Mediagazer: Faced with questions about the lasting impact of online mugshot galleries, media outlets including the Houston Chronicle are increasingly doing away with them (Keri Blakinger/The Marshall Project)

Faced with questions about the lasting impact of online mugshot galleries, media outlets including the Houston Chronicle are increasingly doing away with them — Some are red-eyed from crying, others visibly drunk. Some sport black eyes or jarring face tattoos. Occasionally, one offers an addled grin.

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Source: Spotify is paying close to $200M upfront for the Ringer, to be followed by more than $50M later — - Streamer has spent more than $600 million on podcast deals — Sports columnist Bill Simmons founded the Ringer in 2016 — Spotify Technology SA is paying close …

Discussion: @stocktwits, Music Business Worldwide, @lindaholmes, @sarthakgh, Business Insider and @ajs, more at Techmeme »

Andrew Morse / CNET:

Flipboard launches Flipboard TV, an in-app feature that offers professional short-form video, for $2.99/mo; will be a Galaxy S20 exclusive for first 3 months — The short-form video service faces stiff competition and subscription fatigue. — Flipboard, the popular news aggregator app …

Discussion: Wired, Digital Trends, @harrymccracken, Engadget, The Verge and Fast Company, more at Techmeme »

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, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Variety, @jtoeman, Reuters, TechCrunch and VentureBeat

Freddy Mayhew / Reuters:

Reuters has created a virtual sports journalist prototype that reads out game summaries and reports using AI and footage of a human presenter — Reuters has created a virtual sports journalist using artificial intelligence technology and video footage of a human presenter.

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

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

As part of Apple News' 2020 election coverage, Apple says Siri can now answer election-related questions, including sharing live election results from AP — Apple's built-in voice assistant won't help you figure out who to vote for, but it will be able to update you on different races around …

Discussion: SpokeDaily, @redletterdave, iMore and @danielpmcdermot, more at Techmeme »

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.

BreAnna Bell / Variety:

Drake signs multiyear partnership with live streaming platform Caffeine to produce a series of rap battles and other live content — Live streaming service Caffeine.TV has announced an exclusive multiyear partnership with Drake. Infamous for his own rap feuds, the Canadian artist …

Discussion: VentureBeat, Forbes, TechCrunch and Fast Company

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: Music Business Worldwide, TechCrunch, Variety, SoundCloud press releases, @pkafka, @ldignan, @pkafka and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

Andrew Bucholtz / Awful Announcing:

FloSports is launching FloBaseball, a platform that will host NCAA, high school, and youth baseball programming — We've seen FloSports amping up their sport-specific offerings recently, most notably with FloBikes offering 75 events and more than 300 days of racing this year …

Discussion: @awfulannouncing and Broadcasting & Cable

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: @richlightshed, Media Play News, Cord Cutters News and Fast Company