Top News:
James Hercher / AdExchanger:
Senators Blackburn and Blumenthal write to Amazon, Google, and others demanding fixes after a report said the companies facilitated ads on pages with CSAM — On Friday, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) sent co-written letters to Amazon, Google, Integral Ad Science …
Discussion:
Adweek, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn …, Adweek and DoubleVerify
RELATED:
Thomas Germain / BBC:
An Adalytics report shows how ad systems run by Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others inadvertently placed at least 35 ads on a website that hosts CSAM — Some of the biggest tech companies in the world served ads on a website featuring images of child abuse, helping to fund its operations.
Discussion:
Digiday and adalytics.io
Martyn Ziegler / The Times:
Sources: Netflix is expected to bid for the US broadcast rights to Formula 1 starting from the 2026 season; ESPN currently holds the rights under a $90M deal — Streaming platform looking to capitalise on success of Drive to Survive series in America with their first attempt to secure season-long mainstream sports rights
Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:
WBD took $300M in gaming writedowns in 2024; current and former staff blame a lack of a strong, cohesive vision during former games chief David Haddad's tenure — Last year, Warner Bros. Discovery took $300 million in losses on gaming. The near future is rife with additional challenges.
Discussion:
Jeremy M. on LinkedIn, @jmrivera.bsky.social, GamesRadar, @neemoahtoad, Neowin, PlayStation LifeStyle, Jason Schreier on LinkedIn, @tanner_slavin, @batman_beware, Metro.co.uk, @harleysuniverse, @bryantfrancis.me, Comic Book, Wccftech, @knoebel.bsky.social, @branzellan.bsky.social and Insider Gaming, more at Techmeme »
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Memo: ahead of its Skydance merger, Paramount Global pauses some major events in 2025, including MTV EMAs, to “reimagine and optimize” the events slate — “We look to reimagine and optimize our events slate going forward,” reads a staff memo obtained by THR.
Discussion:
Austin American-Statesman, Cord Cutters News, Billboard, Rolling Stone, TVNewsCheck and Just Jared
Ben Beaumont-Thomas / The Guardian:
Netflix will not release a nine-hour documentary about Prince after the company and the artist's estate came to a “mutual agreement” — Nine-hour film will not be seen, after ‘mutual agreement’ between estate and Netflix, with estate announcing plans for its own film
Discussion:
@prince, Breitbart, New York Daily News, CBS News, @geniusbastard.bsky.social, Variety, The Verge, People, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times, @twinklebutt.bsky.social, AllHipHop, Decider, @fauxbeatpoet, WBLS, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, @hunterwalk.com, The Streamable, Consequence, UPROXX, Vibe, @7sleepersmusic@mastodon …, Rolling Stone, Oh No They Didn't!, Deadline, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, KRDO and World of Reel
Editor and Publisher:
The CPB awards a $1M grant to Harvest Public Media, a journalism collaboration led by Kansas City's KCUR to cover agricultural and rural issues — Journalism collaboration led by KCUR covers agricultural and rural issues — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) …
Discussion:
@mediaevan.bsky.social, @mediaevan, RADIO ONLINE, Radio Ink, Inside Radio and Current
Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:
Tests show DeepSeek's chatbot often hallucinates URLs in citations and admits that sharing news articles' content could violate copyright and paywall policies — The DeepSeek hype cycle is in full force, but can the chatbot attribute sources more accurately than its competitors?
Discussion:
Publishing Perspectives, @andrewdeck.bsky.social, The Cyber Express and Bloomberg
Anthony D'Alessandro / Deadline:
Sources: Amazon MGM Studios plans to launch an international theatrical distribution arm; its foreign output deal with Warner Bros. stops at the end of 2025 — The studio's current foreign theatrical output deal with Warner Bros. ends at the end of this year.
Discussion:
The Wrap
Katie Campione / Deadline:
Samba TV: in H2 2024, 43% of total SVOD subscribers had an ad-supported plan; 56% of new subscribers chose an ad tier, including 78% of new Peacock subscribers — In the second half of 2024, 43% of total SVOD subscribers had an ad-supported plan. The share is increasing …
Discussion:
@deadline, TVNewsCheck and TV Tech
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
Filing: five New York pension funds have sued Paramount Global, seeking a preliminary block on Paramount's Skydance merger and alleging breach of fiduciary duty — A Delaware court ruled that Paramount must produce records that could lay the groundwork for more lawsuits from investors challenging …
Hearst:
Hearst is rolling out AURA, its first-party ad targeting tool, to the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, after a US launch eight months ago — The announcement was made by Hearst Magazines President Debi Chirichella and Global Chief Revenue Officer Lisa Ryan Howard.
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:
Columbia Journalism Review, The Hill, @willoremus.com, @armanddoma, @TomWellborn@universeodon.com, @mkhammer, @bariweiss, @tomwellborn3.bsky.social, New York Times, Reporters Without Borders, @jael.bsky.social, @mcuban, A Media Operator, The Daily Wire, @wexler, Blaze Media, Instapundit, TVNewsCheck, Fortune, @marcacaputo, @liz_wheeler, @firstadopter, @asymmetricinfo, @brianstelter, @nytimespr, @mjnblack, @doge, New York Post, CBS News, @apbioonly, RedState, @kagrox.bsky.social, The Dispatch, @barbarasobel.bsky.social, @hallijayne.bsky.social, @lawrencehurley.bsky.social, Mediaite, DNyuz, The Post Millennial, @nkLottery@shakedown.social and The Gateway Pundit
RELATED:
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
Discussion:
New York Times, Rolling Stone, Poynter, Tilting At Windmills, Reuters, The Atlantic, Townhall, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, HuffPost, @bresreports, @politico, @ewerickson, The Daily Wire, Time, @brianstelter, @stevenoverly, @jimgeraghty, @natsfert, @adamwren, @zachary, @zachschermele, @joanwalsh, @brianstelter, Twitchy, @w7voa.journa.host.ap.brid.gy, Beth Diaz on LinkedIn, CNN, HotAir, Daily Kos, @timbays.bsky.social, @suellentrop.bsky.social, The Post Millennial, The Hill, MeidasTouch News, Fox News and Axios
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