Mediagazer: Sources: BuzzFeed is close to selling most of Complex Networks to livestream shopping startup Ntwrk for a little above $100M, far below Jonah Peretti's target (The Information)

BuzzFeed, a 2016 media star with a current market cap around $36M, needs another $100M after its sale of Complex Networks to pay down debt due at 2024's end — Let's hope all those wannabe digital media entrepreneurs are paying attention to the slow disintegration of BuzzFeed, the media star of 2016.

Jaspreet Singh / Reuters:

Filing: BuzzFeed President Marcela Martin intends to resign on January 12 to pursue other opportunities; the CEO and others plan to absorb her responsibilities — BuzzFeed's (BZFD.O) Marcela Martin has announced her intention to resign as president effective Jan. 12 to pursue other opportunities, the digital media firm said on Friday.

Discussion: US Securities …, @zerohedge and Jaspreet Singh on LinkedIn

The Information:

Sources: BuzzFeed is close to selling most of Complex Networks to livestream shopping startup Ntwrk for a little above $100M, far below Jonah Peretti's target — After months of discussions, BuzzFeed is close to an agreement to sell most of its Complex Networks business to Ntwrk …

Discussion: @tomaxwell and @theinformation, more at Techmeme »

Alex Griffing / Mediaite:

Fox News was 2023's most watched US network, followed by MSNBC, the only one to grow viewers YoY; MSNBC's average viewer was 70, Fox's was 69, and CNN's was 67 — The cable news industry had an undeniably rough 2023, ending the tumultuous year with fewer eyeballs as cord-cutting continues …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, @joelmathis.bsky.social, The Willis Report, @jeffreymberry, @scottbrodbeck, @civex and @owillis.bsky.social

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Newsmax's ratings, which soared after Fox News ousted Tucker Carlson, have gradually declined; Q4 primetime ratings fell 14% QoQ but were higher than in 2022

Discussion: The Hill and Next TV

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Sources: for months, OpenAI has held talks with major news publishers including Gannett, News Corp, and IAC about the price and terms of licensing their content — Several major publishers have been in talks to license content to the creator of ChatGPT, but agreement on the price and terms has been elusive.

Discussion: @grecianformula, @minimaxir, PYMNTS.com, @benjaminmullin@threads.net, @davidclinchnews, Tales from a Phoenix, New York Daily News and @MattHodges@mastodon.social, more at Techmeme »

The Hollywood Reporter:

Netflix stock ended 2023 up 65% YoY, and Spotify jumped 139% YoY; Roku, Lionsgate, Sony Group, and NBCUniversal owner Comcast were also media sector winners — Renewed sector deal chatter helped boost some stocks late in the year despite questions about the advertising and streaming outlook.

Discussion: Variety

Financial Times:
Disney, WBD, Comcast, and Paramount face a year of reckoning in 2024 after losing $5B+ in 2023 from the streaming services they built to compete with Netflix

Discussion: Awful Announcing, Sports Business Journal, The Wrap, Deadline, Chris Heatherly on LinkedIn, The Hollywood Reporter, Puck, @carnage4life@mas.to, Liz Spaulding on LinkedIn and Cord Cutters News

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:

WBD acquires BluTV, a streamer launched in Turkey in 2016, to focus on Turkish- and Arabic-speaking audiences globally — The streamer offers premium originals, Turkish TV series and movies, as well as Hollywood and international series and films. … Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Discussion: The Desk, Variety, Deadline, Francesco Perta on LinkedIn, Mustafa Alpay Guler on LinkedIn, Advanced Television, Fadi Ismail on LinkedIn, Broadband TV News and Richard Lambert on LinkedIn

Gary Marcus / Marcus on AI:

OpenAI and others will likely face more copyright lawsuits as systems like DALL-E produce copyright-infringing materials without attribution or informing users — At around the same time as news of the New York Times lawsuit vs OpenAI broke, Reid Southen, the film industry concept artist …

Discussion: @ylecun, @burkov, @ceciliazin, @nelkmarge, @venturetwins, @emollick, @bobehayes, @peterhense, @benlandautaylor, @ceciliazin, @yoda, Frith Tweedie on LinkedIn, Gary Marcus on LinkedIn and Jon Lam on LinkedIn, more at Techmeme »

CNBC:

Altice USA sells Cheddar News to media company Archetype, which is owned by private equity firm Regent; source: the terms are structured as an “earn out” deal — - Cheddar News-owner Altice USA announced Thursday it has sold the financial news streaming service to the media company Archetype …

Discussion: The Desk, @tomgara, @rafat, Cord Cutters News, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, The Information, Cheddar News, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Talking Biz News and NBC 7 San Diego

Angela Fu / Poynter:

Research: the US news industry cut 2,681 jobs from January to November 2023, not including buyouts, more than in all of 2022 or 2021, and 130+ newspapers closed — It's a sharp reversal from the last two years, when layoffs fell and some news outlets even expanded.

Discussion: @joelmathis.bsky.social and Joel Marino on LinkedIn

Eugene Weekly:

Oregon-based Eugene Weekly cancels its print edition after discovering that “EW had been the victim of embezzlement at the hands of someone we once trusted” — EUGENE WEEKLY IS FIGHTING TO COME BACK AFTER A MASSIVE FINANCIAL BLOW — Eugene Weekly is this town.

Discussion: The Desk, @mangotable@famichiki.jp, @NIH_LLAMAS@mastodon.social, @slowenough@mastodon.social and MediaPost

Leyla Latypova / The Moscow Times:

How Russia's independent media fared in 2023: imprisoned media workers grew from 11 to 28 as wartime censorship laws forced some outlets to cease all operations — The past year has been another troubling one for the Russian free press. — Russian officials branded scores of independent news outlets …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Talking Biz News, Reporters Without Borders, The Hill and @sambreazeale2

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

A profile of Francesca Street, whose Chance Encounters love stories for CNN.com appeared five times on Chartbeat's list of 2023's most-engaging stories — The 29-year-old CNN reporter, who writes about love and romance, was one of 2023′s most popular reporters

Discussion: Francesca Street on LinkedIn and @farhip

Chartbeat Blog:
A list of 2023's most engaging stories: CNN had the most entries on the list, and most prominent themes were “catastrophe”, “memorial”, and “human connection”

Discussion: Mediaite, @kevinroose, @noahshachtman and @gaydos_