Top News:
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
YouTube reverses course, says channels with verification badges will keep them without appeal and channels that reach 100k subs can still apply for verification — A day after announcing significant changes to its verification program, YouTube announced Friday afternoon that it won't be de-verifying existing creators after all.
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Julia Alexander / The Verge:
YouTube CEO apologizes to creators and users over the company's decision to revoke verification statuses and says it is working to address creator concerns — Updates are expected to come — YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has just apologized to the creator community over the company's decision …
Discussion:
@susanwojcicki, Business Insider, @mattnavarra, @cobuspotgieter, @slasher, @martinsfp, Mashable, Gizmodo and Boing Boing, more at Techmeme »
Andrew Bucholtz / Awful Announcing:
AT&T and Sinclair talks continue over carriage of Tennis Channel and local stations in 86 markets, on U-verse, DirecTV, AT&T TV Now; next deadline is Sept. 27 — There have been plenty of carriage disputes involving AT&T recently, including ones with CBS and Nexstar (resolved) …
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Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting & Cable:
Disney and AT&T reach a deal that will keep ABC, ESPN, The Disney Channel, and more on DirecTV, U-verse, and AT&T TV Now — The Walt Disney Co. reached an agreement in principle on a new retransmission consent and carriage deal with AT&T that would keep networks including ABC …
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Cord Cutters News
Reuters:
Reuters announces collaboration with Amazon to deliver its news content to Alexa to help answer Amazon customer questions — Reuters, the world's largest multimedia news provider, announced today that it is collaborating with Amazon to deliver trusted news content to help Alexa answer even more customer questions.
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Talking Biz News
Chris Welch / The Verge:
TiVo confirms it is planning to place pre-roll video ads before DVR recordings for all customers, even those with a lifetime subscription plan — Rolling out to TiVo's current devices over the next 90 days — So much for it being an early, experimental test.
Discussion:
Light Reading, @djgeoffe, @bmorrissey, @jaysonsrage, @kaludiasays, CNN and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Hadas Gold / CNN:
Twitter suspends account of a former Saudi royal court adviser suspected of involvement in Khashoggi murder and six accounts linked to Saudi state media — London (CNN Business)Twitter has suspended or removed thousands of accounts linked to governments in the Middle East …
Discussion:
Twitter, The Daily Dot, @securedemocracy, New York Times, @samuelwoolley, @brian_whit, NPR, @jrug and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Ann-Christine Diaz / Ad Age:
A former chief creative officer of The Martin Agency is suing Adweek, a former editor, and the anonymous Instagram account Diet Madison Avenue for defamation — Suit seeks $25 million; attorney says plaintiff plans to also take legal action against his former employer and parent Interpublic Group
Lucinda Southern / Digiday:
MailOnline tests digital identifiers of non-profit DigiTrust and universal ID service ID5 to replace 3rd-party cookies, sees Safari CPMs increase 30% since June — MailOnline has begun to experiment with alternative ways to target Apple Safari users outside of the third-party cookie.
Patrick Flanary / Quartz:
How Neil Young's reluctance to embrace streaming doomed his company PonoMusic, even as the company helped the industry to adapt high-resolution music — Toward the end of music legend Neil Young's recent memoir, he makes an admission: “I was wrong.” — The book, To Feel the Music …
William Zheng / South China Morning Post:
Chinese state media reporters will have to pass an exam testing knowledge of President Xi's philosophy to get press cards; ~10K to take pilot exams in October — About 10,000 reporters and editors in Beijing are expected to take ‘pilot tests’ next month using Xuexi Qiangguo mobile app Nationwide exams …
Discussion:
@thorstenbenner, @zhengwei75, @suilee, @annafifield and The Guardian
Patrick Shanley / Hollywood Reporter:
NBCU announces it is shutting down its gaming division, formed in 2017, and laying off 5% of staff in its cable division, which includes E!, Oxygen, Bravo — Universal Games and Digital Platforms, formed in 2017, will no longer publish mobile titles as part of a restructuring plan at the company …
Discussion:
Fox Business, @pshanley88, Variety, MediaPost, Polygon and TVWeek.com