Mediagazer: Some journalists are taking freelance jobs with AI training data companies like Scale AI, which recruit them for tasks such as fact-checking and prompt drafting (Andrew Deck/Nieman Lab)

4:00 AM ET, February 21, 2025

Top News:

Memo: MLB and ESPN mutually agree to end their national television deal after the 2025 season; ESPN was due to pay MLB around $550M/year in 2026, 2027, and 2028 — Major League Baseball and ESPN have “mutually agreed” to end their national television deal after the upcoming 2025 season …

Peter Kafka / Business Insider:

If X threatened an ad group with US government interference, we've hit a high level of coercion, and conservatives who complained of Big Tech bias should object — - Elon Musk's X — the thing we used to call Twitter — lost lots of advertisers after he bought it.

Discussion: @businessinsider.com, Kennon Fleisher on LinkedIn, @fricker.bsky.social, @pkafka, @briantylercohen.bsky.social, @joshsternberg.com, Gizmodo, @gsarafanpolitic.bsky.social, @ianb@mastodon.well.com, The Information and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

Gene Maddaus / Variety:

Senator Warren urges the US DOJ to scrutinize Disney's deal to acquire a controlling stake in Fubo and merge it with Hulu + Live TV, citing antitrust concerns — Sen. Elizabeth Warren has urged the Justice Department to carefully scrutinize Disney's deal to acquire a controlling stake in Fubo …

Discussion: Reuters, The Desk, Business Insider, Awful Announcing, Benzinga, Light Reading, Deadline, Media Play News, The Wrap and Yahoo Finance

Lauren Easton / Editor and Publisher:

Memo: AP is launching its Local Investigative Reporting Program, to be led by Ron Nixon, to support US state and local newsrooms in investigative reporting — In a memo to staff Thursday, Executive Editor Julie Pace announced AP will launch a Local Investigative Reporting Program led by Ron Nixon:

Discussion: Ron Nixon on LinkedIn, @rebuildlocalnews.bsky.social, @sdkstl.bsky.social and TVNewsCheck

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 …

Discussion: @jeffbezos, BBC, Variety, Mirror, About Amazon, The Register, GB News, The Hollywood Reporter, FemaleFirst, @joerussotweets, Variety, Breitbart, @mgsiegler, CBR, @marcusjdl.bsky.social, Entertainment Weekly, @cpmaz.bsky.social, NPR, @librarythingtim.bsky.social, @autismsupsoc.bsky.social, Collider, @richlightshed, Vanity Fair, @courier12.bsky.social, @deeketweak, @jacobkleinman, @nextbestpicture, @benroyturner, @bunndumm, @sonnybunch, Geoff Hollingworth on LinkedIn, The Daily Wire, @bennomatic@appdot.net, SlashFilm, @autismsupsoc.bsky.social, @illdave.bsky.social, @_patmurray@mastodon.social, Forbes, Gizmodo, Syracuse Post-Standard, Esquire, @billhuntbits.bsky.social, Engadget, Rolling Stone, GQ, Steve Siskind on LinkedIn, New York Times, @mutarada.bsky.social, Town & Country, Business Insider, Fortune, @benschwartz.bsky.social, The Playlist, @nedraggett.bsky.social, CNN, Yahoo Finance, LADbible, @vinzenzhediger.bsky.social, Axios, @davidjcourt.bsky.social, Financial Times, @michaelthec@poweredbygay …, Bloomberg, Carlo Bertucci on LinkedIn, CNBC, WPXI-TV, The Verge, The Information, Quartz, Wall Street Journal, @mrfengi.bsky.social, Los Angeles Times, Cord Cutters News, @taraconlan.bsky.social, WFAA-TV, Comic Book, @ronmarz.bsky.social, LADbible, CBR, Consequence, IndieWire, Gizmodo, Reuters, @moviessilently.bsky.social, Collider, World of Reel, @gigawattconduit.bsky.social, @jjdotbiz.bsky.social, @josie.zone, The Wrap, Screen Rant, @caseym.org, @gigawattconduit.bsky.social, NDTV, Just Jared and Oh No They Didn't!

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

Discussion: Music Ally, Cord Cutters News, The Media Leader, The Information, Adweek, 9to5Google, The Desk and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:

Some journalists are taking freelance jobs with AI training data companies like Scale AI, which recruit them for tasks such as fact-checking and prompt drafting — The gig work platform Outlier is one of several companies courting journalists to train large language models (LLMs).

Discussion: Rest of World

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

Bloomberg News promotes Mark Gurman to managing editor for global consumer tech and adds senior editor Dana Wollman and two others to his team — Tom Giles, senior executive editor of global technology coverage at Bloomberg News, sent out the following on Thursday:

Discussion: @markgurman and @markgurman

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

A NY court tells Nexstar to pay DirecTV $26.6M in a case over retransmission fees; a court earlier said Nexstar wrongly received $10.5M in fees in the same case — A New York court on Thursday awarded satellite and streaming television provider DirecTV nearly $27 million in a civil case brought …

Discussion: TVNewsCheck and Cord Cutters News

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, @thedesk.net, RADAR and TVNewsCheck

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

National Association of Broadcasters CEO Curtis LeGeyt calls for the FCC to end ownership caps that prevent TV and radio conglomerates from growing larger — The chief executive of the commercial broadcasting industry's largest lobbying group has called on federal regulators to eliminate national …

Discussion: @christopherterry.bsky.social, @kv417.bsky.social, TV Tech, Inside Radio, Barrett Media, RADIO ONLINE and Radio & Television …

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

A look at London news startups, including Jim Waterson's London Centric, that launched since the Evening Standard's daily print edition closure in summer 2024 — Two upmarket London news start-ups are finding a growing (albeit small so far) market for paid online news about the UK capital.

Discussion: @pressgazette, Alexander Smith on LinkedIn and LinkedIn

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 4:00 AM ET, February 21, 2025.

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Bureau Reporter - Vietnam, HCMC — Bloomberg

Curation Editor (Contract), NY — Apple News

Business Editor, CA — TheWrap

Executive Ed. - Tech & Electronics, AZ — AspenCore

Economy & Industry Reporter, TX — Texas Tribune

Deputy Editor - Health Care, VA — Politico

Political Enterprise Editor, DC — Guardian US

Housing & Real Estate Reporter, ME — BDN

Associate Reporter - Yahoo Finance — Yahoo

Senior Editor, Remote — Raw Story

Deputy Politics Editor, CA — Sacramento Bee

Alphaville Reporter, London — FT

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More News:

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

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: Fast Company, TVNewsCheck and On Substack, more at Techmeme »

CNBC Press Releases:
CNBC International appoints Spriha Srivastava to oversee digital content, starting from May; Srivastava left BI as its executive editor & UK bureau chief

Discussion: Talking Biz News and Spriha Srivastava on LinkedIn

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

Discussion: Luiz Junior on LinkedIn

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

Discussion: The Desk, @dannygroner.bsky.social, Awful Announcing and Barrett Media

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

Discussion: Adweek, Variety, WORLD SCREEN and The Wrap

Earlier Picks:

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Spotify begins accepting AI-narrated audiobooks recorded using ElevenLabs' software; Spotify already allows AI-recorded audiobooks, with several restrictions

Discussion: Anders Larsen on LinkedIn, TechCrunch and Spotify, more at Techmeme »

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

Discussion: Simon Owens's Media Newsletter

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

Discussion: Breitbart, Forbes, Reuters, Wired, The Rio Times, Media Play News, The Ankler, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, FOX8 WGHP, Variety and Deadline

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

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
TelevisaUnivision reports Q4 revenue down 1% YoY to $1.3B, operating expenses flat at $892M, and says its DTC business generated $1B in annual revenue

Discussion: Radio & Television …, The Desk, Inside Radio, MediaPost, TVNewsCheck, Variety, TelevisaUnivision and Deadline

From Techmeme:

CNBC:
OpenAI closes a $40B round, the most raised by a private tech company, at a $300B post-money valuation; SoftBank led with $30B; source: ~$18B is for Stargate

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
OpenAI's new GPT-4o-powered image generator is now available to all users; Sam Altman last week mentioned a limit of three images per day for free-tier users

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: in recent weeks, Meta executives including Mark Zuckerberg have pressed US trade officials to oppose an impending EU fine and cease-and-desist order

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