Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Facebook puts off its effort to build ads into WhatsApp as it focuses on B2C communications, but will sell ads in WhatsApp's Status at some point — Social-media giant scraps earlier strategy, seeks other ways to monetize messaging service used by 1.5 billion
Julia Alexander / The Verge:
NBC says Peacock will launch on July 15 and have a free tier with limited programming and two premium tiers, at $4.99/month with ads and $9.99/month with no ads — Comcast is introducing three different subscription tiers — NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock …
Discussion:
Variety, Adweek, Variety, Observer, TechCrunch, Ad Age, The Wrap, The Wrap, The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Vox, NBCUniversal, @rafat, @frankpallotta, @pkafka, @pkafka, @loudmouthjulia, @ranimolla, @peacocktv, @pkafka, @pkafka, @xpangler, @frankpallotta, @ranimolla, @zeitchikwapo, @opinion_joe, @sourceryan, @pkafka, @xpangler, @pkafka, @xpangler, @pkedrosky, @ranimolla, @bmccandless, @frankpallotta, MediaPost, @digitalshields and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
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Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:
Peacock announces six series in its development slate, produced via Universal as well as from outside studios; Hatching Twitter will be the basis for one series
Peacock announces six series in its development slate, produced via Universal as well as from outside studios; Hatching Twitter will be the basis for one series
Discussion:
Variety, The Verge, CNET, @nickbilton, @cschleichsrun, @kantrowitz, @ltm, @thr, The Week, Deadline and Engadget
Variety:
Deborah Dugan, hired as CEO of the Recording Academy to address issues of gender bias, suspended one week before the Grammys after allegations of misconduct — Recording Academy head Deborah Dugan has been placed on administrative leave, ten days ahead of the Grammy Awards.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Variety, BBC, The Guardian, Deadline, The Wrap, New York Times and AllAccess.com
Joe Tidy / BBC:
Following a BBC investigation, Twitter apologizes for letting ads be micro-targeted using keywords like “transphobic”, “white supremacists”, and “anti-gay” — Twitter has apologised for allowing adverts to be micro-targeted at certain users such as neo-Nazis, homophobes and other hate groups.
Discussion:
@joetidy, The Verge, @kreissdaniel, @marechalphd, @fraying, @marietjeschaake, @dhh, @tarletong, @flyosity, @joetidy, @kreissdaniel, @sundersays, @zoejardiniere, @rasmus_kleis, Input, Adweek, Engadget, CNET and Telegraph, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg Law:
Sources: DOJ is organizing meetings with publishers including News Corp., Condé Nast, and NYT, seeking info about how Google operates in the digital ad market — The U.S. Justice Department is organizing meetings with large publishing companies to seek information …
Discussion:
@larakiara
Adam Goldman / New York Times:
Sources: DOJ is investigating a years-old leak about a Russian intelligence document, focusing on whether James Comey illegally supplied details to reporters — An inquiry into years-old disclosures of classified information is highly unusual and leaves law enforcement officials open to accusations of politicizing their work.
Discussion:
@mlcalderone, Vanity Fair, @susan_hennessey, @joycewhitevance, @jbenton, @eisingerj, @adamgoldmannyt, @bradmossesq, The Week, Law & Crime and Talking Points Memo
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Telegraph Media Group pulls out of ABC circulation audit, will publish subscriber numbers each month as it aims for 10M registered users, 1M subscribers by 2023 — Telegraph Media Group, publisher of the Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, is pulling out of the ABC newspaper circulation audit …
Discussion:
@thejoelycarey
Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
In an attempt to diversify into non-politics coverage, Fox News' streaming service Fox Nation will add programming for country music, hunting, fishing, and more — Expansion into country music and fishing reflects an effort to go beyond politics — Since its early days …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Forecast: Netflix will spend ~$17.3B on content in 2020, up from ~$15.3B in 2019, mostly on originals; Disney has said it will spend ~$1B on Disney+ originals — Netflix is keeping its foot pressed firmly on the gas pedal in the streaming-video road race. — The streamer will invest …
Discussion:
The Guardian, @steph_i_will, @paul_sacca, VICE, The Wrap, Observer, Multichannel News, The Playlist, The Streamable, The Wrap and Fortune
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Hulu to debut an ad format that will let viewers choose between ads from a brand, and a format allowing viewers to get additional brand info on their phones — Hulu is preparing to roll out new forms of advertising this year — one which will allow viewers to have more say in the ads that plays …
Discussion:
Fast Company, Axios, MediaPost and The Streamable
Justin Hicks / Indiana Public Media:
South Bend Tribune staff move to form a union, a year after the paper was sold to GateHouse; staff say they fear Gannett's reputation for layoffs — Staff at the largest newspaper in South Bend announced Wednesday they hope to become the fourth in the state to unionize.
Discussion:
@sbnewsguild and @sbnewsguild
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch urges the UK government to speed up plans for an online regulator as a bill to grant interim powers to Ofcom is introduced — Sky's chief executive has urged the Government to speed up its plans for an online regulator as a bill to grant interim powers to Ofcom was introduced in the House of Lords.