Top News:
Natalie Korach / @nataliekorach:
Sources: Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray spiked a story prepared by the newspaper's media desk covering the historic layoffs — Scoop: As Washington Post leadership laid off hundreds of staffers this week, exec editor Matt Murray blocked the paper's media desk from covering the cuts, spiking a pre-written story despite internal lobbying https://www.status.news/...
RELATED:
Jeremy Barr / The Guardian:
Marty Baron says “I firmly believe” Jeff Bezos prioritizes his other interests over WaPo; Jim VandeHei says “I have no clue what their strategy was or is”
Discussion:
Fox News, Financial Times, Storybench, Poynter, Liberal Currents, @semaforben, @jimvandehei, The Bulwark, Business Insider, Lawyers, Guns & Money, MS NOW, @davidfolkenflik, @jeremymbarr, Washingtonian, campaignlive.com, Slate, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, @morganvisconti.bsky.social, The Hill, Drezner's World, Crooks and Liars, NPR, Longreads, Nieman Lab, The American Spectator, PBS NewsHour, The Moderate Voice, Esquire, Deseret News, The NewsGuild, Breitbart, NewsMax.com and Australian Financial Review
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon reports Q4 ad revenue up 23% YoY to $21.32B, slightly above expectations, and subscription services revenue up 14% to $13.12B — The company's shares fell in after-hours trading Thursday after Amazon said it expected $200 billion in capital spending for 2026 as it races to compete in the AI space.
Discussion:
Blockonomi, Investing.com, BMI, Gamereactor UK, Neowin, Communicate Online, Newser, Adweek, GeekWire, Modern Retail, Media Play News, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Amazon and CNBC, more at Techmeme »
Corbin Bolies / The Wrap:
News Corp reports $242M in Q2 net income, down 21% YoY, rev. up 6% YoY to $2.36B vs. $2.30B est., digital-only WSJ subs up 13% to 4.3M, HarperCollins rev. up 6% — The company's Dow Jones and real estate businesses also posted revenue growth — News Corp CEO Robert Thomson highlighted …
Discussion:
The Times, New York Post, News Corporation and Reuters
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Lionsgate hires Kathleen Grace, previously chief strategy officer at AI company Vermillio, as its first-ever chief AI officer to lead AI strategy and execution — Lionsgate is leaning into AI, hiring Kathleen Grace to serve as its first-ever Chief AI Officer.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Media Play News, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
RELATED:
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Lionsgate reports a Q3 net loss of $46.2M, vs. a $21.9M loss a year earlier, $724.3M in revenue, vs. $705.9M est., motion picture revenue up 35% YoY to $421.2M — The Hollywood major unveiled its latest financial results as a standalone film and TV studios company after splitting from its Starz streaming platform.
Discussion:
Advanced Television, TheDesk.net, Deadline, Variety, Lionsgate, The Wrap and Media Play News
Adam Jacobson / Radio & Television Business Report:
SiriusXM reported Q4 net income of $99M vs. $287M a year ago, rev. of $2.19B vs. $2.17B est., and “robust” guidance including an in-car audio focus; SIRI up 9% — Year-over-year sales were flat. Subscriber rolls were down compared to the final three months of 2024.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Radio Ink, SiriusXM, Insider Monkey, TheDesk.net, Inside Radio, Motley Fool, The Hollywood Reporter, Barrett Media and Benzinga
Alexander Osipovich / Wall Street Journal:
Thomson Reuters' CEO says AI cannot easily replace the company's legal-research expertise, after its stock fell following the release of Claude legal work tools — Two of the companies battered by this week's artificial-intelligence selloff, Thomson Reuters and Intercontinental Exchange …
Discussion:
Globe and Mail, Reuters and Business Insider
RELATED:
Kenneth Li / Reuters:
Thomson Reuters reports Q4 revenue up 5% YoY to $2B, matching est., and news division organic revenue up 5% to $232M, boosted by licensing deals; TRI falls 7%+
Discussion:
Benzinga, Thomson Reuters, Talking Biz News, Dow Jones Newswires, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press
The Guardian:
The UK raises the TV license fee, the BBC's main funding source, from £174.50 to £180 a year from April 1, saying it gives the BBC a “stable financial footing” — Inflation-linked increase comes as ministers continue to review options for BBC's future funding
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Mirror, Broadband TV News, The Sun, GB News and Telecompaper
Leo Barraclough / Variety:
Germany is set to introduce an investment commitment obliging streaming services and TV broadcasters to spend 8% of their German revenue on local content — The German government is set to introduce an investment commitment on streaming platforms and TV broadcasters that would oblige …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Broadband TV News and Reuters
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Streaming-only Super Bowl ads gain traction among advertisers; source: NBCUniversal charges around $3M for a 30-second ad rather than $7M-$10M for a TV ad — While other Super Bowl sponsors like Instacart, Pringles and Bud Light will trot out famous faces like Ben Stiller …
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Sources: MS NOW is in advanced discussions with Crooked Media on a licensing deal to air some of the podcast network's programs on MS NOW's linear channel — When Comcast announced in late 2024 that it planned to split off MS NOW and the rest of its cable assets, industry observers wondered …
Discussion:
@oliverdarcy.bsky.social and Barrett Media
Wall Street Journal:
Inside Disney's search for a successor to Bob Iger: 100+ candidates narrowed to Josh D'Amaro, named CEO, and Dana Walden, who was promoted to ensure she stayed — Company's succession committee reviewed information on over a hundred candidates before the race narrowed to two
Discussion:
Barron's Online, Ben Fritz on LinkedIn, The Ankler, @rfaughnder, Variety, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and Los Angeles Times
Climate Policy Correspondent, DC — 
Manila Bureau Chief — 
News Reporter, TX — 
Biz & Dev Correspondent, OR — 
Education Reporter, MD — 
Correspondent - Enterprise, NY — 
News Reporter, WV — 
Sr. Director - Business & Industry, CA — 
Director - Homepage Programming, London — 
Capitol Morning Report Writer, CA — 
Energy Journalist, London — 
Energy & Transportation Reporter — 
Senior Editor - News, AZ — 
AI Topics Writer (Freelance) — 
Commissioning Ed. - Weekend Mag, London — 
CLO Data Journalist, NY — 
International Tech Reporter, London — 
Berlin Reporter — 
Branded Content Ed., London — 
Executive Editor, MT — 
Reporter - Sports News, DC — 
California Reporter, CA — 
Retirement Industry Reporter, NY — 
East County Reporter, CA — 
Senior Reporter - Law360 Australia — 
Business & Finance Reporter, NY — 
Reporter - Source New Mexico — 
Deputy Managing News Editor — 
Senior Editor - Community, NY — 
Education Reporter, NH — 
HS Sports Clerk/Reporter, MA — 
Legislative Reporter, CO — 
