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Fox, ESPN, and WBD announce a new joint venture to launch a streaming sports service in the US in the fall of 2024; each entity will own a third of the JV — The service will be available to ESPN+, Hulu and Max subscribers.
Discussion:
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YouTube says YouTube TV now has 8M+ subscribers, up from 5M+ in mid-2022, and that the YouTube Partner Program has 3M+ channels receiving ad revenue share — CEO Neal Mohan also says more than 3 million channels now receive ad-revenue share, touts 1 billion hours viewed on TV daily
Discussion:
YouTube Official Blog, @pkafka@threads.net, Alex Kruglov on LinkedIn, The Streamable, Axios, Neowin, @youtube, Business Insider, @benmullin, The Information, @daveleebbg@threads.net, Media Play News, @pkafka@threads.net, @lucas_shaw@threads.net, @simondowens@threads.net, Deadline, Digital Trends and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
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YouTube says Shorts averages 70B+ daily views and the number of channels uploading Shorts rose 50% YoY — YouTube CEO Neal Mohan today shared what the video service is focusing on in 2024. At a high-level, it's AI, elevating creators, safety, and the “next frontier” of the living room and subscriptions.
Discussion:
The Desk, Observer, Tubefilter, Next TV, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

Former Fox host Tucker Carlson says he has traveled to Moscow to interview Vladimir Putin and will air the interview “unedited” on his website and on X — Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said in a video posted to X on Tuesday that he is in Moscow to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Discussion:
@tuckercarlson, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, The Guardian, Politico, Variety, Reuters, The Wrap, The Hill, Bloomberg, New York Post, BBC, @amanpour, @jason, New Republic, @jonathanlanday, @karaswisher@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, Rolling Stone, Deadline, CBS News, New York Times, @mediaite@threads.net, @justinbaragona, The Daily Beast, @warrenterra.bsky.social, @everythingism.bsky.social, The Kyiv Independent, The Kyiv Independent, @maxseddon, The Daily Beast, Columbia Journalism Review, The Daily Caller, @kevinrothrock@infosec …, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Kos, Newser, Spectator and Metro.co.uk

Spotify reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to €3.7B, MAUs up 23% YoY to 602M, subscribers up 15% YoY to 236M, a €75M operating loss, and expects 618M MAUs in Q1 2024 — - Spotify posts second-largest gain ever for the quarter — Company has been cutting costs in drive to become profitable
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The Atlantic cuts ties with prominent contributor Yascha Mounk after writer Celeste Marcus accused him of rape; Mounk calls the claims “categorically untrue” — The Atlantic magazine has cut ties with writer Yascha Mounk, one of its prominent contributors, after a woman accused him of rape …

Gina Carano, who was fired from The Mandalorian after controversial social media posts, sues Disney and Lucasfilm for wrongful termination in a suit funded by X — The actress claims the entertainment giant discriminated against her for voicing right-wing opinions on hot-button issues.
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Gizmodo, Screen Rant, TVLine, IndieWire, Fox News, The Wrap, Variety, Rolling Stone, Engadget, TMZ.com, ComingSoon.net, Forbes, Reclaim The Net, The A.V. Club, TV Insider, The Daily Beast, AllEars.Net, Deadline, @ampersine@mastodon.online, CBR, UPROXX, The Verge, BroBible, Consequence and Daily Disney News

Snap reports Q4 revenue up 5% YoY to $1.36B, vs. $1.38B est., DAUs up 10% YoY to 414M, a net loss of $248M, vs. $288M YoY; SNAP drops 30%+ after hours — - Snap said fourth-quarter revenue rose about 5%, while the company's net loss narrowed 14% from a year earlier.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Variety, Reuters, Bloomberg, CNN, Deadline, @thestockmarketnerd … and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Dubai-based Camb.ai, which makes a translation tool that “instantaneously” dubs speech in 100+ languages and was used at the Australian Open, raised a $4M seed — Dubbing Platform Camb.ai, which has recently been used for coverage of the 2024 Australian Open tennis tournament …
Discussion:
Sports Business Journal, Business Wire and The Hollywood Reporter

Linda Wertheimer, an NPR “founding mother” who joined the outlet at its 1971 launch and directed and hosted All Things Considered, is retiring after 53 years — Linda Wertheimer, one of the “founding mothers” of National Public Radio, said today that she is retiring.
Discussion:
VPM, @scottdetrow_npr@threads.net, @audieoffmic@threads.net, Current and @davidfolkenflik

Sources: Standard Industries, a roofing conglomerate that has invested in Puck and Pushkin, is in talks to acquire Graydon Carter's Air Mail for ~$50M — The Scoop — A billionaire roofing family is in talks to buy Air Mail, former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter's effort to drag glossy magazines into the online age.
Discussion:
@nichcarlson@threads.net, @bigmeaninternet, @nbj914 and @jbarro

Substack is running a pilot program to help creators on the platform sell ads; a writer says Substack contracted an outside team to approach advertisers — Substack is experimenting with a new pilot program that helps creators on its platform find advertisers and coordinate ad buys, Axios has learned.

An 87% majority of editorial and creative employees at video game outlet IGN vote to unionize with the NewsGuild-CWA; the group will consist of 80+ employees — The newly formed IGN Creators Guild will consist of over 80 employees — A majority of editorial and creative employees at IGN …
Discussion:
Variety, The NewsGuild, The Hollywood Reporter, @sweetpotatoes and Kotaku