Top News:
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
Discussion:
Recode, Wall Street Journal, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, TechCrunch, The Verge, Fast Company, Fortune, VentureBeat, NPR, New York Magazine, AdExchanger, Forbes, BloombergQuint, Reuters, @twitterir, @espnmichele, 9to5Google and The Week, more at Techmeme »
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:
Mic, @rachelcbrody, @jaysunsilver, @melinadelkic, @journo_christal, @linleyann, @jasonabbruzzese, @sulliview, @claireatki and TechCrunch
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.
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.
RELATED:
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:
Internet Association and Reuters
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 — Two months shy of its 10th anniversary in a glass-and-steel showpiece on Washington's most prestigious thoroughfare …
Discussion:
TVNewser and @rschooley
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 …
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."
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:
Radio & Television …, Broadcasting & Cable and Hollywood Reporter
Max Willens / Digiday:
Condé Nast to begin experimenting with Amazon Echo Look to provide content and recommendations from Vogue and GQ on Look's mobile app starting February 19 — Condé Nast glossies Vogue and GQ are focusing more on content recommendations that lead to e-commerce, and they've found another place to syndicate them.
Discussion:
TechCrunch and Engadget
Local News Lab:
Democracy Fund announces two new funds in NJ and NC totaling $2M to support local news ecosystems and seek long-term solutions for public-interest news — Democracy Fund establishes two new local funds — Local news is critical to a healthy democracy, and we believe that the future of local news is local.
Discussion:
@democracyfund, @melaniesill, @jcstearns and @jcstearns
Ricardo Bilton / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with Trevor Kaufman, CEO of paywall tech firm Piano, on the rise of paywalls and subscription models, lack of longform strategy, and social distribution — “The promise of Facebook growth is that, if get your strategy just right, you can get big scale and make money off …
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 — Snapchat says it generated $100 million in revenue for content partners on Discover in 2017, up from $58 million in 2016 and $10 million in 2015.
Discussion:
Recode
RELATED:
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
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
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Digiday, Ad Age, TechCrunch, TechCrunch, ZDNet, Recode, The Keyword, Crain's New York Business, Variety, Business Insider and The Next Web