Top News:
Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Ted Sarandos says “as the popularity of video podcasts grows, I suspect you'll see some of them find their way to Netflix” — “Is it premium? Well, some of it is, and we believe we have the best monetization model on the planet for premium storytelling," co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on the earnings call.
Discussion:
Variety, @romitmehta.com, TVNewsCheck and Business Insider
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Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Filing: Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters saw total compensation of about $61.9M and $60.3M in 2024, up from $49.8M and $40.1M in 2023, respectively — Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters saw total compensation of, respectively, to about $61.9 million and $60.3 million in 2024, up sharply from the year before.
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Ted Sarandos says Netflix talent uses “AI tools to do set references, pre-vis, VFX sequence prep, shot planning” and AI can make movies “10% better” — Citing recent comments by James Cameron, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said he hopes AI can make films “10% better,” not just “50% cheaper.”
Discussion:
IndieWire, Fox News and The Hollywood Reporter
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Netflix says co-founder Reed Hastings has left his post as executive chairman to become chairman and non-executive director of the company
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Variety and Media Play News
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix reports Q1 revenue up 12.5% YoY to $10.54B, vs. $10.51B est., net income of $2.89B, and stops reporting subscriber numbers on a quarterly basis
Discussion:
Advanced Television, The Streamable, Broadband TV News, Reuters, Deadline, WORLD SCREEN, @lucas_shaw, Australian Financial Review, MediaPost, Benzinga, Fortune, The Desk, Cord Cutters News, Investor's Business Daily, Yahoo Finance, The Information, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, Bloomberg, The Verge, Sherwood News, Associated Press and Barron's Online, more at Techmeme »
Hassan Ali Kanu / Politico:
In an appeals court hearing on the AP's White House access, the DOJ argued that WH spaces are akin to private spaces to which the president can restrict access — A three-judge panel was skeptical of arguments that the administration is facing imminent harm.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @gregoryaight.bsky.social, @michaelbishop.me, Reuters, The Hill and Associated Press
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Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Filing: an AP print reporter is expected to have a spot in the White House pool by Sunday; an AP photographer was admitted to the pool on Thursday — White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich argued that the administration has been complying with Judge Trevor McFadden's order …
Discussion:
The Hill, @mariopro.bsky.social, @devonheinen.bsky.social, Washington Examiner, Baltimore Sun, New York Times, RVM News, Status and Newser
David McCabe / New York Times:
A US judge says Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in some online advertising tech, the second time in a year a court found Google acted illegally — The ruling was the second time in a year that a federal court had found that Google had acted illegally to maintain its dominance.
Discussion:
The Verge, Engadget, @jeffjacksonnc, @repfitzgerald, @senamyklobuchar, Axios, @dohamekki, @edwhelaneppc, @choprausa, @agrobbonta, @timsweeneyepic, @catturd2, @mikeisaac, @agtennessee, @khushitavasant, @loudmouthjulia, @ggreenwald, @newyorkstateag, @adamkovac, @basedmikelee, @agowa, @senmikelee, @repjerrynadler, @jasonmiyaresva, @mrddmia, @rachelbovard, @timsweeneyepic, @matthewstoller, @linamkhan, @aagslater, @rbreich, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, Arabian Business, @leehepner, @amyklobuchar, @jkbustertruster, @sarafischer, @aripap, @benremaly, @aripap, @lewis_crofts, @zamaan_qureshi, @moreperfectus, @lutherlowe, @chronotope, @moreperfectus, @_annalanglois, @aripap, @sayreevan, @benbrodydc, @benremaly, @future_of_music, @lukewgoldstein, @_annalanglois, @matthewstoller, @matthewstoller, @khushitavasant, @loudmouthjulia, Tubefilter, Associated Press, Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf on LinkedIn, Daily Mail, Erin Dougherty on LinkedIn, Sarah Groves on LinkedIn, BIG by Matt Stoller, State of California, Washington Times, The Hollywood Reporter, The Western Journal, SFist, Wired, Bloomberg, Gizmodo, @dell.bsky.social, Yahoo Finance, @klobuchar.senate.gov, Financial Times, @superwuster.bsky.social, UPI, Barron's Online, 9to5Google, Deadline, WBAL Baltimore News, @laurenfeiner.bsky.social, Politico, Variety, Wall Street Journal, @jahmierose.bsky.social, @mcconnell.bsky.social, @jakeweindling.bsky.social, @ddayen.bsky.social, AppleInsider, The Post Millennial and Semafor
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Bloomberg:
In her ruling, Judge Brinkema says Google did not meet the monopoly definition for tools used to buy display ads, but did for ad exchanges and website ad tools
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Adweek, Axios, Hürriyet Daily News, Inside Radio, Shore News Network, The Information, Sara Forden on LinkedIn, TV Tech, Fox Business, Breitbart, The Daily Wire, Ars Technica, Townhall, Daily Caller News Foundation, One America News Network, ZeroHedge News, Entrepreneur, Washington Examiner, New York Post, TechCrunch, Reuters, MediaPost, Digiday and Forbes, more at Techmeme »
@newsfromgoogle:
Google says “we won half of this case and we will appeal the other half” of the US antitrust ruling and “disagree[s]” with the decision on its publisher tools
Discussion:
@martyswant, MarTech, Search Engine Land and Investor's Business Daily
Axios:
The DOJ and 17 US states that brought the antitrust case seek to force Google to sell off its “network” ad business, which is ~12% of Alphabet's total revenue
Discussion:
AppleInsider, TechRadar, The Daily Upside, New York Daily News, Daily Sabah, Daily Caller News Foundation, Benzinga, CNBC, Reuters, ABA Journal, CNET, Fast Company, Associated Press, Yahoo Finance, Johanna Bauman on LinkedIn, Los Angeles Times, @carnage4life.bsky.social, The Wrap, CNN, Sherwood News, The Information, Business Insider, MEDIANAMA, The Hill, WBAL Baltimore News, Common Dreams and The Register
Huo Jingnan / NPR:
A profile of X news broker Mario Nawfal, a favorite of Elon Musk, who has interviewed five heads of state and says it's not his job to vet posts for accuracy — Elon Musk spends much of his time reposting and replying to social media posts on X, often with single word comments like “wow,” “truth” or “interesting.”
Discussion:
@mertcanbayar.bsky.social
Paul Hiebert / Adweek:
IAB and PWC: online ad spend hit $258.6B in 2024, up 15% YoY, with 39.8% going to search, 28.7% to display, 24% to video, and $2.4B to podcasts, up 26.4% YoY — The total marks a 15% increase compared to 2023 — Advertisers poured a recording-breaking amount of money into U.S. digital media last year.
Discussion:
W Media Research, IAB, MarTech, TV Tech, Music Ally, MediaPost, Inside Radio and Barrett Media
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Samsung TV Plus now has nearly 700 FAST channels in the US, more than any of the other major FAST platforms, and almost 100 exclusive channels — Samsung TV Plus says it is now the top provider of free, ad-supported TV (FAST) channels, with nearly 700 channels now streaming in the U.S.
Discussion:
The Desk, Rolling Stone, Samsung Newsroom, Cord Cutters News, Streaming Better, TVNewsCheck, Media Play News and WORLD SCREEN
Nosheen Iqbal / Vogue UK:
An interview with Mishal Husain, who left the BBC's Today program to launch a Bloomberg interview series in November 2024, on her BBC exit, her book, and more — Last year, Mishal Husain's bold decision to swap the BBC for Bloomberg was breaking news. As the broadcaster prepares to go global …
Discussion:
Penny Crook on LinkedIn, @localnotail.bsky.social and The Guardian
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Sources: EchoStar laid off Video Services President Gary Schanman and Ajinkya Joglekar on April 16 as part of a broader pay-TV business restructuring — Echostar's pay TV businesses have struggled to compete against aggressive pricing from peer services. — Two C-level executives …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck and Cord Cutters News
NPR:
An interview with NPR CEO Katherine Maher on the impact of Trump's proposed budget cuts; $100M of the $121M NPR receives annually goes to member stations — The Trump administration has drafted a memo to Congress outlining its intent to eliminate nearly all federal funding for public media …
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