Top News:

Sony buys ~$320M of shares in Japanese media powerhouse Kadokawa, which owns FromSoftware, taking its stake to ~10% and becoming Kadokawa's top shareholder — Sony Group (6758.T) said on Thursday it will invest about 50 billion yen ($320 million) to acquire new shares of Kadokawa (9468.T) …
RELATED:

As part of Sony's Kadokawa investment, the companies plan to adapt Kadokawa's IP into live-action films and TV dramas globally, co-produce anime works, and more — PlayStation firm will up existing stake to 10% for $318 million — News by James Batchelor Editor-in-chief
Discussion:
Screen Rant, @kujikawaii.bsky.social and Windows Central

Sources: CoinDesk owner Bullish removed an article on Tron founder Justin Sun after complaints from his team; editorial chair Matt Murray resigned on Dec. 16 — In late November, the leading crypto trade publication CoinDesk published a story about the latest antic by one of the industry's more outlandish figures.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @leomschwartz, @jeffjohnroberts, @leomschwartz, @bft.wtf and @bft.wtf

In a federal suit, two filmmakers and a photographers group challenge the constitutionality of fees and permits required for commercial work in national parks — Alexander Rienzie and Connor Burkesmith accuse the National Park Service of censoring speech by making filmmakers pay to shoot …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, FIRE and FIRE

A look at TuneIn: top executive departures and mass layoffs since 2020, the service hasn't updated its podcast database since February 2024, and more — In December 2009, I visited Bill Moore, in an industrial estate north of Dallas TX. Bill was the founder of TuneIn - known at the time as RadioTime …
Discussion:
@james.crid.land

A look at NBCUniversal's push to increase revenue through live events and other “experiential” products tied to its famous shows and anchors like Wille Geist — Geist has interviewed 539 different celebrities and newsmakers during his tenure as Sunday host, and, on January 22 …
Discussion:
@dannygroner.bsky.social, @likesherlock17.bsky.social and @bristei

A look at the quickly disappearing web, as digital decay and link rot erase all kinds of media; a Pew study says 38% of webpages accessible in 2013 are now gone — The internet is forever. But also, it isn't. What happens to our culture when websites start to vanish at random?

TelevisaUnivision plans to launch ViX in Spain in January 2025 on Spanish media group Atresmedia's streaming platform Atresplayer — ViX will be offered on Atresplayer with no ads, and offer customers in Spain a library of 15,000 hours of content, live sport from several Liga MX teams …

Bloomberg EIC John Micklethwait calls paywalls “the safest way to guarantee journalistic jobs” and predicts AI would do more to change editing than reporting — Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait has called paywalls “the safest way to guarantee journalistic jobs” in a speech about the future of journalism.

An overview of key insights from the Reuters Institute's work on how 2024 shaped journalism, from the impact of AI to a decline in trust in news organizations — 2024 has been a difficult year for the profession, with journalists facing a decline in press freedom, new rounds of lay-offs …

The California Production Coalition, a group of 33 businesses and organizations including the MPA, organizes to lobby for state incentives for film and TV shows — The group, comprised of 33 businesses and organizations, is looking to push the narrative that voters in the state also care …
Discussion:
Kirsty Robson on LinkedIn, Jennifer O'Brien on LinkedIn, Variety, UPI and Yahoo News

Q&A with IFCN Director Angie D. Holan on fact-checking in India, which has the most number of signatory fact-checking orgs at 17, Trump's second term, and more — The year comes to a close for the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) with nearly 180 signatory organisations across …
Discussion:
@jatingandhi and @jatingandhi