Top News:
New York Times Company:
In Q4, The New York Times added 265K digital subscriptions, bringing total number of digital subs to 3.4M but profit decreased to $74.7M from $90.5M a year ago — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)— The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today fourth-quarter 2018 diluted earnings per share …
Peter Kafka / Recode:
Spotify buys Gimlet Media, a podcast producer and network, sources say for ~$230M, and Anchor, which makes it easier for users to record and distribute podcasts — Daniel Ek says he wants to spend up to $500 million on acquisitions this year — Spotify is a streaming music company that wants to become a podcast company, too.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Spotify, MediaPost, Ad Age, Music Business Worldwide, The Verge, Business Wire, TechCrunch, Variety, Fast Company, Spotify, New York Times, VentureBeat, Fortune, Engadget, @jonfortt, Forbes, AdExchanger, @tomgara, @markcwebster, MacRumors, @schmooey, @satyap, CNBC, @caseyneistat, hypebot, @borthwick, @tetisheri, @msquinn, @sarafischer, @cheriehu42, @markdistef, Music Week, @martinsfp, @renayrich, @somospostpc, @jennyrwall, @indianidle, @c_crampton, @austindarbo, @eldsjal, @thestalwart, @niemanlab and Music Business Worldwide, more at Techmeme »
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Kyle Pope / Columbia Journalism Review:
Craig Newmark donates $10M to Columbia Journalism School to launch new ethics center and $5M to Poynter to create separate ethics and leadership center — For many of the past few decades, the rules around journalism ethics have been largely settled. We know the appropriate ways to treat sources …
Discussion:
Poynter, Poynter, Columbia, @kellymcb, @stevecollny, @kylepope, @doristruong, @kellymcb, @kellymcb, @kellymcb, @macloo, @emilybell and @raju
Melissa Locker / Fast Company:
Vox Media's General Manager Andrew Golis is leaving the company to join New York-based radio station WNYC as chief content officer — New York Public Radio announced today that long-time digital media executive Andrew Golis has a new job as WNYC's chief content officer.
Discussion:
www.wnyc.org
David Faber / CNBC:
Sources: Liberty Media has joined the bidding for the regional sports networks that Disney is trying to sell to finalize a deal with Twenty-First Century Fox — - Disney is selling the networks to complete its deal to acquire movie production and television assets from Twenty-First Century Fox.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing
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Dade Hayes / Deadline:
21st Century Fox reported strong overall Q2 earnings, but its Television unit had a $22M loss, yet had 19% growth in ad, affiliate, and content sales — Continuing to put up steady results across its TV and film operations, 21st Century Fox posted a dip in earnings in its fiscal second quarter …
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap and Broadcasting & Cable
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Sources: Reddit is raising $150M to $300M in a Series D led by Tencent at a $2.7B pre-money valuation — Reddit is raising $150 million to $300 million to keep the front page of the Internet running, multiple sources tell TechCrunch. The forthcoming Series D round is said to be led …
Discussion:
Fortune, @emilybell, @dhh, @shiruken, @carnage4life, @badlogicgames, @joshconstine and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »
Joan E. Solsman / CNET:
YouTube CEO says the number of channels with 1M+ subs nearly doubled and the number of creators who earned five or six figures grew 40%+ in the last year — In a post on Tuesday about her 2019 goals, YouTube Chief Executive Susan Wojcicki touted several milestones Google's massive video site surpassed …
Discussion:
YouTube Creator Blog, Variety, TechCrunch, Music Ally, @susanwojcicki and Adweek, more at Techmeme »
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Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
FT launches Sifted, a new site targeting young European entrepreneurs, running on part subscription and part sponsorship to keep it free for its target audience — The Financial Times has backed a news website for the European start-up world, which its founder has said will tap into a …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News
Jon Levine / The Wrap:
Leaked audio: Vice news chief Josh Tyrangiel says Vice is nearing a deal with Hulu for a new show, and revenue loss after end of HBO show contributed to layoffs — “We now have paper. We now have pens. The pens are not on paper," Vice executive Josh Tyrangiel says of the deal
Discussion:
Digiday, @levinejonathan, @tomhbunting and @plbarghouty
Amanda Darrach / Columbia Journalism Review:
Amid buyouts and possible layoffs, McClatchy's board increased CEO Craig Forman's monthly stipend for travel, housing, and security from $5,000 to $35,000 — BuzzFeed, HuffPo, Gannett, Vice. This has already been a ruthless year for layoffs in digital journalism.
Greg Dool / Folio:
American Media, publisher of National Enquirer, Us Weekly, and Men's Journal, has acquired TEN: Publishing's 14 brands in its Adventure Sports Network — National Enquirer publisher American Media has acquired TEN: Publishing's Adventure Sports Network, a group of 14 action sports brands …
Discussion:
Forbes, MediaPost, Pinkbike.com and SGB Online
Owen S. Good / Polygon:
Machinima is now officially closed, two weeks after it went offline, with layoffs of 81 people but a “select number” remaining to work at AT&T's Otter Media — Parent company confirms shutdown two weeks after everything went offline — Machinima is officially no more.
Discussion:
MediaPost, Deadline, @robgabel, @matthewmercer, @utxjgthedon and @xpangler