Top News:
Bloomberg:
Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith agrees to buy the entire 26.9% stake in The Economist Group held by Lynn Forester de Rothschild; the terms were not disclosed — Canadian mortgage billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to buy a minority stake in The Economist Group, marking the first ownership shake …
Discussion:
Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Talking Biz News and Telegraph
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: David Zaslav is set to receive at least $550M in compensation related to the Paramount-WBD deal, including $517.2M in equity in the combined company — Amount for exec includes $34.2 million in severance and $335.4 million tax reimbursement. which will decline over time
Carrie Budoff Brown / Politico:
Q&A with Ted Sarandos on his visit to Brussels, Netflix's European investments, EU regulation, YouTube, TikTok, WBD, Trump's Susan Rice criticism, AI, and more — Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos arrives in Brussels on Tuesday with a clear message for EU regulators ahead of a looming review …
Discussion:
Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, The Independent, Business Insider, Politico, Al Jazeera and Reuters
Chris Eggertsen / Billboard:
RIAA: US recorded music revenue grew 3.1% YoY in 2025 to a record $11.54B; streaming grew 3% YoY to $9.75B, including $6.38B from paid subscriptions, up 5.8% — Paid subscription revenue hit $6.38 billion, up 5.8% year-over-year, while vinyl revenue topped $1 billion.
Max Tani / @maxwelltani:
Memo: Notus plans to “dramatically expand” its coverage of national politics with a “new version of NOTUS under a new name” and will double staff from 50 to 100 — As we first reported in last night's @semafor media newsletter, NOTUS is rebranding/dramatically expanding. In a memo to staff this morning, the organization said it plans to “launch this new version of NOTUS under a new name” and double staff from 50 to 100. [image]
Discussion:
@reesejgorman, @rapidresponse47, @awakenedoutlaw, @marcusaingram, @peterbakernyt, @peterbakernyt, @maxwelltani, @kirk_bado, @moorehn, @jstein_wapo, @chriswithans, @isaac_schorr, @varadmehta, @sam4tr, @philipterzian, @drewharwell, @edokeefe, @emmanuelfelton, @jamesebriggs, @alyssarosenberg, @notusreports, @alexsjacquez, @joshkraushaar, @coleleiter, @citizencohn, @jeremymbarr, @jhweissmann, @jeremymbarr, @cmclymer, @samstein, @eggerdc, @andrewsolender, @deirdrekwalsh, @ericfingerhut, @cmarinucci, @seanjcooksey, @taylorgiorno_, @reesejgorman, @gregbrooksoh, @daniellamicaela, @davelevinthal, @jeremymbarr, @alyssarosenberg, @milbank and NOTUS
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Corbin Bolies / The Wrap:
Internal memo: Axios lays off 11 newsroom staffers but says it is “continuing to hire and grow” as it focuses on “subject matter experts and local expansion” — Despite the cuts, publisher Nicholas Johnston says the site is “continuing to hire and grow”
Discussion:
@million_aire1, @secretsbedard, @benmullin and @benmullin
Matthew Keys / TheDesk.net:
South Korean public broadcaster KBS partners with Sinclair to offer Korean-language programming via Sinclair's NextGen TV stations across the US — South Korean public broadcaster KBS is partnering with Sinclair, Inc. on a new multicast network that will offer Korean-language programming …
Discussion:
@drkimberlyd.bsky.social, @thedesk.net, Radio & Television … and Korea Joongang Daily
Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
How A24, which racked up seven Oscars in 2022, fell flat with Marty Supreme, which had nine nominations but won none despite Timothée Chalamet's viral campaign — A few years ago, the indie studio A24 was luxuriating in Academy Awards. On Sunday it was shut out entirely.
Discussion:
@dannygroner.bsky.social, @timothys, World of Reel, The Wrap and Forbes
RELATED:
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
A look at Neon, one of the most successful indie studios of the last decade, which makes most of its money from licensing its films to streamers and TV networks
Discussion:
Motley Fool and Forbes
Catherine Shoard / The Guardian:
Warner Bros. won a record-tying 11 awards at the 98th Oscars, followed by Netflix with 7 and Apple, Disney, Focus, and Neon with 1 each; Paramount had none
Discussion:
Variety, New York Times, Dexerto, Reality Tea, @benmullin, Deadline, @variety, New Yorker, NextDraft, The American Bazaar, The Wrap, The Ankler, @theacademy, @janelleclouds, @inceptstellar, Deadline, @deadline, @qlxke_, @popbase, @theacademy, @spenceralthouse, @nextbestpicture, @mikebeauvais, @uhvaimorre, @geoffkeighley, @thehorrorkid, Barron's Online, @popbase, @variety, @mavericksmovies, @charliefreyre, @jbillinson, @theacademy, @popbase, @davidehrlich, @cyrilh44, @panasonicdx4500, Spyglass, Engadget, Yahoo Finance, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, New York Times, Axios, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times and TechCrunch
Seth Vertelney / USA Today:
FIFA and YouTube partner for the 2026 World Cup; media partners will be able to stream the first 10 minutes of every match and select full matches on YouTube — FIFA has announced a partnership with YouTube that will allow media partners and creators to expand their content ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Discussion:
Advanced Television, TV Tech, YouTube Official Blog and The Keyword
JD Knapp / The Wrap:
CBS News 24/7's 60-person unionized staff begins a 24-hour walkout with support from WGAE, a week after delivering a strike pledge to management — “We eagerly await an acceptable contract offer from Paramount — which just shelled out tens of billions of dollars to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery," the union bargaining committee says
Discussion:
Deadline, The Wrap, TV Insider, Daily Mail, @corbinbolies and 48 hills
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The UK government unveils the Local News Fund, which will distribute up to £12M to local outlets over two years to support innovation and help fill news deserts — Local Media Strategy aims to guarantee long-term sustainability of journalism across the UK.
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Indian studio Applause Entertainment partners with microdrama platform Story TV to co-produce and distribute short-form content for mobile audiences — Applause Entertainment, the Aditya Birla Group content studio behind “Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story” and “Criminal Justice,” …
Discussion:
MediaBrief, C21Media and BMI
Sam Clark / Politico:
EU countries introduce sanctions on hacking groups, including Iran's Emennet Pasargad, which hacked magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2023, and two Chinese companies — Countries impose measures on Iranian, Chinese companies providing hacking services. — BRUSSELS — European Union countries …
Discussion:
Metacurity and Cyber Daily, more at Techmeme »
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with CEO Jim Lanzone on Yahoo being “very profitable”, its new AI search engine, focusing on sports content, including original video and podcasts, and more — Today, I'm talking with Jim Lanzone, who is the CEO of Yahoo. — It's basically impossible to sum up the Yahoo story …
Discussion:
Search Engine Land and Tech in Asia, more at Techmeme »
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