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 (Benjamin Mullin/New York Times)
Mediagazer: 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 (Benjamin Mullin/New York Times)
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: Status, Washington Post, The Desk, Axios, The Wrap, CNN, Variety, @maxwelltani, The Hollywood Reporter, WKYC-TV, NPR, NBC News, Rolling Stone, @sherman4949, ZeroHedge News, @laurenthomanwrites …, @zimbalist, @oneunderscore__, @bencollins.bsky.social, @brianstelter, @bencollins.bsky.social, The Bulwark, @claireatki, @brianstelter, @willguyatt, @bencollins.bsky.social, @sherman4949, @pbump, @oneunderscore__, @theonion, The Onion, @daithaigilbert, @semaforben, @bencollins.bsky.social, @pkafka, @oneunderscore__, @benmullin, @hadas_gold, Deadline, Forbes, Consequence, CBS News, Press Herald, AV Club, Inside Radio, Austin American-Statesman, Mother Jones, WHEC.com, UnHerd, New York Daily News, Houston Public Media and WFAA-TV
Discussion:
Oliver Darcy /
Status: The Onion acquires Infowars
Tim Baysinger /
Axios: The Onion acquires Alex Jones' Infowars
Hadas Gold /
CNN: The Onion wins bidding for InfoWars assets
Todd Spangler /
Variety: The Onion Buys Infowars in Bankruptcy Auction
Caitlin Huston /
The Hollywood Reporter: The Onion Buys Alex Jones' Infowars With Plans to Make It a “Cosmic Joke”
Dave Collins /
WKYC-TV: Satire slinger The Onion buys Alex Jones' Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families
Tovia Smith /
NPR: The Onion wins auction for Alex Jones' media company
Nikki McCann Ramirez /
Rolling Stone: The Onion Just Bought Infowars — and Alex Jones Is Pissed
Alex Sherman /
@sherman4949: For those asking, yes, I had this on my 2024 Bingo Card.
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?
Michael Zimbalist /
@zimbalist: This is a great outcome! @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/...
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.
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/...
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.
William Kristol /
The Bulwark: Trump's Shock, Mock, and Roll 'Em Strategy
Claire Atkinson /
@claireatki: The best revenge! Congrats Ben. [image]
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.”
Will Guyatt /
@willguyatt: What a satisfying end to a terrible website.
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: Not The Onion. Wait, Yes The Onion.
Philip Bump /
@pbump: Absolutely legendary. https://x.com/... @theonion: Via our parent company @GlobTetrahedron CEO @BryceTetraeder: https://theonion.com/... [image]
David Gilbert /
@daithaigilbert: Congrats to @oneunderscore__ on buying Alex Jones' InfoWars. Looking forward to seeing what supplements they are going to be selling.... [image]
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.
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/...
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/...
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
Aimee Picchi /
CBS News: Satirical publication The Onion says it bought Alex Jones' Infowars at auction
Dave Collins /
Press Herald: The Onion, Sandy Hook families team up to win Alex Jones' Infowars at auction
Emma Keates /
AV Club: It's time to auction off all of Alex Jones' InfoWars shit
Daniel Anstandig /
Inside Radio: Could Alex Jones Keep His Infowars Radio Show?
Karoline Leonard /
Austin American-Statesman: Alex Jones' Infowars to be auctioned Wednesday. One bid is in the ‘seven-figure range’ WHEC.com: Satirical outlet The Onion has bought Alex Jones' Infowars at auction, relatives of Sandy Hook shooting victims say
Oliver Bateman /
UnHerd: Infowars auction won't be the end of Alex Jones
Brian Niemietz /
New York Daily News: Infowars auction sees 7-figure bid from Alex Jones ally: report
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— Reliance and Disney have completed their landmark Indian media merger, creating an $8.5 billion entertainment powerhouse in the country's streaming and television markets.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and YourStory.com
Discussion:
Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Disney, Reliance Industries Close $8.5 Billion Merger of Star India and Viacom18
Georg Szalai /
The Hollywood Reporter: Disney, Reliance Close Mega-Deal to Form Indian Entertainment Powerhouse
Pooja Malik /
YourStory.com: RIL, Viacom18, Disney complete Star India merger with Rs 11,500 Cr investment
RELATED:
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
Discussion:
Fast Company, Reuters, The Wrap, Forbes, The Walt Disney Company, @pkafka, @jtoonkel, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times and @thetranscript_
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’
Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: Disney Swings to Streaming Profit of $321 Million in Q4, $134 Million for 2024
Derek Saul /
Forbes: Disney Stock Surges To 6-Month High Thanks To Earnings Beat And Streaming Profit Optimism The Walt Disney Company: THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR EARNINGS FOR FISCAL 2024
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.”
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
Alex Weprin /
The Hollywood Reporter: Streaming and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Power Disney Fiscal Q4 Earnings
Samantha Masunaga /
Los Angeles Times: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ and ‘Inside Out 2’ propel Disney studio earnings
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:
CNN, Ad Age, The Verge, Quartz, Benzinga, Yahoo Finance, Financial Times and @brianstelter
Discussion:
Chris Isidore /
CNN: Disney gives investors years to cheer about
Bruce Gil /
Quartz: Disney's streaming business is hitting its stride
Anusuya Lahiri /
Benzinga: Disney Q4 Earnings: Revenue And Profit Beat, Best Film Studio Performance, 3-Year Outlook And More
Michelle Chapman /
Yahoo Finance: Disney Q4 adjusted profit tops estimates on strong results from entertainment unit, streaming
Christopher Grimes /
Financial Times: Disney boosted by ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Inside Out 2’
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:
@mediaevan and @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social
Discussion:
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/ ...
Variety:
Don Lemon, who sued Elon Musk and X after a deal fell apart, says he's leaving X on November 15, citing X's new ToS that moves legal disputes to Texas courts— Don Lemon, a one-time business partner of Elon Musk who's now suing the tech mogul, is done with X.
Discussion:
Zachary Leeman /
Mediaite: Don Lemon Announces He's Quitting Twitter: Not a Place For ‘Honest Debate’
Derek Hunter /
Townhall: Democrats Quitting X Will Be Missed...By Someone...Probably
Cullen Linebarger /
The Gateway Pundit: HAHA: Disgraced Former CNN Host Don Lemon Gets Brutally Roasted After Explaining Why He's Ditching X/Twitter (VIDEO)
Mike Bedigan /
The Independent: Don Lemon highlights alarming change to X's terms of service as he leaves the platform Barrett Media: Don Lemon Announces Departure From X: ‘No Longer Serves Purpose’ as Free Speech Platform
Lily Mae Lazarus /
The Daily Beast: Don Lemon Quits X After Feud With Elon Musk
Candace McDuffie /
The Root: Black Folks Are Asking Is it Time To Leave Black Twitter For Real Now That Elon Musk, Trump Are Working Together
Blake Wolf /
One America News Network: Don Lemon Announces Departure From X, Users Troll In Response: ‘I Love That You Think You Will Be Missed’
Nicki Cox /
Page Six: Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Lemon quit X after Elon Musk joins Donald Trump's Cabinet
Clare Duffy /
CNN: Don Lemon and the Guardian left Elon Musk's X after the election. But is it a mass exodus? Don't be so sure
Taylor Herzlich /
New York Post: Ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon says he is quitting X over new terms of service
Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: Don Lemon quitting X: ‘I once believed it was a place for honest debate’
Asher Notheis /
Washington Examiner: Don Lemon leaving X due to platform not serving ‘purpose’ of free speech
Walter Einenkel /
Daily Kos: Journalists begin new exodus from Elon Musk's X
Wall Street Journal:
Spotify plans to pay incentives to video creators who hit certain viewing thresholds and, in January 2025, to let Premium users view podcast videos without ads— Audio-streaming giant plans to pay hosts to make podcast videos and allow premium subscribers to watch them without ads
Discussion:
Stuart Dredge /
Music Ally: Spotify launches new ways for video podcasters to earn money @spotifycreator: Today Spotify for Podcasters is becoming Spotify for Creators—and the platform is getting an upgrade with a series of new offerings to help creators like you grow an audience and monetize your content on Spotify, whether you're making audio or video. [video] @spotifynews: From our LA campus to your feed, we just announced 🆕 video features and offerings to help creators connect with fans, grow, and monetize. https://newsroom.spotify.com/ ...
Alex Kantrowitz /
@kantrowitz: Fascinating comments from Spotify co-president Gustav Söderström about how the platform views AI-generated music and podcasts, and whether they'll replace the stuff us humans create. Full episode: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/... Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/... Etc. [video]
Alex Heath /
@alexeheath: I'm at Spotify event in LA where the company just announced that it's removing ad breaks from video podcasts and will soon start paying creators directly based on engagement. The goal is to compete more directly for YouTube's video creators https://www.theverge.com/...
Paul Roetzer /
@paulroetzer: Very thoughtful responses. Balance of insights and uncertainty. I like to believe he's right on humans valuing human experiences and creativity even more in an age of AI content abundance / overload. Spotify: Spotify Unveils Uninterrupted Video Podcasts, Audience-Driven Payments, and the New Spotify for Creators Platform
John Buckley /
@johnbuckley.bsky.social: Spotify to pay creators for videos in Australia as revenue grows www.capitalbrief.com/briefing/ spo...
Danny Gallagher /
Engadget: Spotify unveils a new payout model for creators with popular videos
Wendy Lee /
Los Angeles Times: Spotify woos video and podcast creators with new tools to better compete with YouTube
Aisha Malik /
TechCrunch: Spotify will start paying video podcast hosts based on how well their videos perform
Spotify:
Biggest. Change. Ever. Go Inside Spotify for Creators, the New Home of Podcasting on Spotify
RELATED:
Axios:
Spotify projects its first full year of profitability ever in 2024; CEO Daniel Ek says profitability is the new normal for Spotify
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Digiday, @sarafischer, Investor's Business Daily, CMU, Digital Music News, MEDIANAMA, Fortune and Music Ally
Discussion:
Caitlin Huston /
The Hollywood Reporter: Spotify Hits 252M Premium Subscribers, On Track For First Full Year of Profitability
Sam Bradley /
Digiday: Media buyers say programmatic spend on Spotify is increasing as platform builds its own SSP
Sara Fischer /
@sarafischer: NEW: @Spotify projects first full year of profitability ever — CEO @eldsjal told me consistent profitability is new normal — Ek plans to reinvest record free cash flow in AI but says $SPOT won't spend as liberally as it used to — “You should not expect that we're going to go back
Patrick Seitz /
Investor's Business Daily: Spotify Stock Soars As Analysts Crank Up Volume Of Bullish Ratings
Sam Taylor /
CMU: Spotify's Ek puts a damper on ‘super premium’ hype, bigs up AI and innovation as the future
Dylan Smith /
Digital Music News: Why Stop At $400? Spotify Stock Tops $465 Per Share Following Q3 Earnings Release — Execs Target ‘First Full Year of Profitability’
Sharveya Parasnis /
MEDIANAMA: Spotify Sees Profit Rise By 40% YoY To 1.24 Billion Euros
Ryan Hogg /
Fortune: Daniel Ek says Spotify has ‘never been in a stronger position’ as music streamer caps remarkable 2024 turnaround
Music Business Worldwide:
German royalty licensing group GEMA sues OpenAI and subsidiary OpenAI Ireland in Munich Regional Court, claiming ChatGPT violates copyrights of lyrics— OpenAI, the $157 billion-valued US-based AI giant behind ChatGPT, has been sued by German collection society and licensing body GEMA.
Discussion:
gema.de, ai fray, Digital Music News, Jeff Rabhan on LinkedIn, The Decoder, CMU, @konkrit@mastodon.social, Billboard and Music Ally
Discussion:
ai fray: Biggest non-U.S. AI copyright lawsuit filed in IP litigation hotspot Munich by German collecting society GEMA against OpenAI
Dylan Smith /
Digital Music News: GEMA Sues OpenAI for Copyright Infringement Amid Broader AI Regulatory Push: ‘A Test Case to Clarify Numerous Legal Issues’
Jeff Rabhan /
Jeff Rabhan on LinkedIn: They will all limp to the courtroom eventually, most are hoping Universal will foot the bill and they can piggyback across the finish line. …
Matthias Bastian /
The Decoder: German music rights group GEMA sues OpenAI over unlicensed song lyrics in ChatGPT
Chris Cooke /
CMU: GEMA sues OpenAI
Kristoffer Patrick Cornils /
@konkrit@mastodon.social: 2024 has been an interesting year for music industry lawsuits. looking forward to this one, i doubt that openai will walk away from this unharmed. https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/ ...
Marc Schneider /
Billboard: GEMA Sues OpenAI Over Song Lyrics In a First for PROs
Stuart Dredge /
Music Ally: German collecting society GEMA sues OpenAI over song lyrics
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:
Ingrid Lunden /
TechCrunch: Meta slapped with a €798M fine in Europe over being anticompetitive with Marketplace European Commission: Commission fines Meta €797.72 million over abusive practices benefitting Facebook Marketplace
Adam Satariano /
New York Times: Meta Fined $840 Million in Europe for Boosting Marketplace Unfairly Times of India: EU fines Meta nearly €800 million for ‘abusive’ practices benefiting Facebook marketplace 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
Markus Kasanmascheff /
WinBuzzer: Meta Hit with €800M EU Fine for Facebook Marketplace Push
Adrian Weckler /
Irish Independent: Meta fined €798 by EU in antitrust case over ads @metanewsemea: We disagree with the European Commission's decision on Facebook Marketplace - read why here 👇 https://about.fb.com/...
Chris Johnston /
Business Insider: Europe fines Meta almost $840 million for linking Marketplace to Facebook
Meta-Q /
Reuters: EU fines Meta nearly €800-million over abusive practices benefiting Facebook Marketplace
The Hollywood Reporter:
CNN promotes David Chalian, who joined the network in 2013 from Politico, to SVP and Washington, DC bureau chief— The network's political director takes over a role previously held by Sam Feist, who departed earlier this year to take a job at C-SPAN.
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:
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.
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:
IndieWire, The Streamable, Reuters, Streaming Better, WHEC.com, Cord Cutters News and Benzinga
Discussion:
Tony Maglio /
IndieWire: Disney Had a Much Better Summer Than Spring
David Satin /
The Streamable: Disney+ offering viewers ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ merch early, other holiday perks
WHEC.com:
Disney Q4 bolstered by strong results from streaming, ‘Inside Out 2’ and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’
Luke Bouma /
Cord Cutters News: Disney+ Sees Ad Revenue Jump 14% Helping Drive Profitability at Disney
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.