Top News:
Emily Bell / Columbia Journalism Review:
Facebook's Oversight Board can't review cases that would result in legal sanctions, highlighting its powerlessness in difficult cases like state censorship — This week saw the long-awaited public debut of Facebook's Oversight Board, a group of 20 eminent lawyers, human-rights experts …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @cjr, @campuscodi, VentureBeat, Business Insider, Foreign Policy, Oversight Board and Media Matters for America, more at Techmeme »
Jessica Toonkel / The Information:
Sources: WarnerMedia execs are weighing 2 new streaming services: a subscription offering based on CNN content in 2021 and a free entertainment service in 2022 — AT&T's WarnerMedia, long a giant in cable TV, was a late arrival to streaming video. Under its new CEO, Jason Kilar, Warner is trying to make up for lost time.
Discussion:
@jtoonkel, @scottnover, @jackshafer, @jackshafer, @pkafka, @pkafka, @pkafka, @readdanwrite, @awallenstein, @jbenton, @brianlring, @benmullin and @loudmouthjulia, more at Techmeme »
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Peter Kafka / Vox:
Q&A with WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar on the logic behind simultaneous release of movies to HBO Max and theaters, economic fallout for talent, and Roku progress
Discussion:
CNBC, Pressroom, Deadline, Light Reading, The Verge, Sparrow One, CNET, Decider, @tvgrimreaper, Hollywood Reporter, Polygon, The Ringer, @sherman4949, @loudmouthjulia, @jimmaiella, @arlolikesmovies, @keithcalder, @pkafka, Context is King, ScreenRant and The Wrap
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
Warner Bros. says it will release every single movie in 2021 simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max in the US and stream them for one month
Discussion:
Forbes, @brooksbarnesnyt, Mediaite, IndieWire, @jasonkilar, @indiewire, Hollywood Reporter, Hollywood Reporter, @variety, Landing & Rolling, @brianstelter, CNN, Deadline, @malwarejake, @clarisselou, ВІС …, @winter, @arune, @benparr, @krolljvar, @davidlsims, @davemcclure, @mattbelloni, @gregnibler, @geekvibesnation, @pkafka, @pkafka, @pkafka, MediaNama, @kiywii, @thestalwart, @fb_bmb, @banditloaf, @mgsiegler, @chrisfralic, @hesherman, @reckless, @skrishna, @zsharf, @lexialex, @richlightshed, @karlbode, @karlbode, @anildash, @pkafka, @petersterne, @parazoner, @bradwestness, @pkafka, @pkafka, @rupertmyers, @mg, @franmirabella, @margari_aziza, @raminsetoodeh, @angelique814, @lons, @angrybiackgiri, @thisisntflying, @kyleorl, @tomwarren, @richardrushfield, @sokane1, @samesmail, @oliverdarcy, @petersterne, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @brianstelter, @loudmouthjulia, @getfandom, @susanlitv, CNBC, The Wrap, ScreenRant, The Week, The Streamable, The A.V. Club, Gizmodo, Collider, The Playlist, Reuters and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Stephanie Sengwe / The Streamable:
HBO Max removes its free trial option ahead of the release of Wonder Woman 1984 on Dec. 25, mirroring a step Netflix and Disney+ have taken before big releases
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, Deadline, Screen Time, @deadline, @carlquintanilla, @deadline, MediaPost, Mediaite, Adweek, TechCrunch, Ad Age, CINEMABLEND and Streaming
Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
~100 Meredith staff working for Entertainment Weekly, Martha Stewart Living, Shape, and PeopleTV have announced their intention to form a joint editorial union — The move among at least 100 staffers at the Iowa-based publishing giant is partially seen as a bulwark against Meredith's pandemic-related cuts.
Discussion:
@jackdickey, @esile1 and @maxwelltani
Alex Norcia / Columbia Journalism Review:
Profile of Enrique Abeyta, a metalhead former hedge fund manager who has bought Revolver, Inked, and The Hard Times, expanding e-commerce with long-term goals — Enrique Abeyta, a former hedge-funder, goes all in on metalhead media — Matt Saincome was used to ignoring people.
Discussion:
@betsymorais, @enriqueabeyta and @alex_norcia
Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:
Betsy Wade, the first woman to edit news copy for the NYT and the lead plaintiff in a landmark sex discrimination lawsuit against the newspaper, has died at 91 — In a 45-year Times career, she also became the first woman to lead the Newspaper Guild of New York and fought a sex discrimination case against the paper.
Discussion:
@nydiavelazquez, @kateconger, @susanchira, @rblumenstein, @juliaccarpenter, @emarvelous, @kubremner, @saramorrison, @lindseyboylan, @paulgoldberger, @juliebosman, @kseelye, @alexvadukul, @maragay, @tomjolly, @joannelipman, @s_m_i, @clydehaberman, @jialynnyang, @mehpatrol, @ennisnyt, @alisha__g, @harrispolitico, @laura_nelson, @joumana_khatib, @avitalrachel, @sulliview, @sulliview, @sulliview, @marclacey and @andrewlavallee
Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:
Wired says 30% of revenue now comes via subscriptions and affiliate revenue, up from 20% earlier in 2020, as Black Friday and Cyber Monday boosted subscriptions — Black Friday and Cyber Monday (which has been stretched into a Cyber Week this year) were expected to be bountiful for Wired's affiliate e-commerce business.
Discussion:
The Agency Side
The Daily Beast:
Fox staffers say Porter Berry, EIC of FoxNews.com and former Hannity producer, has shifted the site's tone to mirror the channel's opinion content — According to insiders, Hannity and the network's right-wing opinion side have managed, as if by proxy, to influence the content of FoxNews.com, the channel's website.
Discussion:
@thedailybeast, @noahshachtman and @maxwelltani
Hollywood Reporter:
Activision sues Netflix for poaching its CFO, says Netflix induced him to breach his contract; Fox and Viacom also have said Netflix illegally poached staff — The gaming giant alleges “Netflix's tortious and unethical conduct is intentional and a directive ‘from the top.’”
Discussion:
The Wrap, Axios, Variety and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Zephr, a London startup that offers a no-code tool publishers can use to increase subscription revenue, raises $8M Series A led by Bertelsmann Digital Media — Zephr has raised $8 million in a new funding round led by Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (owned by media giant Bertelsmann).
Discussion:
Zephr Blog and @zephrglobal
Brooks DuBose / Capital Gazette:
Congress passes the Fallen Journalists Memorial Act, authorizing planning and fundraising for a Washington memorial to honor those who died reporting the news — An effort to honor slain journalists with a national memorial took a significant step forward Wednesday as Congress passed …
Discussion:
@baltimoresun and The Rural Blog
Matt Negrin / Washington Post:
TV news networks, which have been slow to adapt to an era filled with bad faith, should use a litmus test for Republican guests: ask them whether Joe Biden won — Time for a rapid test for the voter fraud delusion — Almost a month has passed since Joe Biden won the election …
Sarvesh Mathi / Marker:
A look at Hotstar, Disney's streamer in India, which has 18M paying subscribers, an ad-supported tier estimated to bring in $114M this year, half from cricket — One in four subscribers to Disney+ is from Hotstar, India's largest streaming platform — Like so many other companies …
Discussion:
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