Mediagazer: Elon Musk says he will “fix” Community Notes as they are “increasingly being gamed by governments & legacy media”, after disagreeing with notes about Ukraine (Matt Novak/Gizmodo)

8:55 PM ET, February 20, 2025

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Memo: MLB and ESPN mutually agree to end their national television deal after the 2025 season; ESPN was due to pay MLB around $550M/year in 2026, 2027, and 2028 — Major League Baseball and ESPN have “mutually agreed” to end their national television deal after the upcoming 2025 season …

Justin Kroll / Deadline:

Amazon MGM Studios, Michael G. Wilson, and Barbara Broccoli form a JV to house James Bond IP rights, under which Amazon gains creative control of the franchise — In news that will send shock waves through the industry, longtime James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli …

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Gene Maddaus / Variety:

Senator Warren urges the US DOJ to scrutinize Disney's deal to acquire a controlling stake in Fubo and merge it with Hulu + Live TV, citing antitrust concerns — Sen. Elizabeth Warren has urged the Justice Department to carefully scrutinize Disney's deal to acquire a controlling stake in Fubo …

Discussion: Awful Announcing, The Desk, Reuters, Business Insider, Benzinga, Light Reading, Deadline, Media Play News, The Wrap and Yahoo Finance

Lauren Easton / Editor and Publisher:

Memo: AP is launching its Local Investigative Reporting Program, to be led by Ron Nixon, to support US state and local newsrooms in investigative reporting — In a memo to staff Thursday, Executive Editor Julie Pace announced AP will launch a Local Investigative Reporting Program led by Ron Nixon:

Discussion: @rebuildlocalnews.bsky.social, @sdkstl.bsky.social, Ron Nixon on LinkedIn and TVNewsCheck

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

YouTube plans to add a “premium lite” tier, a source says for the US, Australia, Germany, and Thailand, offering podcasts without ads and music videos with ads — - The service will continue to put ads in music videos — The tier will launch in areas that include the US, Australia

Discussion: Adweek, The Information, Cord Cutters News, 9to5Google, The Desk and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

Bloomberg News promotes Mark Gurman to managing editor for global consumer tech and adds senior editor Dana Wollman and two others to his team — Tom Giles, senior executive editor of global technology coverage at Bloomberg News, sent out the following on Thursday:

Hannah Miller / Bloomberg:

Former Merit TV employees detail struggles at Dr. Phil McGraw's streaming service, including multiple rounds of layoffs, staff discontent, and low ratings — Merit TV has entered a crowded field of news networks. Can it find its audience? — Phil McGraw strolled onstage and waved at the cheering crowd.

Discussion: The Desk, @thedesk.net, RADAR and TVNewsCheck

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

A NY court tells Nexstar to pay DirecTV $26.6M in a case over retransmission fees; a court earlier said Nexstar wrongly received $10.5M in fees in the same case — A New York court on Thursday awarded satellite and streaming television provider DirecTV nearly $27 million in a civil case brought …

Discussion: TVNewsCheck and Cord Cutters News

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

National Association of Broadcasters CEO Curtis LeGeyt calls for the FCC to end ownership caps that prevent TV and radio conglomerates from growing larger — The chief executive of the commercial broadcasting industry's largest lobbying group has called on federal regulators to eliminate national …

Discussion: @kv417.bsky.social, TV Tech, Inside Radio, Barrett Media, RADIO ONLINE and Radio & Television …

Oliver Darcy / Status:

40 news organizations signed a letter delivered to the White House this week, asking the White House to lift its AP ban immediately in support of press freedom — News outlets across the political spectrum have united behind the AP, signing a WHCA-backed letter urging the White House …

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

A look at London news startups, including Jim Waterson's London Centric, that launched since the Evening Standard's daily print edition closure in summer 2024 — Two upmarket London news start-ups are finding a growing (albeit small so far) market for paid online news about the UK capital.

Discussion: Alexander Smith on LinkedIn, LinkedIn and @pressgazette

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Gallery Media Group says it made $50M in 2024 revenue from its women's media title PureWow and 50+ social-only brands on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts — The chief revenue officer of profitable US publisher Gallery Media Group believes it has found the difference between publishers merely being …

Discussion: Simon Owens's Media Newsletter

Matt Novak / Gizmodo:

Elon Musk says he will “fix” Community Notes as they are “increasingly being gamed by governments & legacy media”, after disagreeing with notes about Ukraine — The billionaire has a history of manipulating X to fit his far-right worldview.

Discussion: @page_eco, @ike_saul, @stankutcher, @ike_saul, @lefterisjp, @alexandrosm, @levyantoine, @rothschildmd, @gummibear737, @theabridgedzach, @rorystewartuk, @ibd_ecarson, @billybinion, @philipdbunn, @billybinion, @matthewberman, @ike_saul, @eyeslasho, @jseyff, @tekbog, @spencerfernando, @elonmusk, @christogrozev, @shayan86, @byzgeneral, @charliepick, @piersmorgan, @walshfreedom, @angry_staffer, @alanlevinovitz, @oalexanderdk, @youranoncentral, @elonmusk, @amuse, @shayan86, The Independent, CNN, Engadget, Washington Examiner, @kv417.bsky.social, @elonmusk, @glynmoody@mastodon.social, @micheil.bsky.social, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, Mediaite, @willoremus.com, The Hill, @TodayInTwitter@mastodon …, @paleofuture.bsky.social, @olivia10.bsky.social, @jamesrbuk, University of Manchester and Commentary Magazine, more at Techmeme »

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Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
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Discussion: Radio & Television …, TVNewsCheck, Inside Radio, Variety, TelevisaUnivision, MediaPost and Deadline

Financial Times:
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