Mediagazer: Sources: Paramount execs weigh risks of settling Trump's lawsuit against CBS News, concerned about potential shareholder litigation or criminal bribery charges (Jessica Toonkel/Wall Street Journal)

6:50 AM ET, February 15, 2025

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Sara Fischer / Axios:

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Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Paramount execs weigh risks of settling Trump's lawsuit against CBS News, concerned about potential shareholder litigation or criminal bribery charges — Media company executives fear liability from potential settlement paid before Skydance merger

Discussion: @katiefallow.bsky.social, Raw Story, @annmlipton.bsky.social, @annmlipton.bsky.social, @davidenrich.bsky.social and Townhall

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:

James and Kathryn Murdoch detail the succession battle that has pitted James and Lachlan Murdoch against each other, leaving the family empire's future unclear — James Murdoch on mind games, sibling rivalry, and the war for the family media empire — James murdoch was seated …

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Andrew Liszewski / The Verge:

Amazon will remove the ability to download ebooks to a computer and send them to a Kindle over USB on February 26; it enabled easy backups and file conversions — After February 26th, you can only download books from the Kindle store to your e-reader over Wi-Fi.

Discussion: Android Police, @tkristinwilson@mas.to, Trusted Reviews, @papapishu.bsky.social, Gizmodo and Pocket-lint

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:

Australia's ABC Chair Kim Williams calls News Corp's claims that the public broadcaster costs taxpayers more than Netflix “unbalanced and agenda-driven” — In strongly worded statement, Kim Williams says allegations in Murdoch-owned tabloids ‘do not stand up to scrutiny’

Discussion: ABC, ABC, TV Blackbox and @simonrosenberg.bsky.social

Haroon Siddique / The Guardian:

UK-based lawyers for Apple Daily founder and activist Jimmy Lai say they are being targeted by the Chinese state and its supporters in an intimidation campaign — Exclusive: Barristers at Doughty Street Chambers say they have been subject to surveillance, hacking and rape threats

Jordan Novet / CNBC:

Filing: Trump Media reports 2024 revenue down 12% YoY to $3.6M and a $400M net loss, up from $58.2M in 2023; the company has a $6.6B market cap — Trump Media & Technology Group shares were down about 1% in extended trading on Friday after the operator of Truth Social released its 2024 results.

Discussion: Forbes, US Securities and Exchange Commission, The Wrap, Axios and Bloomberg

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Spotify hopes to launch a Music Pro tier in 2025, a $6/month add-on that will include higher-quality audio, early access to concert tickets, and more — - Spotify is hoping to roll out its new Music Pro this year — Customers may get early access to concert tickets, other perks

Discussion: Reuters, @jordanhr.bsky.social and Financial Times, more at Techmeme »

Sanjai P R / Bloomberg:

Tata Communications says it now broadcasts 80% of global sporting events after acquiring live production and video transmission firm Switch Enterprises in 2022 — The acquisition of Switch Enterprises LLC three years ago has contributed to Tata generating content for events such as Formula 1 …

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

A look at the rapid rise and fall of Talk Tuah, a podcast by “hawk tuah girl” Haliey Welch, showing how podcasting lets people cash in on viral internet fame — During the fourth quarter of 2024, Haliey Welch's show ranked No. 11 in the entire US — Hello, and welcome back to Soundbite.

Discussion: Barrett Media

Joe Castaldo / Globe and Mail:

Canada's Torstar sues Meta, claiming Meta breached a three-year, $6.75M contract to pay the Toronto Star for distributing content on Meta's social media sites — ////The parent company of the Toronto Star is suing Meta Platforms Inc. META-Q, alleging it unlawfully breached a contract to pay …

Scharon Harding / Ars Technica:

In an AMA, Steve Huffman says Reddit is planning to roll out paid subreddits in 2025 and is “laying the foundation” to monetize commerce within subreddits — Huffman previously showed interest in potentially introducing a new type of subreddit with “exclusive content or private areas” that Reddit users would pay to access.

Discussion: SFist, Gizmodo, Digital Trends, @flwwhtrbt@mastodon.social, Engadget, @redditff.bsky.social, @drahardja@sfba.social, @autumnwolff.bsky.social, @stefan@stefanbohacek.online, @karlbode.com, @JessTheUnstill@infosec …, @arstechnica@mastodon.social and r/RDDT, more at Techmeme »

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Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
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