Mediagazer: NYT's success in hitting a target of $800M annual digital revenue, while young startups struggle, lays bare media's disastrous winner takes all state of affairs (Emily Bell/The Guardian)

11:30 PM ET, February 10, 2020

Top News:

Tony Maglio / The Wrap:

The 2020 Oscars drew 23.6M viewers, an all-time low and down 20% YoY; the 2018 Oscars held the previous all-time low of 26.5M viewers — Audience for 92nd Academy Awards declines 20% — The 2020 Oscars drew 23.6 million viewers on ABC, down a whopping 6 million viewers — or -20% from last year.

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Netflix won only two Oscars despite 24 nominations: Best Supporting Actress for Laura Dern and Best Documentary Feature for American Factory from Obamas' studio — Although Netflix received 24 nominations (the most of any studio) at this year's Oscars, its films only ended up winning two awards.

Discussion: @barackobama, CNBC, The Wrap, Broadcasting & Cable, Variety, @scottfeinberg, Business Insider, Breitbart, @lawrence, The Root, The Wrap, Ad Age, @sarahwhit10, /Film, The Streamable, @stevepasquale, @web, @jonerlichman and Observer

Wall Street Journal:
Inside Netflix's aggressive Oscars campaign, spending an estimated $100M+ mainly to promote two films, while other studios usually spend $5M-$20M per film

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, Business Insider, TechCrunch, @filloux, Daily Herald, @pkafka and @pkafka, more at Techmeme »

Emily Bell / The Guardian:

NYT's success in hitting a target of $800M annual digital revenue, while young startups struggle, lays bare media's disastrous winner takes all state of affairs — A handful of legacy institutions thrive as digital startups face increasing pressures — The financial health of journalism …

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @gregory, @deardara, @petergreste, @mimapamundi, @nicnewman, @garyfoskett, @scmitchp, @ndhapple, @baekdal, @wblau, @chriselliott57 and THEFUTURE

Adam Sherwin / inews:

Sources: the BBC is almost certain to appoint its first female Director-General, with Elisabeth Murdoch and ITV CEO Carolyn McCall as two top contenders — Prospect of Rupert Murdoch's daughter running the BBC will unnerve staff - but she has the right credentials for Downing Street

Discussion: careerssearch.bbc.co.uk, Press Gazette, @jbenton, @markdistef, @arusbridger, @tcmbigcheese, @janinegibson, @adamsherwin10, @emilybell, @jimwaterson, Digital TV Europe, @jamesrbuk, @peterjukes, @rmcunliffe, @taraconlan, @markdistef and @adamsherwin10

Liam Knox / NBC News:

Black News Channel, a 24/7 cable channel featuring black anchors and co-founded by former Republican congressman J.C. Watts, launches in select US markets — The Black News Channel, founded by a former Republican congressman, will try to win the growing Black cable news audience.

Discussion: Fox Business, NPR, BBC, CNN, @mayaaking, @ronkelawal, The Root, The Hill and Mashable

Ren LaForme / Poynter:

Muck Rack launches Trends, a Google Trends-like tool that shows which journalists and news organizations wrote about topics the most — What are journalists writing about? It seems like a question with an easy answer. Just go to a news outlet's homepage and take a peek, or do a quick internet search.

Discussion: @poynter, @itsren and @michellemanafy

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

After Amazon removes Nazi and neo-Nazi books, some third-party booksellers say it seems to operate under vague or nonexistent rules regarding prohibited books — The retailer once said it would sell “the good, the bad and the ugly.” Now it has banished objectionable volumes …

Discussion: The Hill, @brendannyhan, @jgreenblattadl, @nytimesbooks, WIRED UK, @kirstinestewart, @oliverdarcy, @redlianak, @henrywfowler, @puiwingtam and @davidstreitfeld, more at Techmeme »

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

CBS Sports strikes a deal with British bookmaker William Hill, making it the official provider of sportsbook and wagering data across all CBS Sports properties — CBS Sports is making a bid to one-up its competitors in the rapidly developing arena for U.S. sports betting.

Discussion: Axios, MediaPost, Broadcasting & Cable and @alexweprin

Elaine Low / Variety:

Sony Pictures Television Chairman Mike Hopkins will exit this month to oversee Amazon's video entertainment operations, including Amazon Studios and Prime Video — Sony Pictures Television Chairman Mike Hopkins is departing his post at the industry's largest independent TV studio later …

Discussion: Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, The Wrap, IndieWire and The Streamable

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

Profile of New Hampshire Public Radio's Lauren Chooljian, whose Stranglehold podcast has made her a divisive figure due to its unflattering look at NH's primary — The podcaster Lauren Chooljian has irked some people in the state with “Stranglehold,” a close look at an all-important contest.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @connorobriennh, @tonyjarnold, @nytimesbusiness, @jaxalemany, @meg_heckman, @marcatracy, @emma_hurt and @nytimesbusiness

The Information:

Sources: YouTube is considering a competitor to Amazon and Apple TV channels for accessing premium video subscriptions from other companies — YouTube is sending signals that it wants to become a destination site for every part of the TV universe. — The Google-owned video giant …

Discussion: Engadget and @alexeheath, more at Techmeme »

Jason Gutierrez / New York Times:

Philippines moves to end the franchise of the country's leading broadcast network ABS-CBN, the latest push by Duterte's admin against critical media outlets — It's the latest push by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte against media outlets he views as critical of his government.

Discussion: @pcijdotorg, @junjijayme165, @nytimes, @heyitsmemistera, @anthonyocampo, @alders_ledge, @alfonslopeztena and Agence France-Presse

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Mike Canan / Trusting News:
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daytondailynews:
Cox Enterprises buys back Dayton Daily News and two other Ohio daily papers from Apollo Global Management, ensuring they can continue 7-day publication

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Bloomberg:
Profile of YouTube's top kids channel Cocomelon, which has about 2.5B monthly views and an estimated $11.3M in ad revenue, as it expands into merchandise

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Shirley Halperin / Variety:
Splice, the popular platform for rights-cleared sounds and beats, says it has paid out more than $25M to musicians in its artist-to-artist marketplace

Discussion: @smart and Music Business Worldwide

Earlier Picks:

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Sources: George Osborne is expected to leave the Evening Standard, as the publication changes direction under CEO Mike Soutar amid widening losses

Discussion: @suzanne_moore and @markhorsleyuk

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The Sun admits its reporter attended an attack on the home of Manchester United boss, after the club complained that the paper had advance notice of the attack

Discussion: @hackinginquiry, @skysportsnews and @danroan

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Journalists should avoid framing politics as a horserace and stop making political predictions in part because there's so little accountability if they're wrong

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, American Press Institute, @sulliview, @danvock, Raw Story, @jason_pontin, @dangillmor, @nprscottsimon, @jayrosen_nyu, @anandwrites and The Week

Freddy Mayhew / Press Gazette:
Eight of the UK's 22 audited papers, excluding those in Scotland, are now edited by women, as are four of the ten daily national titles

Discussion: @pressgazette, @jessbrammar and @hillyjanes

From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
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Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is exploring a push into smart glasses by conducting an internal study, codenamed Atlas, to gather employee feedback on products on the market

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
The second developer beta of iOS 18.2 shows a “daily limit” for free access to “advanced” ChatGPT via Siri and an option to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus in Settings

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