Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Ampere: the number scripted series in the US dropped 24% YoY to 481 in 2023; subscription streamers released 77 fewer seasons and broadcast TV 55 fewer seasons — Scripted TV output in the U.S. dropped sharply in 2023, thanks to a combination of twin Hollywood strikes and a pullback on content spending …
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Streamable, MediaPost, The A.V. Club, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News and WORLD SCREEN
A.J. Perez / Front Office Sports:
The Arena Group tells Sports Illustrated staff that it will be “laying off staff that work on the SI brand” since Authentic Brands revoked the SI license — The entire staff of Sports Illustrated was notified on Friday that their jobs were being eliminated.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
A look at the reasons behind why Artifact failed, such as not growing its user base outside of the US and user confusion about its ever-growing set of features — Last week, Artifact, a buzzy news app from Instagram's co-founders, announced it was shutting down after failing to gain critical mass …
Discussion:
@carnage4life@mas.to, more at Techmeme »
Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:
Author Rie Kudan, this year's winner of Japan's prestigious Akutagawa Prize, reveals that ~5% of her book “quoted verbatim the sentences generated by” ChatGPT — One of the judges praised her winning book as being “flawless.” — At an award ceremony for one of Japan's …
Discussion:
VICE, Boing Boing, Semafor, The Messenger and New York Post, more at Techmeme »
Doug Faulkner / BBC:
Prince Harry withdraws his libel lawsuit against Mail on Sunday publisher Associated Newspapers, over a 2022 article about his fight against the UK Home Office — Prince Harry has withdrawn his libel claim against the Mail on Sunday publisher, Associated Newspapers says.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Press Gazette, The Guardian, Variety, Daily Mail, Telegraph, Rolling Stone, New York Post, The Messenger and The Hill
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable:
Google says it is not “boosting” AI-written articles as the 404 reporter sorted news by date rather than relevance, and there is no “free pass” to AI content — In short, Sullivan said that the way they filtered Google News was by date and not relevancy …
Discussion:
9to5Google, Engadget and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
The LA Times Guild calls for a one-day walkout on January 19 to protest planned cuts; sources: layoffs may affect at least 100 people, or ~20% of the newsroom — Los Angeles Times newsroom guild leaders called for a one-day walkout — Friday to protest planned cuts to offset steep financial losses …
Discussion:
New York Post, Talking Biz News, The Messenger, Poynter, Axios, @angiejaime, @nafeesasyeed, @jeremymbarr, @jessicamartinez, @joshpcain, @corbinbolies, @eedugdale, @gerrickkennedy, @cassiermartin, @latguild, @cmonstah, @benmullin, @benmullin, @davidfolkenflik, @parismarx, @bcmerchant, @awprokop, @gabemschneider, @pkafka, @aritbenie, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, @amyalexca.bsky.social, CNN, The Wrap, @imleor.bsky.social, @craigwelch@threads.net, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, Deadline, @evanrodge@threads.net, The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast and The Wrap
Ryan Broderick / Fast Company:
Former and current Twitch employees describe how Twitch never understood what its users wanted, failed to go mainstream, alienated its top creators, and more — Four years after Twitch took over the livestreaming world, its future is more uncertain than ever.
Discussion:
@gergelyorosz, @carnage4life, @djfluffkins, The Information and @mattnavarra@threads.net, more at Techmeme »
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Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: PE firm Silver Lake plans to sell parts of Endeavor after it takes the entertainment company private; Silver Lake holds a 71% voting stake in Endeavor — The group's bid will be delivered in coming weeks to Endeavor's independent directors, who will hire advisers to evaluate the terms …
Discussion:
The Wrap and @lucas_shaw
Elena Khokhlova / 24.kg:
Kyrgyzstan police raided outlets 24.kg and Temirov Live, and detained 11 current and former Temirov Live journalists on January 16 for allegedly inciting unrest — «The United States is deeply concerned by reports of recent actions taken by the government of the Kyrgyz Republic …
Discussion:
Radio Free Europe/Radio …, eeas.europa.eu, Reuters and United States Department …
Alicja Ptak / Notes From Poland:
After a top Polish court rejected the government's changes to state media management and liquidation of state media, the government declared the ruling invalid — Poland's Constitutional Tribunal (TK) has ruled that using commercial law to implement changes in the management of public media …
Discussion:
Bloomberg and The Straits Times
Marc Hogan / Rolling Stone:
As Condé Nast merges Pitchfork with GQ, a longtime Pitchfork staffer reflects on the publication's evolution and its impact on music journalism and his own life — As the hugely influential music site is being “folded into GQ,” a longtime staffer looks back on what P4K meant and how working there changed his life
RELATED:
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Luminate: US program premieres dropped 21% YoY to 1,784 in 2023, the lowest level since at least 2018; US theatrical-wide film releases were up 41% YoY — Premieres of new and returning TV shows fell sharply last year while the number of movies getting a theatrical wide release went way up.
Discussion:
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