Top News:
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Time Warner Q1: revenue up 3% YoY to $8B; Turner's and HBO's subscription revenues increased 8% and 10%, respectively as Warner Bros. revenue fell 4% to $3.2B — Time Warner saw a year-over-year decline in operating income in the first quarter largely due to higher programming and marketing costs at Turner and HBO.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Thomson IR and Hollywood Reporter
RELATED:
Lucia Moses / Digiday:
Snap says it will begin testing six-second non-skippable ads in select Snapchat Shows beginning May 15 — Once reluctant to force ads on its users, still-unprofitable Snapchat is going to start testing nonskippable ads in its TV-like shows, according to three sources with direct knowledge …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Gizmodo, Engadget, 9to5Mac, The Verge, @cvas, @digiday and Mashable, more at Techmeme »
Jason Rezaian / Washington Post:
Reporters without Borders has released its annual press freedom report-card and the US is ranked 45th in the world; Philippines slid to #133 and Turkey to #157 — Last weekend, as Nicaragua's police brutally cracked down on protesters demonstrating against President Daniel Ortega …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Reporters Without Borders, @niemanfdn, Japan Times, @sulliview, @kathleencarrll, Splinter, Al Jazeera English, @vinodjose, @nilanjanaroy, Reporters Without Borders, @astroehlein, @birgitmschwarz, @jrezaian, @askakorean, @joshrogin, @jason_kint, Media Law Prof Blog, @whca and Politico
Deadline:
Plan B and Annapurna Pictures have acquired the rights to produce a film about how the NYT, Jodi Kantor, and Megan Twohey broke the Weinstein story — EXCLUSIVE: Annapurna and Plan B have partnered to acquire the rights to give Spotlight-like treatment to the story of how New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor …
Discussion:
The Guardian, IndieWire and The Wrap
Facebook:
Facebook reports Q1 advertising revenue of $11.8B, up 50% YoY, of which ~91% comes from mobile, up from 85% in Q1 2017 — Facebook, Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. — “Despite facing important challenges, our community and business …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Gizmodo, New York Magazine, Ad Age, TechCrunch and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »
Associated Press:
Daily Camera editor Dave Krieger is fired after publishing an editorial critical of the newspaper's hedge fund owners, Alden Global Capital, on a blog — https://apnews.com/8b3968defe7748b6acd0 c049e97b0047 — BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — An editor at The Daily Camera who published a critical editorial …
Discussion:
Denver Westword, @tombergeron5 and @davekrieger
Cale Guthrie Weissman / Fast Company:
Digg, formerly owned by Betaworks, has been sold to Boston-based ad-tech company BuySellAds; new CEO Todd Garland plans to streamline Digg and build up ad stack — This story has been updated. — Last month, Digg, an old beloved content aggregation destination, made the sad announcement …
Discussion:
@caleweissman, Business Insider, @inafried, TechCrunch, Gizmodo and @caleweissman, more at Techmeme »
Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix orders one of its first shortform series, Follow This, a weekly docuseries following BuzzFeed News journalists as they work, premiering July 9 — The shortform series will follow the journalists at BuzzFeed News as they report a variety of stories.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Digiday, YouTube, MediaFile, Variety, Columbia Journalism Review, VideoInk, The Verge, The Wrap, @mattmittenthal, @kantrowitz, @dcbigjohn, @isaacfitzgerald, The Daily Caller, Fast Company, @scaachi, @pranavdixit, @journalistslike, @mathewi, Slate, @believekarolina, @azeen, @cwarzel, @tessatkinson and @buzzfeedben
Wall Street Journal:
Chris Hohn, a London-based activist investor, has built about a $3B stake in 21st Century Fox, say sources, may influence a sale amid Disney and Comcast offers — London-based firm holds roughly $3 billion in Fox shares, making TCI one of its top shareholders
Discussion:
@shalini, @alexfrangos and New York Times
Jem Aswad / Variety:
US House unanimously passes Music Modernization Act to streamline licensing and ensure royalty protection for pre-1972 performances; bill now goes to Senate — As expected, the Music Modernization Act unanimously passed the House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon.
Discussion:
Broadcasting & Cable
Allison Graves / Poynter:
Lee Williams, a columnist and editor at GateHouse's Sarasota Herald-Tribune, advocates for the NRA while editing breaking news, raising ethical questions — A little more than a month after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Lee Williams sat down with Marion Hammer …
Discussion:
@indira_l, @davidmastio, @emily_lecoz and @indira_l
Ali Kucukgocmen / Reuters:
Turkish court sentences 14 staff members of Cumhuriyet paper to prison on terrorism charges and acquits three; trial of ex-EIC Can Dundar to be kept separate — ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced 14 staff of the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet to prison on terrorism charges …
Discussion:
Committee to Protect …, Associated Press, Hürriyet Daily News and Telegraph