Re/code
Law firm Aiman-Smith & Marcy is using targeted ads to find some of the 350 or so laid-off Twitter employees to see if they might think they have a actionable claim against the social network site.
The Next Web
Apple TV users will now be able to view their Twitter timelines, as well as reactions to live sports and news broadcasts all on one screen. The NFL, BuzzFeed and Bloomberg are partnering to bring content to the platform. In addition to checking out tweets in real-time, you can also send select tweets to your iPhone to join the conversation.
The Verge
Sony’s TV streaming service PlayStation Vue is launching on Android TV, this week. “The service is a cable TV replacement, giving subscribers access to anywhere from 55 to over 100 channels,” The Verge reports. “Altogether, it’s a pretty solid offering, although live streaming of major networks -- ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox -- isn’t available in every location, which could easily make it a nonstarter for a lot of people.”
Tubefilter
"Epic Rap Battles Of History," the brilliant YouTube video series created by Peter Shukoff (aka Nice Peter) and Lloyd Ahlquist (aka EpicLLOYD) just issued its battle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, with a cameo from Abraham Lincoln warning Trump he had better not start another civil war. Fun stuff, with some vicious (and mostly viciously funny) bombs that each candidate fling at each other. Four years ago, the Obama-Romney rap battle attracted 124 million viewers. It was a kinder, gentler nation.
Reuters
Amazon warned the investment community its holiday season quarter won't hit earlier estimates in part because of higher production costs. Amazon "has nearly doubled its spending on the creation and marketing of movies and TV shows in the second half of 2016," Reuters reports.
Wall Street Journal
After AT&T announced its $85.4 billion merger deal with Time Warner Inc., the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee jumped into action, and said the CEO of AT&T and Time Warner Cable would testify to explain how the deal wasn't anti-competitive. The trouble is, the committee got their Time Warners wrong. Time Warner Cable is a wholly separate company that runs the cable system people pay to get their TV service. It has nothing, at all, to do with the AT&T deal with the other Time Warner, that owns CNN, TBS, HBO and other channels. (The panel has corrected its error.) Branding …
Tubefilter
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says economics and expectations of ad-based service like YouTube aren't the same as Netflix or Amazon subscription model, so it won't be bankrolling billions of dollars in content. Separately, she confirms that after all those billions and billions of views, YouTube is still in the investment mode and hasn't become profitable yet.
Re/code
In an interview with Recode,, Verizon Entertainment General Manager Chip Canter said that the company plans to merge some of the social features that Vessel was working on with the content strategy Verizon already has in place. Verizon is also looking at how to evolve beyond the free Go90 service into paid subscriptions and other over-the-top services, says Recode.
Wired
That's the deal AT&T plans for its new Internet service, DirecTV Now, starting in January.The move is a way of bolstering support for the company’s $85.4 billion deal to acquire Time Warner. Regulators, legislators and consumer groups may take a dim view of that combination.
Variety
British commercial broadcaster ITV is getting ready to cut 120 jobs, as Britain arranges its exit from the EU. Variety says companies nationwide are cutting an estimated $489 million from marketing budgets, leading to a decline of 1%-2% in TV ad revenues. That could make it the worst year since the recession.