Top News:
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Spotify is removing Neil Young's music at his request, after he gave Spotify an ultimatum over hosting Joe Rogan's podcast with vaccine misinformation — The folk-rock star won't back down after discussions with his record label and Spotify — Spotify Technology SA is in the process …
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, Variety, Reuters, @shannonpareil, Forbes, Engadget, New York Times, UPROXX, Rolling Stone, @bizballmaury, @racheld, @davmicrot, @hashtaggriswold, @torriangray, @mcwm, @elopezgross, @green_footballs, @live1dnews, @rschooley, @dee_bosa, @esotericcd, @harrymccracken, @dennisperkins5, @ronwaxman, @jeffjarvis, @hkuppy, SPIN, CBS News, Hollywood Reporter, insideradio.com, CNET, Consequence, TechCrunch, Mediaite and USA Today
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Andy Greene / Rolling Stone:
Neil Young posts and then deletes a letter to his manager and a Warner exec demanding they remove his music from Spotify over Joe Rogan's vaccine misinformation
Discussion:
Mediaite, Los Angeles Times, TechCrunch, The Wrap, Billboard, Deadline, CNN, UPROXX, Poynter, New Republic, @lilaaron911, Complete Music Update, Breitbart, @jimwaterson, @alastairmca30, Engadget, @jasonisbell, @dangillmor, @bretthamil, The Daily Beast, @thedailyshow, @page88, @scottwalker, The Guardian, @anthonylfisher, @benschwartz_, NBC 6 South Florida, Twelve Thirty Six, @rexchapman, RADAR, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Financial Times, Reclaim The Net, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, UPI, Boing Boing, The Verge, Barrett Media, The Daily Beast, Music Ally, Consequence and Digital Music News
On Substack:
Substack says it will stick to its hands-off approach to content moderation amid increased pressure to censor what some see as dubious or objectionable content — Hamish McKenzie, Chris Best, and Jairaj — Last year, in an interview with the New York Times, anthropologist Heidi Larson …
Discussion:
@cjgbest, @yugacohler, @doombergt, @caseynewton, @substackinc and @dongwon
Chris Mills Rodrigo / The Hill:
YouTube permanently bans Dan Bongino for trying to evade a previous suspension; the pro-Trump pundit had previously said he planned to leave the platform — YouTube on Wednesday permanently banned conservative commentator Dan Bongino from the platform, saying he attempted to evade a previous suspension.
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
The Washington Post names Matea Gold as national editor and Philip Rucker as deputy national editor, as part of expanding coverage with more visual storytelling — The Washington Post has named Matea Gold as national editor and Philip Rucker as deputy national editor, with plans to expand …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @mateagold, @marcosbreton, @paulsonne, @griffwitte, @jayrosen_nyu, @newsbysamuels, @froomkin, @vermontgmg, @shaneharris, @ceciliakang, @philiprucker, @nataliejennings, @waposean, @froomkin, @postroz, @owillis, @anniegowen, @jaxalemany, @colbyitkowitz, @scotusreporter, @carolleonnig, @philiprucker, @danlamothe, @loriamontgomery, @ashleyrparker, @petereporter and @ashleyrparker
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T Q4: WarnerMedia revenue rose 15.4% YoY to $9.9B and DTC subscription revenue rose 11.5% YoY to $1.9B; the $43B Discovery merger is expected to close in Q2 — The company also announced that it expects the WarnerMedia spinoff and merger with Discovery to close in the second quarter …
Discussion:
The Wrap, @alexweprin, Hollywood Reporter, @thr, The Wrap, MediaPost, ZDNet, The Streamable, @xpangler, @thewrap, Media Play News, AT&T, @brianstelter, @xpangler, Variety and @jpalmiotti
Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:
Profile of Colorado-based Real America's Voice, an upstart network run by a little-known media exec, which distributes Steve Bannon's talk show to ~8M homes — ‘War Room’ is at the center of a fledgling network monetizing what some employees saw as ‘Trump propaganda.’
Discussion:
Wayne Besen, @therickwilson, @tomfitton, @ddiamond, @carolleonnig, @isaacstanbecker, @tribelaw and Mediaite
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
VAB study: Nielsen's failure to count “out of home” impressions could have cost networks $350M+ in advertising revenue between May 2021 and November 2021 — A new study by the nation's big TV networks suggests Nielsen's efforts to count viewers watching their favorite programs in so-called …
Abid Rahman / Hollywood Reporter:
Disney says Disney+ will launch in 42 countries and 11 territories this summer, including South Africa, Turkey, Poland, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE — The streaming service will debut in new countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Discussion:
Engadget, @mrinaldesai, Fierce Video, The Verge, Broadband TV News, Digital TV Europe, Variety, The Streamable, Deadline and C21Media, more at Techmeme »
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
HBO and HBO Max ended 2021 with 46.8M US subscribers, up 5.3M over 2020; AT&T reported earlier in January that the services had 73.8M subscribers globally — HBO Max closed 2021 with 46.8 million domestic subscribers when combined with linear HBO, up 5.3 million over 2020 …
Discussion:
Next TV
Andrew Kersley / Press Gazette:
Slow news outlet Tortoise raises £10M to invest in audio journalism, events, and membership revenue, and reports a £8.5M loss in 2020, up from £5.4M in 2019 — “Slow news” start-up Tortoise has secured £10m of new funding to invest in audio journalism, events and growing its membership revenue.
Bloomberg:
NewsGuild complains to the NLRB that the NYT's exclusion of union members from three paid holidays is meant to discourage NYT tech staff from voting for a union — A New York Times Co. employee union is accusing the publisher of violating federal labor law by excluding unionized employees from three paid holidays.
Discussion:
@kbui1, @thomdunn, Vanity Fair, @nyguild, @newsguild, @gaufre, @chactivist, @stacycowley, @nytimesguild and @josheidelson
Peter White / Deadline:
Sources: ViacomCBS reverses a plan to rename Paramount Network as Paramount Movie Network due to Yellowstone's success and COVID-19-related production slowdowns — EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Network is safe, for now. — ViacomCBS has reversed plans to rebrand the cable network …
Discussion:
ScreenRant, SlashFilm and Variety
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