Top News:
Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Ted Sarandos says “as the popularity of video podcasts grows, I suspect you'll see some of them find their way to Netflix” — “Is it premium? Well, some of it is, and we believe we have the best monetization model on the planet for premium storytelling," co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on the earnings call.
Discussion:
Variety, TVNewsCheck and Business Insider
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Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Filing: Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters saw total compensation of about $61.9M and $60.3M in 2024, up from $49.8M and $40.1M in 2023, respectively — Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters saw total compensation of, respectively, to about $61.9 million and $60.3 million in 2024, up sharply from the year before.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News and Variety
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Ted Sarandos says Netflix talent uses “AI tools to do set references, pre-vis, VFX sequence prep, shot planning” and AI can make movies “10% better” — Citing recent comments by James Cameron, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said he hopes AI can make films “10% better,” not just “50% cheaper.”
Discussion:
Fox News
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Netflix says co-founder Reed Hastings has left his post as executive chairman to become chairman and non-executive director of the company — Reed Hastings, co-founder and longtime former CEO of Netflix, is shifting from executive chairman to chairman of the board.
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, The Information, Variety and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix reports Q1 revenue up 12.5% YoY to $10.54B, vs. $10.51B est., net income of $2.89B, and stops reporting subscriber numbers on a quarterly basis
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Broadband TV News, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Deadline, @lucas_shaw, Raw Story, TV Tech, Australian Financial Review, StreamTV Insider, MediaPost, Fortune, Benzinga, Associated Press, Financial Times, The Desk, Cord Cutters News, Axios, Adweek, Investor's Business Daily, Yahoo Finance, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, Media Play News, Bloomberg, The Verge, Sherwood News, CNBC, Motley Fool, Barron's Online and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »
David McCabe / New York Times:
A US judge says Google acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in some online advertising tech, the second time in a year a court found Google acted illegally — The ruling was the second time in a year that a federal court had found that Google had acted illegally to maintain its dominance.
Discussion:
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Bloomberg:
In her ruling, Judge Brinkema says Google did not meet the monopoly definition for tools used to buy display ads, but did for ad exchanges and website ad tools
Discussion:
Reuters, Adweek, Axios, Irish Independent, Shore News Network, Hürriyet Daily News, Inside Radio, Washington Monthly, The Information, Associated Press, Sara Forden on LinkedIn, Fox Business, Breitbart, The Daily Wire, Ars Technica, Townhall, Daily Caller News Foundation, One America News Network, ZeroHedge News, Entrepreneur, Washington Examiner, New York Post, TechCrunch, MediaPost, Digiday and Forbes, more at Techmeme »
@newsfromgoogle:
Google says “we won half of this case and we will appeal the other half” of the US antitrust ruling and “disagree[s]” with the decision on its publisher tools
Discussion:
@martyswant, MarTech, Search Engine Land, Investor's Business Daily and The Information, more at Techmeme »
Axios:
The DOJ and 17 US states that brought the antitrust case seek to force Google to sell off its “network” ad business, which is ~12% of Alphabet's total revenue
Discussion:
New York Daily News, Arabian Business, Daily Sabah, Daily Mail, Daily Caller News Foundation, TV Tech, Reuters, ABA Journal, CNET, Fast Company, MacRumors, Yahoo Finance, Johanna Bauman on LinkedIn, Los Angeles Times, @carnage4life.bsky.social, Politico, The Wrap, Bloomberg, CNN, Sherwood News, Business Insider, Quartz, MEDIANAMA, The Hill, WBAL Baltimore News, Common Dreams, The Register, Benzinga and Agence France-Presse, more at Techmeme »
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Samsung TV Plus now has nearly 700 FAST channels in the US, more than any of the other major FAST platforms, and almost 100 exclusive channels — Samsung TV Plus says it is now the top provider of free, ad-supported TV (FAST) channels, with nearly 700 channels now streaming in the U.S.
Discussion:
The Desk, Rolling Stone, Samsung Newsroom, Cord Cutters News, Streaming Better, TVNewsCheck, Media Play News and WORLD SCREEN
Paul Hiebert / Adweek:
IAB and PWC: online ad spend hit $258.6B in 2024, up 15% YoY, with 39.8% going to search, 28.7% to display, 24% to video, and $2.4B to podcasts, up 26.4% YoY — The total marks a 15% increase compared to 2023 — Advertisers poured a recording-breaking amount of money into U.S. digital media last year.
Discussion:
W Media Research, IAB, TV Tech, Music Ally, MediaPost, Inside Radio and Barrett Media
Nosheen Iqbal / Vogue UK:
An interview with Mishal Husain, who left the BBC's Today program to launch a Bloomberg interview series in November 2024, on her BBC exit, her book, and more — Last year, Mishal Husain's bold decision to swap the BBC for Bloomberg was breaking news. As the broadcaster prepares to go global …
Discussion:
Penny Crook on LinkedIn, @localnotail.bsky.social and The Guardian
Financial Times:
RedBird is drawing up plans to be the “sole-control owner of the Telegraph Media Group” to bring an end to the media group's protracted two-year sale — Plan would reduce stake of Abu Dhabi-based IMI to overcome objections of British government on grounds of foreign control
Natalie Jarvey / The Ankler:
With Kid Cowboy, Nickelodeon becomes the first TV network to debut an original series in full on YouTube, bowing to YouTube's supremacy among kids — Exec Ashley Kaplan and creator Freddy Wexler take me inside the inside the launch of ‘Kid Cowboy’ as the TV net's first original to debut on the free streamer
Discussion:
@natjarv, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter and @simondowens@threads.net
Matthew Keys / The Desk:
Sources: EchoStar laid off Video Services President Gary Schanman and Ajinkya Joglekar on April 16 as part of a broader pay-TV business restructuring — Echostar's pay TV businesses have struggled to compete against aggressive pricing from peer services. — Two C-level executives …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck and Cord Cutters News
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
In an X post, the FCC chairman suggests Comcast may be violating its licenses and accuses it of “news distortion” after MSNBC didn't air a WH press hearing — FCC chairman Brendan Carr suggested that Comcast may be violating its broadcast licenses after MSNBC declined to carry …
Discussion:
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