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7:25 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 …
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.
RELATED:
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney says ESPN is valued at ~$30B and the NFL's 10% equity stake in ESPN valued at ~$3B; Disney has the right to buy back NFL's stake in 2034, per a filing  —  Disney has the right to buy back the NFL's stake beginning in July 2034, with the league holding an option to acquire more of ESPN.
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Disney reports Q1 operating profit down 9% YoY to $4.6B, weighed down by high movie production costs and a 15-day YouTube TV carriage dispute that cost $110M  —  Per-share quarterly profit declined 7 percent from a year earlier despite revenue growth from the company's streaming and cruise businesses.
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’
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.
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 …
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 …
 
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 More News: 
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
Discussion: Business Insider
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
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
 Earlier Picks: 
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
Discussion: MacTech.com
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
 

 
From Techmeme:

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

Washington Post:
Inside Elon Musk's bet to hook X users that turned Grok into a porn generator; sources say xAI's AI safety team was just two or three people for most of 2025

Wall Street Journal:
AI companies are outbidding Apple, long dominant in the electronics supply chain, for chips, memory, glass fiber, and more, as suppliers gain leverage on prices
 
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