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Jeff Bezos / @jeffbezos:
Jeff Bezos says the WaPo's opinion pages going forward will largely focus on personal liberties and free markets, and opinion editor David Shipley is leaving — I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning: I'm writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages. We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We'll cover other topics too
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube says it now has 1B+ monthly viewers for podcast content worldwide; users watched 400M+ hours of podcasts monthly on living room devices in 2024 — Podcasts started as an audio-only phenomenon. … According to the Google-owned video giant, YouTube now has more than 1 billion monthly viewers for podcast content worldwide.
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD says Max will offer sports for free to US standard and premium subscribers; B/R Sports and CNN Max will no longer be available on Max's basic with ads tier — Warner Bros. Discovery has halted plans to launch a $10 paywall for its B/R Sports tier, while also pulling sports and news content from the Max ad tier from March 30.
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Streamable, Variety, Streaming Better, Cord Cutters News and Deadline
Hadas Gold / CNN:
WHCA President Eugene Daniels said the White House move to take over the press pool “tears at the independence of a free press”; longtime reporters share alarm — The White House is stripping the White House Correspondents' Association of its role in managing the White House Press Pool …
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Ted Johnson / Deadline:
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the White House, not the WHCA, will now decide which outlets will be in the pool covering presidential events
Discussion:
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Kerry Flynn / Axios:
DoubleVerify acquires media measurement startup Rockerbox in an all-cash deal valued at $85M; LUMA says deal volume in ad tech grew 73% in 2024 — - The startup was “relatively bootstrapped,” Rockerbox CEO Ron Jacobson says. … - Rockerbox has about 50 employees who will join DoubleVerify's 1,000-person team.
Discussion:
@kerrymflynn and Adweek
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
WBD closes three game studios and cancels a highly anticipated Wonder Woman title in a bid to boost the profitability of its interactive entertainment business — - Company halts work on highly anticipated Wonder Woman title — Closures follow several disappointing releases last year
Discussion:
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Alex Ritman / Variety:
ITV Studios signs a deal with Vice Studios to become its exclusive global distribution partner, adding ~2,000 hours of Vice content to its 90,000-hour catalogue — ITV Studios has signed a deal with Vice Studios to become its exclusive global distribution partner.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter, C21Media and Deadline
The Guardian:
Sources: UK lawmakers plan to offer key concessions to plans to make it easier for AI companies to use copyrighted work, after intense lobbying by top artists — Exclusive: partial climbdown over use of work protected by copyright considered after intense lobbying by top artists
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Dan Milmo / The Guardian:
Kate Bush and 1,000+ other musicians “co-write” a “silent” album to protest the UK's proposal to let AI train on their copyrighted work if they don't opt out
Discussion:
The Guardian, RedShark News, Is This What We Want?, Consequence, Magdalena Konig on LinkedIn, Clara Lin Hawking on LinkedIn, Blair Attard-Frost on LinkedIn, @Jigsaw_You@mastodon.nl, Rolling Stone, @nkLottery.shakedown …, @awickenden.bsky.social, @adelewalton.bsky.social, Forbes, @lucypoole.bsky.social, Ioana Cretu on LinkedIn, CMU, Radio Times, @hutchingsmusic.bsky.social, @markayresrws.bsky.social, Fortune, @dominikscherrer.bsky.social, Telegraph, Mirror, @melissaterras.bsky.social, @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social, @petewishart.bsky.social, Digital Music News, Billboard, @wmclark@publishing.social, Music Ally, @withmeaa.bsky.social, @flomm.us, Music Business Worldwide, The Standard, The Independent and Reuters
The Guardian:
Gary Lineker joins 500 media professionals in signing a letter telling the BBC to “stop censorship on Palestine”, after iPlayer pulled a Gaza documentary — Exclusive: Film and TV stars among those writing to corporation after it pulled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone
Discussion:
Variety, Artists for Palestine UK, Deadline, The New European, Townhall, The Sun, Telegraph and The Free Press
Kerry Flynn / Axios:
Vulture launches Telematrix, a TV version of its popular movie trivia game, and expands Cinematrix to movie theaters through a partnership with Screenvision — - Starting February 26, Telematrix will be released twice a week. … - Vulture also has partnered with Screenvision to create …
Discussion:
@kerrymflynn
Reuters:
Sources and documents: the Reliance-Disney venture is holding seminars in seven Indian cities to woo SMBs to become IPL advertisers, offering $17K ad packages — After striking an $8.5-billion media merger with Walt Disney, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani is targeting small businesses …
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Email: New York Public Radio, which operates WNYC, the Gothamist, and more, plans to lay off about 7% of its staff as it struggles with a financial shortfall — The elimination of 21 full-time roles is the latest in a series of reductions at the organization.
Julia Alexander / Posting Nexus:
Patreon's 2025 creator economy report shows the future may be direct-to-fan instead of direct-to-consumer, but the hurdles in place are more seismic than ever — The future may be direct-to-fan instead of direct-to-consumer, but the hurdles in place are more seismic than ever — Beware all studies.
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