Mediagazer: DOD proposes funding cuts to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes; source: around $7M of “operating and maintenance funds” would be cut, or 35% of expenses (Stars & Stripes)

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

WaPo's digital subscriber growth doesn't seem to be making expected gains on NYT despite a mass-oriented strategy, and WaPo hasn't posted the numbers since 2018 — But will the Journal and The Washington Post be able to catch up to the market leader going forward? Or is the Times preparing to lap the field?

Discussion: Press Gazette, What's New in Publishing, @jbenton, @deardara, MediaPost, THEFUTURE and The Guardian

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

Sources close to Elisabeth Murdoch say she has no interest in the job of BBC director and is focused on launching a production company — Sources say Rupert's daughter not interested in job, after press reports made her the favourite — Elisabeth Murdoch has made clear she has no interest …

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

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: American Press Institute, Fox Business, NPR, @nbcblk, @placebo90511492, @mayaaking, @eviefordham, @mvgal92691, @ronkelawal, @liamhknox, @spj_tweets, BBC, CNN, Mashable, The Hill and The Root

Joan E. Solsman / CNET:

Nielsen: streaming makes up 19% of US TV watching, with Netflix comprising 31% of streaming on TVs, followed by 21% on YouTube, 12% on Hulu, and 8% on Amazon — Netflix is big and it's getting bigger. And we're not just watching it on our phones and tablets: That dominance translates …

Discussion: Adweek, MediaPost, The Wrap, Variety, Reuters, VentureBeat and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Janko Roettgers / Protocol:

Redbox has begun testing its ad-supported live TV online streaming service, powered in part by Xumo, with preprogrammed channels like USA Today and TMZ — Cord-cutting is driving a rush toward free video, but experts caution not to expect Netflix-size results.

Discussion: Media Play News, @richlightshed and Cord Cutters News

Tim Arango / New York Times:

Profile of Carl Butz, a 71-year-old retiree who stepped in at the beginning of the year to save The Mountain Messenger, California's oldest weekly newspaper — High in the Sierra, Downieville, Calif., was about to become the latest American community to lose its newspaper.

Discussion: @jswatz, @emilybell, @livmqhenry and The Rural Blog

Freddy Mayhew / Press Association:

UK-based PA Media Group buys stock image company Alamy for an undisclosed sum — PA Media Group, which owns the PA news agency, has bought leading stock images company Alamy for an undisclosed amount. — Alamy was founded 20 years ago and boasts almost 200m stock photographs …

Discussion: PR Newswire

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.

Discussion: @barackobama, The Wrap, 5ish from M.G. Siegler, @stevepasquale, @scottfeinberg, @lawrence, Broadcasting & Cable, @web, @jonerlichman, @sarahwhit10, Ad Age, Business Insider, The Wrap, /Film, Fox News, CNBC, The Streamable, Variety and Observer

Sara Fischer / Axios:

YouTube is funding TYT Academy, a Young Turks online course focused on the creation of digital-first local news; sources: investment is in the mid-six-figures — The Young Turks (TYT), one of the largest progressive digital publishers on YouTube, is receiving funding from Google-owned YouTube …

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, National Review and @jon_allsop

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Tubi says MAUs hit 25M in December 2019, up from 20M in June, with total viewing time of 163M hours, up 160% YoY, says content spending to exceed $100M+ in 2020 — Tubi says it's continuing to gain momentum, drawing more viewers to its free-streaming service — and driving up more overall viewing time.

Discussion: The Streamable, TechCrunch and Broadcasting & Cable

Irene Wangui / International Journalists' Network:

A look at WanaData Africa, a pan-African network of around 100 women journalists and data experts, who have collectively published over 100 stories since 2017 — A growing network of African women journalists is leading data-driven projects that are elevating female voices and shedding light on under-reported stories.

Discussion: American Press Institute

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sources: podcast subscription service Luminary is expanding to New Zealand, Ireland, and South Africa — Reproduced from The Nielsen Total Audience Report, February 2020; Chart: Axios Visuals — Luminary is expanding its service to three new countries, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland, sources tell Axios.

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:

Sirius XM invests $75M in SoundCloud in exchange for a minority stake and two seats on the board — The audio entertainment giant puts money into the open audio platform. — Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM Holdings said Tuesday it has invested $75 million in open audio platform SoundCloud …

Discussion: Radio & Television …, TechCrunch, Variety, Music Business Worldwide, PR Newswire, Wall Street Journal, @pkafka, @ldignan and @pkafka, more at Techmeme »