Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Dish's Sling TV now has 2.5M subscribers, losing 94,000 in Q4, the first time it lost subscribers since its 2015 launch; Dish revenue dropped 2.1% YoY to $3.2B — Dish Network continued to feel the cord-cutting sting in the fourth quarter of 2019: While its total subscriber losses in the period …
Discussion:
Multichannel News, TechCrunch, The Streamable, The Verge, @valleyshook, Broadcasting & Cable and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »
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Casey Egan / S&P Global:
During its Q4 earnings call, Dish chairman Charlie Ergen said that he believes the merger between DirecTV and Dish is “probably inevitable” — DISH Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen believes it is “probably inevitable” that DISH and AT&T Inc.'s DIRECTV, as the two largest U.S. satellite pay TV providers, should merge.
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, The Streamable, Multichannel News and The Verge
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Report: traditional pay TV operators in the US lost ~6M subscribers in 2019, a decline of 7% YoY, dropping to about 83M by the year's end — The U.S. satellite and cable TV business declined at an unprecedented rate last year — with traditional pay-TV providers dropping a staggering 6 million customers, a 7% decline year-over-year.
The Hill:
The Hill posts its review of 14 John Solomon columns, says in some cases the sources were his own attorneys and he should have been labeled an opinion columnist — On Nov. 18, 2019, The Hill announced it was reviewing John Solomon's opinion columns on Ukraine after State Department diplomats …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, VICE, @owillis, @jayrosen_nyu, @buhhhhlieevmeee, @froomkin, @mattgertz, Politico, @jonahfisherbbc, @cjcmichel, @msmacb, @djlavoie, @urbanachievr, @oliverdarcy, @dandrezner, @jettgoldsmith, @froomkin, CNN, @bradmossesq, @markhertling, @zacharybasu, @digiphile, @digiphile, Mediaite, @natashabertrand, @20committee, @nycsouthpaw, @kyledcheney, @elwasson and @froomkin
Wall Street Journal:
China revokes press credentials of three WSJ reporters, ordering them to leave the country within five days as punishment for a recent opinion piece in the WSJ — China's Foreign Ministry says move was punishment for a recent opinion piece published by the Journal
Discussion:
New York Times, Axios, @secpompeo, CNN, @wsjpr, CNBC, Breitbart, @brianstelter, globaltimes.cn, Foreign Policy, VICE, @erinhale, @georgikantchev, @danielflitton, @sentomcotton, @ourobororoboruo, @davidramli, @davidpaulk, @felixsalmon, @edwardlucas, @arifleischer, @isaacstonefish, @theresaafallon, @crtejada, @suzannenossel, @gillianwong, National Review, @janisfrayer, @simon_nixon, @gillianwong, The Week, @panphil, Committee to Protect …, @ramyinocencio, @cassvinograd, @katmyu, @kenroth, @birdyword, @nytimesbusiness, @meghara, @georgikantchev, @dylanbyers, @ewong, Mediaite, @ananthkrishnan, ABC17NEWS, @jennystrasburg, New York Post, The Hill, Fast Company, The Wrap, Newser, International Press Institute and Talking Biz News
Cameron Wilson / BuzzFeed:
Facebook has 17M users in Australia but just seven fact checkers, from AFP and Australian Associated Press, who completed 220 fact checks since April 2019 — “It's incredible the sheer speed at which lies travel, particularly when they're targeted at groups," one fact checker said.
Discussion:
@firstdraftnews, @rmac18, @cdibona, @mantzarlis, @broderick, @mhbergen, @tonyromm, @anguslivingston and @ryandeto, more at Techmeme »
The Markup:
The Markup says it will begin publishing on February 25 and announces its board of directors — The Markup, a nonpartisan and nonprofit newsroom investigating how powerful institutions are using technology in ways that impact society, today announced its Board of Directors ahead of its February 25th launch.
Discussion:
@juliaangwin, @simko_bednarski, @sashak, @mharrisperry, @themarkup and @danielpmcdermot
New York Times:
E. Jean Carroll, the Elle magazine advice columnist who last year accused Trump of rape, says she was fired because of Trump's repeated insults against her — The longtime columnist blamed her departure from the magazine on Mr. Trump, who she said in a defamation lawsuit had damaged her reputation by calling her a liar.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CNN, @ejeancarroll, Vox, Boing Boing, Mediaite, @jeffjarvis, @felicianista and The Hill
Laura Wagner / VICE:
Vox claims it owns a SB Nation blogger's Twitter account with ~10K followers after an exec took over the contractor's account and changed login credentials — On Friday, Feb. 14, a senior executive from Vox Media managed to break into a sports blogger's Twitter account and change the login credentials …
Discussion:
@motherboard, Reclaim The Net, The Wrap, @goldenblogs, @derektmead, @jordansarge, @blazersbysagar, @timmarchman, @anchorlines, @mikeisaac, @felixsalmon, @drewmcweeny, @dan_cancian, @laurawags, @vice, @cristela9, @annathebold, @_ben_clemens, @linzsports, @jasonrenker, @therealbradg, @gregotto, @derektmead and @yoda
Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:
The Information and Bloomberg are testing a digital subscription bundle which offers access to both publications, streams, newsletters, more, for $499 per year — The Information and Bloomberg Media are the next set of publishers to test out a digital subscription bundling model.
Discussion:
@jessicalessin, @martinsfp, @martinsfp, @benthompson, @kerrymflynn, @sarthakgh, @bradmichelson and @whatthebit
Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:
Study: in Germany, news was the top genre on Apple Podcasts at 23.5% but on Spotify it was the fifth most popular genre at 8.36%, behind comedy and sports — We've written a lot (well, Nick Quah has written a lot) about Spotify's efforts to move in on Apple's 15-year position as the undisputed No. 1 platform for podcasts.
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
An Edinburgh Evening News editor will oversee six Scottish newspapers, including The Scotsman, as JPI Media restructures newsrooms to focus on digital growth — One editor will oversee six Scottish newspapers, including The Scotsman, as JPI Media restructures its newsrooms to focus on digital growth.
Discussion:
Behind Local News UK
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