Mediagazer: Sources: Condé Nast is planning on suspending its Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit this year as the conference is losing money (NBC News)

8:45 AM ET, February 11, 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

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

Piya Sinha-Roy / Hollywood Reporter:
A series of wins and performances helped redefine the 2020 Oscars after a nominees list that was the least diverse since the 2015 #OscarsSoWhite backlash

Discussion: The Week, The Stranger, Quartz, BuzzFeed News and BBC

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, @deardara, MediaPost, THEFUTURE and The Guardian

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, @nbcblk, @placebo90511492, BBC, @mayaaking, CNN, @spj_tweets, @eviefordham, @mvgal92691, @ronkelawal, @liamhknox, Mashable, The Hill and The Root

NBC News:

Sources: Condé Nast is planning on suspending its Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit this year as the conference is losing money — Moving the Market: Deutsche Telekom chief Tim Höttges and T-Mobile chief John Legere are on the verge of winning their long-sought merger of T-Mobile and Sprint …

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

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: Broadcasting & Cable, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and Reuters

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: MediaPost, @alexeheath and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

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

Adam Satariano / New York Times:

Profile of Ben Nimmo, a founder of Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, who helped pioneer investigations into online disinformation — Ben Nimmo helped pioneer disinformation investigations. His work is now more urgent as misleading internet tactics spread.

Discussion: @general_ben, @dfrlab, @alexstamos, @satariano, @ngleicher and @benimmo

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: MediaPost, Deadline, Wall Street Journal, Engadget, IndieWire, Adweek, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter and The Streamable

Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:

Dennis Publishing is launching The Week Junior in the US in March, four years after its debut in the UK; the magazine is aimed at kids ages 8-14 — Four and a half years after launching a weekly news magazine for kids in the United Kingdom, Dennis Publishing is bringing The Week Junior to the United States in March.

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, Boing Boing, @nytimesbusiness, @meg_heckman, @connorobriennh, @emma_hurt, @nytimesbusiness, @tonyjarnold, @jaxalemany and @marcatracy

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Mike Canan / Trusting News:
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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

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Brian Steinberg / Variety:
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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

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

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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

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Ren LaForme / Poynter:
Muck Rack launches Trends, a Google Trends-like tool that shows which journalists and news organizations wrote about topics the most

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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

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From Techmeme:

Qianer Liu / The Information:
Sources: Intel and TSMC have reached a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture that will operate Intel's chipmaking facilities; TSMC will take a 20% stake

Michael Nuñez / VentureBeat:
OpenAI makes ChatGPT Plus free for college students in the US and Canada until the end of May 2025, intensifying competition with Anthropic in higher education

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
An increasingly vocal contingent of GOP leaders, some of whom attended Y Combinator's Little Tech Competition Summit, call for antitrust action against Big Tech

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