Top News:
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Netflix publishes its first What We Watched report, detailing the most-watched content from January to June 2023; The Night Agent was #1 with 812M+ hours viewed — Netflix is going to start publishing a new report twice a year that details the most popular shows and movies on the platform.
Discussion:
About Netflix, The Wrap, Deadline, Business Insider, Caroline Giegerich on LinkedIn, Maria Rua Aguete on LinkedIn, Bloomberg, @loudmouthjulia, @netflix, David Offenberg, Ph.D. on LinkedIn, B&T, Magnus Svensson on LinkedIn, Ann Dragovits on LinkedIn, CNN, Engadget, Marianna Scharf on LinkedIn, Consequence and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »
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Katie Campione / Deadline:
Analysis: Netflix's H1 2023 viewership report gives an insight into its renewals and cancellations, the Top 100 list is dominated by original content, and more — - Netflix Viewership Data Highlights: What The New Report Does — And Doesn't — Reveal About Streamer's Performance
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MediaPost, The Messenger, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, @loudmouthjulia, Digital Trends, RTÉ, Broadband TV News, The Hollywood Reporter, Axios, Washington Post, Puck, Business Insider, The A.V. Club, Gizmodo, Mediaite, Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, The Streamable, Wall Street Journal, Variety and CNBC
Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:
The EU Parliament decides not to ban geo-blocking for films and TV content, after 600+ companies, including sports leagues, signed a letter opposing the ban — Parliament opted to further assess the potential impact of a geo-blocking ban, which the audio-visual industry claims …
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Axel Springer signs a multiyear licensing deal with OpenAI, which will pay to use content from Politico, Business Insider, and others to train its AI models — Generative-AI company reaches multiyear pact with owner of Politico, Business Insider and major European properties
Discussion:
Axios, Financial Times, @brianstelter, OpenAI, @axelspringer_en, @jyarow, @openai and Axel Springer SE, more at Techmeme »
Alexandra Alter / New York Times:
Fantasy novelist Cait Corrain admits to creating fake Goodreads accounts to sabotage other novelists via negative reviews, citing a “breakdown”, and apologizes — Cait Corrain, a debut fantasy author, admitted to creating fake accounts on Goodreads to bolster her own book and tank the ratings of others.
Benjamin Parkin / Financial Times:
Pro-government news outlets and influencers in Bangladesh are promoting AI-generated disinformation created with cheap tools ahead of elections in January 2024 — Ahead of South Asian nation going to the polls in January, AI-generated disinformation has become a growing problem
Discussion:
Canadian Press, @tobywalsh, @valayism, @1br0wn and @areeqchowdhury
Ruth Michaelson / The Guardian:
A profile of Plestia Alaqad, one of several nontraditional journalists with large Instagram followings who have documented the Israel-Hamas war from inside Gaza — Plestia Alaqad went from Instagrammer to reporter after her footage of Israel's assault on besieged enclave went viral
Discussion:
New Yorker, CBS News and Committee to Protect …
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
At a UK hearing, BBC Chair Samir Shah discusses Gary Lineker's recent X posts, saying that repeated rows over them does “damage to the reputation” of the BBC — The BBC's incoming chairman has yet to step foot on the corporation's premises, but he has already waded into his first scandal.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Guardian, Daily Mail, The Sun, The i Paper, London Evening Standard, @goldbart1, Guido Fawkes, @danielthomasldn, @jake_kanter, @rogermosey and @darrengrimes_
David Ingram / NBC News:
Media Matters sues Texas AG Ken Paxton in federal court, saying Paxton violated the First Amendment by opening a probe into Media Matters' reporting about X — In a complaint filed in federal court Monday, Media Matters asked a judge to determine whether Attorney General Ken Paxton violated its constitutional rights.
Discussion:
@lproulx.bsky.social, @aridrennen, Los Angeles Blade, The Daily Beast, Reclaim The Net, UPI, The Hill, The Messenger, BizPac Review, Fox News and Forbes
Jasper Jolly / The Guardian:
Hipgnosis sold 20K “non-core” songs for $23.1M, a 14% discount to their September 30 valuation, and plans to use proceeds to pay back some revolving credit — London-listed music investor sells ‘non-core’ song rights at a discount to raise cash as it battles debt pile
Discussion:
@cultrhack, Music Business Worldwide, Billboard, Music Ally and CMU
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Ampere: Disney+ and Hulu combined would have more popular titles in the US than any other service and its catalog size would rank second only to Prime Video — The streamers' merged content catalog size would rank second only to Amazon Prime Video and ahead of Netflix, according to Ampere Analytics.
Discussion:
@tvgrimreaper, @minddestroyedx, @ampereanalysis, Ampere Analysis and Niko Burton on LinkedIn
Paresh Dave / Wired:
On November 17, YouTube removed code that said if a channel is in the YouTube Partner Program, which gives a cut of ad revenue, leaving researchers in the dark — YouTube removed a snippet of code that publicly disclosed whether a channel receives ad and subscription payouts, obscuring which creators benefit most from the platform.
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