Top News:
Marc Tracy / New York Times:
NYT Q4: profit up 4.4% YoY to $78M on revenue of $502.7M, up 1.1% YoY, ad rev fell 10.7% YoY, digital subscriptions grew 30.8% YoY to ~4.4M of 5.25M total subs — The company hit a key milestone in the fourth quarter of 2019, passing $800 million in annual digital revenue, an amount that came more from readers than advertisers.
Discussion:
The Wrap, CNN, @meslackman, @jyarow, @kbandersen, @edmundlee, Reuters, @markdistef and @charliebeckett
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Hannah Zhang / CNN:
NYT to raise its digital subscription price for the first time, from $15 to $17 every four weeks, effective March 8 — New York (CNN Business)The New York Times will raise the price of its digital subscription from $15 every four weeks to $17, its first ever price bump.
Discussion:
AdExchanger and @tripgabriel
Nieman Lab:
Protocol, billed as “Politico, but for tech”, launches as a sponsor-supported outlet with journalists who have worked at Wired, NYT, WSJ, and The Information — “Technology is no longer just a sector of the economy or an industry — it's a global power center akin to any nation's capital.
Discussion:
Adweek, protocol, Politico, @mattdrange, @harrispolitico, @joemfbrown, @tomkrazit, @timgrieve, @rgogel, @sarahscire, Washingtonian, @digiphile, @r_allbritton, @pierce, THEFUTURE and MediaPost
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Tribune Publishing employees, amid buyouts, are still seeking to avoid further decimation of journalism now that Alden Global Capital owns 32% of the company — In its mission to squeeze the last profits out of newspapers, Alden Global Capital has eliminated the jobs of scores of reporters and editors …
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Kimberly Pierceall / Virginian-Pilot:
Tribune Publishing has accepted buyouts from 20 people in news operations at The Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press, and related community publications
Tribune Publishing has accepted buyouts from 20 people in news operations at The Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press, and related community publications
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @danlamothe, @kenwardjr, @haltman, @brockvergakis, @heettweets, @oversharinerin, @journomurph, @oversharinerin, @joeyerardi, @mike_hixenbaugh, @briancolligan, @gragonews, @aileen__devlin, @aileen__devlin, @pdavis_llc, @gragonews, @tylerjuranovich, @havana58, @brockvergakis, @bypetercoutu, @robynsidersky and @saragregory
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Survey of 1,711 UK adults during the general election campaign finds BBC News and Mail Online together accounted for 49% of all time spent on news websites — BBC News and Mail Online together accounted for almost half of all time spent on news websites by UK adults during …
Discussion:
Reuters Institute …, @markfrankel29, @post_liberal, @janebsinger and Reuters Institute …
Rbr-Tvbr / Radio & Television Business Report:
Report: radio's digital ad revenue crosses $1B for the first time, making up 10% of total ad revenue; local radio station revenue grew 25% in 2019 — Radio's digital ad revenue blasted through the billion-dollar plateau for the first time, now accounting for 10% of total advertising revenue for the industry.
Discussion:
MediaPost
Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:
Warner Bros. and HBO Max to launch Warner Max, a division specializing in making movies for streaming, with plans to make 8-10 films a year for HBO Max — Movie studio Warner Bros. and HBO Max are launching a new division that will specialize in making movies specifically for streaming, the companies said Wednesday.
Discussion:
@franklinleonard, @latimesent and Deadline
Kali Hays / WWD:
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter has laid off about a dozen staffers affecting its web team, styles coverage, and international correspondents — Last year, the publication cut a number of non-edit staffers. — The Hollywood Reporter is making some staff cuts.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Reddit partners with Tagboard, enabling TV networks to easily display its content; Tagboard helps clients curate and produce stories with social media content — Reddit, a site that refers to itself as the “front page of the internet” is today announcing a new deal that will see its posts and conversations extend beyond the web page.
Discussion:
Adweek, MediaPost, @wfederman, @nathanjtweets, Upvoted and GeekWire
Karlene Lukovitz / MediaPost:
605 launches web-based app for TV measurement and analysis across linear, over-the-air, DVR and set-top-box VOD, with Discovery and AMC piloting the platform — 605 has launched a web-based application designed for measurement and analysis of TV programs and ads — including time-shifted viewership …
Discussion:
Radio & Television …, Associated Press and FierceVideo
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google says Chrome's ad blocker will expand to target disruptive video ads in August, including long pre-roll ads, mid-roll ads, and overlay ads on video — Last year, Google made Chrome's standards-backed ad blocker fully available around the world. The Better Ads Standards today announced a …
Maddie Stone / Mother Jones:
In recent years, TV meteorologists, who once avoided discussing climate change on air, have not only started talking about it but also about solving it — This piece was originally published in Grist and appears here as part of our Climate Desk Partnership.
Discussion:
@climatedesk and @grist