Under Trump, media executives and M&A advisers predict fewer deal constraints, more encroachment by Big Tech onto Hollywood, and more broadcast TV consolidation (Winston Cho/The Hollywood Reporter)

Mediagazer: Under Trump, media executives and M&A advisers predict fewer deal constraints, more encroachment by Big Tech onto Hollywood, and more broadcast TV consolidation (Winston Cho/The Hollywood Reporter)

Top News:

Publishers Weekly:

News Corp's HarperCollins reports Q1 revenue up 4% YoY to $546M, led by a 15% YoY gain in digital sales; JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy led titles with ~1.5M copies— HarperCollins followed up a strong quarter ended June 30, 2024, with more solid results in the quarter ended September 30, 2024.
Discussion: @juwanthecurator.bsky.social and John Cheary on LinkedIn

RELATED:
The Wrap:

News Corp reports Q1 revenue up 3% YoY to $2.58B, net income up 148% YoY to $144M, Dow Jones revenue up 3% YoY to $552M, and WSJ subscriptions up 7% YoY to 4.3M— The Murdoch-led media company reported 5.9 million Dow Jones subscribers, up 11% — News Corp., the home to The Wall Street Journal …

Discussion:
The Times, News Corporation and Reuters

Wall Street Journal:
News Corp names Lavanya Chandrashekar as its next CFO, succeeding Susan Panuccio, starting January 1 with an annual $1.4M base salary

Discussion:
News Corporation

Variety:

AMC Networks acquires full control of BBC America, after BBC Studios sold its remaining 50.1% interest in the channel to AMC Networks for $42M in cash— The U.S. media company has owned a 49.9% stake in the channel since 2014, which it purchased for $200 million in a deal with BBC Worldwide.

Discussion:
Deadline, TVNewsCheck, @charterhousesq, Editor and Publisher, The Wrap, @variety, Cord Cutters News and WORLD SCREEN

Discussion:
@charterhousesq: #AMC Networks ‘acquires full control of #BBC_America’ for $42 million https://variety.com/... see excerpt below 🤔 That should help BBC coffers - hope they get a good exchange rate when funds come back to #BBCstudios in the UK 😉 or does the money stay off-shore 🏝️ [image] @variety: AMC Networks has acquired full control in BBC America for $42 million. The U.S. media company has owned a 49.1% stake in the BBC Studios company since 2014, which it purchased at the time for $200 million. https://variety.com/...

Mansha Daswani /
WORLD SCREEN: AMC Networks Takes Full Control Of BBC America

RELATED:

The Wrap:
AMC Networks report Q3 revenue down 5.9% YoY to $599.6M, operating income down 22% YoY to $93.7M, 11.8M streaming subscribers, $316M in subscription revenue

Discussion:
Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, The Streamable, Variety, AMC Networks Inc. and Benzinga

Discussion:

Dade Hayes /
Deadline: AMC Networks Reports Downturn In Many Financial Areas, But Stock Perks Up On Q3 Beat

Georg Szalai /
The Hollywood Reporter: AMC Networks U.S. Ad Revenue Drops 10 Percent, Streaming Subs Rise to 11.8M

Erik Gruenwedel /
Media Play News: AMC Networks Adds 700,000 Quarterly Streaming Subs to Tally 11.3 Million

David Satin /
The Streamable: AMC Networks See Continued Revenue Declines, But Streamers Add Customers

Jennifer Maas /
Variety: AMC Networks U.S. Ad Sales Fall 10% in Q3 as Streaming Subscribers Tick Up by 200,000 to Reach 11.8 Million

Talking Biz News:

Memo: Business Insider founder Henry Blodget says he is leaving BI's board, will remain an adviser and contribute occasional columns, and plans to write a novel— Business Insider founder Henry Blodget sent out the following on Friday: — Team, — Seventeen years ago …

Discussion:
@benmullin, @jfberke, @samro and @walthickey

Discussion:

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: NEWS: Henry Blodget is leaving Business Insider, the company he founded 17 years ago [image]

Jeremy Berke /
@jfberke: End of an era. Congrats on a great run @hblodget.

Sam Ro /
@samro: #JOLTS Epic run. @hblodget paved the way for a lot of careers. BI diaspora everywhere

CNN:

Experts on authoritarian leadership in Europe say Trump could do extensive damage to US press freedom, similar to Orbán in Hungary, Putin in Russia, and more— New York CNN — — President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to go after much of the media in his second term …

Discussion:

Nilay Patel /
@reckless1280@threads.net: Oh good we're sending the CIA after the media, love to be a free speech absolutist

Jon Passantino /
@passantino@threads.net: Trump has vowed to go after the media in his second term. How he could take a page out of the authoritarian playbook used by his fav strongmen to muzzle the free press https://www.cnn.com/...

Hadas Gold /
@hadas_gold: How did authoritarian leaders in other countries weaken the free press? It wasn't big moments - it was “Death by a thousand cuts” — small, bureaucratic steps https://www.cnn.com/...

Ashis Basu /
@basuashis: “Governments around the world controlled by authoritarians and strongmen, including Russia, Hungary, India, and until recently, Poland, have moved to muzzle the free press and crush dissent” said @smoshavi

Brian Doherty /
@bdoh: Looks like years of this hysteria. The country elected a Republican President, not the CCP. [image]

Jenn Wong /
@jennwong.bsky.social: No shit [embedded post]

Marina Walker /
@marinawalkerg: As the U.S. election results sink in, I have been thinking about my colleagues in places like India, Venezuela, Hungary, Philippines, who have a thing or two to teach us about how to produce world-changing journalism amid insults, persecution, harassment, and worse. 👇

Kim Andrew Elliott /
@kaedotcom: “... attacking journalists, discrediting their reporting, applying pressure on media owners to induce self-censorship, launching legal challenges, and leveraging wealthy allies to buy up media outlets to turn them into government mouthpieces.”

Sharon Moshavi /
International Center for Journalists: A World Where Facts Matter: Reflections on the 2024 Elections

Marina Walker /
@marinawalkerg: It's hard to predict exactly how much press freedom will deteriorate in the U.S. in a second Trump presidency, but the fact that we are even contemplating and bracing ourselves for such a scenario shows how profoundly abnormal and dangerous this moment is.

Niv Calderon /
@nivcalderon: Just as it is now in Israel

Billboard:

Bill Ackman, UMG board member and major shareholder, seeks to move UMG's stock listing and HQ to the US from Amsterdam, after Israelis were attacked in the city— The head of Pershing Square Capital, which owns 10% of UMG's stock, said moving UMG to the U.S. after attacks on Israelis overnight …

Discussion:
CNN, @billackman, Reuters, CNBC, Reuters, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Deseret News, Forbes, Bloomberg and Townhall

Discussion:

Auzinea Bacon /
CNN: Bill Ackman plans to pull his companies out of Amsterdam after antisemitic attacks

Bill Ackman /
@billackman: I am going to seek approval from the board of Pershing Square Holdings— in which I and my family own 23% of the shares—to eliminate its listing on the @euronext Amsterdam exchange. The board had been considering the move because our second listing on the @LSEplc now represents

James Franey /
New York Post: Bill Ackman vows to yank hedge fund from Amsterdam-based stock exchange after soccer thugs target Jewish fans

Mauro Orru /
Wall Street Journal: Bill Ackman Seeks to Scrap Pershing Square, Universal Music Listings in Amsterdam After Attacks

Chase Martin /
Deseret News: Antisemitic attacks on soccer fans in Amsterdam condemned by Israeli and Dutch governments

Ty Roush /
Forbes: Bill Ackman Wants Firm's Listing On Amsterdam Stock Exchange Dropped After Antisemitic Attacks

New York Times:

Memo: WaPo CEO Will Lewis tells staff they'll be expected to work from the office five days a week, instead of three, by June 2, and by February 3 for managers— All employees at The Post will be expected to return to the office by June 2. Managers must be back in the office full time by Feb. 3.

Discussion:
Commercial Observer, @benmullin, @patriciaeguino, TVNewsCheck, @benmullin, @film_girl@threads.net, Washingtonian, @talia.barrington@threads.net, @ellaeliz@threads.net, @mkarolian@threads.net, New York Post, Benjamin Mullin on LinkedIn, @scotian.bsky.social, @juwanthecurator.bsky.social and MediaPost

Discussion:

Nick Trombola /
Commercial Observer: After Extending Its D.C. Lease, Washington Post Calls Workers Back Full Time

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: NEWS: Washington Post Guild responds to new 5-day-a-week edict from Will Lewis: “Guild leadership sees this for what it is: a change that stands to further disrupt our work rather than to improve our productivity or collaboration.” [image]

Patricia Eguino /
@patriciaeguino: The only explanation for this is that Bezos and Washington Post's upper management want journalists to quit.

Ben Mullin /
@benmullin: Full memo: [image]

Christina Warren /
@film_girl@threads.net: Glad to see WaPo, like all Amazon companies, does layoffs disguised as RTO mandates.

Talia Barrington /
@talia.barrington@threads.net: Seems like a really good way to avoid having to pay out severance laying people off to me...

Ella Holst /
@ellaeliz@threads.net: I think “tone deaf” kind of under sells it. My god...it's like a carefully constructed path to brand destruction.

Matthew Karolian /
@mkarolian@threads.net: Announcing this on the heels of a management decision that nuked 250,000 subscribers might be the most absolutely tone deaf move I've ever witnessed. https://www.washingtonian.com/ ...

Victor Nava /
New York Post: Washington Post orders employees to return to the office five days a week

Benjamin Mullin /
Benjamin Mullin on LinkedIn: My phone is blowing up from staffers at The Washington Post weighing in on this. What do you think of this move, announced two days after the election? @scotian.bsky.social: everyone knows the best reporting can only be done from your desk in the office [embedded post] @juwanthecurator.bsky.social: Hoping to get as many resignations as possible so the “democracy dies in darkness” era is fully dead and gone in time for the new administration [embedded post]

Nieman Lab:

A look at Votebeat's use of a Slack channel to answer questions for journalists on the election, connecting reporters with experts through at least December 8— “The problem with voting stories is that the people who make themselves most available don't know what the hell they're talking about.”

Discussion:
@jessicahuseman and Civic News Company on LinkedIn

Discussion:

Jessica Huseman /
@jessicahuseman: WOOOOOO! Thanks @SarahScire for this awesome write up of @VotebeatUS and @knightfdn's expert desk! Journalists can still sign up. Link at the end of the article! https://www.niemanlab.org/...

The Hollywood Reporter:

Under Trump, media executives and M&A advisers predict fewer deal constraints, more encroachment by Big Tech onto Hollywood, and more broadcast TV consolidation— A palpable buzz has taken hold of corporate boardrooms that another four years of the Republican will free up dealmaking.

Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, World of Reel, Forbes, New York Post, TVNewsCheck, Axios, Bloomberg, Fortune, Bloomberg, Techdirt, The Hill, The Information, The Wrap and Deadline

Discussion:

Georg Szalai /
The Hollywood Reporter: David Zaslav: Trump May Bring “Opportunity for Consolidation” That's “Positive” for Business

Jordan Ruimy /
World of Reel: David Zaslav Says Trump Presidency Could Be “Real Positive” For Consolidation

Ariel Zilber /
New York Post: Wall Street giddy as Trump White House expected to OK fresh wave of mergers and acquisitions

Chris Hughes /
Bloomberg: Banking on a Trumpian Deal Bonanza? Not So Fast.

Paolo Confino /
Fortune: Wall Street is foaming at the mouth with all the possible mergers and acquisitions that may now go through with Trump as president

Karl Bode /
Techdirt: Warner Bros CEO Zaslav Sees Big Opportunity For More Pointless Media Consolidation Under Trump 2.0

Dominick Mastrangelo /
The Hill: Zaslav bullish on Trump allowing media mergers

Martin Peers /
The Information: Media Executives Say Trump May Help Speed Mergers

New York Times:

US prosecutors claim a second Iranian-directed plot existed to assassinate US-based activist and journalist Masih Alinejad, along with a plot to kill Trump— The allegation came in a complaint that said Masih Alinejad, a Brooklyn activist, had been the target of a second assassination attempt.

Discussion:
CNN, Fox News, The Western Journal, Forbes, The Times of Israel, @alinejadmasih, The Hill, Daily Mail, RADAR, The Gateway Pundit, ABC7, NBC News, @timobrien, NBC Bay Area, UPI, New York Post, CBS News, @leorsapir, Washington Times, Semafor, Committee on Homeland Security, WJXX-TV, The Sun and freebeacon.com

Discussion:

Hannah Rabinowitz /
CNN: DOJ charges three in Iranian plot to kill Donald Trump

Jack Davis /
The Western Journal: DOJ Announces Murder-for-Hire Charges in Iranian Plot to Kill Donald Trump

Ty Roush /
Forbes: U.S. Files Charges Over Iranian Plot To Assassinate Donald Trump Before Election Day The Times of Israel: Iran sought to assassinate Trump, US alleges as it announces charges against suspect

Masih Alinejad /
@alinejadmasih: I am shocked. I just learned from the @FBI that two men were arrested yesterday in a new plot to kill me at Fairfield University, where I was scheduled to give a talk. I also learned that the person assigned to assassinate @realDonaldTrump was also assigned to kill me on U.S. [video]

Zach Schonfeld /
The Hill: Justice Department unseals alleged Iranian plot to kill Trump

Nic White /
Daily Mail: Journalist Masih Alinejad was second target of Iranian assassination plot to kill Donald Trump RADAR: Horrifying ‘Trump Assassination Crime Scene Gallery’: Pictures Emerge of Ammo, Pistols and Automatic Weapons Arsenal ‘Stockpiled’ by Suspected Iranian Hitmen

Cullen Linebarger /
The Gateway Pundit: NOW THEY TELL US: Biden Department of ‘Justice’ Allegedly Uncovers Iranian-Linked Plot to Kill President Trump Before the Election - Two Arrested, One Remains at Large

Tim O'Brien /
@timobrien: Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said that Iranian plotters had discussed a plan to assassinate Trump before he was re-elected as president this week. One of the plotters said that he was assigned in September to carry out the plan. https://www.nytimes.com/...

Don Jacobson /
UPI: DOJ charges Iranian man in alleged plot to assassinate Trump, others on U.S. soil

Matt Troutman /
New York Post: Prominent NYC journalist, Iran critic reveals she was target of would-be assassins linked to Trump murder plot

Robert Legare /
CBS News: Iranian operative charged in pre-election scheme to assassinate Trump, other U.S. targets

Leor Sapir /
@leorsapir: “'The charges announced today expose Iran's continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens, including... Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,'” said Christopher Wray, director of the F.B.I." https://www.nytimes.com/... Committee on Homeland Security: Chairman Green Issues Statement on DOJ Charges for Iran-Backed Assassination Plot Against President-Elect Donald Trump, Iranian-American Dissident

Israel Salas-Rodriguez /
The Sun: Trump murder-for-hire plot stopped as Iranian military guard's sick kill order & messages to ‘hitmen’ in NY are exposed

TechCrunch:

TikTok launches Share to TikTok, which lets users directly share music from Apple Music and Spotify in a post to their TikTok Feed or in DMs via TikTok Messages— TikTok on Thursday debuted a new feature that will more closely connect its app, which already influences which songs top the charts …

Discussion:

Jan-Paul Jeffrey /
Jan-Paul Jeffrey on LinkedIn: Big news from Spotify! Sharing and saving your favorite music, podcasts, and audiobooks just got easier with new TikTok and Instagram integrations. …

Colin Kirkland /
MediaPost: ‘Share To TikTok’ Opens Up Music Sharing With Apple, Spotify Spotify: Spotify Rolls Out New TikTok and Instagram Integrations That Make Sharing and Saving Easier Than Ever

Dylan Smith /
Digital Music News: Spotify and Apple Music Roll Out ‘Share to TikTok’ Feature, Enabling Users to Link Directly to Songs, Audiobooks, and More

Elias Leight /
Billboard: Sharing Music on TikTok Keeps Getting Easier

Daniel Tencer /
Music Business Worldwide: TikTok deepens integration with Spotify and Apple Music via new feature that lets streamers ‘Share to TikTok’

Deadline:

The UK government launches a forum that includes the BBC, Sky, and Ofcom to examine ways of preserving linear TV for older and underprivileged audiences— The UK government plans to examine ways of sustainably preserving linear television for older and underprivileged audiences amid the streaming revolution.

Discussion:
@francarnell.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter and GOV.UK

Discussion:

Fran Carnell /
@francarnell.bsky.social: Firstly, they need to look at the content of BBC and Sky (all under tory media control) and dismiss the BBC tory appointed board. We needs some kind of unbiased media in this country and the BBC is the only one they can have any control over. Then we need Leveson 2 and Ofcom to be given some teeth!

Lily Ford /