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2:15 PM ET, December 12, 2024

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
BuzzFeed reaches a deal to sell Hot Ones owner First We Feast for $82.5M in cash to a consortium of investors led by an affiliate of Soros Fund Management  —  The sale, to a group that includes the show's host, Sean Evans, and Soros Fund Management, will allow BuzzFeed to pay down tens of millions of dollars in debt.
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
BuzzFeed says selling First We Feast will cut its outstanding debt by $89M to $30M and let it operate with a cash balance larger than its total outstanding debt  —  “Hot Ones” is going solo.  —  BuzzFeed announced a deal to sell First We Feast, the studio behind the popular YouTube chicken …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Warner Bros. Discovery announces a restructuring to create two separate units: one for linear TV networks and one for production studios and streaming platforms  —  The maneuver was unveiled just days after Comcast said it planned to spin off the bulk of its NBCUniversal cable networks …
RELATED:
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Warner Bros. Discovery's shares jump 13%+ after the company announced a restructuring that is expected to take effect by mid-2025  —  Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN's corporate parent, announced Thursday, it is establishing a new corporate structure that splits its cable networks off from its growing streaming business.
Discussion: Adweek, @lucas_shaw and @mediaevan
Costas Pitas / Reuters:
Donald Trump picks former news anchor and hardline Republican Kari Lake to be the director of US government-funded media outlet Voice of America  —  U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was picking Kari Lake, a former news anchor and a hardline Republican who failed to win …
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Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
Current and former Netflix staff say the company has walked back its parental-leave benefits, after shifting its focus from subscriber growth to profitability  —  Employees worry the pullback and other new restrictions mean the entertainment giant is losing the identity that fueled its success
The Guardian:
Guardian and Observer journalists hold a second 48-hour strike against The Observer sale to Tortoise Media; the Scott Trust has agreed to the sale in principle  —  Second two-day action follows news that the deal was agreed in principle last week by the Scott Trust
RELATED:
Nic Fildes / Financial Times:
Australia plans a levy on tech companies like Meta with $250M+ in local revenue to force them to pay publishers for journalism, after Meta quit the prior deal  —  Move is designed to close loophole after Meta walked away from existing deal to use media content
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The NYT Tech Guild and its 600+ members reach a tentative deal with management on a contract enhancing job security, setting flexible hybrid schedules, and more  —  The union, which represents some 600 tech workers at the publication, had been negotiating for a contract for more than two years.
Daniele Lepido / Bloomberg:
Italian broadcaster MediaForEurope says it is looking to accelerate its plan to build a pan-European free-to-air TV hub after securing a €3.4B credit facility  —  - Broadcaster adds financial muscle to bankroll future plans  — CEO doesn't rule out a bid for rest of Germany's ProSieben
Discussion: Reuters
Julia Jacobs / New York Times:
The NLRB issues a complaint against Netflix's Love Is Blind and classifies its contestants as employees, a case that could have ripple effects across reality TV  —  The National Labor Relations Board's case against the Netflix hit could have ripple effects across the reality TV industry.
Ken Klippenstein:
Slack messages: NYT editors tell reporters to “dial back” on using photos of alleged UnitedHealth gunman Luigi Mangione and to avoid publishing his “manifesto”  —  Times management directs staff to “dial back” Luigi Mangione headshots
 
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 More News: 
Matt Yoder / Awful Announcing:
YouTube tells customers that the monthly price for YouTube TV's base plan will jump from $73 to $83 in January 2025, after raising it from $65 to $73 in 2023
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Nexstar Media, owner of NewsNation, The Hill, The CW, and local TV stations, plans layoffs that it says will affect less than 2% of its 13,000-member workforce
 Earlier Picks: 
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: CNBC plans to launch streaming outlet CNBC+ in Q1 2025, to make a “global feed” available that lets users follow programming from Asia and Europe
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Trump signs an EO renaming the US Digital Service as the US DOGE Service, directing agency heads to form “DOGE Teams” of at least four employees within 30 days

Counterpoint Research:
Chinese smartphone sales fell 3.2% YoY in Q4 2024, the only negative quarter in 2024; Apple fell 18.2% to a 17.1% share and Huawei rose 15.5% to an 18.1% share

Radhika Rajkumar / ZDNET:
DeepSeek's new MIT-licensed AI models can be accessed via DeepSeek's API at a fraction of the cost of comparable OpenAI models but there are censorship concerns
 
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