Top News:
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Meredith has sold the Sports Illustrated IP rights to Authentic Brands for $110M, will pay a licensing fee to run editorial operations for at least two years — Sports Illustrated over the decades has chronicled stellar match-ups, blow-outs, squeakers, sudden deaths and photo finishes.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, American Press Institute, Digiday, New York Times, Poynter, @bristei, Axios, Washington Post, @strobist, @christophclarey, MediaPost, Deadspin, @joshuakusnick, @howardeskin, Adweek, The Week, @amondalek, @hannahrkeyser, @djbentley, @alexweprin, @davidfolkenflik, @wsj, Associated Press, Media Star, TVWeek.com, The Wrap, Awful Announcing and Editor & Publisher
Li Jin / Andreessen Horowitz:
The state of the podcasting industry in 2019, including key trends and monetization strategies of audio apps in China — In the world of podcasting, the flywheel is spinning: new technologies including AirPods, connected cars, and smart speakers have made it much easier for consumers to listen …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @niemanlab, @definefinancial, @trengriffin and @noahpinion
Variety:
Netflix says it would reconsider its investment in Georgia, where film production costs are low, if the state's anti-abortion law goes into effect — Many of Hollywood's most powerful content companies have maintained a deafening silence on the raging abortion legislation debate that's sweeping …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Week, @elainelow, @elainelow, io9, The A.V. Club, The Hill, @elainelow, The Playlist, @mattdonnelly, KTLA, @elainelow, Vanity Fair, Tubefilter, Business Insider, IndieWire, The Daily Caller, The Wrap, Fast Company and Los Angeles Times
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
CNN told staff it's preparing to potentially cut dozens of employees at its London-based news operation; CNN International will produce less material in London — Surprise announcement likely to result in at least a dozen employees losing their jobs — CNN is preparing to make substantial cuts …
Discussion:
Variety, Digital TV Europe, @moorehn, Deadline, @finplankaluaja, Mediaite and TVWeek.com
Jessica Davies / Digiday:
Four German publishing groups, Axel Springer, Funke Mediengruppe, RTL, and Gruner+Jahr, will sell their combined ad inventory in an effort to combat Big Tech — Four big German publishing groups are collaborating in order to fight the market power of tech platforms.
Discussion:
World News Publishing Focus … and @raju
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
UK's The Times and Sunday Times say the number of subscription cancellations fell by 49% among users receiving AI-created tailored email newsletters — Digital subscriber cancellations at the Times and Sunday Times fell by half during a trial of new artificial intelligence software …
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Memo: TruTV lays off programming and marketing staff as it is consolidated with WarnerMedia's TBS and TNT; source: less than 50 are affected — TruTV has laid off most of its programming and marketing staffers as oversight of the WarnerMedia cabler is consolidated into the broader Turner entertainment group.
Discussion:
Multichannel News, The Wrap, Deadline and Cord Cutters News
Yelena Dzhanova / New York Magazine:
Naomi Wolf cites a known internet hoaxer after BBC Radio's Matthew Sweet uncovers a serious flaw in her forthcoming book, Outrages — In the pantheon of nightmares, somewhere between “falling into an endless pit” and “back at high school but naked” is “going on national radio and learning …
Discussion:
BBC Sounds, The Guardian, @drmatthewsweet, @newscloset, @rdube, @debaucherie, @w_s_taylor, @vegasanonymous, @drbeaubeaumont, @nymag, @andrewbakaj, @mfwestphal, @danieltilles1, @cbsweeney, @naomirwolf, @kecbibliogal, @arunindy, @samgrinsell, @sivavaid, @selzero, @seyyedreza, @alecmuffett, @drmatthewsweet, Sydney Morning Herald, Brinkwire, Bookseller News, The Guardian and bookforum.com
Amy X. Wang / Rolling Stone:
A look at the effects of cheap music marketplaces and sampling on copyright after the rise of Lil Nas X, who bought Old Town Road's beat for $30 on BeatStars — Inside the new world of cheap music marketplaces that has the music industry scrambling — No one saw Lil Nas X coming.
Discussion:
@amyxwang and @rollingstone
Alex Johnson / NBC News:
NBC officially launches NBC News Now, a free streaming news service with 8 hours of programming every weekday, expects to have it running 24/7 by 2020 — The service, which doesn't require cable service authentication, is intended to go round the clock by next year.
Discussion:
TVNewser, MediaPost, Variety, Broadcasting & Cable and @rolandsmartin
Matthew Wall / BBC:
Since GDPR, Ireland's Data Protection Commission says it has launched 19 cross-border investigations, 11 of which focus on Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram — Social media giant Facebook and its subsidiaries Instagram and WhatsApp have been the subject of most data investigations in the Republic …
Discussion:
@jason_kint, MediaPost, Fortune, Data Protection Commission, Telecompaper and Axios
Glenn Greenwald / Washington Post:
By indicting Assange and arguing the First Amendment only applies to designated journalists, the Trump admin created a blueprint for criminalizing journalism — The First Amendment is meaningless if it only protects people the government recognizes as journalists
Discussion:
@howardkurtz, Fox News, @ggreenwald, @f_obermaier, @ggreenwald, @trevortimm, @albernstein, @royeidelson and @jesselynradack