Top News:
Variety:
Blackwells nominates three candidates to Disney's board to rival Nelson Peltz's proxy fight, and says Disney's ValueAct deal is “a disappointing defensive move” — Disney and CEO Bob Iger have secured votes of confidence from two key allies in the company's proxy fight with Nelson Peltz.
Discussion:
GlobeNewswire News Room, The Hollywood Reporter, @xpangler, Radio & Television … and Reuters
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Michael Flaherty / Axios:
Hedge funds vie for power at Disney: ValueAct supports Disney's board slate, Trian and Ancora support Nelson Peltz, and Blackwells pushes other board candidates — Trian, ValueAct, Ancora and Blackwells — it's a fight within a fight. … ValueAct, in turn, said it would support Disney's slate of directors.
Discussion:
Reuters, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, UPI, The Wrap, The Information, Wall Street Journal, The A.V. Club and New York Post
Ben Scent / Bloomberg:
Disney signs a confidentiality agreement to share information with shareholder ValueAct, which will support Disney's board nominees and consult with the company — ValueAct Chief Investment Officer Mason Morfit said in the statement that Disney has the best intellectual property …
Discussion:
The Walt Disney Company, Wall Street Journal, Next TV, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Reuters and Financial Times
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: The Messenger's board weighed shutting the site down, at a December 29 meeting, and Jimmy Finkelstein has expressed a willingness to sell the site — The Scoop — The board of the startup news organization The Messenger weighed shutting the publication down at a meeting on Friday …
Discussion:
The Information, @jbenton, @caleweissman, @thestalwart, @maxwelltani, @justinbaragona, @maxwelltani, @scottnover, @mediaevan and @mekosoff
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Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Richard Beckman, president of The Messenger, announces his resignation, citing health problems, and says January 31 will be his last day
Discussion:
American Press Institute and Richard Beckman on LinkedIn
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Source: The Messenger is expected to lay off roughly two dozen out of ~300 employees this week; the company says it is “in the midst of a second-round raise”
Discussion:
Mediaite, Talking Biz News, The Wrap, @benmullin, @theloniusly, @benjaminopowers, @lmoses, @carlmacgowan, @stufalk, @evolambert, @carloseats, @tomaxwell, @benmullin, New York Post and The Information
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Twitch changes its sexual content policies again and says the platform won't allow streamers to “imply or suggest that they are fully or partially nude” — Twitch is changing its sexual content policies again, this time to prohibit implied nudity on the platform.
Discussion:
Forbes, @carnage4life@mas.to, @MikeElgan@mastodon.social, ClutchPoints and safety.twitch.tv, more at Techmeme »
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
T-Mobile plans to bundle Hulu's ad-supported tier with its Go5G Next plan from January 24; Netflix and Apple TV+ are already free on the Go5G Next plan — The mobile carrier already offers complimentary Netflix and Apple TV+ on its Go5G Next plan. … The telecom giant says that it is …
Discussion:
The Desk, The Streamable, 9to5Mac, BGR, Variety, MediaPost and Cord Cutters News
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Athan Stephanopoulos plans to leave as CNN's chief digital officer at the end of January, the second turnover of digital executives at CNN since WBD took over — Athan Stephanopoulos will leave his role as chief digital officer of CNN as the news outlet's new chief starts to implement …
Discussion:
Financial Times, Deadline, The Wrap, @dylanbyers, @dylanbyers, @pressgazette, The Hollywood Reporter and @bristei
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The UK Editors' Code of Practice Committee rejects calls to extend the discrimination clause in the code to cover Jews, Muslims, those with ADHD, and others — Leading editors have rejected new calls to extend the discrimination clause of the Editors' Code of Practice to cover groups.
Aleks Chan / The Guardian:
The Guardian US raised $2.2M in its 2023 year-end fundraiser, up 25% from the previous record and the most successful raise since its first appeal six years ago — The Guardian US had its most successful end of year fundraiser ever, raising more than $2m to support our journalism in 2024
Christopher Williams / Telegraph:
Sources: The Telegraph delays its restructuring until January 31, after UK officials asked to wait until Ofcom reviews RedBird IMI's takeover — ‘Hive down’ delayed until after Ofcom delivers review of Abu Dhabi-backed takeover — A corporate restructuring of The Telegraph viewed …
Discussion:
@pressgazette
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Roku plans to launch its first 55", 65", and 75" high-end Pro Series TVs in spring 2024, offering improved picture quality and better audio for up to $1,500 — Roku Inc., the maker of TV streaming boxes and software, is debuting its first high-end televisions in a bid to continue sales momentum for the company's devices.
Discussion:
Next TV, The Streamable, TechCrunch, The Verge, BGR, 9to5Google, Cord Cutters News and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »
Ray Schultz / MediaPost:
Quebec City's Le Soleil newspaper, founded in 1896, ends its print edition, going fully digital; the newspaper started printing on Saturdays only in March 2020 — Le Soleil, a newspaper based in Quebec City, has published its last print edition and is now going entirely digital.
Discussion:
CBC News
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