Mediagazer: A look at WikiTok, a site that lets users vertically swipe through an endless stream of random Wikipedia article stubs without algorithmically tracking the user (Benj Edwards/Ars Technica)

3:30 PM ET, February 10, 2025

Top News:

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Fox Corp. acquires Red Seat Ventures, which helped Tucker Carlson, Nancy Grace, Megyn Kelly, Piers Morgan, and others set up their podcast businesses — Tucker Carlson, Nancy Grace, Megyn Kelly and Piers Morgan are among the clients of Red Seat Ventures, which now joins Rupert Murdoch's empire.

Discussion: Mediaite, Reuters, The National Pulse, @semaforben, @cbalfe, @crampell.bsky.social, @alexweprin, @bristei, @gottalaff.bsky.social, @claytravis, @bristei, Chris Peterson on LinkedIn, @stevekrak, @grynbaum and Variety

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Red Seat, one of the most influential companies in the news and talk creator economy, will be in Fox's Tubi division, putting it at a remove from Fox News — Red Seat Ventures counts former Fox News stars Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson as clients, as well as Piers Morgan and Nancy Grace.

Discussion: StreamTV Insider, Reuters, Adweek, Business Insider, Financial Times, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, Chris Erwin on LinkedIn, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Deadline, Cord Cutters News, Media Play News, Mock Paper Scissors and WORLD SCREEN

Benj Edwards / Ars Technica:

A look at WikiTok, a site that lets users vertically swipe through an endless stream of random Wikipedia article stubs without algorithmically tracking the user — On Wednesday, a New York-based app developer named Isaac Gemal debuted a new site called WikiTok, where users can vertically swipe through …

Discussion: Fast Company, @clemens@social …, @peterrenshaw@ioc.exchange, @marklittle.bsky.social, Interesting Engineering, @sohkamyung@mstdn.io and @kyle@mister.computer

Amanda Holpuch / New York Times:

Lee Enterprises says a “cybersecurity event” has disrupted operations at its newspapers since at least February 3, forcing some to not print at all — The media company Lee Enterprises said a “cybersecurity event” had created havoc at dozens of its newspapers, prompting some to publish shorter editions or not print at all.

Discussion: Augusta Free Press, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Daily Progress, MediaPost, Press of Atlantic City, Omaha World-Herald, Buffalo News, News & Advance, TechCrunch, The Register, @kennysmith.bsky.social, @dicktofel.bsky.social, Ravalli Republic, Kenosha News, WISC-TV, The Beatrice Daily Sun and La Crosse Tribune

Ben Smith / Semafor:

Slack messages: WaPo had 15M unique visitors on its platforms and 76.9M off-platform in the week of January 27 as traffic recovers amid US government chaos — In this edition: Steve Bannon's “Days of Thunder.”

Discussion: Wide World of News

Sohee Kim / Bloomberg:

Animated feature Ne Zha 2 grossed a record $1B+ in China over its first 10 days in cinemas, marking a rebound after the Chinese box office fell 23% in 2024 — Ne Zha 2 grossed more than $1 billion in China over its first 10 days in cinemas, setting the country's new box office high mark.

Discussion: Screen Rant, Variety, @lucas_shaw, The Wrap and Oh No They Didn't!

Alice Robb / Bloomberg:

A look at the debate about how much authors should get paid to license books for AI; Microsoft offered HarperCollins $5,000 per title, of which authors get 50% — Most experts agree that tech companies should pay creators whose work is used to train artificial intelligence.

Discussion: Music Ally, New York Post, Beyond Search, Enrico Bonadio on LinkedIn, @newsfromcity and @alicelrobb, more at Techmeme »

Financial Times:

Sources: the UK's ITV has held early talks with RedBird IMI about a deal for ITV Studios; CVC and Blackstone are also interested in ITV's production arm — London-listed company could put broadcasting arm into a joint venture or sell it — Major shareholders in ITV support management efforts …

Discussion: Ian Whittaker on LinkedIn

Bloomberg:

While traditional TV viewership has plummeted, the NFL's share of TV viewing has doubled over the past two decades, despite a brief dip around 2016 — While viewership of everything else on traditional TV plummeted, the NFL somehow got bigger. — Good afternoon from Chicago and happy Super Bowl Sunday.

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Post, @lucas_shaw and TVNewsCheck

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Edison: despite Spotify's video push, only two of the top 10 US podcasts post videos on Spotify; 37 of the top 50 US podcasts regularly post videos on YouTube — Popular programs like New Heights and Club Shay Shay have yet to put their videos on the streaming service

Discussion: Edison Research and Barrett Media

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

Cricket Media, the 50-year-old children's media company known for its namesake print magazine, acquires Sensical, a kids streaming outlet launched in 2021 — The streaming service launched in 2021 under Common Sense Networks, the for-profit affiliate of Common Sense Media.

Discussion: Sharon Cohen on LinkedIn

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Fox Corp. names John Nallen as president and COO, promoting one of Lachlan Murdoch's top deputies, in a deal that will keep him at Fox through June 2028 — The owner of the Fox network and Fox News says that Nallen has signed a new long-term deal with the company.

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Adweek, The Wrap, @bristei, Variety, WORLD SCREEN and Deadline

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: Marketing Brew, Adweek, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn … and The Register

Thomas Germain / BBC:
An Adalytics report shows how ad systems run by Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others inadvertently placed ads on a website that hosts CSAM

Discussion: adalytics.io, The Drum, Politico, Digital Trends, Marketing Brew, Koen Smeets on LinkedIn, Josh Golin on LinkedIn, EsstN, Nick Swimer on LinkedIn, @jpmarthoz.bsky.social, @andil.bsky.social, @thedesk.net, Digiday and Adweek

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More News:

Matthew Luxmoore / Wall Street Journal:
A profile of Russia's most influential news anchor Dmitry Kiselyov, once an admirer of Western news networks who has since become Putin's propagandist in chief

Discussion: @mjluxmoore

Emmanuel Morgan / New York Times:
A look at former NFL player Shannon Sharpe's success moving from TV commentator to podcasting, especially with his own show, Club Shay Shay

Washington Post:
Many independent media organizations in Ukraine and exiled Russian news outlets that relied on US funding are struggling to survive after Trump suspended USAID

Discussion: New York Post, Reporters Without Borders, @goldstein.bsky.social, EADaily, The Daily Wire and PolitiFact

Kerry Flynn / Axios:
Analysis: since his political career began in 2015, the number of media and defamation suits involving Trump or his businesses grew 4x vs. prior three decades

Discussion: @kerrymflynn

Carolyn Giardina / Variety:
Sources: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering changing its Oscar submission requirements to make disclosing films' use of AI mandatory

Discussion: GoldDerby, @jalefkowit@vmst.io, Gizmodo, @kraywhiseheart, @davidpoland, @discussingfilm, AV Club, JoBlo, Oh No They Didn't!, @runtcpip.bsky.social, @slownick.bsky.social, IndieWire, World of Reel, @tnewmsblues.bsky.social and @samadams.bsky.social

Earlier Picks:

Dato Parulava / Politico:
The Georgian parliament plans to introduce a new bill to “define the standards of media objectivity and ethics” and ban foreign funding for media altogether

Discussion: Dato Parulava on LinkedIn

Ted Johnson / Deadline:
President Trump amends his CBS lawsuit, alleging 60 Minutes' Kamala Harris interview unfairly diverted viewers from Truth Social, and ups damages claim to $20B

Discussion: TMZ.com, ZeroHedge News, Twitchy, Los Angeles Times, Benzinga, The Wrap, Washington Examiner, Scripps News, @midgephoto@photog.social, @tdogmedia.bsky.social, New York Post, Variety, @stevebrant.bsky.social, The American Spectator and PolitiFact

Kipp Jones / Mediaite:
Memo: the Pentagon adds CNN, WaPo, The Hill, and The War Zone to its eviction list, replaced by Washington Examiner, The Free Press, Daily Caller, and Newsmax

Discussion: FTVLive, RedState, The Desk, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @stevenadamswv, @brian_henderson, @michaelssmithii, @ktoropin, The Wrap, Breitbart, Deadline, CNN and Reuters

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

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, @deanobeidallah.bsky.social, Us Weekly, Variety and The Desk

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

Discussion: The Wrap

From Techmeme:

Joe Rivano Barros / Mission Local:
Waymo says it temporarily suspended its ride-hailing service in San Francisco during a citywide blackout, as downed traffic lights appeared to halt its vehicles

John Sakellariadis / Politico:
Sources: DHS is investigating whether 6 staffers misled CISA's acting director into taking a polygraph that he failed, compounding instability at the agency

Sri Muppidi / The Information:
Source: OpenAI's share of revenue after the cost of running AI models for paying users has jumped to ~70% in October, up from ~52% at the end of 2024

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