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
RELATED:
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
RELATED:
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
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”
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