A Q&A with Chris Balfe, CEO of Red Seat Ventures, which has helped Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly set up their podcast and streaming businesses and sell ads (Peter Kafka/Business Insider)

Mediagazer: A Q&A with Chris Balfe, CEO of Red Seat Ventures, which has helped Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly set up their podcast and streaming businesses and sell ads (Peter Kafka/Business Insider)

Top News:

Reuters:

A New York judge finds Sirius XM liable for a difficult subscription cancellation process; Sirius says it will appeal but abide by a new “click-to-cancel” rule— A New York state judge found Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI.O) liable in New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit accusing …
Discussion: Deadline, Digital Music News, @claeshs.bsky.social, Variety, Vox, The Verge, Billboard and Forbes

Discussion:

Dade Hayes /
Deadline: SiriusXM Made It Too Tough For Customers To End Their Subscriptions, NY Judge Rules; Company Vows Appeal But Will Abide By FTC's “Click-To-Cancel” Rule

Ashley King /
Digital Music News: SiriusXM Made It Too Difficult for Customers to Cancel Subscriptions

Claes Holtzmann /
@claeshs.bsky.social: Media companies should know they're sabotaging their long-term success by making cancellations such a pain. — “by requiring subscribers to speak at length with live agents trained to dissuade cancellations, and listen to as many as five offers of other services before being allowed to cancel”

Todd Spangler /
Variety: SiriusXM Will Make It Easier to Cancel Subscriptions in N.Y. After Judge Rules Company's Practices Violated Federal Law

Nicole Narea /
Vox: Biden wants to free you from all those subscriptions you meant to cancel but didn't

Bill Donahue /
Billboard: SiriusXM's ‘Frustrating’ Rules for Cancelling Broke Consumer Protection Law, Judge Says

Alexandra York /
Forbes: Inside Alex Cooper's $125 Million Deal To Grow Her Multimedia Empire

Variety:

Sources: NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Bonnie Hammer plans to leave the company at the end of the year; she has been with the company since 2004— Bonnie Hammer, a legendary TV executive who has had a hand in popular programs ranging from “This Old House” and “Zoom” to “Monk” and “Mr. Robot …

Discussion:
The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck and Deadline

Discussion:

Lucas Manfredi /
The Wrap: NBCUniversal Vice Chair Bonnie Hammer to Exit at the End of the Year

Alex Weprin /
The Hollywood Reporter: NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Bonnie Hammer to Exit at End of the Year

Lucas Manfredi /
TVNewsCheck: NBCUniversal Vice Chair Bonnie Hammer To Exit At End Of The Year

Peter White /
Deadline: Bonnie Hammer Exiting NBCUniversal

Business Insider:

A Q&A with Chris Balfe, CEO of Red Seat Ventures, which has helped Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly set up their podcast and streaming businesses and sell ads— - It used to be that leaving Fox News or other big media outlets was the end of your career. — Not anymore.

Discussion:
@pkafka.bsky.social and @pkafka@threads.net

Discussion:

Peter Kafka /
@pkafka.bsky.social: Life after Fox: You can work in Trump's administration or you can make money online. Here's how the second part works. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ c...

The Canadian Press:

Meta clashes with Canada's CRTC over the Online News Act by declining to publicly release information about its measures to block news content on its platforms— Meta is refusing to publicly disclose information that could determine whether it is subject to the Online News Act despite blocking news from its platforms.

Discussion:
Canadian Press

Discussion:

Bloomberg:

A growing number of podcasters, including Tim Ferriss, are moving away from interviews to monologues or co-hosts, as some well-known guests can be overexposed— Some prominent podcast hosts are shifting away from interviews in favor of monologues and co-hosts — Hello and welcome back to Soundbite.

Discussion:
@davejackson, Alison MacAdam on LinkedIn and Ashley Carman on LinkedIn

Discussion:

Alison MacAdam /
Alison MacAdam on LinkedIn: I can't help it... I need to offer a few (grouchy) thoughts on this post, from a jaded audio person. What I'm gathering from it goes something like this: …

The Desk:

DirecTV terminates its Dish acquisition after a group of Dish creditors rejected a modified bond exchange offer— Pay television provider DirecTV on Thursday officially announced it will terminate its agreement to acquire rival satellite company Dish Network and its streaming service Sling TV from Echostar this week.

Discussion:
Axios, DIRECTV, Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, New York Times, Ars Technica, New York Post, Awful Announcing, AV Club, StreamTV Insider, Front Office Sports, Kayra Lorch on LinkedIn, Denver Business Journal, RetailWire, The Streamable, Benzinga, Media Play News, The Wrap, Streaming Better, Cord Cutters News, The Verge, Reuters, Advanced Television, TVNewsCheck, Los Angeles Times, Variety, UPI, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, WORLD SCREEN and Bloomberg

Discussion:

Tim Baysinger /
Axios: DirecTV to spike Dish deal over debt swap exchange DIRECTV: DIRECTV Announces Termination of Agreement to Acquire EchoStar's Video Distribution Business

Lauren Hirsch /
New York Times: DirecTV Calls Off Plans to Acquire Dish Network

Alexandra Steigrad /
New York Post: DirecTV calls off acquisition of satellite TV rival Dish — as lenders revolt

Sean Keeley /
Awful Announcing: DirecTV, Dish merger deal falls apart

Mary Kate Carr /
AV Club: Oh! DirecTV and Dish won't merge after all

Bevin Fletcher /
StreamTV Insider: DirecTV, Dish merger hangs by thread as deadline looms

Kayra Lorch /
Kayra Lorch on LinkedIn: For entities like Dish and DirecTV to become profitable again they have to complete change their business model. …

Greg Avery /
Denver Business Journal: Dish Network-DirecTV deal collapses

Jon Houke /
RetailWire: DirecTV and Dish Network Are Not Merging, Deal Is Canceled Effective Immediately

David Satin /
The Streamable: Merger of DIRECTV and DISH is officially dead after bondholders stand firm

Anusuya Lahiri /
Benzinga: EchoStar Shares Sink As DirecTV Terminates Acquisition Agreement

Erik Gruenwedel /
Media Play News: DirecTV Ends $1 Dish Acquisition After Satellite TV Operator's Debt Holders Refuse Exchange Offer Terms

Ross A. Lincoln /
The Wrap: DirecTV Terminates Dish Acquisition Over Debt Exchange Dispute

Luke Bouma /
Cord Cutters News: DIRECTV & Dish Network Merger is Officially Dead as Bondholders Reject Debt Swap

Gnaneshwar Rajan /
Reuters: DirecTV terminates Dish deal over failed debt swap

Todd Spangler /
Variety: DirecTV Ditches Dish Deal

Doug Cunningham /
UPI: DIRECTV cancels deal to buy DISH after creditors reject debt swap terms

Gnaneshwar Rajan /
Reuters: DirecTV to terminate Dish deal over debt swap exchange, Axios reports

Mansha Daswani /
WORLD SCREEN: DIRECTV Abandons DISH Acquisition

Variety:

WGA East members working for PBS member stations reach a deal, averting a strike; the union says the deal expands protections to animation writers— Writers on “Frontline,” “American Experience,” “NOVA” and other PBS shows have averted a strike after reaching a deal with three affiliates.

Discussion:

Jason Gordon /
Writers Guild of America East: Animation Writers Demand Union-Coverage for PBS-Made Animated Series

Emma Keates /
AV Club: The PBS writers have reached a deal

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen /
@lisatakeuchicullen.bsky.social: When #WGA writers unite...we win. — Verrry late last night, our heroic members and staff made a tentative agreement with PBS that includes first-ever union protections for ANIMATION WRITERS. — @wgaeast.bsky.social — @wgawest.bsky.social — @pbs.org.web.brid.gy — www.wgaeast.org/pbs-writers- ...

Katie Kilkenny /
The Hollywood Reporter: PBS Strike Averted As Union and Member Stations Reach Tentative Deal

Aidan Ryan /
The Boston Globe: Writers of GBH's Nova, Frontline, and other programs agree on new contract, avoid strike

Press Gazette:

Jason Cowley, the editor-in-chief of UK magazine the New Statesman, is stepping down from the position at the end of December after 16 years— New Statesman editor-in-chief Jason Cowley has announced he will step down at the end of December after 16 years at the title.

Discussion:

Krys Fluker /
Orlando Sentinel: Manning Pynn, the Sentinel's former public editor who made accountability his passion, dies

Kenneth Fleming /
@kennyf1283.bsky.social: During peak twitter, my NS digital subscription was a bargain. My favourite writer worked there, part of a must listen podcast and loads of other good content published weekly. — Not only do I not subscribe anymore, it's jarring how rarely I ever see NS content being shared or discussed. …

Kevin Maguire /
@kevmag.bsky.social: Inspirational editor and fine talent spotter Jason Cowley's 16 years in the chair is the second longest spell(after Kingsley Martin) of the 17 leading the @newstatesman.com since it started in 1913. — That's some achievement and best wishes for his next adventure. — pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/ med...

Jonathan Calder /
@lordbonkers.bsky.social: To be objective, his reputation as an editor never recovered from his scrapping of my column for the NS website. pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/ med...

George Eaton /
@georgeeaton.bsky.social: Congrats to Jason on a wonderful 16 years as NS editor. — I joined under him in 2009 and, like many others across the industry, I'll always be grateful for the opportunities he's given me. pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/ med...

Helen Lewis /
@helenlewis.bsky.social: Jason Cowley took a big chance on me all the way back in 2010, when I had no track record as a writer (I'd been a copy & desk editor) and I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for everything that's happened since. — It's the end of an era! — pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/ med...

Gabriel Milland /
@gabrielmilland.bsky.social: Someone once explained to me how Jason Cowley rescued the New Statesman from crankdom. Basically, John Pilger's column was gradually moved further and further back in the magazine until everyone forgot it actually existed. Fabian gradualism in a nutshell for you. — pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/ med...

The New York Times Company:

The New York Times names Dick Stevenson as Washington bureau chief; Stevenson has been at the paper for nearly 40 years and Washington editor since 2021— Dick, who embodies the mission of producing independent journalism, brings decades of experience to the role.

Discussion:
@ericliptonnyt.bsky.social and The Wrap

Discussion:
@ericliptonnyt.bsky.social: The NYT DC Bureau has a new boss. Richard Stevenson, who had been my direct boss for much of the last five years. He knows the Trump story inside and out and is going to be a great pilot for our efforts. Readers will benefit enormously. www.nytco.com/press/dick-s...

Deadline:

The English Premier League ends its content partnership with IMG and plans to bring content production and distribution in-house in 2026— The UK's Premier League soccer is to start producing and distributing its own content for the first time in two decades after ending its partnership with IMG.

Discussion:
Premier League Football News …, @brandonsvg.bsky.social and Advanced Television

Discussion:
Premier League Football News, Fixtures …: Premier League and IMG joint statement: Premier League media production operations

Brandon Costa /
@brandonsvg.bsky.social: Big news in the UK as the Premier League will take all international media production in-house beginning in 2026-27. — That includes the production of each season's 380 matches. — For the past 20 years, IMG has handled that, operating an entity called “Premier League Productions.” [image]

The Guardian:

National World, one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, gets a £56.2M buyout offer from shareholder Media Concierge, a 40% premium to its Nov. 21 stock price— Media Concierge submits £56.2m cash offer for National World, underbidder in the auction for the Telegraph titles

Discussion:
Press Gazette, Financial Times, London Evening Standard and HoldtheFrontPage

Discussion:

Bron Maher /
Press Gazette: Battle for future of National World as shareholder launches takeover bid

Daniel Thomas /
Financial Times: Yorkshire Post owner attracts £56mn buyout bid from largest shareholder

Henry Saker-Clark /
London Evening Standard: Media Concierge launches £56.2m takeover move for National World

Columbia Journalism Review:

A look at the Agora Center for Research, a Ugandan newsroom sitting between activism and investigative reporting, posting its work on various social media sites— Reporting that pops up in different media, documents as proof, and crowdsourced investigations have revealed corruption.