X
Bluesky
TikTok
The year in social media included continued upheaval at X, where after two years of a threatened mass exodus following Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform the site actually did lose high-profile accounts–including The Guardian, NPR and PBS–after the November 5 election.
Bluesky was, by a wide margin, the X alternative to benefit the most, with its user base doubling, to 20 million, between September and year’s end. That made it the first independent X rival to really make a mark (remember Mastodon?), accusations of it being a liberal echo chamber be damned.
The coming year could be a bumpy one for social media, as people increasingly air their political vents on messaging apps like WhatsApp, Trump appointees to the FTC look to crack down on content moderation while European pols clamor for more restrictiveness.
Then there’s the biggest question of all: how will Trump’s inauguration affect the Supreme Court’s TikTok ban schedule to go into effect next month?
PBS
In a rare spot of good news for beleaguered public media, Amazon Prime inked a deal with PBS to stream 150 of its local feeds, plus PBS Kids, in exchange for the broadcaster building three ad-supported platforms for the content. The deal followed others between PBS and Hulu and YouTube, and will bring the station to Prime’s 200 million subscribers.
The Washington Post
The LA Times
Months of criticism of the media’s 2024 election coverage culminated late in the race with the nearly simultaneous announcements by the Post and the LA Times that they would break with tradition and decline to endorse a presidential candidate on the editorial page. The moves caused an instant backlash, with several top journalists at the outlets resigning and commentators concluding that the papers’ wealth owners, Jeff Bezos and TK, were wary of an all but inevitable Kamala Harris endorsement harming the bottom line in the event of a Trump victory.
Making matters worse was the 11th hour timing of the decisions and the opacity behind them. That Bezos’ justification of the move led with him slamming journalism as among the least trusted public institutions was further salt in the wound. But the most revealing takeaway of the story was the nagging question of whether such endorsements, even from some of the country’s biggest legacy outlets, still mattered all that much in 2024.
The Joe Rogan Experience
Call Her Daddy
Podcasts absolutely did matter in this year’s election, and barring an unlikely bubble in the medium, will grow in stature down the road. Harris raised eyebrows by eschewing a full-tilt legacy media tour and opting instead for appearances with friendly influencers including Alexandra Cooper, host of the popular Call Her Daddy cast.
But the bigger news was the candidate not appearing on Rogan’s show, for years the most popular in America and one that might have won her some desperately needed support among young men. Turns out there was something of a mutual snub to explain the non-appearance. Rogan said he was happy to interview her, but the Harris campaign balked at his insistence to do it at his Austin HQ rather than an ad-hoc studio in DC. The back and forth, and suspected damage to Harris, backed up arguments like The Atlantic’s that Rogan is “perhaps the single most influential person in the United States.”
MSNBC
Fox News
The waning influence of cable news, meanwhile, was made clear with Comcast’s announcement that it will spin off MSNBC and CNBC among other outlets with the goal of freeing its profitable theme parks and movie studio from the declining format. Left-leaning MSNBC’s post-election slump was especially pronounced, with ratings down 38%, but CNN, down 27%, fared little better.
Fox proved the exception, with viewership spiking 40% in the weeks after November 5.
Max
Amazon Prime
Netflix
The latest frontline in the streaming wars is live programming, from sports to news to entertainment, and the battle goes on. Amazon Prime saw strong, well-received results for its live Election Night coverage anchored by Brian Williams, which it opened to non-subscribers. Max’s results have been mixed, with some viewers complaining about the app’s sloppy integration of CNN content.
As is so often the case, Netflix saw the rosiest results: 27 million people tuned into Beyonce’s Christmas halftime show during the streamer’s first pairing with the NFL, and a staggering 108 million viewers across the world caught the boxing match between Mike Tyson and influencer Jake Paul.
