Mediagazer: To duck accountability, “on background” has become the default method by which Silicon Valley disseminates information, often abetted by tech journalists (Brian Merchant/Columbia Journalism Review)

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: Vox, Fast Company, The Guardian, Hollywood Reporter, @natjarv, @natjarv, @natjarv, @natjarv, @kevinwildes, Decider and @pkafka, 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 »

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, Adweek, @kerrymflynn and @mattnavarra

Mark Di Stefano / BuzzFeed:

US sports site The Athletic poaches Daniel Taylor from The Guardian and David Ornstein from the BBC, continuing its UK football journalism talent hiring spree — “It's a journalist transfer window.” — A US sports website that wants to dominate the British football market has made a series …

Discussion: Prolific North, @markdistef, @mikelizun, @buzzfeeduk, @alexwickham, @markdistef, @chrislepkowski and Spectator

Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab:

Facebook Journalism Project announces 22 projects receiving grants between $5,000 and $25,000 to fund community-building proposals over the next six months — In its latest quest to build community, Facebook is trying to develop a meta-community for local news publishers to then, you know, build that community.

Discussion: @amzam, @donnawares, @dorrine, @media_outlier, @sltrib, @dorrine and @mathewi

Kevin Roose / New York Times:

Reflecting on VidCon, it's clear that influencers' command of social media foreshadows future power in politics and elsewhere — As social media expands its cultural dominance, the people who can steer the online conversation will have an upper hand. — ANAHEIM, Calif. …

Discussion: @cheriehu42, @nytimesbusiness, @joshspero, @nytimesbusiness and @kevinroose, 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: MediaPost and @keithgrossman

Jem Aswad / Variety:

Sony unites its recorded-music operation, Sony Music Entertainment, and its publishing company, Sony/ATV, under Sony Music Group led by SME chief Rob Stringer — Sony has created Sony Music Group, an umbrella for both its recorded-music operation — Sony Music Entertainment …

Discussion: Billboard and RAIN News

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: Mother Jones, more at Techmeme »

Melynda Fuller / MediaPost:

NowThis is launching a newsletter called KnowThis, its first written product, summarizing the day's top news five nights per week — NowThis is launching a newsletter called KnowThis,slated to land in subscribers inboxes five nights a week. — The site approached the idea of a daily newsletter based …

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: New York Times, Vanity Fair, CNN and @gabrielsnyder

Max Willens / Digiday:

Bloomberg launches Work Wise, a newsletter with work and career content, after noticing 48% of traffic to its company pages came from people under the age of 34 — Shortly after Julia Beizer joined Bloomberg Media as chief product officer last year, she had a conversation with David Harding …

Discussion: @juliabeizer and Bloomberg Media