Top News:
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Spotify signs a new multiyear deal with Joe Rogan, estimated to be worth $250M; his show will be available on multiple podcast platforms and YouTube — Hit show to be distributed broadly, including on YouTube, rather than exclusively on audio-streaming service
Discussion:
Spotify, Semafor, Inside Radio, Business Insider, Axios, New York Post, Reuters, Bloomberg, CNN, Variety, TechCrunch, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, The Wrap, NBC 7 San Diego, Gizmodo, Engadget, Newser, Brandon Bauman on LinkedIn, @profgalloway@threads.net, AppleInsider, @charlesbarbour@threads.net, @spotify, @brianstelter, The Verge, Deadline, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @dada_drummer, @scottnover, @simondowens@threads.net, @hagen@mastodon.social, The Hollywood Reporter and Digital Music News, more at Techmeme »
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
The Messenger's flop was the result of Jimmy Finkelstein's blindness to bad ideas, like its traffic-chasing strategy, not a consequence of economic headwinds — The flaws in the site's strategy were highly predictable (and repeatedly predicted). But Jimmy Finkelstein's muddled nostalgia …
Discussion:
@snigdhasur, Techdirt, @theakglassman, @ryangrim, @jayrosen_nyu, @jragazzo, @scottnover, @nohodge, @jordannovet, @froomkin, Newser and Axios
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The Daily Beast:
Ex-employees of The Messenger file a class-action lawsuit against the shuttered outlet, alleging that it failed to give them proper notice ahead of their firing
Discussion:
Politico, Variety, Newser, @ellefs0n, @juliareinstein, @juliareinstein, Axios, @willsommer, @benmullin, Deadline, The Hill, Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap
Financial Times:
China-based advertisers now account for 10% of Meta's annual revenue and contributed 5 percentage points to its total worldwide revenue growth — The US group has benefited from huge but unsustainable outlays from Chinese advertisers — Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp may be banned in China.
Discussion:
The Information and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: Amazon spending on content rose 14% YoY to $18.9B in 2023 despite Hollywood strikes — While other media companies have been paring back content spending, Amazon shelled out more than $2 billion more in 2023 for TV shows, movies and music than it did a year earlier.
Discussion:
@lucas_shaw, @xpangler, The Streamable, Broadband TV News, @tvgrimreaper, Deadline, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Media Play News
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Annie Palmer / CNBC:
Amazon Q4: ad revenue up 27% YoY to $14.7B, vs. $14.2B est., subscription revenue up 14% YoY to $10.5B, and North America segment sales up 13% YoY to $105.5B
Discussion:
NBC Bay Area, Spyglass, Annie Palmer on LinkedIn, @ericjhonsa, @lucas_shaw, GeekWire, Search Engine Land, NBC 7 San Diego, CNN and The Hollywood Reporter
Will Sommer / Washington Post:
The WSJ lays off ~30 staffers as it restructures its DC bureau and shutters the US-China news team; laid-off staffers will be allowed to apply for some new jobs — The Wall Street Journal took a hatchet to its Washington bureau on Thursday, laying off roughly 20 staffers in a restructuring …
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, Talking Biz News, The Daily Beast, @byrontau, The Wrap, @katie_robertson, HuffPost, @compliancememe, @katie_robertson, @bgrueskin, @corbinbolies, @azambelich, @rubinations, @samro, @theamarareport, @bgrueskin, @theamarareport, @katie_robertson, @jhweissmann, @katie_robertson, @kaivanshroff, @bgrueskin, @feliciasonmez, @dnvolz, @rhcm123, @bgrueskin, Talking Biz News and @maxwelltani
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: federal authorities have been investigating sexual assault and sex trafficking allegations against WWE co-founder Vince McMahon since 2022 — Authorities have been interviewing women who accuse longtime WWE boss of sexual misconduct — Federal authorities have been investigating sexual assault …
Discussion:
The Wrap, WFLA, Fox News, Deadline, Delco Times, The Sun, DNyuz, Metro, BroBible, Wrestlezone, POST Wrestling, USA Today and NBC 7 San Diego
Jonathan Randles / Bloomberg:
Diamond Sports strikes a deal to continue broadcasting Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, and Texas Rangers games through the upcoming MLB season — - Broadcaster's deals with three MLB clubs runs through 2024 — Diamond said agreements averts potential fan disruption
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Sportico, @matthewtaylormn, @evandrellich, @evandrellich, @tvgrimreaper, Reuters and Cord Cutters News
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Charter lost 248K video customers in Q4 2023, partly due to the Disney carriage dispute in September, after losing 145K video customers in Q4 2022 — Shares in Charter Communications dropped 13% Friday morning after the company reported disappointing fourth-quarter earnings and a surprising loss of broadband subscribers.
Discussion:
MediaPost, @tvgrimreaper, Charter Communications, Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News and Reuters
Marc Schneider / Billboard:
Merck Mercuriadis is stepping down as CEO of Hipgnosis Song Management and will be replaced by Ben Katovsky, the company's current president and COO — Mercuriadis will transition to chairman, with Ben Katovsky rising to chief executive as the advisor eyes smoother relations with its publicly listed royalty fund.
Discussion:
Reuters, Music Business Worldwide and CMU
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Local newsletter company 6AM City raised a $10M Series A led by Tegna; news and weather from Tegna stations will be included in 6AM newsletters in some markets — Local newsletter company 6AM City has raised more than $10 million in series A funding round led by local broadcaster Tegna, Axios has learned.
Dexter Thomas / Wired:
Q&A with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on the company's music festival in Mesa, AZ, his background, TikTok and music, music labels, US scrutiny, moderation, and more — A few weeks ago, Shou Zi Chew sat down with WIRED to tell us how he's trying to make TikTok better.
Discussion:
@wired, Rolling Stone, MediaNama, Fox News, Insider Intelligence, NPR, Gizmodo, Music Ally and Bloomberg
Chris Willman / Variety:
Chuck Philips, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times journalist known for his investigative reporting on the music industry, died in January at age 71 — Chuck Philips, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist renowned for his reporting on dark corners of the music industry, died in January at age 71.
Discussion:
Deadline, @khal, @hearinladotcom, The Daily Beast, The Wrap and Media Moves
Kevin T. Dugan / New York Magazine:
Interviews with shareholders and current and ex-employees suggest that SI's publisher Arena missed the licensing payment by choice, not because it lacked money — At about 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, the board of the media conglomerate the Arena Group met after the company had blown up its license to publish Sports Illustrated.
Discussion:
@jayshams and @leomschwartz
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