Top News:
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Spotify to buy The Ringer, the podcast-centric media company run and owned by Bill Simmons, intends to hire Simmons and all of his approximately 90 employees — The Ringer CEO Bill Simmons in 2015 | Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images for Vanity Fair — It's the fourth podcast deal Spotify has done in a year.
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CNN, Business Wire, Fast Company, TechCrunch, The Wrap, @sherman4949, 9to5Mac, @kerrymflynn, @jyarow, @annaknicolaou, @pkafka, @pkafka, @pkafka, The Verge, @kerrymflynn, @pkafka, @pkafka and Financial Times, more at Techmeme »
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Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Spotify Q4: 271M total MAUs, up 31% YoY, paying users up 29% YoY to 124M, overall revenue of $2B, up 24% YoY — Streaming music now accounts for more than 80% of all music consumption in key markets like the US, and one of the big leaders in the field is reaping some of the rewards.
Discussion:
Business Wire, Fast Company, VentureBeat, Variety, @ingridlunden and @kerrymflynn, more at Techmeme »
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: DOJ reached out to more than a dozen publishers, ad agencies, and ad tech rivals of Google as its online ad tools become a focus of antitrust probe — Antitrust enforcers have reached out to more than a dozen publishers, ad tech rivals and ad agencies
Discussion:
MediaPost, @wsj, @asharma, @matthewstoller, @keachhagey and @keachhagey, more at Techmeme »
Kaitlan Collins / CNN:
President Trump awarded Rush Limbaugh with the Medal of Freedom during Tuesday's State of the Union — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Freedom to conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday in an unprecedented move during the State of the Union address.
Discussion:
@jaketapper, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, Politico, Variety, Poynter, Washington Post, @existentialfish, @kaitlancollins, The Hill, @noahshachtman, @rabiasquared, The Week, @johnfugelsang, New York Times, INSIDER, @craigcalcaterra, Mediaite, @mattgertz, @slavamalamud, @swin24, @mattgertz, @gabbyorr_, @farhip, @pbump, @briankarem, @jdawsey1, @brianstelter, @dandrezner, Raw Story, Breitbart, The Hill and The Daily Caller
Emily McCormick / Yahoo Finance:
Disney beats analyst expectations for Q1, reporting $20.86B in Q1 revenue, up 36% YoY, 26.5M subscribers for Disney+, and 30.4M for Hulu, up 33% YoY — DIS) posted better than expected results in the company's first report since the launch of its eponymous streaming service.
Discussion:
CNN, The Wrap, @jbflint, Variety, CNBC, @awallenstein, The Walt Disney Company, @pkafka, @natjarv, @elainelow, @natjarv, @jbflint, @danrayburn, @pkafka, @natjarv, @jbflint, @aagave, @nytmedia, The Wrap, Awful Announcing, Vox, Multichannel News, The Streamable, Broadcasting & Cable, MarketWatch, Reuters, Hollywood Reporter, Hollywood Reporter and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Sources: Instagram generated ~$20B in advertising revenue in 2019, making up more than a quarter of Facebook's revenue — - Unit brought in about $20 billion in 2019, people familiar say — Photo-sharing app has gained in importance since 2012 purchase
Discussion:
@caseynewton, @yoda, @rolandsmartin, @timfullerton, @jonrussell, @nicoagrant, @awallenstein, @jowens510, @jason_kint, @seanrose, @andyellwood, @mgsiegler, The Wrap, INSIDER and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Sources: Liz Schimel, the head of business for Apple News who oversaw advertiser and publisher relations, steps down; Apple is seeking a replacement — - Liz Schimel was Conde Nast executive prior to joining in 2018 — Paid news and magazine service had a sluggish first year
Discussion:
Gizmodo, @mgsiegler, @rafat, @markgurman, 9to5Mac, MacRumors and Patently Apple
Cansu Çamlibel / Nieman Reports:
The EIC of Duvar, a new Turkish English-language news site, talks about launching an independent site in one of the most inhospitable countries for journalists — The pain of a journalist whose work is thrown into a deep dark hole by government gatekeepers deployed in a newsroom is like no other pain on earth.
Discussion:
@aydnselcen and @msafaksari
Adam Piore / Columbia Journalism Review:
Profile of RedState owner Salem Media Group, which preaches both Christian morality and Trump through its digital arm Townhall that gets 15M+ monthly uniques — The Salem Media empire preaches morality and Donald Trump — Even for Washington, so accustomed to political sex scandals, the story of Katie Hill was a bombshell.
Discussion:
@cjr, @cjr, @kathsstewart, @cjr, @betsymorais and @emilybell
Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
Google Fiber says it will no longer offer a linear TV package to new customers, and is partnering with streaming service FuboTV, after adding YouTube TV in Dec. — Google Fiber, a service under the Access division of Alphabet that provides fiber-to-the-premises service in the U.S. …
Discussion:
Google Fiber Blog, @richlightshed, The Verge, Multichannel News, Cord Cutters News and 9to5Google
Esther Kezia Thorpe / What's New in Publishing:
Bauer tests bundled app subscriptions with Bikes Unlimited, an app that includes all six of Bauer UK's motorcycle titles, for £7.99 a month or £89.99 per year — Digital magazine apps have had a hard time over the past decade. Promises of rich multimedia iPad editions fell flat …
David McCabe / New York Times:
Disney, MPAA, News Media Alliance are among those lobbying to limit Section 230, citing copyright concerns, threatening Google, FB, and the web as we know it — A motley group of powerful companies have their knives out for Section 230, which shields platforms from lawsuits over content posted by users.
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