Mediagazer: Tencent Q4: ~$1.03B in total online music revenue, of which $160M from music subscribers, up 60.1% YoY; paying music subscribers up 47.8% YoY to 39.9M (Tim Ingham/Music Business Worldwide)

8:35 AM ET, March 17, 2020

Top News:

Jason Gurwin / The Streamable:

Universal Pictures to make digital rentals of some new movies now in theaters available for $20 from March 20, and upcoming Trolls World Tour on its release day — In light of the movie theaters being brought to a standstill, Universal Pictures is changing the game.

Hollywood Reporter:

Movie theater chains, including Regal Cinemas, Landmark Theatres, and Alamo Drafthouse, are temporarily closing their cinemas across the US until further notice — The move follows a federal government recommendation for U.S. adults to avoid public gatherings of more than 10 people.

Discussion: @erik_hayden, @thr, @brianstelter, @carriecoon, @thr, @erik_hayden, Deadline, /Film, INSIDER, The Verge and WFLA-TV

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:

North American box office plunged to around $55.3M this weekend, its worst weekend since sales of $54.5M from September 15 to 17 in 2000 — Much of public life in the United States essentially ground to a halt this week. In the entertainment world, theme parks shut down, Broadway went dark …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast, Mumbrella, The Wrap, @ecareyo, @variety, @ewagmeister, @ecnalhanid, Fortune, /Film, The Guardian, CNN, The Playlist, MediaPost, Wired, Vanity Fair and KRON4

Washington Post:

Fox News hosts have quickly shifted their tone on the COVID-19 pandemic from media conspiracy to crisis, after Trump declared it a national emergency on Friday — For weeks, some of Fox News's most popular hosts downplayed the threat of the coronavirus, characterizing it as a conspiracy …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Gizmodo, @maggienyt, @mrbromwich, @timobrien, CNN, @charlesornstein, @juliettekayyem, Four Freedoms, @oliverdarcy, @id4ro, @slpng_giants, @tedlieu, @andyglockner, The Philadelphia Inquirer, FTVLive and The Inquisitr

Stefanie Murray / Nieman Lab:

A look at some of the collaborative efforts by independent newsrooms in states like Oregon, North Carolina, and New Jersey to cover the COVID-19 pandemic — Having access to accurate information can mean the difference between life and death during a crisis.

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Oregonian, @thenewsan, @edercampuzano, @jtierney6, @niemanlab, @johnupton and @niemanfdn

Catalin Cimpanu / ZDNet:

Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube say they're working with each other and healthcare agencies to tackle misinfo about COVID-19 — Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube put out joint statement promising to fight COVID-19 fraud and curb misinformation.

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

How reporters at the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio are struggling with deep staff cuts while reporting on COVID-19's spread in the state — News organizations everywhere are under immense pressure as a pandemic sweeps the globe. — Reporters scurry to cover an eruption of breaking news …

Discussion: @jeremylittau, @davidfolkenflik, @benpershing, @alanmillernlp, @annabruchez, @sulliview, @kimmasters, @mmlederman1 and @blmckean

Rachel Abrams / New York Times:

Inside The Seattle Times' COVID-19 coverage, as nearly all of its 58 reporters cover a pandemic affecting their neighbors and friends while trying to stay safe — “That's what local papers are meant to do”: The journalists at The Seattle Times have been aggressively covering the coronavirus as it affects their neighbors and friends.

Discussion: Poynter, @alizaslav, @blatchfordtr, @rachelabramsny, @goldsteinstreet, @ctguild, @ylichterman, @jamesgeary, @davidakaye, @mackenziemays, @oliverdarcy, @mccanner, @rachelabramsny, @rachelabramsny, @davechensky, @rachelabramsny, @bymikebaker and @brianmrosenthal

YouTube Creator Blog:

YouTube says it will be relying more on automated systems as content moderators stay home, and creators may see fewer strikes against videos but more removals — Today, as the unprecedented COVID-19 situation continues, Google outlined how it's reducing the need for people to come …

Discussion: The Keyword, The Verge, Adweek, @susanwojcicki, @mhbergen, @ytcreators, @youtubeinsider, Business Insider, Marketing Land, Variety, Engadget and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »

Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:

Tencent Q4: ~$1.03B in total online music revenue, of which $160M from music subscribers, up 60.1% YoY; paying music subscribers up 47.8% YoY to 39.9M — Tencent Music Entertainment, parent of China's biggest streaming music platforms, ended 2019 with 39.9m paying users worldwide.

Discussion: Seeking Alpha, MarketWatch, Reuters and Tencent Music

Jamie Lang / Variety:

European media firms are navigating the loss of live sports during COVID-19 lockdown with replays of old games, free content, reduced prices of sports packages — A continent mad about sports has gone mad without sports. This past weekend was the first in which nearly …

Pete Brown / Columbia Journalism Review:

Study of 13K+ stories on News Corp's Knewz between February 4 and March 2 shows that the news aggregator frequently defaults to Murdoch titles and Daily Mail — Knewz, News Corp.'s recently launched news aggregator—not to be confused with the polka band of the same name—debuted with a grand promise …

Discussion: @cjr, @dangillmor, @niemanlab, @jbenton and @cjr

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More News:

Michael Schneider / Variety:
A look at Camel Rock Studios, a New Mexico film studio owned by a Native American tribe, as it capitalizes on the state's filming boom from Netflix and others

Elsa Keslassy / Variety:
French pay TV group Canal Plus says it will be free for the next few weeks or months during the country's lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak

Manori Ravindran / Variety:
Disney Plus has partnered with O2 as its exclusive UK mobile network distributor, a week ahead of its launch

Discussion: The Streamable

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
By lashing out at PBS's Yamiche Alcindor over questions about firing the Pandemic Response Team, Trump keeps trying to duck scrutiny for his own words and deeds

Discussion: @theplumlinegs, @theplumlinegs, @theplumlinegs and The Independent, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
AMC Networks says it is planning to sell ad packages that accompany its shows even when they become available on ad-supported streaming outlets like Pluto TV

Discussion: Adweek, Broadcasting & Cable and Ad Age

The Intercept:
Leaked docs: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts from those deemed “ugly”, poor, or disabled, and censor political speech in livestreams, to attract users

Discussion: @panzer, @theintercept, Wccftech, @caseyjohnston, @mattpostsayshi, @slooterman, Business Insider, @cindygallop, @josephfcox, @rose_catb, @theintercept, @taylorlorenz, Gizmodo, IT Management, The Verge and PAPER

BBC:
BBC says it will delay its plan to charge over-75s for license fees, originally set for June 1, until August 1 due to coronavirus

Discussion: @dianajohnsonmp, @bbcwalesnews, @kevinbrennanmp, @nicholashellen, @paullewismoney, @mrjohnnicolson, @angelarayner, @jimwaterson, @dehennadavison, The Independent, Telegraph and CityAM

From Techmeme:

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
EU antitrust regulators are questioning Broadcom about changes to VMware's licensing conditions, following complaints from EU business users and a trade group

Artificial Intelligence Index:
Stanford's AI Index report: training top AI models is way more expensive, AI still trails humans on complex tasks, people are more nervous about AI, and more

Jennifer A. Kingson / Axios:
Meta plans to launch a new education product for Quest that will let teachers access education apps for students ages 13+ and manage multiple headsets at once

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