Top News:
Axios:
Email: the White House orders the GSA to terminate “every single media contract” expensed by the agency and all contracts for Politico, BBC, E&E, and Bloomberg — - The discovery, made through a U.S. government spending database that has long been publicly available …
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, A Media Operator, Reporters Without Borders, @willoremus.com, @armanddoma, @mkhammer, @bariweiss, New York Times, @mcuban, Fortune, The Daily Wire, @wexler, Blaze Media, Instapundit, @marcacaputo, @liz_wheeler, @firstadopter, TVNewsCheck, @asymmetricinfo, New York Post, @brianstelter, @nytimespr, @mjnblack, @doge, @apbioonly, CBS News, The Dispatch, RedState, @kagrox.bsky.social, @barbarasobel.bsky.social, @hallijayne.bsky.social, @lawrencehurley.bsky.social, Mediaite, The Post Millennial, @nkLottery@shakedown.social and The Gateway Pundit, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Politico:
Politico's EIC and CEO say the company has never received any government funding, and agencies that subscribe to Politico Pro do so through standard processes — POLITICO has been the subject of debate on X this week. Some of it has been misinformed, and some of it has been flat-out false.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Tilting At Windmills, New York Times, Reuters, Fox News, The Atlantic, Townhall, Wall Street Journal, @bresreports, @politico, @ewerickson, The Daily Wire, @brianstelter, @stevenoverly, @jimgeraghty, @natsfert, @adamwren, @zachary, @zachschermele, @joanwalsh, Associated Press, Twitchy, @w7voa.journa.host.ap.brid.gy, Beth Diaz on LinkedIn, CNN, HotAir, @timbays.bsky.social, @suellentrop.bsky.social, The Post Millennial, The Hill, MeidasTouch News, Fox News and Axios
Isabella Kwai / New York Times:
Trump amplifies a conspiracy theory that “billions” in USAID and other agencies' funds were stolen to pay Politico and others for positive coverage of Democrats
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Poynter, New Republic, @isabelsantos.bsky.social, HuffPost, @elonmusk, @jason, @rikkiratliff, @mtaibbi, @rubinreport, @armanddoma, @ryangrim, @nancyscola, @elonmusk, @mehdirhasan, @krassenstein, @billackman, @lhfang, @cabot_phillips, @billybinion, @jeremymbarr, @ike_saul, @peterschiff, @armanddoma, Townhall, @brianstelter, Raw Story, @realDonaldTrump …, RedState, CNN, Breitbart, DNyuz, Daily Kos, @sanleekelly.bsky.social, Hollywood Life, The Wrap, The Guardian, @cheetah.bsky.social, @parkermolloy.com, OpenTheBooks, The Independent, @stuartathompson.bsky.social, @stuartathompson.bsky.social, Althouse, @willsommer.bsky.social and Newser
Martyn Ziegler / The Times:
Sources: Netflix is expected to bid for the US broadcast rights to Formula 1 starting from the 2026 season; ESPN currently holds the rights under a $90M deal — Streaming platform looking to capitalise on success of Drive to Survive series in America with their first attempt to secure season-long mainstream sports rights
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
WBD took $300M in gaming writedowns in 2024; current and former staff blame a lack of a strong, cohesive vision during former games chief David Haddad's tenure — Last year, Warner Bros. Discovery took $300 million in losses on gaming. The near future is rife with additional challenges.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas / The Guardian:
Netflix will not release a nine-hour documentary about Prince after the company and the artist's estate came to a “mutual agreement” — Nine-hour film will not be seen, after ‘mutual agreement’ between estate and Netflix, with estate announcing plans for its own film
Discussion:
@prince, TVNewsCheck, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times, Variety, AllHipHop, WBLS, Vibe, @twinklebutt.bsky.social, @7sleepersmusic@mastodon …, @fauxbeatpoet, Rolling Stone, The Wrap, @hunterwalk.com, The Streamable, Consequence, UPROXX, Oh No They Didn't!, Deadline, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, World of Reel and KRDO
Editor and Publisher:
The CPB awards a $1M grant to Harvest Public Media, a journalism collaboration led by Kansas City's KCUR to cover agricultural and rural issues — Journalism collaboration led by KCUR covers agricultural and rural issues — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) …
Discussion:
@mediaevan.bsky.social, @mediaevan, RADIO ONLINE, Radio Ink, Inside Radio and Current
Katie Campione / Deadline:
Samba TV: in H2 2024, 43% of total SVOD subscribers had an ad-supported plan; 56% of new subscribers chose an ad tier, including 78% of new Peacock subscribers — In the second half of 2024, 43% of total SVOD subscribers had an ad-supported plan. The share is increasing …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @deadline and TV Tech
Hearst:
Hearst is rolling out AURA, its first-party ad targeting tool, to the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, after a US launch eight months ago — The announcement was made by Hearst Magazines President Debi Chirichella and Global Chief Revenue Officer Lisa Ryan Howard.
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Memo: ahead of its Skydance merger, Paramount Global pauses some major events in 2025, including MTV EMAs, to “reimagine and optimize” the events slate — “We look to reimagine and optimize our events slate going forward,” reads a staff memo obtained by THR.
Discussion:
Billboard, TVNewsCheck and Just Jared
Lara O'Reilly / Business Insider:
X partners with adtech company Magnite to boost programmatic ad sales; Magnite joins Google and PubMatic as official third-party sellers of X's ad inventory — - Elon Musk's X is working with the adtech company Magnite to boost programmatic ad sales. — Magnite is a large supply-side platform …
Jessica Testa / New York Times:
A look at Emily Sundberg's business and culture newsletter, Feed Me, with ~60K subscribers including Matt Levine, Joe Weisenthal, and VC Kirsten Green — It took about three minutes for Emily Sundberg to secure an invitation to her first inauguration party in Washington this January.
Discussion:
Feed Me, @anamariecox.bsky.social, @annamerlan.bsky.social, @benmullin, @jakesherman, @nytimes.com, @dws________ and @katie_robertson
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon reports Q4 ad revenue up 18% YoY to $17.29B, vs. $17.4B est., and subscription services revenue up 10% YoY to $11.51B — Overall earnings for the period smashed Wall Street expectations. — However, the Q4 ad revenue figure fell short of analyst expectations of $17.4 billion, per StreetAccount.
David Folkenflik / NPR:
A look at Trump's assault on CBS, and more broadly, how he and allies seek to pressure the media to punish it and to inhibit its ability to check the president — The television news magazine 60 Minutes — the most storied and profitable show in the history of CBS News …
RELATED:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Trump calls on CBS to “terminate” 60 Minutes, and says “CBS should lose its license”, amid his $10B lawsuit against CBS over the Kamala Harris interview
Discussion:
Status, CNN, Mediaite, @aidnmclaughlin, @mherskovitz, Megyn Kelly, Washington Examiner, Reason, @realDonaldTrump …, Barrett Media, New York Post, @mergerson.bsky.social, The Daily Beast, Blaze Media, Daily Mail, @robowentv.bsky.social, The Wrap, New Republic, @willharrisinva.bsky.social, Fox News, Townhall, Axios, The Daily Wire and freebeacon.com
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