Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Barry Diller expressed interest in buying CNN in H1 2025, before WBD said it would spin off cable networks; a WBD spokesman says CNN is not for sale — A Warner spokesman said CNN ‘was not and is not for sale’ — Billionaire media and tech investor Barry Diller approached Warner Bros. Discovery …
Discussion:
@jeffreyt1, CNN, @brianstelter.bsky.social and @ellenenders.bsky.social
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New York Times:
Amazon's $35M marketing campaign for Melania is ~10x the budget for similar documentaries like CNN's RBG; some suggest Amazon is currying favor with Trump — The tech giant is spending $35 million to promote its film about the first lady, far more than is typical for documentaries.
Discussion:
The Guardian, New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Los Angeles Times, @tomsteyer, @ronfilipkowski, @repjackkimble, @glen_mcgregor, @bruce_arthur, @covie_93, @jayblackisfunny, Nicki Swift, @nategilbert, @bmeiselas, @bmeiselas, @travisakers, @oldfriend99, @hearinladotcom, @sundaedivine, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, The Wrap, @6thsense4u.bsky.social, @markfollman.bsky.social, @tweetfrankie.bsky.social, The Cut, The Hollywood Gossip, Entertainment Weekly, Gamereactor UK, Danielle Charles on LinkedIn, Newsweek, @ericgoldman.bsky.social, Consequence, @evansthecrime.bsky.social, @unrepentantpunk.bsky.social, Variety, @pgkroegerbb.bsky.social, The Wrap, Florida's Voice, The Hollywood Reporter, MeidasTouch News, @alx-jxn.bsky.social, NewsMax.com, New York Post, @johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz, Mercury News, Page Six, The Daily Beast, RADAR, The Hollywood Reporter, Mashable, Cele|bitchy, HuffPost, 9News, New York Daily News and r/boxoffice, more at Techmeme »
Meta:
Meta reports Q4 revenue up 24% YoY to $59.9B, vs. $58.35B est., net income up 9% to $22.8B, and family DAP up 7% to 3.58B for December; META up 6%+ pre-market — Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META) today reported financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025.
Discussion:
Barron's Online, Constellation Research, TechRadar, Dhruv Vohra on LinkedIn, @mikeisaac, Auganix.org, @mikeisaac, @mikeisaac, PYMNTS.com, SiliconANGLE, Business Insider, Benjamin Joe on LinkedIn, TechCrunch, Social Media Today, Shacknews, Inc.com, Axios, Crypto Briefing, Forbes, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Variety, MarketWatch, CNBC and CNBC, more at Techmeme »
Colin Moynihan / New York Times:
A US judge sentences a third person to jail for participating in a murder-for-hire plot, directed by Iran, targeting journalist and activist Masih Alinejad — Carlisle Rivera became the third person to be sentenced for playing a role in trying to kill Masih Alinejad, an activist and a critic of the Iranian government.
Charlotte Klein / New York Magazine:
Sources: WaPo CEO Will Lewis floated several plans to make the company profitable again; some efforts failed to pan out, part of a pattern of fits and starts — It's been another terrible week for the Washington Post. The newsroom is bracing for a devastating round of layoffs with rumors flying …
Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
Comcast reports NBCU's Q4 revenue rose 5.5% YoY to $7.62B and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $122M; Peacock had a $552M loss on $1.6B in revenue and 44M subscribers — Comcast posted mixed results for its fourth quarter on Thursday, beating analyst expectations on earnings but slightly missing on revenue.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Cord Cutters News
Katie Campione / Deadline:
Q&A with SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin about streaming consolidation, AI, residuals, upcoming labor negotiations, and more — “My mission going into this negotiation is to make sure that the companies spend as much time as necessary to fully hear the issues that each of our groups represent …
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sony Music Group and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC announce a joint venture to acquire music copyrights; sources say the JV plans to invest $2B to $3B — Sony Music Group and Singapore's GIC Pte sovereign wealth fund are forming a joint venture to acquire music copyrights …
Discussion:
Financial Times, GIC, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires and Music Business Worldwide
Selome Hailu / Variety:
Nielsen: Bluey was the most-streamed title in the US in 2025, with 45.2B minutes on Disney+; Grey's Anatomy was second with 40.9B minutes on Hulu and Netflix — “Bluey” was 2025's most-streamed title in the U.S. in 2025 — of any kind, including adult series and films — with 45 billion minutes watched, per Nielsen.
Todd Bishop / GeekWire:
LinkedIn's Q2 revenue rose 11% YoY, topping $5B for the first time, giving it a $20B+ annual run rate; Satya Nadella says LinkedIn paid video ads grew 30% YoY — Remember when everyone said Microsoft overpaid for LinkedIn? Nearly a decade later, the $26.2 billion “overpriced” …
Tom Knowles / The Guardian:
The UK's Advertising Standards Authority bans some Coinbase ads, finding them “irresponsible” for suggesting crypto as a solution to the cost of living crisis — Advertising Standards Authority says firm advised by George Osborne ‘trivialised risks of cryptocurrency’
Discussion:
BBC, @SuffolkLITLab@esq.social, UKTN, The Block, asa.org.uk, CoinDesk, Yahoo Finance, Bitcoinist.com, Bitcoin Insider, crypto.news, Cointelegraph, PR Week UK, Cryptonews and r/Bitcoin, more at Techmeme »
Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:
A coalition of music publishers, including UMG, filed a second lawsuit against Anthropic, seeking $3B over allegations of copyright infringement of 20k+ songs — A coalition of music publishers has filed a second copyright infringement lawsuit against AI company Anthropic, and it's a big one.
