Top News:

Fox plans to launch a subscription-based streaming service by year-end that will be priced “relatively low” and target those who don't pay for traditional TV — Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch says the SVOD will be priced “relatively low” and target viewers who do not pay for traditional TV
Discussion:
Variety, Advanced Television, The Verge, Business Insider, StreamTV Insider, The Desk, Deadline, @jbflint, @tvgrimreaper, Sports Media Watch, Adweek, @by_nathanbrown, @jbflint, Awful Announcing, Reuters, @matthewkeyslive, Wall Street Journal, @tvgrimreaper, Front Office Sports, Pocket-lint, Los Angeles Times, @tvgrimreaper, Australian Financial Review, NBC News, @benmillermke, Streaming Better, Cord Cutters News, CNBC, Sportico, Yahoo Finance and Media Play News
RELATED:

Fox Corp reports Q2 revenue up 20% YoY to $5.08B, vs. $4.82B est., ad revenue up 21% to $2.4B, driven by political ads, sports, and news, and a $388M net income — The company posted earnings per share of 81 cents and revenue of $5.08 billion in its fiscal second quarter, which ended December 31.

Elon Musk accused an X user, who named federal staff in a post X then removed, of “a crime”, showing what actual government social media censorship looks like — For years, we've watched self-proclaimed “free speech warriors” hyperventilate about imaginary government control of social media content moderation.
Discussion:
Fox News, NPR, CBS News, mrcfreespeechamerica.org, Interesting Engineering, Engadget, @KarenStrickholm …, Singal-Minded, @thedetroitdiva.bsky.social, @davidaugust@mastodon.online, @jeffpfromnj.bsky.social, @stevesi, @samfbiddle, Futurism, @pmarca, @scott@carfree.city, @elonmusk, @allgarbled, @judell@social.coop, Scott Henderson on LinkedIn, @jeremiahdjohns, @samfbiddle, @cremieuxrecueil, @tracewoodgrains, @jack_raines, @mmasnick.bsky.social, @molly.wiki, Twitchy, Daily Mail and Wired, more at Techmeme »

Alphabet reports YouTube Q4 ad revenue up 14% YoY to $10.47B, vs. $10.23B est., driven by the US election as both political parties almost doubled 2020 spending — YouTube, the internet's biggest streaming video platform, delivered a healthy 13.8% increase in global ad revenue …
Discussion:
Adweek, The Desk, Alphabet Inc, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Android Authority, Business Insider, @xpangler, The Verge, Deadline, Sherwood News, 9to5Google and Benzinga, more at Techmeme »

Spotify reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to €4.2B, MAUs up 12% YoY to 675M, subscribers up 11% YoY to 263M, and €1.14B in 2024 net income, vs. a €532M loss in 2023 — Price increases, cost discipline help audio-streaming giant pivot from heavy spending on growth to sustained profits
Discussion:
Yahoo Finance, Deadline, Bloomberg, Spotify, Clayton Durant on LinkedIn, Lee Brown on LinkedIn, @xpangler, @adrianweckler, Variety, The Wrap, @shacrw_, The Verge, @eldsjal, @thetranscript_, Billboard, Stuart Coxe on LinkedIn, Reuters, 9to5Mac, LightShed Partners, @richlightshed, TechCrunch, Fast Company, Laura Baranowski on LinkedIn, @gaurib_, @thetranscript_, Seeking Alpha, Music Ally, Telecompaper, CNBC, Irish Independent, Music Business Worldwide, Axios, @spotifynews, @sarafischer, @timsweeneyepic, Business Standard, RTÉ, Spotify Technology S.A. and Times of India, more at Techmeme »

Ampere predicts streamers will outspend commercial broadcasters on content for the first time in 2025, and overall content spend will rise 0.4% YoY to $248B — For the first time this year the streamers will spend more on content than commercial broadcasters.
Discussion:
Advanced Television, The Desk, IndieWire, Broadband TV News, Variety, Media Play News, TV Tech and TVNewsCheck
Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
Memo: the Los Angeles Times is offering a voluntary buyout program to all employees who have worked at the paper for at least two years — In an email to staff shared with me, the LA Times says it's offering voluntary buyouts to all staff who have been there for more than two years. [image]
Discussion:
@1amorey, @nicksologist, @tatecurtis, @davidfolkenflik, @karyncaplan, @blowryontv, @bymeg, @byalexhalverson, @cmarinucci, @alexckaufman, @hearinladotcom, @dilanesper, @jonfranks, @genepark, Poynter, @charlesornstein, @esotouric, @lainaminute, @kateoharewrites, @sahrasulaiman, @saba_h, @mirandacgreen, Deadline and The Wrap

Mark Zuckerberg says users on Threads can now make their custom feeds public and follow custom feeds made by others — Meta's Threads is doubling down on support for custom feeds as it faces challenges from the growing social network Bluesky, now with over 30 million users, which also offers custom feeds as one of its key features.
Discussion:
@dannygroner.bsky.social, 9to5Mac, @zuck@threads.net, @emmyloop@threads.net, The Verge, @lukefoley.me and Meta, more at Techmeme »

Snap reports Q4 revenue up 14% YoY to $1.56B, vs. $1.33B est., global DAUs up 9%, issues light Q1 guidance, names Ajit Mohan as CBO; SNAP jumps 10%+ after hours — Snap shares jumped in extended trading Tuesday after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, The Hollywood Reporter, Ad Age, Yahoo Finance, Deadline, Sherwood News, Benzinga, Reuters, @dcurtis and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »

Nielsen: the 67th annual Grammys drew 15.4 viewers, down 9% YoY and ending a three-year growth streak; the show aired on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ — The awards show drew 15.4 million people this year, down from nearly 17 million last year. — Viewership for the Grammys slipped …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Breitbart, RedState, GoldDerby, Adweek, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, @lucas_shaw, Deadline, Digital Music News and The Wrap

An interview with Axios CEO Jim VandeHei on Donald Trump, why the media ecosystem favors the right, being optimistic about the future, Elon Musk, and more — Jim VandeHei, co-founder of Politico and later Axios, has spent decades at the forefront of political journalism.
Discussion:
@aidnmclaughlin and @johnlcorbett.bsky.social

Reuters is expanding its Middle East presence by bringing its flagship leadership summit, Reuters NEXT, to Abu Dhabi in October and launching an Arabic website — - London said the company plans to expand its new subscription offering to the region with its Arabic website.
Discussion:
Variety