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TikTok partners with Apple to let users with an Apple Music subscription play full songs on TikTok without leaving the app, along with a Listening Party feature (Steven J. Horowitz/Variety)
https://variety.com/2026/music/news/apple-…

TikTok Teams With Apple Music to Allow Users to Stream Full Songs
Apple Music and TikTok have partnered to launch a feature that allows users of the latter to stream full songs on platform.

YouTuber Markiplier's self-funded horror film Iron Lung debuted at No. 2 at the US box office with $22M after a fan campaign helped land it on 2,500 screens (Megan Farokhmanesh/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/movies/markiplier-iron-lung-movie.…

A YouTuber’s Film Beat ‘Melania’ at the Box Office. Here’s How.
“Iron Lung,” a horror movie directed and funded by the video creator known as Markiplier, pulled in $22 million in its first weekend after fans across the country requested screenings.

HBO Max is set to launch in the UK and Ireland on March 26, with ad-supported tiers costing £4.99 or £5.99 per month and ad-free at £9.99 or £14.99 per month (K.J. Yossman/Variety)
https://variety.com/2026/tv/global/hbo-max-uk-launch-date-subsc…

HBO Max Sets U.K. Launch Date, Subscription Prices
HBO Max is set to launch in the U.K. in March 2026.

TikTok plans to launch TikTok Radio, a live audio channel that blends creator content and music, on March 13 on the iHeartRadio app and on 28 US stations (Todd Spangler/Variety)
https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/tiktok-radio-podcast-network-ihea…

TikTok Radio and Podcasts Launching With iHeartMedia
TikTok and iHeartMedia are launching TikTok Radio on the free iHeartRadio app and on 28 broadcast stations, plus a slate of creator podcasts, after TikTok's deal with SiriusXM ended last year.

An interview with Dave Jorgenson, who launched WaPo's TikTok channel in 2019, about taking WaPo's video audience with him, launching long-form content, and more (Alice Brooker/Press Gazette)
https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/

How Dave Jorgenson took the Washington Post video audience with him
A former senior video producer of The Washington Post has said one of the reasons he left was because video was not “getting the support”.  

Google has removed dozens of AI videos from YouTube that depicted Disney characters, after Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter flagging the links (Gene Maddaus/Variety)
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/google-removes-ai-videos-disney…

Google Removes AI Videos of Disney Characters After Cease and Desist
Google has taken down dozens of AI-generated videos of Disney-owned characters after the studio sent a cease and desist letter on Wednesday.

YouTube launches genre-specific YouTube TV Plans as lower-cost alternatives to the $82.99 monthly subscription; the Sports Plan is priced at $64.99 per month (Abner Li/9to5Google)
https://9to5google.com/2026/02/09/youtube-tv-plans-launch/

YouTube TV Plans launch this week from $55/month with $65 Sports Plan 
“YouTube TV Plans” are rolling out this week as cheaper alternatives to paying $82.99 per month for over 100 channels.

Google's video production unit, 100 Zeros, and Range Media Partners are launching a slate of vertical microdramas with dozens of scripted and non-scripted shows (Payton Turkeltaub/Variety)
https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/range-media-partners-google-m…

Range Media Partners and Google Launch Microdramas Initiative
Range Media Partners and Google’s premium production initiative, 100 Zeros, is adding a range of microdramas to its roster

Inter American Press Association: press freedom in the Americas suffered a "dramatic deterioration" in 2025; the US has "restrictions" on freedom of speech (Astrid Sušrez/Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/americas-pr

Press freedom in the Americas saw 'dramatic deterioration' in 2025, watchdog says
A monitoring watchdog says press freedom across the Americas dropped sharply in 2025, with more killings, arrests and intimidation of media workers. The Inter American Press Association on Tuesday released its annual Chapultepec Index of Freedom of Expression and the Press covering 23 countries. It ranked Venezuela and Nicaragua as countries without freedom of speech. The group links rising attacks to more authoritarian leaders. It says Venezuela sees widespread self-censorship, and Nicaragua l…

Sources: Paramount CEO David Ellison met with Trump last week for two conversations; Trump has said he will stay out of Netflix-Paramount competition for WBD (Brian Stelter/CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/media/david-ellison-tr…

Trump met with David Ellison days before saying he’s ‘not involved’ in Paramount’s Netflix battle
The timing of the meetings — early last week — is notable because Trump was asked by NBC’s Tom Llamas on Wednesday about Paramount and Netflix’s battle for WBD, and he said, “I haven’t been involved.”