Business of Media
Second major carmaker says it won’t advertise during Super Bowl
Automaker Stellantis is opting out of Super Bowl ads this year, the company confirmed Friday, reports Yahoo! News’ Tara Suter.
“With a continued focus on preserving business fundamentals to mitigate the impact of a challenging U.S. automotive market, we are evaluating our business needs and will take the appropriate decisions to protect our North America operations and the Company,” a spokesperson for Stellantis told The Hill in a statement.
See also: Initiative brings back its Super Bowl ad “betting” competition
‘Jobs will be next’: TV ad slump prompts more fear among staff
Talk of job cuts took the place of the usual toasts and chatter about bonuses at the UK’s biggest broadcasters over Christmas as the industry faces the worst decline in traditional TV advertising in 15 years, reports The Guardian’s Mark Sweney.
The slump in the sector’s main source of income – down 12.5% over the past year – prompted the Channel 4 chief executive, Alex Mahon, to declare that TV broadcasters were in “market shock territory”.
Netflix beats shareholder lawsuit over account-sharing disclosures
Netflix has defeated a lawsuit filed by shareholders in a federal court in California that accused the streaming entertainment company of hiding the extent to which account-sharing was hindering its growth, reports Reuters.
A Texas-based investment trust sued in May 2022, after Netflix shares lost a third of their value when the company said subscribers were decreasing for the first time in a decade. The lawsuit sought damages on behalf of investors who bought Netflix shares between January 2021 and April 2022.
Elon Musk has used Illegal drugs, worrying leaders at Tesla and SpaceX
Elon Musk and his supporters offer several explanations for his contrarian views, unfiltered speech and provocative antics. They’re an expression of his creativity. Or the result of his mental-health challenges. Or fallout from his stress, or sleep deprivation, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Emily Glazer and Kristen Grind.
In recent years, some executives and board members at his companies and others close to the billionaire have developed a persistent concern that there is another component driving his behavior: his use of drugs.
Entertainment
Golden Globes 2024: Oppenheimer takes home top awards plus, the complete winners list
As the curtain falls on the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony, a star-studded list of celebs has taken home gongs for their work in TV and Film, reports Chattr’s Anita Anabel.
While Jo Koy’s opening monologue fell flatter than a pancake, some hugely successful titles — and streaming services — took home a gold statuette including Australia’s Sarah Snook and Elizabeth Debicki.
News Brands
New York Times faces backlash for essay speculating on Taylor Swift’s sexuality
The New York Times is under fire for publishing a piece speculating on Taylor Swift’s sexuality, reports The Guardian’s Adrian Horton.
In a 5,000-word opinion piece titled Look What We Made Taylor Swift Do, editor Anna Marks listed references to the LGBTQ+ community overt or perceived in Swift’s music and theorized that the singer was sending coded messages that she was secretly a member of the community.
The piece has drawn backlash from Times readers as well as “associates” of Swift, according to CNN.
See also: News Corp rolls out limited edition Taylor Swift magazine ahead of 2024 Australian tour
Sports
Opinion: Australian Open: The grand slam tennis tournament that shines a light on the nation, both good and bad
For two weeks every summer, Australia is the centre of the sporting universe, reports ABC’s Simon Smale.
The Australian Open fortnight provides a rare opportunity for the country to throw open its arms to the world and for the world to sit back, observe and, occasionally, judge.
In Australia’s Open, an ABC TV documentary airing tonight, Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley says the Open allows Australia to be “showcased in every country in the world”.