Top News:
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Hulu to launch banner ads, which will appear after viewers pause video, in Q2 2019; hopes all non-disruptive ads will comprise 50% of ad revenue within 3 years — Just to get this out of the way: Yes, Hulu is introducing an ad unit that will show up when you pause a video. But no, the ad won't be a video.
Discussion:
Digiday, AdExchanger, Hulu, /Film, Mashable, The Verge, Fast Company, Adweek, Gizmodo and 9to5Mac
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Penske Media has bought the 49% of Rolling Stone that it didn't already own, from minority owner BandLab Technologies — Last week, Penske Media Corporation signed a deal to purchase the rest of the magazine, following a majority takeover in 2017. — Over the past few years …
Facebook:
Facebook says it removed 262 Pages, 356 accounts, three groups, and 162 Instagram accounts tied to Iran for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior — Today we removed multiple Pages, groups and accounts that engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, The Wrap, TechCrunch, The Guardian, CNN, The Hill, Mashable, @jank0, @martyswant, @martyswant, Engadget, The Verge, CyberScoop and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »
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Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Twitter says it removed thousands of malicious accounts that originated in Iran, Russia, and Venezuela for spreading disinformation about the 2018 midterms
Twitter says it removed thousands of malicious accounts that originated in Iran, Russia, and Venezuela for spreading disinformation about the 2018 midterms
Discussion:
Twitter, NBC News, Recode, Reuters, @wiczipedia, Twitter, @dcherring, The Week and Mashable, more at Techmeme »
Edmund Lee / New York Times:
A look at the legal grounds for Locast's existence and its role in the relationship between broadcasters and cable, satellite companies — Want to watch the Super Bowl and other network TV for free? A start-up called Locast will let you, and (so far) the big broadcasters aren't trying to stop it.
Discussion:
@edmundlee, Fast Company, @ronlieber, Multichannel News, The Verge and @mathewi
Jeremy Littau / Wired:
Monopolistic thinking and lack of attention to the internet's role in distribution has decimated media, but foundation journalism, subs, and community can help — LAST WEEK, LAYOFFS at BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and Gannett landed like consecutive punches. The news signaled a difficult year ahead …
Discussion:
@nxthompson, @marklittlenews, @jeremylittau, @lauraelizdavis, @benwhitelaw, @mayerjoy, @tomrosenstiel, @ash_detroit, @wired, @jeremylittau and @lenfestinst
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Evgeny Lebedev has sold ~20% of Lebedev Holdings, which has a ~90% stake in the Evening Standard, to a company in the Caymans; a Saudi investor may be the buyer — London newspaper refuses to reveal identity of new financial backer — An anonymous offshore investor has taken a 20% stake …
Discussion:
Financial Times, Press Gazette, Jon Slattery, @michaelpmdavis, @adambienkov and @professorshaw
James Walker / Press Gazette:
NewsGuard, whose trustworthiness ratings are available on Chrome and Edge, improves its rating of the Daily Mail from red to green to indicate its accuracy — US news website rating tool Newsguard has changed its verdict on Mail Online after originally declaring the UK's most-read news website failed …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @markdistef and @niemanlab
Owen Bowcott / The Guardian:
US district court rules that Syria is liable for the killing of Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin, awards $300M+ in damages — Syria ordered to pay $300m over death of Sunday Times journalist in ‘targeted’ shelling in 2012 — The Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad has been held liable …
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: CBS board wants company to grow, first through a merger with Viacom, possibly followed by Discovery acquisition; CBS hoping to find CEO by end of March — The CBS board has decided the company needs to get bigger, but merging with Viacom is not enough for Shari Redstone …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times and Variety
Jared Newman / Fast Company:
Free ad-supported streaming services are on the rise as consumers reach subscription overload and premium services move away from licensed video — People who pooh-pooh the cord-cutting phenomenon love to argue that the cost of streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu really adds up …
Discussion:
Forbes, Light Reading, TechCrunch, MediaPost, Multichannel News and Tubefilter
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Ultraviolet, the cloud movie locker that launched in 2011 with support from major Hollywood studios, is shutting down on July 31 — Ultraviolet, a cloud movie locker once hailed as Hollywood's best bet to get consumers hooked on digital movies, is shuttering.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Variety, The Wrap, Multichannel News, Light Reading, /Film, Engadget, @jank0, @robtrench, The Verge, PCMag India, ScreenRant, @jank0, @awallenstein, MacRumors, @jank0 and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Online women's magazine The Pool, which launched in 2015, is set to enter administration Friday, leaving 24 journalists facing redundancy and freelancers unpaid — Journalists face redundancy after rescue talks fail, in further blow to online news outlets — Online women's magazine …