Mediagazer: Viacom quarterly revenue drops 7.6% YoY to $3.07B due to a drop in cable TV fees, though net profit increased from $386M to $535M, or $1.33 per share (Reuters)

5:35 PM ET, February 8, 2018

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.

Megan Farokhmanesh / The Verge:

Twitch tightens community guidelines for hateful behavior, harassment, and sexually suggestive conduct, effective Feb. 19 — New rules go into effect this month — Twitch is enacting stricter policies in the interest of curbing harassment and sexually suggestive behavior.

Discussion: Twitch Blog, Twitch.tv, VentureBeat, Kotaku, TechCrunch, Gamasutra, CinemaBlend, Engadget and Polygon

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

Steven Waldman / Report for America:

Report for America names 9 more news outlets that will host journalists, starting in June, including The Dallas Morning News, Chicago Sun-Times, and The Incline — The crisis in local journalism - a.k.a. the crisis in local democracy, a.k.a. why you can't find out if your water is polluted …

Discussion: The GroundTruth Project, Columbia Journalism Review, Chicago Sun Times, Dallas Morning News, @report4america, Report for America, Poynter and Editor & Publisher

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: Ubergizmo, 9to5Mac and The Verge

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Hulu announces it is rolling out higher-quality 60 FPS video on select channels and devices

Discussion: Variety, Variety, Cord Cutters News and Engadget

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: @normative, @polly, @suellentrop, @gingergibson, @charlotteeagar1, @noahcrothman, @mrwaltershapiro, @alistairj90, @mattizcoop, @ishaantharoor, @jackshafer and @craigsilverman

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

Discussion: @jfxm, @linleyann, @jchaltiwanger and Mic

John Koblin / New York Times:

HBO signs deal with hosts of Pod Save America for series of TV specials ahead of midterm elections, a week after launching four shows by hosts of 2 Dope Queens — HBO is getting into podcasts. — The premium cable network has signed a deal with the hosts of the popular “Pod Save America” …

Discussion: Variety, Deadline, The Wrap, Washington Free Beacon and The Ringer

Reuters:

Viacom quarterly revenue drops 7.6% YoY to $3.07B due to a drop in cable TV fees, though net profit increased from $386M to $535M, or $1.33 per share — (Reuters) - Viacom Inc (VIAB.O), the owner of MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, reported a 7.6 percent fall in quarterly revenue on Thursday …

Discussion: Multichannel News, Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, Gamasutra, Bloomberg and Hollywood Reporter

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, ASU Now and Broadcasting & Cable

Andrew Liptak / The Verge:

Scribd, now with 700K subscribers, brings back unlimited subscriptions for $8.99/month and ends Scribd Select, but will throttle voracious readers — But there's a small catch for voracious readers — Two years after shifting away from its unlimited subscription model in favor of monthly credits …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Scribd Help Center, Fast Company and Publishers Weekly

Dawn C. Chmielewski / Deadline:

News Corp beats Q2 targets with $2.18B in revenue vs. $2.13B expected, net loss of $66M; CEO Robert Thomson says “debased digital environment” affects revenue — News Corp. reported a loss in its second fiscal quarter, and blamed Facebook and Google for failing to do enough to combat a “dysfunctional” news environment.

Discussion: Yahoo! Finance, Reuters and News Corp

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 »

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Harper Neidig / The Hill:
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Earlier Picks:

Associated Press:
Four prominent Venezuelan journalists leave country after being sued over an article alleging irregularities in food sales to President Maduro's administration

Washington Post:
Executives at The Newseum plan to meet with a real estate firm Thursday to explore options including selling its building in Washington, DC, or moving locations

Discussion: The Daily Caller, TVNewser and @rschooley

Hollywood Reporter:
Disney is developing a number of Star Wars series for its streaming service, CEO Bob Iger said during an earnings call on Tuesday

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Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
Tronc forms new company, Tribune Interactive, with Ross Levinsohn as its CEO and ex-LA Times EIC Lewis D'Vorkin as its chief content officer

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, TechCrunch, New York Times, The Week, LA Observed, Rehak/Stuebing Mostly Media, @scottgum, @mattdpearce, The Wrap, @kenichiserino, Ad Age, @mbrauchli, Reuters, CNBC, Nieman Lab and The New York Observer

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Snapchat says it generated $100M in revenue for Discover's publishing partners in 2017, up from $58M in 2016 and $10M in 2015

Discussion: Daily Mail, Recode, Digiday, Ad Age, TechCrunch, Recode, Wall Street Journal and Business Insider

From Techmeme:

Brian Heater / TechCrunch:
Boston Dynamics debuts an electric version of humanoid robot Atlas for commercial use, a day after retiring the hydraulic Atlas, with a pilot starting in 2025

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
The US CFPB fines BloomTech, formerly Lambda School, and CEO Austen Allred $164K and bans it from lending for 10 years for deceiving students on loans, and more

The Verge:
Third-party iOS app store AltStore PAL launches in the EU for €1.50 a year with two apps including game emulator Delta, which is also live on Apple's App Store

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