1:45 AM ET, November 21, 2024
November 21, 2024
November 20, 2024
9:55 PM
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Trump says Republicans must kill the PRESS Act, which would protect journalists' records and sources from the US government; the bill is stalled in the Senate
7:05 PM
Harrison Smith / Washington Post:
Reg Murphy, an editor and publisher in Atlanta, San Francisco, and Baltimore, died Nov. 9 at 90; he was kidnapped in 1974 by a man angry at “liberal news media”
6:05 PM
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Analyzing Comcast's spinoff of cable networks, purposefully structured with low debt: the move might be a signal to the industry that it's time to consolidate
4:50 PM
Sam Gutelle / Tubefilter:
Streamlabs: Twitch accounted for 82.3% of total Q3 streaming hours, with YouTube Gaming in second place at 5.6%; Kick grew 204% from Q2 2023 to Q3 2024
4:30 PM
Manuela Vega / Toronto Star:
Rogers Sports & Media lays off more than two dozen employees in its radio and podcasting divisions, citing declining revenue and challenges in advertising
3:10 PM
Josh Hersh / Columbia Journalism Review:
Q&A with Vulture's podcast critic Nicholas Quah about how Trump tapped into the podcast world, podcasters like Joe Rogan being “politically squishy”, and more
2:05 PM
Bloomberg:
News Corp shareholders reject Starboard's proposal to end News Corp's dual share structure, which Starboard said gives the Murdochs “outsized influence”
1:00 PM
Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
Tortoise says it plans to invest £25M in Observer over five years, aiming to turn it into a self-funded, paywalled newsbrand with 100K new digital subscribers
12:10 PM
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: Comcast execs told staff that MSNBC may have to change its identity as part of the spinoff, including losing access to NBC News' newsgathering process
11:40 AM
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Nielsen: Morning Joe's total audience fell 17% from the 6am hour to the 7am hour after Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski said they met Trump, an unusual drop
10:50 AM
Liz Hoffman / Semafor:
Sources: under current plans, Comcast's new spun off entity would carry little of its $101B of debt, giving it the ability to borrow for acquisitions
10:05 AM
Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
Comcast's spinoff is essentially a garage sale of its basic cable TV networks, as the number of people paying for and watching cable networks falls every year
9:10 AM
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The Trade Desk is building a CTV OS called Ventura; CEO Jeff Green says existing providers like Roku have a conflict of interest because they own content
9:00 AM
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Comcast spinoff: Matt Strauss will be NBCUniversal Media Group Chairman, overseeing Peacock; Donna Langley will be NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios Chair
8:40 AM
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Comcast spinoff: cable channel Bravo, the NBC broadcast network, and Peacock will remain part of NBCUniversal; the new entity's ownership will mirror Comcast
8:06 AM
CNBC:
Comcast confirms plans to spin off its NBCUniversal cable TV networks, including MSNBC and CNBC, with Mark Lazarus as CEO; the separation may take about a year
7:25 AM
James Warrington / Telegraph:
Almost 93% of 600 Guardian and Observer staff organized by the NUJ vote in favor of strike action over the proposed sale of The Observer to Tortoise
6:15 AM
Anil Dash:
Substack wants writers to call their work by its brand name because “they control your audience and distribution” and “want to own your content and voice”
5:55 AM
Mia Sato / The Verge:
Google tightens its rules against “parasite SEO” content, or articles that have little to do with the website's focus, after cracking down on “reputation abuse”
5:30 AM
Amanda Gerut / Fortune:
A Brooklyn federal grand jury indicts two brothers over allegedly running illegal sports streaming service 247TVStream, offering live NFL, NBA, and NHL games
4:30 AM
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
ProRata.ai agrees licensing deals with Daily Mail-owner DMG Media, the Guardian, Sky News, and others; sources say DMG bought a stake that values it at ~$130M
November 19, 2024
11:20 PM
Kanis Leung / Associated Press:
Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai testifies for the first time in his years-long national security trial; he is already serving a jail term for a fraud conviction
8:35 PM
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
A lawsuit against Netflix and Meta claims the two made a deal where Meta scaled back original video programming in trade for Netflix data and ad spending
8:00 PM
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Brendan Carr says Trump's complaint over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris is “likely to arise” in the FCC's review of the Skydance-Paramount deal
6:13 PM
Amol Sharma / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Comcast plans to announce Wednesday that it will be spinning off its NBCUniversal cable TV networks including MSNBC and CNBC, with Mark Lazarus as CEO
5:40 PM
New York Times:
Filings: The Onion's Infowars bid was $7M, including backing from Sandy Hook families and $1.75M in cash; Alex Jones-linked First United's bid was $3.5M in cash
5:05 PM
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
The Economist, The Week, ITV News, and others have joined Bluesky in the past week, while Politico, Semafor, Tortoise have resumed their activity on the site
4:45 PM
Dave Lawler / Axios:
Trump picks TV personality and 2022 US Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
4:25 PM
Charlotte Klein / New York Magazine:
Sources detail continued financial losses at WaPo, internal competition for the top newsroom job, and staff dissatisfaction with a new return-to-office policy
3:25 PM
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Spines, an AI-powered self-publishing service for book authors that provides suggestions on edits, cover design, more, raised a $16M Series A after a $6.5M seed
3:00 PM
Bloomberg:
Source: Microsoft signs a deal with News Corp's HarperCollins to use nonfiction titles to train an unannounced AI model; HarperCollins says authors can opt out
1:30 PM
Sean Burch / The Wrap:
Statement: Jay Penske says The Hollywood Reporter has replaced co-EIC Nekesa Mumbi Moody with Shirley Halperin, following staff cuts in June and August 2024
1:05 PM
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Bluesky says it now has 20M+ users after hitting 15M on November 13, and the app has been #1 in the US App Store since November 13, per Appfigures
12:45 PM
Apple:
The NYT's The Daily tops Apple Podcasts' most popular US shows in 2024, followed by Crime Junkie, The Joe Rogan Experience, Dateline NBC, and SmartLess
11:05 AM
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources: Apple has started selling its own ad inventory for Apple News; publishers will get a 70% cut of the ad revenue generated by Apple within their articles
10:25 AM
Helen Coster / Reuters:
Sally Buzbee, most recently the executive editor of the Washington Post, will join Reuters as News Editor for the US and Canada
10:15 AM
Aaron Katersky / ABC News:
Filing: Alex Jones asks a judge to halt the sale of Infowars; a company affiliated with him, which was the losing bidder, seeks to disqualify The Onion's bid
9:33 AM
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Sources: MSNBC's Morning Joe meeting with Trump was driven by fears of retribution from the incoming administration, including governmental and legal harassment
9:15 AM
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Amazon says Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers in the US, the UK, and Canada can now listen to one audiobook per month from Audible for free, to counter Spotify
7:20 AM
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Instagram says it is testing letting users reset the algorithmic suggestions that power Feed, Reels, and Explore, and the update “will soon roll out globally”
5:00 AM
Reuters:
Sources: Sony is in talks to acquire Japanese media powerhouse Kadokawa, which publishes anime and more, in the coming weeks; Kadokawa had a ~$2.7B market cap
November 18, 2024
11:45 PM
Bruna Horvath / NBC News:
Social media users criticize Coca-Cola over an AI-generated Christmas video; many creatives say it is distasteful to use AI tech instead of the work of artists
8:45 PM
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Donald Trump selects Fox Business' The Bottom Line co-host and former congressman Sean Duffy to be his nominee for secretary of transportation
6:55 PM
Katie Kilkenny / The Hollywood Reporter:
Writers Guild of America East members who work at PBS member stations threaten a strike if a deal isn't reached by the end of their contract on November 21
5:40 PM
Aditi Agrawal / Hindustan Times:
In a lawsuit, Indian news agency ANI accuses OpenAI of exploiting its news content in an unauthorized manner for commercial gain
5:10 PM
Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:
The Telegraph calls for a change in UK law after police accuse journalist Allison Pearson of a breach of the Public Order Act over an old, deleted X post
4:35 PM
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Trump says it is “vital” to have a “free, fair, and open media” and he has “an obligation” to be “open and available to the press”
2:50 PM
Brian Stelter / CNN:
MSNBC co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski face criticism after revealing they went to Mar-a-Lago to meet President-elect Donald Trump
2:05 PM
Samantha Cole / 404 Media:
HarperCollins confirms it has an agreement with an AI company to train AI models on some nonfiction books, giving authors the choice to opt in
1:25 PM
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Brendan Carr promises to “enforce” broadcast media's “public interest obligation” as FCC chair and has recently singled out NewsGuard for “censorship”
11:35 AM
Bloomberg:
Pew: 77% of news influencers have no links or background with news outlets, 63% of news influencers are men, and 37% of adults under 30 rely on news influencers
11:05 AM
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
IAC documents show OpenAI is paying Dotdash Meredith at least ~$16M per year to license its content
10:50 AM
Pew Research Center:
News influencers survey: 21% of US adults say they get news from social media influencers, 85% of influencers are on X and 27% identify as right-wing, and more
10:05 AM
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
Gemma Aldridge, the editor of Reach tabloids Sunday Mirror and Sunday People since early 2021, says she is leaving the publisher “for pastures new”
9:25 AM
Ben Mullin / @benmullin:
The AP makes some staff reductions, citing industry changes; the AP News Guild says 121 employees aged 54.5 or up, or 8% of its staff, got buyout offers
9:15 AM
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Sunday Express Editor David Wooding becomes the latest top Reach executive to leave, as the Express moves to create a seven-day operation amid Reach layoffs
8:20 AM
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
SpringHill, founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, merges with Fulwell 73, creating a powerhouse in unscripted, live, and branded entertainment content
7:20 AM
Sohee Kim / Bloomberg:
Netflix says Beyoncé will headline the halftime show during its maiden foray into live NFL games this Christmas alongside unspecified “special guests”
6:50 AM
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Shane Smith tries to rehabilitate his image with conservatives, courting podcasters and YouTubers; News UK hires former Spectator editor Fraser Nelson
6:30 AM
New York Times:
How Substack is betting on politics content and recruiting stars like Nate Silver, as profits remain elusive; sources: Elon Musk sought to buy it in April 2023
6:00 AM
Sohee Kim / Bloomberg:
WBD plans to roll out Max in Asia this week, banking on its flow of Hollywood movies and TV shows over investing in local content to attract new subscribers
5:40 AM
Jin Yu Young / New York Times:
Australian police arrest retired controversial talk radio host Alan Jones and charge him with nearly 24 counts of sexual abuse between 2001 and 2019
4:55 AM
Max Tani / Semafor:
Q&A with Emily Sundberg, whose Feed Me newsletter on business and culture has over 50K subscribers and ranks sixth on Substack's paid leaderboard
November 17, 2024
9:30 PM
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Q&A with The Verge EIC Nilay Patel on a likely FCC Chair Brendan Carr, Elon Musk's alliance with Donald Trump and how it threatens the First Amendment, and more
8:00 PM
John Hendel / Politico:
Trump names FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to chair the agency; Carr can immediately assume control once Trump is inaugurated as he is already on the commission
7:00 PM
Erich Schwartzel / Wall Street Journal:
A look at Universal's strategy for launching a blockbuster franchise based on Wicked, whose stage show has reaped major profits for Universal over 20+ years
1:00 PM
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
ESPN tests a generative AI avatar, FACTS, with SEC Nation that pulls from ESPN Analytics for insights during pregame discussions to complement on-air talent
November 16, 2024
11:50 PM
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: WBD and the NBA settle a lawsuit, giving WBD access to NBA content and rights in parts of N. Europe and LatAm; TNT will license Inside the NBA to ESPN
8:10 PM
Anna Merlan / Mother Jones:
Attorneys for X entered an appearance during the November 14 court hearing about Infowars' auction and asked to be included on future case communications
5:11 PM
Bloomberg:
Netflix says 60M households watched the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing bout live around the world, peaking at 65M concurrent viewers, despite connection issues
2:30 PM
Freedom of the Press Foundation:
Freedom of the Press Foundation launches its own Mastodon server, social.freedom.press, consolidating its accounts, and will still use Threads and Bluesky