Top News:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Comedy Central says Jon Stewart will return to The Daily Show as Monday host during the 2024 election cycle, starting on February 12, and as executive producer — Comedy Central is reaching back to the past to keep its long-running “The Daily Show” going in the present.
Discussion:
CNN, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Business Insider, @pkafka@threads.net, @tvgrimreaper, Reuters, Benzinga, The Guardian, @walthickey, @hebennigatu, @mollyjongfast, The A.V. Club, The Messenger, Associated Press, New Jersey Online, IndieWire, CBS News, Polygon, Rolling Stone, @shawnhils, The Playlist, The Hill, New York Post, TVLine, Adweek, @lucas_shaw, @jbflint, @jalefkowit@octodon.social, @mattbelloni, @lanceulanoff, @joelmathis.bsky.social, @cmconseils@mastodon.social, New York Daily News, BGR, @paninid@mastodon.world, Fox News, Axios, SlashFilm, @jbflint, Newser, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Mashable, Los Angeles Times, Boing Boing, Next TV, Vanity Fair, TV Insider, The Verge, Mediaite, Bloomberg, ComingSoon.net, Screen Rant, NewscastStudio, Irish News, FOX8 WGHP, New York Times and MyStateline.com
David Folkenflik / NPR:
NPR names Web Summit CEO and former Wikimedia Foundation chief Katherine Maher as its 12th permanent CEO and president — NPR has selected former Wikimedia Foundation chief Katherine Maher to lead the network through an era of declining broadcast listenership, financial uncertainty and technological turbulence.
Discussion:
New York Times, TechCrunch, @kevinbankston, @davidfolkenflik, @digiphile, @lpolgreen@threads.net, @krmaher, @brandyzadrozny@threads.net, Independent.ie, Radio & Television …, Current, Malcolm Phelan on LinkedIn, @davidfolkenflik, Variety, @lorakolodny@threads.net, The Wrap, Inside Radio and RADIO ONLINE, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Antenna: Peacock's exclusive stream of the NFL AFC Wild Card game drove a record 2.8M sign-ups for the streaming service — NBCU already claimed the Jan. 13 playoff game was the biggest live-streamed event in U.S. history — delivering an average audience of 23 million viewers.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Antenna, The Desk, @joelmathis.bsky.social, IndieWire, Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn, @xpangler, The Streamable, @pkafka and Business Insider
Kate Knibbs / Wired:
Originality AI: 88%+ of the top US news outlets now block AI companies' web crawlers; leading right-wing outlets, like Breitbart and Newsmax, mostly permit them — Nearly 90 percent of top news outlets like The New York Times now block AI data collection bots from OpenAI and others.
Discussion:
Fast Company, @ppatel@mstdn.social, @jeffjarvis, @thebrianpenny@threads.net, @michellemanafy@journa.host, @matthewfacciani@threads.net, Kate Knibbs on LinkedIn, @simondowens@threads.net, @lolgop.bsky.social, @willoremus@threads.net, @sauthoff.bsky.social, @carnage4life and @knibbs, more at Techmeme »
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Sources: G/O Media is shopping around its portfolio of editorial assets on an individual basis, with an emphasis on offloading The Onion, which isn't profitable — The company, after working to sell its whole portfolio, is now shopping individual properties
Discussion:
@markstenberg3, @brianvan, Awful Announcing, @theadmiralty, @benwessel, @susanrinkunas and @megreenwell
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Bloomberg names veteran technology journalist Brad Stone as the next editor of Bloomberg Businessweek, as the magazine shifts from weekly to monthly publication — Mr. Stone will take the helm as the 94-year-old magazine shifts from weekly to monthly publication.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, MediaPost, @emilychangtv, @bradstone, @ashleevance, @joelwebershow, @ericnewcomer and @markgurman
Alison Frankel / Reuters:
A US judge denies Smartmatic's motion to dismiss Fox's counterclaim that argues Smartmatic's $2.7B damages claim is baseless and is an attempt to intimidate Fox — CommentaryOn the Case by Alison Frankel — Fox won the right on Wednesday to proceed with a counterclaim accusing voting …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Deadline, Courthouse News Service, Los Angeles Times, The Messenger and The Hill
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Warner Bros. Discovery, which replaced its HBO Max name with Max in May 2023 in the US, plans to expand the change to Latin America on February 27 — The HBO Max makeover to Max is heading overseas. — In the U.S., Warner Bros. Discovery in May 2023 killed off the “HBO Max” …
Discussion:
9to5Mac, Rolling Stone and @patrickdehahn
Bloomberg:
Sources: Skydance CEO David Ellison has made a preliminary offer to buy Redstone family's National Amusements, as a way to take control of Paramount Global — - Both sides have advisers, are sharing financial information — Son of Oracle Corp. co-founder has met with Shari Redstone
Discussion:
@tvgrimreaper and @lucas_shaw
John Koblin / New York Times:
Sources: Netflix plans to begin streaming HBO's Sex and the City in early April 2024, but the series' spinoff And Just Like That will remain exclusive to Max — Media companies that had been reluctant to are increasingly offering shows to Netflix, which is pulling further ahead in the streaming wars.
Discussion:
@dylanbyers, Deadline, @tvmojoe, Screen Rant, @tvgrimreaper, Media Play News, @deeketweak, Niels Langereis on LinkedIn, @tim_bays, @pkafka, TVLine, The Hollywood Reporter, @jbflint, Variety, The Wrap, Cord Cutters News, NBC Bay Area, Sarah Whitten on LinkedIn, Rolling Stone, CNBC and TV Insider
Ash Parrish / The Verge:
Twitch changes the Prime Gaming subscription payout model to a fixed rate, expands the Partner Plus Program, and removes the $100K cap for 70/30 revenue share — Twitch is making big monetization changes again in an attempt to make a more sustainable system, lowering earnings in some places and raising them in others.
Discussion:
Forbes, Gizmodo, Engadget, @morgan_sung, Twitch, @morgan_sung, @shindags, @twitch, TechCrunch and @greibach_vt, more at Techmeme »
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
HuffPost UK increased its freelancer invoicing period from 30 to 60 days in September 2023, telling some freelancers that the outlet had “cash flow problems” — Freelances paid outstanding money after Press Gazette enquiries made. — Buzzfeed-owned Huffpost has belatedly paid …
Discussion:
@jim_edwards
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