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6:30 PM ET, December 19, 2019

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Megan Graham / CNBC:
Ad exchange Rubicon Project agrees to merge with video advertising management platform Telaria, to better compete with Google and Facebook  —  - Public ad tech companies Telaria and Rubicon Project have agreed to merge as they try to make a stronger play in the growth of connected television …
Stanford Internet Observatory:
Microsoft's Bing appears to return an alarming amount of disinformation for user queries, far more than Google does, based on a test of 13 queries  —  Bing's importance in the information landscape of the U.S. shouldn't be overlooked.  While its share of the search market in the U.S. might …
Tripp Mickle / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Apple executives met with MGM representatives and the Pac-12 Conference this year to find ways to broaden the appeal of Apple TV app and TV+  —  Tech giant is considering ways to broaden the appeal of its Apple TV app and TV+ service that launched with nine original programs
Tamar Lapin / New York Post:
Cooper Hefner joins the US Air Force, putting on hold his earlier plans to launch a media company separate from Playboy  —  Hugh Hefner's son Cooper has joined the Air Force.  —  The youngest child of the late Playboy founder departed for basic training Tuesday, his wife, “Harry Potter” actress Scarlett Byrne, posted on Instagram.
Discussion: Fox News, @whatthebit and @noonanjo
Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:
NY governor signs a bill prompting a study of opportunities for female and minority TV writers and directors and providing $5M to spur more diversity in hiring  —  State will allocate $5 million in tax credits to incentivize the hiring of women and people of color
Discussion: Multichannel News, Variety and Deadline
Association of American Publishers:
Research and publishing orgs pen letter against proposed policy to mandate free distribution of peer-reviewed journal articles reporting on govt-funded research  —  More than 135 scientific research and publishing organizations join together in opposition to proposed Administration policy …
Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:
Snopes to launch a new membership model in early 2020 with access to Snopes editors via a community board; prices start at $30 per year  —  Fact-checking site Snopes is hoping to transition away from its dependence on advertising.  So it is asking its supporters to help the brand grow in 2020.
Quartz:
Quartz names Katherine Bell as editor-in-chief, succeeding Kevin Delaney; Bell has served as EIC of Barron's magazine and worked at Harvard Business Review  —  Quartz announced today the appointment of Katherine Bell as editor-in-chief.  Bell brings a wealth of business journalism and leadership experience …
Gavin Bridge / Variety:
Analysis: Netflix has released 371 original TV shows and movies in the US in 2019, a 54.6% increase over 2018 and more than the entire US TV industry in 2005  —  371 series, movies represents over 50% increase in streaming service's content volume vs. 2018  —  Netflix averaged …
Trey Williams / The Wrap:
TikTok rival Triller announces investments from notable music industry figures totaling $10M+, source says; Triller says it has 26.5M MAUs in the US  —  Triller, a music-focused social video platform rivaling TikTok, has secured strategic investments from major music industry figures amounting to more than $10 million.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
NBC News forms a team to report on US election security issues, led by SVP Janelle Rodriguez, and has created a dedicated landing page called Vote Watch  —  NBC News has created a new editorial team to report on issues related to U.S. election security and voting called “Vote Watch.”
 
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 More News: 
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Facebook is pursuing rights to music videos from record labels to boost interest in Watch, has already begun testing music videos in Thailand and India
Discussion: CNET and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Imax surpasses $1B in ticket sales for the second year in a row with release of the new Star Wars film
Discussion: The Wrap
Todd Spangler / Variety:
TiVo to merge with technology licensing company Xperi; the combined company will have a fully diluted equity value of $2.4B, with TiVo owning ~53.5% of it
 Earlier Picks: 
Bloomberg:
Sources: Fox declined to run ads for Bombshell on its network, though Lions Gate did not attempt to advertise directly on Fox News
Raissa Robles / South China Morning Post:
Philippine court finds an ex-mayor and four family members guilty of murder of 57 in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, which included a large group of journalists
Andy Serwer / Yahoo News:
Talking Biz News, which tracks business journalists, was quietly sold to Qwoted, a site owned by two PR firms whose clients include newsrooms like Bloomberg
 

 
From Techmeme:

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Cisco details a hacking campaign that penetrated multiple governments' networks using two zero-day flaws in its VPN and firewall Adaptive Security Appliances

Ben Glickman / Wall Street Journal:
IBM agrees to buy HashiCorp, which helps companies manage cloud infrastructure, in a deal valuing HashiCorp at $6.4B and expected to close by the end of 2024

Bob Van Voris / Bloomberg:
US prosecutors charge two founders of Samourai Wallet, saying the crypto mixing service facilitated more than $100M in money laundering transactions

 
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