Top News:
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney, Fox, and WBD say they have “collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture”, will focus on existing products and distribution channels — The sports-focused streaming service will not move forward, the companies said Friday. — Venu is dead.
Discussion:
ESPN Press Room U.S., New York Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Awful Announcing, Reuters, CNBC, Variety, TVLine, Sportico, Bloomberg, Deadline, The Verge, @jasoninquires, @sherman4949, @pkafka, 9to5Mac, Front Office Sports, @bristei, @welch.bsky.social, @compound248, DeepNewz, What's On Disney Plus, @matthewstoller, @jacobfeldman4, @novy_williams, @espnpr, @sherman4949, The TV Answer Man!, Barron's Online, USA Today, Sports Media Watch, Radio & Television … and The Streamable, more at Techmeme »
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Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Apple releases season 1 of Severance, one of its biggest TV shows, on the free Roku Channel to lure new Apple TV+ subscribers; the promotion ends on January 19 — Apple is using the Adam Scott thriller to try and drive new subscribers to its streaming service, following a number of moves …
Discussion:
Deadline, @tvgrimreaper, TechRadar, Gizmodo, BGR, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider and The Mirror
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:
@peterschorschfl, @martinez_a, @evanhandler, @bristei, AV Club, The Information and Adweek
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:
Engadget, The Guardian, @brianfung.me, Nina George on LinkedIn, The Register, @jwharris.bsky.social, @donmoyn.bsky.social, @benkline.bsky.social, @kortizart, @lilithsaintcrow.com, @alextecplayz@techhub.social, David Atkinson on LinkedIn, Evan Winston on LinkedIn, @brunojnavarro.bsky.social, @ncweaver.skerry-tech.com, AV Club, @elanderson.bsky.social, MEDIANAMA, Bloomberg Law, Neowin, Wired, @botwiki@mastodon.social, Reuters, @the-jaguarr.bsky.social, @kortizart.bsky.social and @SuffolkLITLab@esq.social, more at Techmeme »
Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:
More than half a dozen celebrity video game streamers returned to Twitch in 2024, after their multimillion-dollar contracts with YouTube and Kick expired — YouTube, Kick offered multimillion-dollar deals but viewers didn't necessarily follow. — Video-game influencers are returning …
Ben Smith / Semafor:
Vogue Arabia's publisher Nervora filed a US lawsuit last summer claiming Condé Nast improperly terminated their licensing arrangement — The Scoop — Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch will host local partners on Jan. 30 at a party in Dubai ("Dress: A touch of gold!")
Discussion:
MediaPost and The Business of Fashion
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.
Discussion:
Music Ally, Fortune, Fox News and WWCP-TV, more at Techmeme »
Reuters Institute:
Reuters Institute global survey of media leaders: 41% are confident about journalism prospects in 2025, 74% worry about a decline in search referrals, and more — News organisations are braced for multiple challenges in 2025 that will likely include further attacks from hostile politicians …
Jon Keegan / Sherwood News:
A case study of the amount and kinds of ads in 12 shows on the ad-supported tiers of Netflix, Peacock, Disney+, Max, Paramount+, and Hulu — We watched 12 shows on six platforms to find out how much of your life you give up to save a few bucks each month. — 7H — It's getting harder to avoid ads on streaming video.
Discussion:
@walthickey, @jonkeegan.com, Mashable and The Streamable
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:
@katie_robertson, @nytimesguild, @nytimesguild, @nyguild 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:
The Wrap, @landmanspeaking, @maxwelltani, TVNewsCheck and r/Journalism
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