Digital

Facebook Pages has had a makeover. One of the most dramatic changes is the elimination of the “Like” button. The social network explains that rather than focusing on approval or disapproval with a “Like” button, the change will focus on Followers, a more direct measurement of how the page connects with people.

On Wednesday, in an unprecedented step, the two companies temporarily suspended Trump from posting to their platforms after a mob of his supporters stormed the house of Congress. It was the most aggressive action either company has yet taken against Trump, who more than a decade ago embraced the immediacy and scale of Twitter to rally loyalists, castigate enemies and spread false rumors.

Disney veteran Rick Strauss, one of the key executives that launched Disney+, is leaving the company after nine years. Rebecca Campbell, Disney’s chairman of direct-to-consumer and international, made the announcement internally, with Strauss also sharing the news with his staff.

The coronavirus isn’t the only reason that modern day life has moved online, but it the most important reason behind the speed of the overwhelming shift in lifestyle. COVID-19 pushed technology and media to accelerate what was already happening, and that’s why I’ve made these predictions now. I will leave them without supporting documentation, as I prefer them to be conversation starters. Agree or disagree as you will, but please, add to the list.

YouTube executive Kelly Merryman has been instrumental in improving content partnerships with large media companies like Disney and Viacom.

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order essentially banning a host of Chinese-connected software applications, including Alipay and Wechat, saying the ban targeted apps that “access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information,” by accessing smartphones, computers and tablets.

A year after the merger of Viacom and CBS in December 2019, the combined company is in the process of remaking itself from a media conglomerate with a business primarily based in traditional channels like linear TV and theatrical films into one whose operations are oriented around streaming. What the company will look like on the other side of that shift remains to be seen, but out of economic necessity, ViacomCBS in the future will need to look different than its current incarnation.

A federal appellate court has revived a class-action complaint alleging that Google overcharged pay-per-click advertisers by reneging on a promise to discount some ads, and failing to limit ads by location.

He will now oversee the company’s relationships with OTT distributors and its NextGen TV applications.

Film and TV production in Los Angeles has been exempt from COVID restrictions and continued after the current new stay-at-home order was instituted in early December. But, amid an unprecedented surge in coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths in L.A. County, the vast majority of TV studios and streamers have postponed January production for one or more weeks. Like its traditional media counterparts, Netflix also has hit the pause button on its Los Angeles-based productions, which had been slated to start filming this week, until at least mid-January.

A Beltway school of journalism wants to get back to just-the-facts-ma’am reporting. But how do you cover this Republican Party?

Hulu Plus Live TV and YouTube TV now account for 10% of U.S. pay TV subscriptions, but LightShed Partners analyst Richard Greenfield there’s no gold left in the traditional bundle.

An audit reveals that Google News sends readers — and advertising dollars — away from local news outlets.

Along with the coming of a new year, there’s another streaming service for your consideration: Discovery+. Launching today, the new subscription video service boasts more than 55,000 episodes from shows on the Discovery Channel, Food Network, HGTV, Animal Planet, TLC and other Discovery Inc.-owned channels. The service will also have series from which will be available for $4.99 monthly or $6.99 for an ad-free version. Discovery+ will also have series from A&E, BBC, The History Channel and Lifetime.

Quibi is in advanced talks to sell its content catalog to Roku, as the short-form streaming service winds down its operations following an unsuccessful run.

The deal, valued at $300 million, is the latest in a string of acquisitions as streaming platforms expand beyond music and video.

2020 was not, by any standard, a typical year. Even the linear television universe, a familiar and cyclical staple of media, saw its fair share of oddities. Halts in production of new and existing shows, delays in fall TV season premieres and an overall sense of time lost became realities as Americans were forced to recalibrate to spending more time at home for the good of public health and their communities. And in all likelihood, the atypical nature of the year will be profound enough to drive permanent shifts in consumer behavior, including media consumption. In fact, we’re already seeing them.