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5:15 AM ET, February 2, 2026

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Thomas Buckley / Bloomberg:
Sources: Disney's board is aligning on promoting theme park division chairman Josh D'Amaro to CEO; Disney says “the board has not yet selected the next CEO”  —  The board of Walt Disney Co. is aligning on promoting theme-park division chairman Josh D'Amaro to the role …
Discussion: Cord Cutters News and NewsMax.com
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Bob Iger has told associates that he plans to step down as Disney CEO before December 31; the board plans to vote on his replacement next week  —  Disney's board is planning to meet next week, where it is expected to vote on a new CEO  —  Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger …
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
A profile of Josh D'Amaro, a front-runner for Disney CEO who oversees Disney parks, cruises, and video games; his unit supplied ~60% of Disney's 2025 profit  —  “Josh, can I get a quick one?”  —  It was the seventh time that Josh D'Amaro had been asked to pose for a photo as he wove his way through Disneyland.
Washington Post:
Independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort have been released from custody after their arrests for coverage of a protest at a Minnesota church  —  The former CNN host was taken into custody in Los Angeles.  —  Federal authorities arrested independent journalist Don Lemon in Los Angeles …
RELATED:
Richard Luscombe / The Guardian:
Press freedom groups denounce the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, saying the arrests are an “unequivocal attack on the First Amendment”  —  Groups say arrests of ex-CNN anchor and Georgia Fort are ‘extremely alarming’ and an ‘attack on the first amendment’
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
A look at Netflix's bid for WBD and the regulatory hurdles ahead, as Ted Sarandos is set to testify before the US Senate antitrust subcommittee on February 3  —  Netflix has long excelled at avoiding regulatory entanglements.  That's about to change.  —  Happy Grammy Sunday and a special shoutout …
Andrew Marchand / The Athletic:
ESPN closes the deal to acquire multiple NFL Media assets after receiving US regulatory approval; NFL will get a 10% stake in ESPN as part of the agreement  —  Share full article  —  Government regulators have approved ESPN's billion-dollar blockbuster acquisition of multiple NFL Media assets …
Trishla Ostwal / Adweek:
OpenAI says it is asking select advertisers to commit at least $200K as it rolls out beta ads on ChatGPT; two sources say their firms were pitched lower amounts  —  OpenAI is asking select advertisers to commit at least $200,000 as it rolls out beta ads on ChatGPT, the company confirmed to ADWEEK.
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Amazon's Melania documentary opens with $7M at the North American box office, above pre-release estimates of $3M to $5M; Amazon spent $75M on the documentary  —  “Melania,” a documentary that shadows the first lady of the United States in the lead-up to Donald Trump's second presidential inauguration …
CNBC:
Sensor Tower: Latin American downloads of the top 20 microdrama apps rose ~402% YoY in 2025; ReelShort and DramaBox led with 77M and 74M downloads, respectively  —  Latin America's media landscape is being reshaped by a new suite of entertainment producers, as short drama platforms …
Discussion: Business Insider
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
NBCU says some brands are paying a record $10M+ for 30-second Super Bowl ad slots this year, with advertisers paying an average of $8M, matching 2025's peak  —  Broadcaster NBC says some brands are paying more than $10mn for a 30-second slot  —  Some of the world's biggest brands are paying …
Discussion: @kennysmith.bsky.social and Adweek
Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
How the music industry is split over AI; some labels signed licensing deals for AI that mirror revenue splits they use with YouTube for user-generated content  —  A folk-pop song called “I Know, You're Not Mine” recently topped Spotify's charts in Sweden.  The soft vocals …
 
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 More News: 
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
Former GM of Sacramento public radio service CapRadio, Jun Reina, was arrested and charged with allegedly embezzling ~$1.33M from station funds for personal use
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Analysis of Apple News in the UK: Apple News+ has 1.7M subscribers generating ~$136M for outlets; national papers account for 55% of time spent on Apple News
 Earlier Picks: 
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Current and ex-VOA staff say a recent VOA interview by Kari Lake, who is calling herself USAGM deputy CEO, tramples on the firewall between the two agencies
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
Discussion: @xpangler
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
A BBC internal review found a “noticeable” gender mismatch among older presenters, with older women required to look younger or develop “idiosyncratic personas”
 

 
From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple executives question if it has the ingredients to win the AI era, new MacBook Pros are set to launch, and Apple mulls a clamshell foldable iPhone

Bloomberg:
Sources: SpaceX is in advanced talks to combine with xAI and they have informed some of their investors, as Elon Musk moves quickly to consolidate his empire

Luke James / Tom's Hardware:
OpenSourceMalware: 230 malicious OpenClaw extensions, disguised as crypto trading automation tools to steal user info, were uploaded to ClawHub since January 27
 
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