Top News:
Christine Burke / Bloomberg:
Radio network Audacy reaches a deal with a supermajority of its debt holders that allows Audacy to reduce its total debt load by 80% to ~$350M — - Deal announced Sunday will reduce total debt load by 80% — Radio, podcast company also files for Chapter 11 protection
Discussion:
Audacy Inc., CNBC, The Hollywood Reporter, RADIO ONLINE, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Axios, Radio & Television …, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, CNN, @lucas_shaw, Inside Radio, The Wrap and Billboard
Alan Blinder / New York Times:
How US News & World Report licenses “badges” that US colleges use to promote their rankings, as critics say the payments incentivize a harmful ranking system — U.S. News sells “badges” to colleges, so they can promote their rankings — whether they are 1st, 10th or much, much lower.
Discussion:
@jselingo and @halsinger
Armando Tinoco / Deadline:
In response to Pat McAfee's claims, ESPN says no one is more committed to ESPN's success than Norby Williamson and it will “handle this matter internally” — ESPN is responding to claims made by Pat McAfee that an executive from within the sports network is “trying to sabotage” his show.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, New York Post, Awful Announcing and Sports Media Watch
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Sharon Knolle / The Wrap:
Pat McAfee, who signed a lucrative deal in 2023 for his YouTube show to air on ESPN, accuses top ESPN executive Norby Williamson of “sabotaging” his program
Discussion:
Barrett Media, The Daily Beast, CNBC, @benjstrauss, CNN, New York Post, Sports Media Watch, @benjaminsolak, @darrenrovell, @benhoffmannyt, @leviremmick, @nacholeber, @dhookstead, @rgiii, Awful Announcing, @anthony_russo97, @awfulannouncing, @claytravis, @adampatricknfl@threads.net, Deadline, Sportico, The Comeback, Mediaite, The Hollywood Reporter and Fox News
Brakkton Booker / Politico:
A profile of Charlamagne tha God, co-host of iHeartRadio's The Breakfast Club and a growing fixture in the US' conservative media for his criticism of Joe Biden — The influential radio host of “The Breakfast Club” is a thorn in the side of Democrats — but he's also representative of one of their biggest problems.
Discussion:
Brakkton Booker on LinkedIn and Inside Radio
Max Tani / Semafor:
Axel Springer launches a review of the editorial processes at BI, after a BI story claimed many instances of plagiarism by MIT's Neri Oxman, Bill Ackman's wife — The Scoop — Business Insider's parent company is divided over the publication's recent article about plagiarism allegations …
Discussion:
@karaswisher@threads.net, @alex.stamos@threads.net, @hshaban, @karaswisher@threads.net, @lorakolodny@threads.net, The Wrap, @esqueer_@threads.net, @benmullin, @chancerydaily@threads.net, Talking Biz News, @lpolgreen@threads.net, CNN, @karaswisher@threads.net, @alexheath@threads.net, @benmullin, @maxwelltani, The Daily Beast, Business Insider, Boing Boing, New York Times, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg and New York Post
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Music industry insiders reflect on the waning influence of popular, human-curated Spotify playlists, as the company shifts towards AI-driven personalization — The streaming giant's shift to automation is impacting the supremacy of curated music selections — Welcome back to Soundbite, and happy New Year!
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
UK broadcaster Channel 4 plans to cut as many as 200 roles, its biggest round of layoffs in over 15 years, amid a TV ad slump; Channel 4 employs 1,200+ staff — Exclusive: As many as 200 roles could go as firm seeks to accelerate digital streaming strategy and limit cuts to content budget
Discussion:
Deadline
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
What's On Netflix data: Netflix released about 130, or 16%, fewer original programs in 2023 than 2022, after a decade of increasing output — After years of spending more on new shows, the company is finally shrinking how much new it has to offer. — Over the last 18 months …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Mehdi Hasan says he is leaving MSNBC “to look for a new challenge”, after MSNBC cancelled his show in November 2023 — Hasan said Sunday that he decided to leave the cable channel to pursue other ventures. … The cable news host said at the end of his show Sunday …
Discussion:
The Hill, @mehdirhasan, Mediaite, New York Post, Fox News, Daily Mail, Deadline, HuffPost, @jonahblank, @johncusack, The Daily Beast, @wajahatali, @teflondub, The Gateway Pundit, BNN Breaking, @MikeImBack@disabled.social, @_waleedshahid, Variety, @sahyder1, @luckytran, @robprovince, @sabbysabs2, @victorshi2020, @mattrjbrodsky, @mehdihasanshow, The Daily Wire, @politicussarah, @lamarmf, @moawady, @therightswriter, @deggans, @benjamingoggin, @socialistmma, @mrddmia, @mehdirhasan, Fox News, @faisalkutty, @realnikohouse, @kylegriffin1, @rafaelshimunov, @claresambrook, @dylanotes, The Daily Caller, @luckytran, @abegreenwald and r/TheMajorityReport
Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:
Cost-cutting by Alden Global Capital and Gannett at legacy newspapers inadvertently created “a call to arms” that helped boost startup local news projects — Is there a silver lining hiding somewhere inside the rise of newspaper ownership by private equity? Brant Houston says yes.
Discussion:
Simon Owens's Media Newsletter and Gateway Journalism Review
Raphael Minder / Financial Times:
The European Commission urges Google, Meta, and others to help dissident Belarusian media by promoting their stories higher than those from pro-regime outlets — Journalists claim groups including Google and Meta are ‘tools’ of Minsk's totalitarian regime — The European Commission …
Discussion:
@carnage4life@mas.to, more at Techmeme »
Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:
Top execs at Bloomberg, The Atlantic, The Independent, The Wall Street Journal, Time, and Vox Media express caution and sometimes optimism about 2024 ad revenue — Media execs are setting their ad revenue goals for 2024 with an abundance of caution as they wait and see just how much of the …
Discussion:
Nicholas Thompson on LinkedIn
Financial Times:
Source: the British Library plans to spend £6M to £7M, or ~40% of its reserves, to recover from an October 2023 cyberattack that took down most of its services — London-based institution faces spending millions of pounds to rebuild most digital services
Discussion:
The Bookseller, The Guardian, Richard Kirk on LinkedIn, @catbateson, @tomaashby, @lottelydia, @onslies, @reimenayee, @patmcfaddenmp, @newyorker, @colm_m, @jamesofputney, @katherineschof8, @hetanshah, @gabbystorey, @jamesrbuk, @iyalondonwalks, @faraiunvers, @stephenkb, @kenchad, @ramblingsingh, @cath_fletcher, @fernriddell, @rafeuddin_, @bookscribbler, @prachisrivas@masto.ai and The Guardian
Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:
Universal had the largest share of 2023's global box office, after releasing 24 films that made $4.91B, dethroning Disney, which had the top spot since 2016 — Box office jumped more than 8 percent to $1.35 billion but remained well below pre-COVID levels. — Thank you Barbenheimer.
Discussion:
Deadline
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