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8:20 AM ET, January 30, 2026

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
New York Times:
Sources: WaPo's layoffs may narrow its scope to topics of expertise and reader interest based on digital traffic, with politics and video becoming more central  —  The changes are expected to include significant layoffs in areas like sports and international coverage.  —  Fewer reporters are being sent to the Super Bowl.
RELATED:
Max Tani / Semafor:
To avert layoffs, WaPo's White House correspondents, not considered at risk, write a letter to Jeff Bezos highlighting collaborations among the paper's sections  —  The Scoop  —  The Washington Post's White House reporters are making an effort to avert what are expected to be large cuts impacting …
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Ahead of contract talks between SAG-AFTRA and studios beginning February 9, negotiators consider ideas such as an AI “tax” on studios that use synthetic actors  —  Call it the Tilly tax.  —  In the future, studios that use synthetic actors in place of humans might have to pay a royalty into a union fund.
Discussion: @xpangler and Oh No They Didn't!
RELATED:
Katie Campione / Deadline:   Q&A with SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin about streaming consolidation, AI, residuals, upcoming labor negotiations, and more
RELATED:
Roushni Nair / Reuters:
Australia's Nine Entertainment plans to sell its broadcast radio business to the Laundy family for AU$56M and buy digital outdoor ad firm QMS Media for AU$850M  —  Australia's Nine Entertainment (NEC.AX) on Friday deepened its pivot toward digital media, agreeing to buy outdoor advertising group QMS Media …
Nieman Lab:
The Guardian, FT, NYT, USA Today Co., and others are blocking or limiting the Internet Archive's crawlers to prevent AI crawlers from using IA as a backdoor  —  Outlets like The Guardian and The New York Times are scrutinizing digital archives as potential backdoors for AI crawlers.
New York Times:
Peter Chernin sells North Road to France's Mediawan; sources: the agreement, paid mostly in stock, values the independent film and TV studio at ~$900M  —  Peter Chernin, an industry veteran who founded North Road in 2022, said his deal with Mediawan met a need to get bigger in an era of consolidation.
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.
Anna Tingley / Variety:
Reporters from mainstream news organizations including NYT, WaPo, AP, and Vanity Fair were shut out of the premiere screening of Melania in Washington, DC  —  “Are you getting in?”  —  “No, are you?”  —  On Thursday afternoon, in the lobby of the Trump Kennedy Center …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Darren Aronofsky's Primordial Soup debuts its short-form Revolutionary War series, made via Google DeepMind with human voices and distributed by Time Studios  —  Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky used AI to travel back in time 250 years ago to the American Revolution.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Apple reports Q1 revenue from Services, which includes the App Store, Apple Pay, Apple TV, Apple Music, and iCloud, up 14% YoY to $30B, in line with estimates  —  Apple booked a record haul for the December 2025 quarter thanks to a spike in iPhone sales, while its services business continued to boom …
Wall Street Journal:
Brett Ratner, director of Amazon's Melania documentary, filmed President Trump for a planned documentary-style project about the 2020 Abraham Accords  —  How a former Hollywood player, ‘Rush Hour’ director Brett Ratner, found himself in the epicenter of global power
RELATED:
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
 
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 More News: 
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Joe Rogan says he declined to pay the $500 entry fee for the new Golden Globes podcast award, won by Amy Poehler, because “I don't want to be a part of that”
Mike Fleming Jr / Deadline:
Former Lionsgate executive Nathan Kahane launches True North, with backing from Entertainment 360, to produce and finance films from emerging filmmakers
Ben Horney / Front Office Sports:
Source: the NFL won't allow prediction-market ads during Super Bowl LX on February 8, but sports betting ads are allowed, reportedly limited to six total ads
 Earlier Picks: 
The Atlantic:
The Atlantic hires David Brooks as a staff writer and host of a new weekly video podcast, starting in February, after 22 years as an NYT opinion columnist
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Atlas Obscura reports $18.3M in revenue in 2025 and a $2.6M profit, the first annual profit in its 16-year history, in the first year under CEO Louise Story
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
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple reports Q1 revenue up 16% YoY to $143.76B, vs. $138.48B est., net income up 16% YoY to $42.1B, and EPS of $2.84, above $2.67 est.

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: OpenAI is laying the groundwork for an IPO in Q4 2026, and its executives have privately expressed concerns about Anthropic beating OpenAI to an IPO

Reuters:
Source: SpaceX and xAI are in talks to merge ahead of a planned IPO this year; under the proposed deal, shares of xAI would be exchanged for shares in SpaceX
 
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