Top News:
Katie Deighton / Wall Street Journal:
ShopMy, which lets brands run influencer marketing efforts, raised a $77.5M Series B led by Bessemer and Bain, sources say at a $410M valuation vs. $80M in 2024 — Tech firms that speed up and automate brands' partnerships with social-media influencers are becoming hot commodities as advertisers scramble to reach consumers online
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Similarweb: RedNote's DAUs in the US fell by 54% on January 20 when the TikTok ban was put on hold, after reaching a high of 32.5M DAUs on the day of the ban — In the days leading up to the TikTok ban in the U.S. on Sunday, U.S. users flooded the Chinese app RedNote, which offered …
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Flip, which lets shoppers share video reviews and earn cash based on engagement, launches a creator fund that grants up to $100M of equity over 5+ years — Flip is a social commerce app that lets shoppers become creators. They can share honest reviews and earn cash based on engagement on the platform.
Discussion:
Tubefilter and Yuval Rechter on LinkedIn
Adweek:
Newsweek generated $90M in revenue at a profit margin of 20% in 2024, up from $20M revenue in 2018; digital advertising made up 63% of revenue in 2024 — The publisher has shaken off its legal woes and super-sized its reach — The general interest publisher Newsweek …
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Source: Allen Media Group reverses some of its plans to lay off 100+ local TV meteorologists and outsource regional weather forecasts to its Atlanta facilities — Allen Media Group has reversed some of its plans to lay off more than 100 local television meteorologists and outsource regional weather forecasts …
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Len Blavatnik invests $827M in DAZN, bringing his total to $6.7B, as DAZN eyes Middle East funding to become the “Spotify of sport” — Commitment takes billionaire's investments in DAZN to more than $6.7bn since the streaming service was founded in 2016
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Broadband TV News and The Streamable
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Meta begins a “limited, early test” of ads in Threads in the US and Japan, with the goal of making the ads “as interesting as organic content” — Meta's X rival Threads said Friday that it is now testing ads with select brands in the U.S. and Japan.
Melanie Goodfellow / Deadline:
Apple TV+ signs a four-year agreement with French audiovisual groups, investing 20% of its net annual France turnover in European and French content — The accord, which does not cover cinema, will see the platform adhere to obligations set out in France's 2021 SMAD decree governing investment quotas …
Charlotte Klein / New York Magazine:
David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker for over a quarter of a century, remains at work amid speculation over his potential successor as the magazine turns 100 — Staffers of The New Yorker who go into the office, as Condé Nast now requires them to do, have noticed something different …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, The Wrap, New Yorker, @mediaevan, Variety, Deadline, @charlottetklein, @simonowens and RedState
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
In a statement to UK's Culture, Media, and Sport Committee, BBC says a funding crisis, caused by license fee cuts and more, is affecting multiple TV productions — The BBC has issued the starkest warning yet about the UK scripted funding crisis, telling lawmakers that multiple greenlit series are “stuck in limbo.”
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck and UK Parliament Committees
Sahil Patel / The Information:
Sources: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy set an internal goal for Prime Video to be profitable by the end of 2025, focusing on live sports to boost its ad revenue — In the summer of 2022, a year after becoming CEO of Amazon, Andy Jassy wanted the executives running the company's Prime Video business …
Discussion:
Reuters and @tvgrimreaper
Brier Dudley / The Seattle Times:
Washington state legislators introduce a bill to provide journalism grants that would be funded by increasing a business tax surcharge on big software companies — {"uid":"1","hostPeerName":"https:// www.seattletimes.com","initialGeometry" :"{\"windowCoords_ t\":10,\"windowCoords_r\":1583 …
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