Top News:
Peter Kafka / Recode:
Streaming service ESPN Plus launching next month at $4.99/mo; sources say it won't have ESPN cable channels' content, which still requires ESPN subscription — How much would you pay for sports you weren't watching on TV? — Want to pay for a subscription to ESPN without paying for a subscription to other cable channels?
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Fast Company, The Wrap, AppAdvice.com, Variety, CNBC, CNNMoney, Engadget, Associated Press, The Verge, @spingriffey, 9to5Mac and Broadcasting & Cable, more at Techmeme »
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Christine Wang / CNBC:
Disney reports mixed Q1 results with revenue of $15.35B vs. $15.45B expected; media and networks, consumer and interactive, and studio units miss targets — - CEO Bob Iger said “Black Panther” ticket presales are “outpacing [those of] every other superhero movie ever made.”
Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Vice Media missed its 2017 revenue target of $805M by $100M+, largely due to its Viceland TV channel; co-president Creighton unlikely to return to role — Digital media company misses revenue forecast; shareholders push company to turn a profit — Vice Media is facing uncertainty …
Discussion:
@raju, @keachhagey, @srabil and @asharma
Samantha Cole / Motherboard:
Pornhub says it's banning AI-generated fake porn videos because they're “nonconsensual”, yet such “deepfake” videos are still available via site search results — The giant porn site puts deepfakes in the same category as revenge porn.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Fast Company, The Verge, Engadget, The Next Web, The Verge, Mashable, The Daily Dot and Trusted Reviews, more at Techmeme »
April Simpson / Current:
NPR's Daniel Zwerdling, a veteran investigative journalist, has left the network; sources say allegations of sexual harassment were filed to HR in November — Daniel Zwerdling, a veteran investigative journalist at NPR, has left the network amid allegations of sexual harassment.
Discussion:
NPR, TVWeek.com, thecut, NewsCut, @kryssypease, @aprilehrlich and @alyssaedes
Robert Feder:
Three former editors of DNAinfo Chicago are starting a local news site with five reporters, funded by subscriptions with support from blockchain-based Civil — Three editors from the former DNAinfo Chicago are reuniting to start up a new neighborhood news website to be funded by reader subscriptions.
Discussion:
@emily__olsen, @lillian_ruiz, @rachelholliday, @amandarivkin, @greenfieldjohn, @byalisonbowen, @amlwhere and Stephanie Graves
Wall Street Journal:
Snapchat is launching to tool to let TV networks pipe snippets of live broadcasts directly into the app, starting this Saturday with NBC's Olympics coverage — Deal could forge closer ties between traditional TV networks and Snapchat's parent company Snap Inc. — Georgia Wells and Benjamin Mullin
Discussion:
9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Alexandria Neason / Columbia Journalism Review:
Profile of Tom Tryniski, who has scanned ~50M newspaper pages dating back to the 1800s from US and Canadian pubs, into his online repository Fultonhistory.com — Tom Tryniski does not lock his doors. He spends most days sitting in his living room in Fulton, New York, 30 miles northwest of Syracuse …
Discussion:
@c_chisholm and @jaanpill
Craig Silverman / BuzzFeed:
Russian trolls posed as black activists on Tumblr and generated hundreds of thousands of interactions with anti-Hillary Clinton, pro-Bernie Sanders content — Tumblrs run by Russian trolls generated hundreds of thousands of interactions with anti-Hillary Clinton, pro-Bernie Sanders content.
Discussion:
@d1gi and @profcarroll, more at Techmeme »
Financial Times:
Study of 48K Facebook pages and 14K Twitter accounts from Oct. 2017 to Jan.: Trump backers share more extremist and phony posts than all other groups combined — Ultra-rightwing conservatives shared more false stories on Facebook than all other political groups combined in the three months …
Supantha Mukherjee / Reuters:
Tronc has confirmed it is selling the Los Angeles Times and a number of other newspapers to billionaire biotech investor Patrick Soon-Shiong for $500M in cash — (Reuters) - Tronc Inc (TRNC.O) said on Wednesday it would sell some newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune …
Alfred Lee / The Information:
Sources: in Q3 2017, Spotify made €1B in revenue, putting it on track for €4B in full year revenue, up 40% YoY, and had an operating loss between €70M and €90M — Spotify generated a billion euros ($1.2 billion) in revenue in the third quarter of 2017, according to two investors briefed on the numbers.
Discussion:
hypebot, more at Techmeme »
David Uberti / Splinter:
Memo: Nancy Cooper, IBT's Managing Ed, named acting editor of Newsweek; Jonathan Davis to return as chief content officer pending investigation into current CCO — After a handful of top reporters and editors were fired in a purge of the Newsweek masthead on Monday, about 40 …
Discussion:
New York Post, @media_ink, Talking Biz News, Paste, @itsdavidford, Press Gazette, The Outline and @daviduberti
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