Top News:
Politico:
Politico's EIC and CEO say the company has never received any government funding, and agencies that subscribe to Politico Pro do so through standard processes — POLITICO has been the subject of debate on X this week. Some of it has been misinformed, and some of it has been flat-out false.
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Axios:
Email: the White House orders the GSA to terminate “every single media contract” expensed by the agency and all contracts for Politico, BBC, E&E, and Bloomberg — - The discovery, made through a U.S. government spending database that has long been publicly available …
Discussion:
Mediaite, CNN, The Dispatch, @brianstelter, @nytimespr, The Post Millennial, @nkLottery@shakedown.social, @mjnblack, @doge, @apbioonly and The Gateway Pundit
Isabella Kwai / New York Times:
Trump amplifies a conspiracy theory that “billions” in USAID and other agencies' funds were stolen to pay Politico and others for positive coverage of Democrats — President Trump spread unfounded claims that the government had paid Politico and other news media outlets for positive coverage of Democrats.
Discussion:
CNN, The Wrap, The Guardian, Washington Post, Breitbart, @realDonaldTrump …, DNyuz, Daily Kos, @sanleekelly.bsky.social, Hollywood Life, @elonmusk, @jason, New Jersey Online, Blaze Media, @stuartathompson.bsky.social, @rubinreport, @armanddoma, @billackman, @parkermolloy.com, @cabot_phillips, Raw Story, @mehdirhasan, @billybinion, @lhfang, @cheetah.bsky.social, @stuartathompson.bsky.social, @krassenstein, @nancyscola, @elonmusk, @ryangrim, The Independent, @ike_saul, @rikkiratliff, @mtaibbi, OpenTheBooks, @peterschiff, @armanddoma, @brianstelter, @jeremymbarr, @willsommer.bsky.social, Newser, Althouse, freebeacon.com and Digby's Hullabaloo
David Folkenflik / NPR:
A look at Trump's assault on CBS, and more broadly, how he and allies seek to pressure the media to punish it and to inhibit its ability to check the president — The television news magazine 60 Minutes — the most storied and profitable show in the history of CBS News …
Discussion:
@npr.org, The Floridian, @bobbyallyn.bsky.social, @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social and The Hill
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Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Trump calls on CBS to “terminate” 60 Minutes, and says “CBS should lose its license”, amid his $10B lawsuit against CBS over the Kamala Harris interview
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @realDonaldTrump …, New York Post, Mediaite, The Guardian, Louder With Crowder, Boing Boing, RedState, The Daily Beast, The Wrap, @robowentv.bsky.social, @mherskovitz, Townhall, Twitchy, @willharrisinva.bsky.social, Reason, @aidnmclaughlin, @mergerson.bsky.social, Fox News, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Mail
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
Discussion:
Megyn Kelly, Reason, @brendancarrfcc, Federal Communications Commission, Barrett Media, The Gateway Pundit, Deadline, Daily Mail, Mediaite, Blaze Media, Fox News, The Federalist, NewscastStudio, New Republic, PJ Media, Variety, Newser, @agomezfcc, @agomezfcc, @agomezfcc, Axios, Washington Post, @davidguilbault.bsky.social, UPI, TV Tech, freebeacon.com, New York Post, Federal Communications Commission, Voice of America, Washington Examiner, Twitchy, Associated Press, The Independent, CNN, Los Angeles Times, The Post Millennial, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, The Wrap, ZeroHedge News, Fox News, Reason and CBS News
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon reports Q4 ad revenue up 18% YoY to $17.29B, vs. $17.4B est., and subscription services revenue up 10% YoY to $11.51B — Overall earnings for the period smashed Wall Street expectations. — However, the Q4 ad revenue figure fell short of analyst expectations of $17.4 billion, per StreetAccount.
Charlotte Klein / New York Magazine:
The Bulwark had its first profitable year in 2024, and its Substack, which has 76K paid subscribers, is gaining 700 to 1,000 paid subscribers every day or two — The explosive success of The Bulwark. — It was the day after Donald Trump's inauguration, and Tim Miller was struggling …
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
News Corp says The Sun's global online audience fell from 143M monthly unique users in Dec. 2023 to 70M in Dec. 2024; NY Post fell 27% YoY to 90M in Dec. 2024 — Sun global website traffic has halved in the space of a year. — News Corp estimates that The Sun's global online audience more than halved in a year to the end of 2024.
Discussion:
@adavid@aus.social, Reuters and The Wrap
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Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
The British Film Institute: UK broadcasters slashed their spending on high-end TV shows to the lowest level since 2015, while US streamers increased spending — Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky also among UK broadcasters making cuts as Netflix, Disney and Amazon pile on pressure
Discussion:
WORLD SCREEN, @debbiemoon.bsky.social and Deadline
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Financial Times:
Leaders in Russia, Hungary, and more applaud USAID's funding freeze affecting independent news outlets; the 2025 US foreign aid budget included $268M for media — Independent outlets in former Soviet Union are poised to be hurt by temporary shut down at key US agency
Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
A California state court issues a temporary restraining order stopping Sony from taking Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune distribution rights away from CBS — “The court's order has no bearing on, and is not indicative of, the eventual outcome of the ongoing litigation,” Sony said Thursday in a statement …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Variety, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and NewscastStudio
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Le Monde ends 2024 with 660K subscribers, of which 580K were digital, and expects digital subscriber revenue to cover editorial staff costs within two years — Digital subscriber revenue is expected to cover the costs of Le Monde's entire editorial staff within the next two years, according to chief executive Louis Dreyfus.
Discussion:
Charlotte Tobitt on LinkedIn, @pressgazette.co.uk and @polemicdigital.com
Mia Sato / The Verge:
StackCommerce, an online shopping platform creating affiliate marketing content, acquired Reviewed from Gannett on December 1 after its shutdown in August 2024 — Now, it's back from the dead under a new owner. … Now, it's back from the dead under a new owner.
Discussion:
The Information, @chillburg.bsky.social and @miasato.bsky.social
Ernie Smith / Tedium:
WBD releases 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.
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Variety, Engadget, Cord Cutters News, @mlanger@mastodon.world, @ernie.tedium.co, @simonowens.bsky.social, @scripting.com, @ernie.tedium.co, @tcarmody.bsky.social, @weinberg.social, @hitrewindpod.bsky.social, @ernie.tedium.co, @ernie@writing.exchange, @nicktheandersen.bsky.social, @ernie@writing.exchange and Hacker News
Erik Hayden / The Hollywood Reporter:
Filing: Disney lowers its content spending estimate, including for sports rights, for FY 2025 by $1B to ~$23B; for FY 2024, Disney's content spend was $23.4B — As Wall Street analysts parse its earnings beat and stagnate streaming subscriber growth, the company revises its spending expectation …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @tvgrimreaper, @ballmatthew, @ballmatthew, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, @eric_seufert and Benzinga
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