Top News:
Brendan Ruberry / Semafor:
A man named Bill DeBlasio, quoted in a Times story as ex-NYC mayor de Blasio, says he just played along in response to Times' email and used ChatGPT to respond — The Scoop — The man at the heart of a high-stakes mix-up that rippled through global political journalism in the final days …
Discussion:
Salon, CNN, New York Sun, @semafor, The Bulwark, @brigidbergin, @mattlech, The Nation, @willmenaker, @semafor, @emilyngo, @armanddoma, @pablotorre, @jbillinson, @_vectorist, @semaforben, Mediaite, The Wrap, @armanddoma, @arifcrafiq, @alex_shephard, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @mannyfidel, @astromikemerri.bsky.social, @semaforben, @semafor, @bengoggin.bsky.social, @sturgeons_law, @jbarro, @adamjohnsonchi, @tommorris@mastodon.social, The Hill, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @joshuaholland.bsky.social, @caitlingilbert.bsky.social, @semafor.com, Althouse and The New World
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Zachary Leeman / Mediaite:
The Times of London says its “reporter had been misled by an individual falsely claiming to be” Bill de Blasio; it took down its story after two hours
The Times of London says its “reporter had been misled by an individual falsely claiming to be” Bill de Blasio; it took down its story after two hours
Discussion:
Semafor, The Guardian, Daily Caller News Foundation, @evanurquhart.bsky.social, The New World, @maxwelltani, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @bencjacobs, Washington Post, @daveweigel, @petertwinklage, @atherton.bsky.social, The Cut, Associated Press, NBC News, The Wrap, New York Magazine, New York Sun, IJR, New York Times and The Hill
Katherine Sayre / Wall Street Journal:
Audiochuck signs a deal, a source says worth $150M, with Fox to put the Crime Junkie video podcast on Tubi; Fox One and Tubi will distribute Audiochuck podcasts — The true-crime podcast maker Audiochuck has signed a deal with Fox Corp.'s FOXA 4.57%increase; green up pointing triangle Tubi Media Group …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Adweek, The Wrap, Variety, Cord Cutters News, The Streamable and The Hollywood Reporter
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Max Goldbart / Deadline:
Lachlan Murdoch says Tubi hit profitability for the first time during the past quarter, its revenue grew 27% YoY, and viewing time rose 18% YoY — Fox Corp. has been touting Tubi's growth for months and so CEO Lachlan Murdoch sounded overjoyed as he revealed the AVoD platform hit profitability …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, TheDesk.net, Cord Cutters News, The Streamable, Reuters and Media Play News
Connor Hart / Wall Street Journal:
Fox reports Q1 revenue up 4.9% YoY to $3.74B and profit of $599M, down from $827M in Q1 2025; TV unit ad revenue rose 6% YoY to $1.07B, driven by Tubi
Fox reports Q1 revenue up 4.9% YoY to $3.74B and profit of $599M, down from $827M in Q1 2025; TV unit ad revenue rose 6% YoY to $1.07B, driven by Tubi
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Advanced Television, Variety, The Times, New York Post, TheDesk.net, Sports Business Journal, Deadline, The Wrap and TradingView
Liam Scott / Columbia Journalism Review:
Q&A with Isaac Chotiner, who has been called the “interview assassin”, on why he likes Q&A's, how he structures them, why he points out contradictions, and more — If Isaac Chotiner comes calling for an interview, is it best to just hang up?
Discussion:
New Yorker, @shivambhatt.bsky.social, @bendreyfuss, @alexthomp, @ichotiner, @davidafrench, @joshuaeaton.bsky.social, @joemurph.bsky.social, @eric-reinhart.com, @mitchellepner.bsky.social, @reckless.bsky.social, @joshuaeaton.bsky.social, @ldlewiswrites.blacksky.app, New York Times, @justinhendrix.bsky.social, @deniseschipani.bsky.social, @jayrosen.bsky.social, @annabower.bsky.social, @alaintolhurst.bsky.social, @smilner.bsky.social and @zandywithaz.bsky.social
Glenn Peoples / Billboard:
Universal Music Group reports Q3 revenue of €3.02B, up 5.3% YoY, beating €2.92B estimated, slow streaming revenue growth, and physical sales revenue up 18.4% — The KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, Sabrina Carpenter and Morgan Wallen help propel UMG to solid gains — if the euro's strength against the U.S. dollar is ignored.
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Marc Schneider / Billboard:
UMG and Stability AI announce a partnership to develop music creation tools powered by “responsibly” trained AI — Following its Udio pact, the label group says it will team up with Stability AI to build AI tools that are “trained responsibly” and with proper licensing.
Katherine Sayre / Wall Street Journal:
UMG partners with AI music generator Udio to launch a subscription service for creating music with licensed songs in 2026, in part to settle a copyright lawsuit
UMG partners with AI music generator Udio to launch a subscription service for creating music with licensed songs in 2026, in part to settle a copyright lawsuit
Discussion:
Music Business Worldwide, Billboard, Courthouse News Service, Digital Music News, Associated Press, The Decoder, The Hollywood Reporter, The Economic Times, Tech Times, WinBuzzer, Robotics & Automation News, Music Ally, Udio, The Verge, Universal Music Group, Bloomberg and Reuters, more at Techmeme »
Janko Roettgers / The Verge:
YouTube's updated TV app gets a redesigned homescreen, organizes a growing number of channels by seasons and episodes, and more — YouTube's TV app is starting to look a lot more like Netflix, further blurring the lines between traditional TV and creator shows.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, Trusted Reviews, TVREV, Ars Technica, Digital Trends, iPhone in Canada, Tubefilter and The Wrap
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
A look at YouTube TV's terms in negotiations with Disney and others; sources say YouTube wants one- or two-year deals, below the three-to-five-year deal norm — The Google-owned pay-TV service also is in a dispute with Univision — YouTube TV has become an 800-pound gorilla in the media business.
Neel Dhanesha / Nieman Lab:
An interview with the team behind the News Creator Corps, whose fellowship provides 20 news influencers with journalism training and a $5K stipend — The goal of the News Creator Corps is to “flood social platforms with accurate information.” — It's impossible to ignore how much social media …
Discussion:
Tristan Loper on LinkedIn
Sophie Culpepper / Nieman Lab:
The Salt Lake Tribune launches The Southern Utah Tribune, a free monthly newspaper, its latest local news product after a Cache Valley newsletter and Moab paper — “We believe that the first thing we have to do is build something that people want.” — On October 9, a Thursday, The Southern Utah Tribune published its first issue.
Tyler Falk / Current:
CPB announces a $1.1M grant to establish a regional journalism collaboration led by Minnesota Public Radio, funding two editors overseeing four reporters — CPB is supporting the establishment of a regional journalism collaboration led by Minnesota Public Radio with a $1.1 million grant …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck
Kendra Barnett / Adweek:
Alphabet passed $100B in quarterly revenue for the first time, in Q3; Sundar Pichai says “AI Overviews drive meaningful query growth” and AI Mode has 75M DAUs — Google surged past Wall Street's Q3 estimates, with shares up over 6% in after-hours trading Wednesday. — The numbers
Alex Heath / Sources:
Sources: YouTube reorganizes its leadership team, with three product teams reporting to CEO Neal Mohan, and announces a “voluntary exit program” for US staff — Neal Mohan's internal memo about YouTube's “next frontier” and opt-in layoffs. — ∙ Paid
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