Mediagazer: 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 (Liam Knox/NBC News)

11:20 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: CNBC, @barackobama, 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

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

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 »

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 11:20 PM ET, February 10, 2020.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Accounting Specialist Editor, Remote US — Reuters

Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

Asia Credit Reporter, Seoul — Bloomberg

Senior Social Media Specialist, NC — espnW

Associate Editor - Aviation, TN — Firecrown

Assistant Editor - Digital, NC — SBJ

Video Producer - YouTube, NY — Morning Brew

Senior Managing Ed. - Daily Desk — The Athletic

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Content Managing Editor — Freedom Forum

Editor, MA — Nieman Reports

Team Editor - Breaking News, ON — Toronto Star

Senior Reporter & Event Host, NY/CA — Newcomer

Associate Editor, Remote — Tech Policy Press

Retail Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Managing Ed. - Berks County, PA — Spotlight PA

News Editor - UK, Remote — The Verge

News Reporter, MA — Berkshire Eagle

Multimedia Journalist, PA — Observer-Reporter

Service Journalism Editor, CA — Sacramento Bee

Content Director, Remote — Campaigns & Elections

Los Angeles Issues Reporter, CA — CalMatters

Reporter - Middle East — Rest of World

Executive Editor, OR — Lookout Local

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

Senior Media Editor — Digiday

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Lexington County Reporter, SC — The State

Reporter - Offshore Wind — Canary Media

General Assignment Reporter, FL — County Record

Staff Reporter, CA — Daily Kos

Data Editor, NY — ProPublica

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Mike Canan / Trusting News:
WCPO exec on why the Scripps-owned Cincinnati TV station now only uses mugshots selectively and why it's important to tell viewers about big policy changes

Discussion: @grant_blank_, @jimmacmillan, @spj_tweets and @niemanlab

Stars & Stripes:
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

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, @chadgarland, CNN, @oliverdarcy, @rhreid and @kiddaaron

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

Discussion: @madbair, @sgdoesit, @sensherrodbrown, @hollyzachariah, @joshsweigart, @scalzi, @daytonb2b, @lynnhulseyddn and @larryobhof

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

Discussion: The Hustle, @bw, @koreasociety, @lucas_shaw, @bloombergasia, @mhbergen, @akothari, @gerryfsmith and @newsynick, more at Techmeme »

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:

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

Bloomberg:
Sources: Canadian authorities arrested Alexander “Connor” Moucka, who is allegedly behind hacks in June and July of up to 165 Snowflake customers including AT&T

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

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page