Check out Mini-Mediagazer for simple mobiles or Mediagazer Mobile for modern smartphones.
4:55 PM ET, February 20, 2025

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Justin Kroll / Deadline:
Amazon MGM Studios, Michael G. Wilson, and Barbara Broccoli form a JV to house James Bond IP rights, under which Amazon gains creative control of the franchise  —  In news that will send shock waves through the industry, longtime James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli …
Oliver Darcy / Status:
40 news organizations signed a letter delivered to the White House this week, asking the White House to lift its AP ban immediately in support of press freedom  —  News outlets across the political spectrum have united behind the AP, signing a WHCA-backed letter urging the White House …
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
YouTube plans to add a “premium lite” tier, a source says for the US, Australia, Germany, and Thailand, offering podcasts without ads and music videos with ads  —  - The service will continue to put ads in music videos  — The tier will launch in areas that include the US, Australia
Financial Times:
Mathias Döpfner calls Trump's Politico attacks a “misunderstanding” and says many Europeans had “intentionally misunderstood” JD Vance's speech in Munich  —  Mathias Döpfner says many Europeans had ‘intentionally misunderstood’ the US vice-president's speech that caused widespread horror
Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:
Former Merit TV employees detail struggles at Dr. Phil McGraw's streaming service, including multiple rounds of layoffs, staff discontent, and low ratings  —  Merit TV has entered a crowded field of news networks.  Can it find its audience?  —  Phil McGraw strolled onstage and waved at the cheering crowd.
Discussion: The Desk, RADAR and TVNewsCheck
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Gallery Media Group says it made $50M in 2024 revenue from its women's media title PureWow and 50+ social-only brands on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts  —  The chief revenue officer of profitable US publisher Gallery Media Group believes it has found the difference between publishers merely being …
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Twitch plans to implement a 100-hour storage cap for Highlights and Uploads from April 19, automatically deleting content from streamers who exceed the limit  —  Streamers who have exceeded this limit will have their content automatically deleted until it meets the threshold.
Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Apple says Severance has become the most-viewed series on Apple TV+ globally, surpassing Ted Lasso; the series also helped bump subscription signups in January  —  According to the streamer, Severance has broken Apple TV+ records, launching as the platform's #1 series in history based on number …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
A+E Networks launches a digital division to unify its digital efforts, including YouTube channels and SVOD platforms, and plans a History.com relaunch  —  Ann McGowan will join the company as its digital GM, with a relaunch of History.com as the first big project.
Discussion: Adweek, The Wrap, WORLD SCREEN and Variety
Matt Novak / Gizmodo:
Elon Musk says he will “fix” Community Notes as they are “increasingly being gamed by governments & legacy media”, after disagreeing with notes about Ukraine  —  The billionaire has a history of manipulating X to fit his far-right worldview.
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: ESPN plans to add some user-generated content to its flagship streaming service, which will debut later in 2025 and could be priced at $25 or $30/month  —  In an attempt to court younger audiences, Disney's ESPN is planning to add some user-generated content to its yet …
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 4:55 PM ET, February 20, 2025.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 See Also: 
Mediagazer: site main
Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer
Mediagazer Mobile: for phones
Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
Mediagazer RSS feed
Mediagazer on X
Mediagazer on Mastodon
 
 
 More News: 
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Substack adds the ability to post videos from its app and lets creators monetize videos, and plans to add more video tools like trimming and enhanced analytics
Discussion: TVNewsCheck and On Substack
Michel Rose / Reuters:
A French court upholds TV channel C8's shutdown for failures to protect human rights and protect minors, as right-wing politicians claim a free speech violation
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix commits to invest $1B in Mexico for the production of series and films over the next four years, including $2M for the iconic Churubusco Studios
Wired:
Investigation: Google's Display & Video 360 ad platform openly serves up sensitive information about Americans, despite Google's rules against such practices
 Earlier Picks: 
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
A US federal judge declined to dismiss an investor lawsuit alleging Bob Chapek aimed to hide Disney+ costs and make forecasts it would be profitable by 2024
Discussion: TVNewsCheck
Deadline:
The BBC added a clarification to its documentary Gaza: How To Survive a Warzone and apologized, after failing to declare the narrator was a Hamas leader's son
Matt Tamanini / The Streamable:
FanDuel Sports, the renamed regional sports network that succeeded Bally Sports, is now available on Amazon Prime Video, offering channels for $19.99/month
Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: top X executives hinted to Interpublic and other ad firms that not spending on X could lead to legal woes, due to X's lawsuit against some advertisers
Michael Levenson / New York Times:
A Mississippi judge has ordered a local newspaper to remove an editorial criticizing Clarksdale city officials; the paper's owner plans to challenge the order
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta is considering deep budget cuts to its metaverse efforts in 2026, potentially as high as 30% and most likely including layoffs as early as January

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple says general counsel Kate Adams and policy chief Lisa Jackson will retire, and Jennifer Newstead, Meta's former chief legal officer, will replace Adams

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Two studies suggest AI chatbots can shift political views more effectively than TV campaign ads, especially by presenting many claims, regardless of accuracy
 
Sister Sites:

Techmeme
 Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web
memeorandum
 What US political commentators are discussing online right now
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page