Mediagazer: In Q2, Netflix lost US subscribers for the first time since Q3 2011, dropping 130,000, and added fewer global subs than expected, citing a weak Q2 content slate (Todd Spangler/Variety)

Netflix:

Netflix reports Q2 revenue of $4.9B, up 26% YoY, and total paid membership of 152M, up 22% YoY, but it added 2.7M new subs, down from 5.5M YoY; stock down 10%+ — July 17, 2019 Fellow shareholders, As expected, revenue growth accelerated 400 basis points to 26%, and operating income increased 53% year over year in Q2.

Todd Spangler / Variety:

In Q2, Netflix lost US subscribers for the first time since Q3 2011, dropping 130,000, and added fewer global subs than expected, citing a weak Q2 content slate — For the first time, Netflix lost streaming subscribers in the U.S. — dropping a net 130,000 for the second quarter of 2019 …

Discussion: Ad Age, Broadcasting & Cable, Vox, The Daily Caller, @natjarv, Breitbart, @natjarv, @pkafka, @natjarv, @natjarv, MediaNama, @kevinwildes, Fast Company, Hollywood Reporter, Decider, The Guardian and TVWeek.com, more at Techmeme »

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Netflix says it plans to launch a cheaper mobile-only streaming plan starting in India in Q3

Discussion: TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Emily Tamkin / Columbia Journalism Review:

Why CNN shouldn't have given screen time to white supremacist Richard Spencer for reaction to Trump's racist tweets: normalization of racism, diversion of focus — On Tuesday evening, a segment on Jake Tapper's CNN show The Lead featured an interview with Richard Spencer, a white supremacist.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, @jaketapper, @eli_reichman, @emilyctamkin, @swmstn2, @thelaurenchen, @ksurana6, @cboomervazquez, @stevekrak, The Hill, The Independent and Splinter

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Sky News has appointed Hannah Thomas-Peter as its first dedicated climate change correspondent, the first UK title to do so — Sky News has appointed its first dedicated climate change correspondent to “continue to set the agenda” on what it described as a “crisis”.

Discussion: Sky

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

Sources: G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller is out of touch with the company's editorial voice and current media practices as he pushes listicles and programmatic ads — High-level staffers at the company that now owns ex-Gawker sites like Jezebel and Deadspin complain their new leader is destroying a famously freewheeling culture.

Discussion: @mccarthyryanj, @jragazzo, @heyveronica, @petersterne and @daviduberti

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:

How the Free Press advocacy group convinced New Jersey to allocate $2M in public money for rehabilitating local news — “I really believe in the power of people to organize and advocate from the bottom up to create some solutions to this. I don't think these solutions are going to come out of commercial media."

Discussion: @centercoopmedia and @rispolimike

Jem Aswad / Variety:

Internal Universal Music memo details its investigation into losses from a 2008 fire: 22 lost assets could have been original masters linked to five artists — Ahead of an expected motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed last month by several artists over damage in the 2008 fire that destroyed hundreds …

Discussion: Variety and Billboard

Brian Merchant / Columbia Journalism Review:

To duck accountability, “on background” has become the default method by which Silicon Valley disseminates information, often abetted by tech journalists — One of the most pernicious tools that Silicon Valley uses to control the flow of information to the public is decidedly low-tech: briefing reporters “on background.”

Discussion: @alibreland, @bcmerchant, @jmcduling, @kantrowitz and Mother Jones, more at Techmeme »

Sara Jerde / Adweek:

Former Bloomberg Media CRO Keith Grossman joins Time as president, reporting to Time editor in chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal — Exclusive: The former Bloomberg Media CRO also spent 5 months at Engine — Time, the nearly 100-year-old brand, is getting a new president.

Discussion: @keithgrossman and MediaPost

Sarah Jones / New York Magazine:

Some staffers wrote First Look Media's board in protest after Topic Magazine's closing and The Nib's de-funding, amid rumors First Look bought Passionflix.com — Employees are worried that one of the nation's largest and most prominent left-of-center media companies, First Look Media, has lost its way.

Discussion: @felixgillette, @jlichman, @davidsrudin, @irin, @tomgara, @tomtomorrow, @charliearchy, @mikkipedia, @86_rsk, @petersterne, bookforum.com and Business Insider

Kerry Flynn / Digiday:

Twitter releases LiveCut, a tool to help publishers make, monetize, and share video clips of live broadcasts, similar to SnappyTV, which Twitter bought in 2014 — Twitter has a new tool to help publishers make more Twitter videos. — LiveCut lets publishers make, monetize and share video clips of live broadcasts through Twitter.

Discussion: media.twitter.com, @kerrymflynn, @mattnavarra and Adweek

Dan Mangan / CNBC:

MA prosecutors drop a criminal groping case against Kevin Spacey, saying the accuser is unavailable as a witness; civil suit was dismissed earlier this month — KEY POINTS — Prosecutors in Masschusetts on Wednesday dropped a criminal groping case against actor Kevin Spacey …

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, @gabrielsnyder, Vanity Fair and TVWeek.com