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Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
The Guardian posts £800K profit for FY 2018-2019, its first since 1998, with 655K monthly supporters and £223M in revenue, of which 55% comes from digital — Record online traffic and financial contributions from readers play key part in putting GNM on sustainable path
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, BBC, Press Gazette, Financial Times, The Guardian, Strange Attractor, The Guardian, @emilybell, @kathviner, @emilybell, @apradhan1968, @b_obermayer, @mathewi, @rasmus_kleis, @niemanlab, @dgisserious, @jimwaterson, @domphillips, @wblau, @spignal, @niemanlab, campaignlive.co.uk and Press Gazette
Jason Lynch / Adweek:
Hulu is rolling out ads aimed at binge watching; advertisers can offer later episodes ad-free or nod to viewing time by pitching a service like food delivery — Streaming service orders Nicole Kidman series based on book from Big Little Lies author — As Hulu's subscriber base expands yet again …
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Variety
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Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
Hulu says it has 26.8M paying subscribers in the US, up from 23M at the end of 2018, not including the 1.3M users signed up through promotions like free trials
Hulu says it has 26.8M paying subscribers in the US, up from 23M at the end of 2018, not including the 1.3M users signed up through promotions like free trials
Discussion:
Deadline, MediaPost, TechCrunch, Variety, CNBC, Engadget, @xpangler, @natjarv, Exstreamist, Observer, Broadcasting & Cable, Forbes and Reuters, more at Techmeme »
Peter High / Forbes:
Interview with Washington Post's CIO and CPO, Shailesh Prakash, on expanding its Arc publishing tool by selling it as a service, aiming for $100M in revenue — Shailesh Prakash was not sold on joining a media company. He had been at a number of tech-centric companies from Sun Microsystems to Netscape to Microsoft.
Discussion:
Washington Post, MediaPost, @washpostpr, @raju and Strange Attractor
Kelsey Sutton / Adweek:
Vice to consolidate its 12+ digital brands under Vice.com with some, like Broadly, folded into the site and others, like Motherboard, with dedicated verticals — It's also rolling out its own audience measurement and new blacklist policy — As part of a larger redesign and streamlining …
Discussion:
Variety, TVNewser, @megancarpentier, @kelseymsutton, @readdanwrite, @kelseymsutton, @felixsalmon, @derektmead, @djrbtr and @xpangler
Ezra Klein / Vox:
Recode officially joins Vox, which purchased it in 2015, with Samantha Oltman, formerly of BuzzFeed News, as editor in chief — A letter from the editors-at-large. — Over the past year, the two of us switched coasts. Kara took up part-time residence in Washington, DC. Ezra moved to Oakland, California.
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Vox, @samoltman, @michellemanafy, @media_evan, @clockwerks, @ow, @voxmediainc and @katienotopoulos
Max Willens / Digiday:
Slate's 30 podcasts had 180M listens in 2018, a 78% increase YoY; Slate's president says audio could represent “nearly half” of the company's revenue in 2019 — Last year, Slate bet big on audio as a way to drive advertising and membership revenue.
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@bmorrissey
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Indian media group Times Internet reports 450M+ monthly users across its ~36 news, video, and music properties, says its biggest challenge is increasing revenue — Media group now claims 450M users across services including news, video and music — The aggressive push by Silicon Valley companies …
Discussion:
Times Internet, @sajithpai, @techcrunch, @miten, @pankajontech and exchange4media, more at Techmeme »
Sara Jerde / Adweek:
Medium has hired four editors in chief to launch new publications focused on power, black women, personal development, and business — The site hired 4 new editors in chief to lead those new verticals — Medium is expanding the scope of its editorial efforts with the hiring of four …
Discussion:
@willoremus, @marcbain_ and Talking Biz News
Brent Lang / Variety:
Walt Disney Studios promotes Alan Bergman to co-chairman of the studio, serving alongside Alan Horn, who will also take on the title of chief content officer — - Disney Promotes Alan Bergman to Studio Co-Chairman as Alan Horn Adds Chief Creative Officer Role
Discussion:
The Wrap, /Film, Fortune and TVWeek.com
Joseph Bernstein / BuzzFeed News:
Source: Sophie Schmidt, Eric Schmidt's daughter, plans a nonprofit site about tech effects on the non-Western world and has hired media strategist Amy O'Leary — Sophie Schmidt, a tech industry veteran and the daughter of Eric Schmidt, the former Google and Alphabet executive chair …
Discussion:
@markamesexiled, @bernstein, CNET and Search Engine Land
David Uberti / VICE News:
False sexual assault allegation against Pete Buttigieg on Medium renews questions around exploitation of platforms that let users publish without verification — The publishing platform Medium has tried to position itself as a destination for high-quality writing, selling memberships and hiring journalists.
Discussion:
@daviduberti and @vicenews
Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
WaPo's Fact Checker says Trump has made 10K+ false or misleading claims since inauguration and the pace is accelerating, yet news orgs still avoid saying “lie” — On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump uttered his first falsehood as president of the United States. It came early in his inaugural address.
Discussion:
Washington Post, @dkiesow, Poynter, @sulliview, @dabeard, @froomkin, @sulliview and The Atlantic