Top News:
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
DirecTV and EchoStar's Dish ask a district court judge to reconsider dismissing Fubo's claims against Venu Sports, following Fubo's merger with Hulu + Live TV — The pay TV distributors raised a red flag to a U.S. district judge over a bid to dismiss an earlier injunction against the sports streamer …
Discussion:
Business Insider, MediaPost, Sports Media Watch, Light Reading, Reuters, The Desk, @tvgrimreaper, The Streamable, Latest from Tv Technology, TVNewsCheck, Streaming Better, Awful Announcing, The Wrap, Roger Mitchell on LinkedIn, The Verge, Bloomberg, Radio & Television … and NewscastStudio
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Sources: Amazon is exploring news show concepts, probably tied to events, such as Brian Williams' election special on Prime Video that drew ~4M viewers — As the results of Election Night 2024 became known, Brian Williams looked to the future. “Our country is about to change again,” …
Discussion:
The Information, @bristei and Adweek
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Internal data: Spotify had ~55M US subscribers as of Q3 2024, of which only ~607,000 had switched to the cheaper “basic” plan that doesn't include audiobooks — Until now, no specifics have been shared publicly about the company's new ‘basic’ plan — Hello, and welcome back to Soundbite.
Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Court docs: Mark Zuckerberg approved the Meta team that trains AI Llama models to use data from LibGen, a “links aggregator” to pirated, copyrighted material — Counsel for plaintiffs in a copyright lawsuit filed against Meta allege that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave the green light …
Discussion:
@lilithsaintcrow.com, @donmoyn.bsky.social, David Atkinson on LinkedIn, Nina George on LinkedIn, @kortizart, @brunojnavarro.bsky.social, @alextecplayz@techhub.social, Bloomberg Law, Neowin, Wired, Reuters, @kortizart.bsky.social, @jwharris.bsky.social, @SuffolkLITLab@esq.social, @the-jaguarr.bsky.social and @botwiki@mastodon.social, more at Techmeme »
Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy.bsky.social:
Sources: HuffPost EIC Danielle Belton, who has served as EIC since 2021, is leaving the BuzzFeed-owned outlet; her last day is at the end of the month — HuffPost Editor-In-Chief Danielle C. Belton is exiting the outlet, with her last day at the end of the month, I'm told. More details in @status.news tonight.
Discussion:
@maxwelltani, The Wrap, RedState, Fox Business, MediaPost, New York Post and @benmullin
Ben Strauss / @benjstrauss:
The NYT declines to recognize Athletic staff as part of the Times Guild but says it would recognize a separate bargaining unit; staff seeks an NLRB hearing — NEW: The New York Times has declined to voluntarily recognize the Athletic as part of the Times Guild. In letter to staffers, Times says it would recognize a separate Athletic bargaining unit, a la Wire Cutter. Staffers have petitioned the NLRB for a hearing.
Discussion:
@nytimesguild, @nytimesguild, @nyguild, @katie_robertson and Awful Announcing
Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
Vox.com announces layoffs, WGA East says affecting 12 members; memo: Vox Media names Pam Wasserstein and Ryan Pauley as co-presidents, Wasserstein as vice chair — Vox Media laid off staff on Thursday for the second time in just over a month, this time at its general news site Vox.com.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @landmanspeaking, The Wrap, @maxwelltani and r/Journalism
Max Tani / Semafor:
Memo: the deputy editor of The Root pressed writers to increase the number of stories they publish a day in part to “offset” a colleague's recent death — The Scoop — The staff of The Root spent the beginning of 2025 mourning the death of a colleague, Stephanie Holland …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
NYC-based Captions, an AI-powered video editing app, introduces a free tier with basic video editing tools, while keeping AI features in its $10/month Pro tier — Video editing app Captions is looking to cash in on uncertainty around TikTok and ByteDance's video editing app CapCut's future in the U.S. by turning to a freemium model.
Discussion:
Android Police, more at Techmeme »
Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
Disney says it has an estimated 157M global MAUs watching ad-supported content across its streaming services Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, including 112M US users — Disney said Wednesday it has an estimated 157 million global monthly active users watching ad-supported content across its streaming platforms — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat / Reuters:
Frank McCourt's Project Liberty says it made a formal bid to ByteDance to acquire TikTok's US assets, aiming to keep the app alive without its current algorithm — Entrepreneur and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt's Project Liberty and its consortium of partners in The People's Bid …
Discussion:
Project Liberty, UPI, Forbes, The Information, CNBC, CNN, HuffPost, @Brad_Rosenheim …, Quartz, USA Today and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Letterboxd, the cinephile social platform that has become an effective tool to promote independent films, hit 17M members in 2024, up from 11.4M in 2023 — Letterbox, the cinephile social platform that's become perhaps the most effective tool for independent film in a landscape where moviegoers …
Discussion:
Letterboxd, AV Club and The Hollywood Reporter
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