Top News:
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
FCC Chair Brendan Carr releases the CBS Harris transcript and seeks comment on a complaint about a CBS station; commissioner Anna Gomez calls the moves reckless — The complete interview, which is at the center of a lawsuit filed by President Trump, shows that “60 Minutes” aired a concise version of Ms. Harris's answer on Israel.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Voice of America, @davidguilbault.bsky.social, @brendancarrfcc, Federal Communications Commission, Twitchy, Federal Communications Commission, Reuters, @agomezfcc, ZeroHedge News, Inside Radio, @agomezfcc, Fox News, Associated Press, @agomezfcc, CNN, Los Angeles Times, Daily Mail, New York Post, Deadline and IJR
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CBS News:
60 Minutes publishes transcripts and video from its interview with VP Kamala Harris that the FCC requested, as the agency reviews the Paramount-Skydance merger — We are posting the same transcripts and videos of our interview with Vice President Kamala Harris that we provided to the FCC.
Discussion:
TV Tech, UPI, Fox News, The Daily Wire, Washington Examiner, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, The Independent, Variety, New York Post, Reason, freebeacon.com, Deadline, The Post Millennial, ZeroHedge News, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Radio & Television …, New York Times, TVNewsCheck, Mediaite and The Hill
Erik Hayden / The Hollywood Reporter:
The NYT says it spent $10.8M on costs associated with generative AI litigation in 2024, one of the few outlets that can afford to engage in yearslong litigation — The paper, buoyed by its 11 million-plus paid subscribers, is one of the few news outlets that can afford to engage in yearslong litigation with Big Tech.
Discussion:
Plagiarism Today, @tvgrimreaper, TVNewsCheck and @proggrrl.bsky.social
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The New York Times Company:
The NYT reports Q4 revenue up 7.5% YoY to $726.6M, subscription revenue up 16% YoY to $334.9M, and operating profit up 13.6% YoY to $146.6M
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Bob Iger says an ESPN streaming service will have “some form of betting and fantasy and a high degree of customization” at its fall 2025 launch — Disney wants to make ESPN's content as accessible as possible. — Disney wants to make ESPN's content as accessible as possible.
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
In Q1, Disney+ lost a net 700,000 customers worldwide while Hulu gained 1.6M, and operating income hit $312M, up from a $224M loss in Q1 2024, driven by Moana 2
Axios:
WH press secretary Karoline Leavitt, answering claims that USAID spent millions on Politico subscriptions, says DOGE will cancel $8M in Politico subscriptions — - Right-wing personalities are using USAspending.gov to dig up more payments from the government to media organizations …
Discussion:
CNN, @knittingknots2@mstdn.social, HotAir, @byrontau, @kylenabecker, @ike_saul, @willsommer, The Gateway Pundit, @scottnover, @vtg2, The Wrap, New York Post, Lead Stories, @SteveThompson@mastodon.social, Twitchy, @_cingraham, The Dispatch, TVNewsCheck, @voberoi, @ike_saul, freebeacon.com, The Daily Caller, One America News Network, Fox News, New Republic, Shore News Network, Blaze Media, Mediaite, Breitbart, Washington Post and The Post Millennial
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Burnie Burns, a co-founder of online video pioneer Rooster Teeth, says his company, Box Canyon Productions, acquired the Rooster Teeth brand and assets from WBD — “I am excited at the challenge of bringing Rooster Teeth back to its roots,” Burns said in a statement.
Discussion:
Deadline, Cord Cutters News, Polygon, Tubefilter and Comic Book
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sonos is laying off about 200 employees, or 12% of its staff, as it reorganizes to make its product teams “flatter, smaller, and more focused” — Sonos Inc. said it's cutting about 12% of its staff, or 200 workers, in a bid to make its product teams “flatter, smaller and more focused.”
Discussion:
TechCrunch, The Verge, Engadget, MacRumors, Sonos, The Streamable, Digital Music News and Tom's Guide, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: OpenAI is expected to air its first TV ad during Sunday's Super Bowl; MediaRadar: AI companies spent $332M on ads in 2024, over double their 2023 spend — The TV spot marks the artificial-intelligence company's biggest foray into consumer advertising to date
Discussion:
Reuters, Adweek and The TV Answer Man!, more at Techmeme »
Ernie Smith / Tedium:
WBD has released more than 30 movies on YouTube for free across five channels over the past month, apparently without DRM; some are gems, some are stinkers — A major studio is apparently treating YouTube as a place to drop some of its archive films that have lost their cinematic luster.
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Lara Trump will begin hosting a weekend show on Fox News on Feb. 22; there is no precedent for a sitting president's relative to host a show on a major channel — There is no precedent for a sitting president's relative to host a show on a major television news channel.
Discussion:
Axios, TVNewsCheck, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, HuffPost, NBC News, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, Reuters, The US Sun, Los Angeles Times, Forbes, The Independent, @franklinleonard, @poniewozik.bsky.social, The Boston Globe, @mattgertz, @GottaLaff@mstdn.social, New York Post, @brianstelter, Adweek, Deadline, TVLine, @keitholbermann, Washington Examiner, So What, @yashar, Mediaite, @pkafka, The Wrap, Associated Press, Daily Kos, Daily Mail, NewscastStudio, The Daily Caller, Variety, NBC Bay Area, New York Daily News, Fox News, The Hollywood Reporter and Barrett Media
Kyle Buchanan / New York Times:
How online Oscar scandals have caught awards strategists who once influenced via whisper campaigns flat-footed, as Netflix struggles to deal with Emilia Pérez — As Karla Sofía Gascón's resurfaced social media posts upend the campaign for the year's most-nominated film, what happens now?
Discussion:
Deadline, Extra, Forbes, UnHerd, HOLA!, Digital Trends, GoldDerby, BBC, The Hollywood Reporter, Townhall, GB News, Rolling Stone, RADAR, Just Jared, Variety, The Wrap, IndieWire, HotAir, New York Post, Los Angeles Times and Sandra Rose
Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
How Trump shutting down USAID, which boasted in recent years of supporting 6,000+ journalists and 700 newsrooms in 30+ countries, affects journalism globally — What the aid funding freeze means for independent journalism around the world. — Over the weekend, amid spiraling headlines …
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
The foreperson of the Florida jury that found CNN defamed a US Navy veteran says she would've awarded ~$100M, not $5M, and the “public is fed up with fake news” — In a Florida courtroom last month, a plaintiff's attorney asked jurors to “send a message” by holding CNN accountable …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck
Liam Reilly / CNN:
As Trump and Elon Musk remake the federal government, traffic surges at Government Executive and other small outlets that specialize in the federal workforce — As President Trump and Elon Musk remake the federal government through firings, orders and brute force, small news publishers …
Discussion:
Breitbart, @brianstelter, @simonowens.bsky.social, @brianstelter and Talking Biz News
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