Top News:
Derrick Bryson Taylor / New York Times:
Netflix signs a deal with comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who angered people with insults about minority groups at a Trump rally, in a bid to appeal to Trump voters — Hinchcliffe's set at Madison Square Garden in October drew sharp criticism after he described Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
Discussion:
Business Insider, New York Post, Decider, Mock Paper Scissors, New York Daily News, Politico, Oh No They Didn't!, CNN, Raw Story, The Hill and Rolling Stone
Todd Spangler / Variety:
In a letter, Skydance alleges Project Rise Partners, the group behind a late $13.5B rival bid for Paramount, “fraudulently misrepresented” its financing — PRP rep calls Skydance accusations ‘outrageous’ and says group has financial commitments to complete a transaction with Paramount
Discussion:
Deadline, New York Post, MLex, The Wrap and Bloomberg
Chris Heath / The Atlantic:
How profane blogger Aidan Kearney, aka Turtleboy, came to believe a woman was framed for murder, terrorizing those who disagree; he was arrested in October 2023 — On overpasses and by roadsides they gather, holding banners and placards. In the early days, only a few people showed up …
Discussion:
@stossel.bsky.social, @theatlantic and @karynregal.bsky.social
Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
Spotify says it paid $10B+ in royalties in 2024, “the largest in music history”, making up 60%+ of its $17.13B+ 2024 revenue, with ~1,500 artists earning $1M+ — Company has long drawn ire from musicians who say streaming model does not remunerate them enough
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Spotify, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, The Independent, The Standard and Reuters, more at Techmeme »
Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:
Sources: Concord Music is in the final negotiations to acquire Stem, an LA-based company involved in music distribution, payments, and royalty services — We also hear that Raine Group is in the middle of it.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and Digital Music News
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Leaders at US-funded news outlets that broadcast overseas, including Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, say they fear deep budget cuts soon — A month ago, Elon Musk called for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to be shut down, tweeting …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Michael Sobolik on LinkedIn, @davidfolkenflik and @davidfolkenflik
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Blackstone rebrands Hipgnosis to Recognition, less than a year after buying the $3B group that owns the rights to Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fleetwood Mac, and more — Investment group with rights to songs by Shakira will be ‘fundamentally different’ under unified structure
Discussion:
Billboard
Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:
Q&A with Adam Bhala Lough, director of Deepfaking Sam Altman, in which he talks with an entity based on an LLM of Altman, after Altman declined an interview — The latest film from Adam Bhala Lough (who co-directed 'Telemarketers') charts the filmmaker's journey to commission and interview “Sam Bot.”
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Hamish McKenzie says Substack now has 5M paid subs, up from 4M four months ago and 3M a year ago, with 82% of its top 250 creators posting audio and video often — Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie says that creators jumping ship from ‘mainstream media’ like Jim Acosta, Joy Reid and Mehdi Hasan are a big driver of the growth.
Discussion:
@jimacosta.bsky.social, The Hill and TVNewsCheck
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google updates Chrome's extension rules to ban affiliate link injection without user action or benefit, after Honey allegedly stole creators' affiliate revenue — Honey was accused of shadily swapping out affiliate links, and now Google has new rules for extensions targeting exactly that.
Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Miramax appoints former Village Roadshow executive Alix Jaffe as president of television, reporting to CEO Jonathan Glickman, starting March 31 — She succeeds Marc Helwig who departed the company at the start of 2025 after almost five years. — In her new role, Jaffe …
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and TVNewsCheck
Stephen Totilo / Game File:
Mike Verdu, who joined Netflix in 2021 to launch its game offering and took on a new role as VP of Generative AI for games four months ago, has left the company — Mike Verdu, the executive who led Netflix's foray into gaming before changing roles at the company last year, is no longer at Netflix …
Discussion:
Mobilegamer.biz and @stephentotilo.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
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