Top News:
BBC R&D:
The BBC plans to continue its Mastodon trial for at least six months and publish its work using ActivityPub, after gaining 60K followers on six trial accounts — In July 2023 we announced our plan to establish a BBC presence in the distributed collection of social networks known as the Fediverse …
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Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Walmart is in talks to buy smart TV manufacturer Vizio for $2B+, as the company looks to bolster its advertising business in its battle with Amazon — Retail giant discussing a more than $2 billion deal that would boost its advertising business in battle with Amazon
Discussion:
Next in Media, Engadget, Media Play News, Variety, The Streamable, Victor Elmann on LinkedIn, @anshelsag, Timothy Edwards on LinkedIn, David J. Katz on LinkedIn, Christine Grammier on LinkedIn, Digiday, MediaPost, Bloomberg, LightShed Partners, The Desk, The Information, The Verge, 9to5Google, Reuters and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »
Sara Fischer / Axios:
An interview with Jimmy Finkelstein, who says The Messenger's model was working and the outlet would have been profitable by August 2024 if it had raised $20M — The Messenger CEO Jimmy Finkelstein told Axios he did not mislead a New York Times reporter about the company's revenue …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Poynter, @jakewilkns, @pressgazette, @mradamtaylor, @jimlaporta, @sarafischer, @coreypein.bsky.social and @tomgara
Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
Jon Stewart's Daily Show return drew 930K viewers, the most for a Daily Show installment in almost six years; simulcasts brought the total to 1.85M viewers — Comedy Central records its most watched episode of the late night show since March 2018. — The reunion of Jon Stewart …
Discussion:
Axios, Barrett News Media, Associated Press, The Independent, The Wrap, Variety, Liza Burnett Fefferman on LinkedIn, UPROXX, The A.V. Club, @deanobeidallah@threads.net, @iamspoonbedner.bsky.social, @adamkotsko.bsky.social, @reallyseansmith.bsky.social, Rolling Stone, @bartholomewb.bsky.social, @bencollins.bsky.social, @sudsterkel.bsky.social, New York Times, MSNBC, @daviddarmofal.bsky.social, NPR, Next TV, @screamerjim.bsky.social, New Yorker, @emilystjams.bsky.social, Boing Boing and The Daily Beast
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
In a letter to the WHCA, the White House expresses concern over media coverage of the Special Counsel's report on Joe Biden's handling of classified material — Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.
Committee to Protect Journalists:
Iranian authorities raided the newsroom of economic news site FardayeEghtesad on February 5, initially detaining 30 staff; four journalists are still detained — Washington, D.C., February 13, 2024—Iranian authorities must immediately release four journalists from the FardayeEghtesad news site …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Geraldo Rivera joins Nexstar Media's NewsNation as a correspondent at large; Rivera left Fox News in 2023 due to tensions with Greg Gutfeld — Geraldo Rivera, a longtime news correspondent and talk-show host with a knack for the theatrical, is taking up roots at a new outlet.
Natalie Korach / The Wrap:
As The Daily Beast put Confider on hiatus, weeks after editor at large Lachlan Cartwright left, sources say the media newsletter could instead be “dead” — “We decided to put Confider on hiatus after Lachlan Cartwright, who initiated it, departed The Daily Beast,” The Daily Beast editor in chief said in a statement
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Mail publisher DMGT reports 2023 revenue up 2% YoY to £997M and a pre-tax loss of £12.6M, as a £63M growth in B2B events revenue offset consumer media decline — Print advertising revenue dropped by 16% in the year to 30 September 2023. — Mail publisher DMGT grew revenue …
Discussion:
Daily Mail and General Trust plc
James Ball / Columbia Journalism Review:
How Reddit, after the catastrophic online manhunt to find the Boston Marathon bomber, quietly became a civilized place to discuss news, due to strong moderation — Twitter had been our place. Where journalists gathered and pored over news in as near to real time as possible.
Discussion:
@jamesrbuk, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Pete Distad, who was in charge of Apple's video and sports businesses, is among the top CEO candidates for the Disney/Fox/WBD streaming venture — Planned venture from Disney, Warner and Fox would combine their live-sports channels into a streaming package
Discussion:
Barrett Media, @dylanbyers and The Desk
Patrick Frater / Variety:
Sony Pictures reports Q3 sales up 5% YoY to $2.47B, operating income up 56% to $281M; Sony Music revenue up 16% YoY to $2.81B, operating income up 21% to $507M — Operating income at the ‘Pictures Division’ of Sony Group Corporation climbed by 56% to hit $281 million in the October to December 2023 quarter …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Sony Group, Sony Group, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Associated Press and Sony Group, more at Techmeme »
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