Google plans to stop showing political ads to users in the EU in 2025 due to uncertainties around new transparency rules coming into effect in October 2025 (Jess Weatherbed/The Verge)
Mediagazer: Google plans to stop showing political ads to users in the EU in 2025 due to uncertainties around new transparency rules coming into effect in October 2025 (Jess Weatherbed/The Verge)
Top News:
New York Times:
The Onion, backed by some Sandy Hook families and Everytown for Gun Safety, buys Infowars in a bankruptcy auction, and plans a January 2025 relaunch as a parody— The satirical news site planned to turn Infowars into a parody of itself, mocking “weird internet personalities” who peddle conspiracy theories and health supplements.
Discussion: The Onion, Washington Post, The Ankler, Fast Company, Mediaite, Politico, NPR, TVNewsCheck, Business Insider, CNN, The Hill, Associated Press, Status, Axios, The Wrap, The Guardian, CNBC, The Desk, Variety, Engadget, Fortune, The Information, UPI, Plain Dealer, Mashable, OMG.BLOG, Newser, Breitbart, Houston Public Media, Laurel Pinson on LinkedIn, @bencollins.bsky.social, The Daily Caller, Digby's Hullabaloo, Hollywood Life, Raw Story, Bloomberg, Mother Jones, Financial Times, @maxwelltani, One America News Network, New Republic, @bencollins.bsky.social, The Verge, @yonetteajoseph@threads.net, Washington Examiner, RedState, @oneunderscore__, @mick@cosocial.ca, USA Today, Law & Crime, Boing Boing, The Gateway Pundit, @colbyhall, RTÉ, The Hollywood Reporter, Alternet.org, @oneunderscore__, Rolling Stone, @zimbalist, @semaforben, @hadas_gold, @jamesrbuk, 6abc, @bencollins.bsky.social, @benmullin, @sherman4949, @jamesrbuk, @oneunderscore__, @daithaigilbert, @pkafka, @brianstelter, @claireatki, @bencollins.bsky.social, @sherman4949, @willguyatt, @pbump, @bencollins.bsky.social, @brianstelter, @theonion, ZeroHedge News, @laurenthomanwrites …, CBS News, Barrett Media, New York Daily News, Deadline, Not the Bee, NBC News, The National Pulse, Forbes, Consequence, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, AV Club, Austin American-Statesman, Press Herald, UnHerd and WHEC.com
Discussion:
Sean McNulty /
The Ankler: ☀️DISNEY Price Hikes, Movies Save Linear TV Melt
Joe Berkowitz /
Fast Company: ‘The Onion’ buys Alex Jones's ‘Infowars’—and it's already having fun with the purchase
Sarah Rumpf /
Mediaite: JUST IN: The Onion Acquires Infowars from Alex Jones in Court-Ordered Auction
Irie Sentner /
Politico: Bad day for Alex Jones as The Onion buys Infowars
Tovia Smith /
NPR: The Onion wins auction for Alex Jones' media company
Grace Eliza Goodwin /
Business Insider: The Onion buys Alex Jones' Infowars — and that's not a joke
Hadas Gold /
CNN: The Onion wins bidding for InfoWars assets
Lauren Irwin /
The Hill: The Onion buys Alex Jones's Infowars at auction Associated Press: The Onion buys Alex Jones' Infowars at auction — with help from Sandy Hook victims' families
Oliver Darcy /
Status: Not Satire: The Onion acquires Infowars
Tim Baysinger /
Axios: The Onion acquires Alex Jones' Infowars
Anna Betts /
The Guardian: The Onion buys rightwing conspiracy theory site Infowars with plans to make it ‘very funny, very stupid’
Todd Spangler /
Variety: The Onion Buys Infowars in Bankruptcy Auction
Will Shanklin /
Engadget: In an outcome beyond parody, The Onion has bought Infowars
Doug Cunningham /
UPI: Satire publication The Onion wins Alex Jones' Infowars in bankruptcy auction
Tim Marcin /
Mashable: Yes, The Onion really bought Alex Jones' InfoWars
Igor /
OMG.BLOG: OMG, The Onion buys InfoWars
Polly Davis Doig /
Newser: The Onion Just Bought Alex Jones' Infowars
Simon Kent /
Breitbart: The Onion Buys Alex Jones' Infowars at Auction with Backing from Sandy Hook Families
Andrew Weber /
Houston Public Media: The Onion buys Infowars at Alex Jones' bankruptcy auction. No, seriously.
Laurel Pinson /
Laurel Pinson on LinkedIn: Wow, this is absolutely brilliant. — {slow clap} — Talk about shifting the narrative! Genius-tier acquisition from the Onion team 👏 …
Tim Onion /
@bencollins.bsky.social: Also, part of the reason we did bought InfoWars is because people on Bluesky told us it would be funny to buy InfoWars. And those people were right. This is the funniest thing that has ever happened.
Nicole Silverio /
The Daily Caller: ‘The Onion’ Buys Alex Jones' Infowars Network
Tom Sullivan /
Digby's Hullabaloo: Onionized — Alex Jones found out — NBC News: — The Onion, the satirical news company …
Elisabeth McGowan /
Hollywood Life: ‘The Onion’ Buys ‘InfoWars’: What Will It Do With Alex Jones' Website?
Kathleen Culliton /
Raw Story: ‘I needed this news’: The Onion spurs tears of laughter with Infowars takeover
Daniel Thomas /
Financial Times: The Onion to acquire InfoWars from bankruptcy
James Meyers /
One America News Network: The Onion Purchases Infowars At Auction With Support From Sandy Hook Families
Hafiz Rashid /
New Republic: The Best People Just Bought Alex Jones's InfoWars
Tim Onion /
@bencollins.bsky.social: I would like to reiterate: We own everything. The broadcasting equipment, the supplements, the intellectual property for Brain Force Plus. We are still trying to figure out what to do with it.
Emma Roth /
The Verge: The Onion just bought Infowars
Yonette Joseph /
@yonetteajoseph@threads.net: The Onion said that the bid was sanctioned by the families of the victims of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, who in 2022 won a $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against Alex Jones and his company, Free Speech Systems. …
Teri Christoph /
RedState: WHOA: The Onion, Aided by Sandy Hook Parents, Has Bought Infowars; Alex Jones Reacts
Mick /
@mick@cosocial.ca: “Through it all, InfoWars has shown an unswerving commitment to manufacturing anger and radicalizing the most vulnerable members of society—values that resonate deeply with all of us at Global Tetrahedron.” — #TheOnion #NotTheOnion — https://theonion.com/...
Jeanine Santucci /
USA Today: Satire publication The Onion acquires Alex Jones' Infowars at auction
Jerry Lambe /
Law & Crime: Alex Jones promises ‘injunctions’ after The Onion wins auction to buy Infowars with help of Sandy Hook families
Rob Beschizza /
Boing Boing: The Onion nabs Infowars in bankruptcy auction, plans to make it ‘very funny, very stupid’
Cassandra MacDonald /
The Gateway Pundit: BREAKING: The Onion Purchases InfoWars at Auction, Plans to Turn it Into Satirical Version of Iconic Brand
Colby Hall /
@colbyhall: Public Service Announcement: Bryce P. Tetraender, CEO of The Onion's so-called parent company, Global Tetrahendra, is not real. People are missing the intended satire of a story rooted in the massacre of 21 innocent lives, many of whom were 6 years old. Enormous fail by
Caitlin Huston /
The Hollywood Reporter: The Onion Buys Alex Jones' Infowars With Plans to Make It a “Cosmic Joke” @oneunderscore__: Hello! The Onion, with the help of the Sandy Hook families, has purchased InfoWars. We're planning on making a very stupid website. We've retained some Onion and Clickhole Hall of Famers to pull it off. I can't wait to show you what we cooked up. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Nikki McCann Ramirez /
Rolling Stone: The Onion Just Bought Infowars — and Alex Jones Is Pissed
Michael Zimbalist /
@zimbalist: This is a great outcome!
Hadas Gold /
@hadas_gold: BREAKING: THE ONION backed by some of the Sandy Hook families and in a special deal with Everytown for Gun Safety has acquired INFOWARS story coming
James Ball /
@jamesrbuk: The absolute best bit The Onion could do with this would be to continue the output entirely unchanged, but with a tiny satire tag somewhere.
Aaron Katersky /
6abc: Satire news site The Onion buys Alex Jones' Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families
Tim Onion /
@bencollins.bsky.social: Hi everyone. — The Onion, with the help of the Sandy Hook families, has purchased InfoWars. — We are planning on making it a very funny, very stupid website. — We have retained the services of some Onion and Clickhole Hall of Famers to pull this off. — I can't wait to show you what we have cooked up.
Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: scoop: in an insane twist, The Onion has acquired Infowars in a bankruptcy auction. They're planning to relaunch the site next year with a new sponsor: Everytown for Gun Safety https://www.nytimes.com/...
Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: Not The Onion. Wait, Yes The Onion.
James Ball /
@jamesrbuk: I'm deeply worried that buying the Infowars brand will damage The Onion's commitment to in-depth, fact-checked reported journalism.
David Gilbert /
@daithaigilbert: Congrats to @oneunderscore__ on buying Alex Jones' InfoWars. Looking forward to seeing what supplements they are going to be selling.... [image]
Peter Kafka /
@pkafka: Oliver Darcy: “The Onion has successfully acquired Infowars. The satirical news outlet purchased Alex Jones' right-wing conspiracy empire at a court-ordered auction.” https://www.status.news/...
Brian Stelter /
@brianstelter: Quoting the press release: “The Onion's goal with the acquisition is to end Infowars' relentless barrage of disinformation for the sake of selling supplements and replace it with The Onion's relentless barrage of humor for good.”
Claire Atkinson /
@claireatki: The best revenge! Congrats Ben. [image]
Tim Onion /
@bencollins.bsky.social: You better fucking subscribe to The Onion. This is the kind of thing we will do with your money. — It allowed us to buy InfoWars. Now help us staff it. — membership.theonion.com
Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: For those asking, yes, I had this on my 2024 Bingo Card.
Will Guyatt /
@willguyatt: What a satisfying end to a terrible website.
Philip Bump /
@pbump: Absolutely legendary. https://x.com/...
Tim Onion /
@bencollins.bsky.social: I am hearing word that Alex Jones, in true Alex Jones fashion, is reading the press release from our fictitious CEO as fact.
Brian Stelter /
@brianstelter: CNN's @Hadas_Gold was the first to report that The Onion was in the mix as a potential bidder for Infowars. Here's her full story about this 🤯 outcome https://www.cnn.com/... @theonion: Via our parent company @GlobTetrahedron CEO @BryceTetraeder: https://theonion.com/... [image]
Lauren Thoman /
@laurenthomanwrites@threads.net: Okay so I know @theonion said they're going to shutter Infowars and turn it into a humor site but WHAT IF they just kept the branding exactly the same but just started putting out actual real news instead of misinformation and conspiracy theories so that Infowars fans who didn't realize the change had happened would accidentally start hearing some actual facts?
Aimee Picchi /
CBS News: The Onion buys Alex Jones' Infowars at bankruptcy auction
Muri Assunção /
New York Daily News: The Onion wins Alex Jones' Infowars auction, backed by Sandy Hook victims
Jack Montgomery /
The National Pulse: Satire Site The Onion Purchases Alex Jones's Infowars.
Emma Keates /
AV Club: It's time to auction off all of Alex Jones' InfoWars shit
Karoline Leonard /
Austin American-Statesman: Alex Jones' Infowars to be auctioned Wednesday. One bid is in the ‘seven-figure range’
Dave Collins /
Press Herald: The Onion, Sandy Hook families team up to win Alex Jones' Infowars at auction
Oliver Bateman /
UnHerd: Infowars auction won't be the end of Alex Jones
Wall Street Journal:
Disney reports Q4 revenue up 6% YoY to $22.6B, TV network revenue down 6% YoY to $2.5B, and a $321M DTC streaming profit, up from a $387M loss in Q4 2023— Streaming profit and studio are bright spots, while income from cable and theme parks declines — Disney's streaming business …
Discussion:
Michael Grothaus /
Fast Company: Disney stock price takes off today with a big boost from R-rated ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ and animated ‘Inside Out 2’
Dewayne Bevil /
Orlando Sentinel: Disney present quarterly earnings gains, optimism about theme parks The Walt Disney Company: THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR EARNINGS FOR FISCAL 2024
Sam Gillmer /
Sam Gillmer on LinkedIn: This was always the game with streaming. Netflix had the lead, but there was space for 1-2 other top tier options. …
Dylan Jones /
Dylan Jones on LinkedIn: Wouldn't be unsurprising to see chatter accelerating about a possible spin out the cable networks from The Walt Disney Company after this latest earnings announcement. …
Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Disney Swings to Streaming Profit of $321 Million in Q4, $134 Million for 2024
Alex Weprin /
The Hollywood Reporter: Streaming and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Power Disney Fiscal Q4 Earnings
Jessica Toonkel /
@jtoonkel: Disney is the latest company to report streamig profit, growth this quarter....seems like it's not such a terrible business after all https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ
Samantha Masunaga /
Los Angeles Times: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ and ‘Inside Out 2’ propel Disney studio earnings @thetranscript_: Disney CEO: “In Q4 we saw one of the best quarters in the history of our film studio, improved profitability in our streaming businesses, a record-breaking 60 Emmy Awards for the company, the continued power of live sports...” $DIS: +2.4% Pre-Market [image]
Peter Kafka /
@pkafka: Disney CEO Bob Iger, responding to earnings q about M&A in Trump 2.0: “we've already consolidated... we don't really need more assets right now.”
Pooja Rajkumari /
Benzinga: Disney Stock Climbs In Pre-Market After ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ ‘Inside Out’ Help Beat Q4 Street Estimates To Clock $22.6B Revenue
RELATED:
Variety:
In Q4, Disney added 4.4M Disney+ Core paid subscribers, reaching 120M in total, Disney+ Hotstar subscribers rose 1% YoY to 35.9M, and Hulu subscribers hit 52M— Disney ended its 2024 fiscal year with 122.7 million Disney+ Core paid subscribers, an increase of 4.4 million subs …
Discussion:
Advanced Television and IndieWire
Discussion:
Tony Maglio /
IndieWire: Disney Had a Much Better Summer Than Spring
The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney expects to spend $24B on content in 2025, up from $23.4B in 2024, due to sports programming expenses rising after NFL rate increases and NBA contracts— Rate hikes at the NFL and NBA may mean that sports drive the slight spending increase, with the company reporting $23.4 billion for this past year.
Discussion:
@philthepill.bsky.social
New York Times:
In its Q4 report, Disney, which rarely offers guidance, shares growth expectations to 2027, including a ~$700M operating profit in DTC streaming in 2025
Discussion:
Orange County Register, Front Office Sports, Benzinga, Yahoo Finance, Financial Times, WHEC.com, @brianstelter and WORLD SCREEN
Discussion:
Eric Fisher /
Front Office Sports: Bob Iger Calls ESPN's Upcoming Flagship the Best Sports Product Ever
Anusuya Lahiri /
Benzinga: Disney Q4 Earnings: Revenue And Profit Beat, Best Film Studio Performance, 3-Year Outlook And More
Alexandra Canal /
Yahoo Finance: Disney posts earnings beat as streaming profit tops estimates
Christopher Grimes /
Financial Times: Disney boosted by ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Inside Out 2’ WHEC.com: Disney Q4 bolstered by strong results from streaming, ‘Inside Out 2’ and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’
Brian Stelter /
@brianstelter: NYT's @brooksbarnesNYT: “Disney Paints a Rosy Picture for Coming Years” “The company, which does not typically release guidance to investors, said that profit would jump over the next three years” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Mansha Daswani /
WORLD SCREEN: Q4 Revenue Boost For Disney
TechCrunch:
Reliance and Disney complete their $8.5B Indian media merger, creating India's largest media group with $3.1B in annual revenue and 50M+ streaming subscribers
Discussion:
The Wrap, Times of India, Deadline, Reuters, Hindustan Times, The Hollywood Reporter and YourStory.com
Discussion:
Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Disney, Reliance Industries Close $8.5 Billion Merger of Star India and Viacom18 Times of India: Reliance Industries, Walt Disney completes merger to create Rs 70,352 crore joint venture
Jesse Whittock /
Deadline: Bob Iger Says Disney EMEA & APAC Content Investments “Slowing” But Will Continue On “Selective” Basis: “We're Being Careful Until We Get The Technology Right”
Georg Szalai /
The Hollywood Reporter: Disney, Reliance Close Mega-Deal to Form Indian Entertainment Powerhouse
Variety:
Disney plans to add an ESPN “tile” to Disney+ for US subscribers on December 4, giving users access to some free ESPN content— Disney has called its next streaming blitz: In a few weeks, Disney+ will add an ESPN “tile” to the streaming service — and the company will include …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Tv Technology, @sherman4949, Deadline and Barrett Media
Discussion:
George Winslow /
Tv Technology: Disney+ to Add ESPN Content Dec. 4
Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: ESPN “Flagship” direct-to-consumer will be “in my opinion the best product the consumer has ever seen in sports,” Disney CEO Bob Iger says on earnings conference call.
RELATED:
Deadline:
Disney investor call: Bob Iger says 60% of all new Disney+ subscribers are for the ad tier, and in a hot-mic moment wonders if he should have said the detail
Discussion:
Adweek, The Wrap, IndieWire, Tubefilter and Cord Cutters News
Discussion:
Saleah Blancaflor /
Adweek: Disney CEO Might've Mistakenly Revealed Ad-Supported Subscriber Numbers
Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Bob Iger Has Hot Mic Moment on Disney Earnings Call After Accidentally Revealing Ad-Tier Streaming Numbers
Tony Maglio /
IndieWire: Bob Iger Accidentally Reveals Disney's Ad-Supported Streaming Subscriber Numbers
The Hollywood Reporter:
CEOs at Nexstar, Sinclair, and Tegna, plus some analysts, say they expect deregulation and consolidation in the broadcast TV industry under Trump's FCC— Flush with political ad dollars and anticipating a deal-friendly environment, moguls are eyeing big moves to roll up lucrative local broadcasters.
Discussion:
Patrick Caligiuri on LinkedIn, @mediaevan and @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social
Discussion:
Patrick Caligiuri /
Patrick Caligiuri on LinkedIn: All this talk about big TV media mergers... yet not a peep about how they expect to engage/maintain their audiences. These days, it feels like that's a critical part of the equation.
Evan DeSimone /
@mediaevan: It's not clear to me what a “massive TV station land grab” does except slow the decline of the industry slightly while piling on a bunch of debt. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...
The Verge:
Google plans to stop showing political ads to users in the EU in 2025 due to uncertainties around new transparency rules coming into effect in October 2025— Google has announced it will stop showing political ads to users in the European Union next year due to uncertainties around the bloc's new transparency regulations.
Discussion:
The Keyword and Engadget
Discussion:
Annette Kroeber-Riel /
The Keyword: An update on political advertising in the European Union
Will Shanklin /
Engadget: A Google ‘test’ will omit EU publishers from news links
Wall Street Journal:
X names former Tubi CFO Mahmoud Reza Banki as its CFO; Trump pardoned Banki in January 2021 for making false statements; a source says he joined X in November— Mahmoud Reza Banki, former Tubi finance chief, joins platform amid financial challenges — Elon Musk's X Corp. named Mahmoud …
Discussion:
Fortune, Business Insider, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Sheryl Estrada /
Fortune: Why the CEO of Nasdaq says the ‘renaissance period’ for tech in finance will last another decade
Beatrice Nolan /
Business Insider: X's new CFO received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump
Matt Grobar /
Deadline: CAA Names John Storey Chief Financial Officer
Erik Hayden /
The Hollywood Reporter: CAA Hires New Chief Financial Officer
New York Times:
A look at “blind box livestreaming”, an e-commerce trend in China that has become an entertaining and, some users and experts said, addictive pastime— How many plastic trinkets would you end up with? The game keeps many addicted, buyers and spectators alike.
New York Times:
Nielsen: since Trump won, MSNBC has averaged 550K viewers, down 39% on October, and its prime time audience is down 53%; Fox's prime time audience is up 21%— Prime-time viewership at MSNBC has fallen 53 percent from October, and jumped 21 percent on Fox News.
Discussion:
RedState, @pierogie.bsky.social and HotAir
Discussion:
Rusty Weiss /
RedState: Joy Reid Deletes X Account Days After Megyn Kelly Predicted MSNBC Will Fire Her - Her Reason Is Amazing @pierogie.bsky.social: People are tired from the non-stop bombardment of awfulness coming from the trump cam. MSNBC will spike again once he takes office and we switch from the thought of upcoming garbage to actual garbage inc.
The Verge:
Echoing TikTok's gifting, YouTube is rolling out “jewels” that users can buy to support creators during livestreams, for those in the YouTube Partner Program— YouTube is taking a page out of the TikTok playbook by adding “jewels” you buy to exchange for gifts for your favorite creators during livestreams.
Discussion:
TechCrunch and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
David Pierce /
The Verge: The tiny tweak that could change YouTube forever
Financial Times:
The EU fines Meta €797.72M for tying Facebook Marketplace to Facebook and “imposing unfair trading conditions” on rival websites, the first such fine for Meta— Facebook is undermining rivals by ‘tying’ its free Marketplace services with the social network, Brussels says
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Reuters, Benzinga, European Commission, The Information, Al Jazeera, Engadget, The Times, The Mirror, Meta, City A.M., The Independent, Irish Independent, Times of India, New York Times, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Türkiye Today, Politico, @metanewsemea, WinBuzzer, Business Insider and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Ingrid Lunden /
TechCrunch: Meta slapped with a €798M fine in Europe over anticompetitive Marketplace practices
Anusuya Lahiri /
Benzinga: Meta Hit With $841 Million EU Fine Over Antitrust Violations Tied To Facebook Marketplace European Commission: Commission fines Meta €797.72 million over abusive practices benefitting Facebook Marketplace
Sylvia Varnham O'Regan /
The Information: EU Fines Meta $843 Million Over ‘Abusive’ Facebook Ad Practices
Louisa Clarence-Smith /
The Times: Meta fined €800m for breach of EU competition law
Martyn Landi /
City A.M.: EU fines Meta £660m for competition rule breaches over Facebook Marketplace
Martyn Landi /
The Independent: EU fines Meta £660m for competition rule breaches over Facebook Marketplace
Adrian Weckler /
Irish Independent: Meta fined €798m by EU in antitrust case over ads
Times of India:
EU fines Meta nearly €800 million for ‘abusive’ practices benefiting Facebook marketplace
Adam Satariano /
New York Times: Meta Fined $840 Million in Europe for Boosting Marketplace Unfairly Agence France-Presse: Meta hit with $840 million EU fine for Facebook Marketplace ads antitrust breach
Associated Press:
EU slaps Meta with a nearly 800 million euro fine for engaging in ‘abusive’ Marketplace practices
Samuel Stolton /
Bloomberg: Meta Fined €798 Million by EU Over Abusing Classified Ads Dominance @metanewsemea: We disagree with the European Commission's decision on Facebook Marketplace - read why here 👇 https://about.fb.com/...
Markus Kasanmascheff /
WinBuzzer: Meta Hit with €800M EU Fine for Facebook Marketplace Push
Chris Johnston /
Business Insider: Europe fines Meta almost $840 million for linking Marketplace to Facebook
Jess Weatherbed /