Top News:
Sydney Ember / New York Times:
New York Times overall subscription revenue, which now accounts for 60% of total revenue, rose to more than $1B for 2017; Q4 revenue rose 10% YoY to $484M — In a tough environment for journalism, The New York Times Company continued to post significant subscriber growth, propelling the company to a healthy 2017.
Selina Wang / Bloomberg:
Twitter Q4: profit of $91.1M, its first ever, revenue of $731.6M, up 2% YoY, vs. $686.4M est.; MAUs up 4% YoY but flat QoQ at 330M vs. 333M est.; stock up 10%+ — Revenue rises to $732 million, topping analysts' estimates — Efforts to fight spam, bots limited gains in user numbers
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Matthew Cooper / Politico:
A look inside the changes at Newsweek: changing owners, leaner budgets, and uneven standards in the last year as editors focused on traffic over accuracy — Newsweek is in shambles. Time moved to Des Moines. Is it my fault? — It was 3 a.m. on Saturday, and I was seething.
Discussion:
@jackshafer
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Claire Atkinson / NBC News:
Newsweek Media Group's head of sales resigns, and a source says the company has lost “hundreds of thousands” in ad commitments since reports it bought traffic — The Newsweek Media Group is reeling. — Ed Hannigan, the company's head of sales, resigned on Tuesday.
Discussion:
@jfxm, @jchaltiwanger, @linleyann, Mic, @rachelcbrody, @melinadelkic, @journo_christal, @linleyann, @jasonabbruzzese and @claireatki
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: Hulu lost $920M in 2017, compared to $531M in 2016, as owners invested $1B, vs. $733M in 2016; analyst estimates losses will climb 80% in 2018 to ~$1.7B — Hulu dropped deeper into the red last year as it boosted spending on originals and launched its live TV service — and the losses are expected to mount in 2018.
Discussion:
9to5Mac, Cord Cutters News, Ubergizmo and The Verge
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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Hulu announces it is rolling out higher-quality 60 FPS video on select channels and devices — Hulu announced on Wednesday it has begun to rollout 60fps (frames per second) to its Live TV service - something that's been one of the most-requested features, especially from those who stream live sports.
Associated Press:
Knight Foundation grants $1.9M to Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism over three years to support innovation in TV news — https://apnews.com/515391b73ece4c83beaa d5f943edcdf0 — PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona State University's journalism school on Thursday …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, TVSpy, Broadcasting & Cable and ASU Now
Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:
Everipedia, a rival to Wikipedia that plans to use tokens to permit editing and reward users, raises $30M from investors including Galaxy Digital — Do we need a more lively Wikipedia for the Snapchat generation? The founders of a fast-growing site called Everipedia …
Jeff Baumgartner / Multichannel News:
SEC filing: T-Mobile paid about $325M for Denver-based Layer3 TV, to help launch T-Mobile's new TV service later this year — Will use acquisition to launch ‘disruptive’ OTT TV service later this year — T-Mobile paid about $325 million to acquire Layer3 TV, the Denver-based MVPD …
Discussion:
Multichannel News and FierceCable, more at Techmeme »
Ricardo Bilton / Nieman Lab:
Substack, a platform that offers tools for writers to create and monetize their own newsletters, opens to all for free, takes 10% cut if newsletters charge fees — “People will always pay for news they can put on the company credit card, but we've always believed that that it's far from the only thing people will pay for."
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
NBCUniversal and BuzzFeed launch Playfull, a millennial parenting channel on Facebook that marks the first time both companies have co-owned a publishing brand — NBCUniversal and BuzzFeed are creating a new millennial parenting channel together called Playfull, hoping to replicate BuzzFeed's success …
Harper Neidig / The Hill:
The Internet Association, representing Facebook, Google, and other internet firms, pushes for a Senate vote to reverse FCC repeal of net neutrality laws — A trade group representing internet giants including Google and Facebook is throwing its support behind a bill that would reverse …
Discussion:
Reuters, @fawfulfan, @realstevecox and Internet Association, more at Techmeme »
Ken Doctor / Nieman Lab:
Analysis of LA Times deal: factors that led to sale now, speculation on Soon-Shiong 's future strategy, a look at price, and a theory on a future Gannett role — Tronc is getting a big premium for its flagship asset, and the Times is getting a return to private, local ownership.
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