television …, MediaPost, Adweek, Awful Announcing, Ad Age, The Wrap, Variety, Barrett Media, The Hollywood Reporter and @kerrymflynn

Daniel Tencer / Music Business Worldwide:

Music AI, the AI startup behind Moises music creation service, raised a $40M Series A led by monashees and Connect Ventures, a partnership between CAA and NEA — Music AI, the “AI-first” company behind the increasingly popular Moises music creation platform, has announced it has raised USD $40 million in a Series A funding round.

Discussion: Billboard and Digital Music News

Advanced Television:

MediaRadar: advertisers spent $4.8B on TikTok in 2024, up 27% YoY, and top 10 advertisers spent $690M; Omdia earlier said TikTok made ~$8B in 2024 US ad revenue — Data from MediaRadar shows that advertisers spent $4.8 billion (€4.59bn) on TikTok during 2024, a 27 per cent YoY increase from 2023, when $3.8 billion was spent.

Discussion: MarTech and CBS News

Alexandra S. Levine / Bloomberg:

MrBeast joins a US investor group led by Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley that made an all-cash bid to acquire TikTok US; several groups have shown interest — - YouTube star is part of investor group run by Jesse Tinsley — TikTok has less than three months to sell or face a US ban

Bloomberg:
Donald Trump says he would be open to Elon Musk or Larry Ellison purchasing TikTok US as part of a joint venture that would give the US government 50% ownership

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More News:

The Atlantic:
The Atlantic hires Washington Post Democracy Editor Griff Witte as a managing editor to lead its growing politics and accountability team

Discussion: The Wrap, @benmullin and @nkulw

Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Nielsen now counts Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu as a single entity called Disney Streaming in its The Gauge TV usage reports

Discussion: @matthewkeyslive, @tvgrimreaper and TVNewsCheck

Alex Cranz / Wired:
Broadcast TV, one of the few remaining free sources of news and entertainment, is slowly dying, and Trump's political threats add to the industry's uncertainty

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Advanced Television, The Hollywood Reporter and New York Times

Victoria Kennedy / Eurogamer.net:
ITV's Hell's Kitchen game, based on the popular show and ITV's first-ever Roblox experience, reaches 20M+ visits and has 450k daily active users

Discussion: Motley Fool, Variety and Advanced Television

Earlier Picks:

Sara Fischer / Axios:
The Ankler launches Like & Subscribe, a trade publication on the creator economy, as a weekly Substack newsletter for $129/year with plans for podcasts and more

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Talking Biz News, Editor and Publisher, MediaPost, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter and @simonowens.bsky.social

Jake Lahut / Columbia Journalism Review:
After years of the Biden press office keeping reporters away from the president, some White House reporters say they look forward to having more access to Trump

Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Nielsen: Trump's inauguration drew an average of 24.59M viewers on 15 networks from 10:30am ET to 7pm ET, down from 33.76M in 2021 and 30.64M in 2017

Discussion: Variety, @overpixelated.bsky.social, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, New Jersey Online, IJR, Forbes, Fox News, New York Times and Just Jared

From Techmeme:

Financial Times:
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says consumer electronics exempt from tariffs may be included in semiconductor tariffs likely coming in “a month or two”

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a lighter and cheaper Vision Pro and a Mac-tethered model with ultra-low latency; iPadOS 19 overhaul will make it more like macOS

Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer:
A look at slopsquatting, a supply chain attack where threat actors create malicious packages on indexes using AI-hallucinated names resembling popular libraries

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