Mediagazer: BloombergQuint, Bloomberg's joint venture in India with Quintillion, shuts TV division after failing to get a broadcast license; source: BQ is writing off $26M (Shuchi Bansal/Livemint)

10:00 AM ET, April 22, 2020

Top News:

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

Netflix reports Q1 revenue of $5.77B, up 27.6% YoY, vs $5.76B est., global paid net subscriber additions of 15.77M, now totaling 182.86M accounts, up 22.8% YoY — - Netflix reported its Q1 2020 earnings after the bell on Tuesday. — Netflix has ranked among analysts' favorite …

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Netflix announces plans to offer $1B in junk bonds to fund operations and potential acquisitions; as of the end of March, Netflix reported $14.17B in debt — Netflix is going back to the debt markets yet again, announcing plans to offer $1 billion in junk bonds to fund operations and potential acquisitions.

Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings' compensation reached $38.6M in 2019, up about 7% YoY, and chief content officer Ted Sarandos received a package worth $34.7M, up 17%

Discussion: The Wrap and Broadcasting & Cable

@kerrymflynn:

[Thread] Internal memos: Politico lays off 13 at Protocol as it cancels live events through at least Sept. 1, including its presence at political conventions — Didn't want to break this media news earlier because of my major conflict of interest. But I'm really sad to see another round of harsh cuts at a media company (and a new one at that!). 13 people, incl editors + reporters, lost their jobs at Protocol today https://twitter.com/...

Todd Spangler / Variety:

AT&T misses estimates, loses 138K AT&T Now customers and 897K premium TV subscribers in Q1, reports revenues of $42.78B and pulls its annual forecast — AT&T missed revenue and earnings estimates for the first quarter of 2020, with a 4.6% top-line decline driven by lower revenue …

Discussion: The Streamable, CNBC, @edmundlee, @brianstelter, The Streamable, @alexweprin, The Week, The Playlist and MediaPost

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
AT&T offers free HBO Max to “tens of millions” of customers, including wireless and internet subscribers, as it aims for 75M to 90M HBO Max subscribers by 2025

Discussion: HBO Max, The Week, MTV, The Streamable, CNET, The Verge and Engadget

Hollywood Reporter:
HBO Max to launch on May 27 for $15 per month with 10,000 hours of programming

Discussion: Deadline, Variety, @joan_e, @joan_e, @joan_e, The Week, Nylon, CNET, Variety and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal:

Internal planning document for Vice Media Group lays out the possibility of layoffs of 300+ in digital operations, including cuts at Vice News and Refinery29 — Planning document calls for over 300 layoffs, though company says several such proposals are being worked up

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, Fast Company, @loudmouthjulia, @robenfarzad, @asharma, @kantrowitz, @elanazak, @benmullin, @jherrerx, @keachhagey, @markdistef and @benmullin

Jim VandeHei / Axios:

Axios says it qualified for a PPP loan “just shy of $5M” as it is both a media company and a small business with a national presence — Axios is among the small businesses that qualified for a PPP loan to protect existing jobs and help weather the coronavirus crisis.

Discussion: CNBC and @brianstelter

Financial Times:

Some of UK's biggest publishers criticize Google for failing to adequately explain its approach to blocking and filtering ads alongside COVID-19-related content — Tech group asked to provide greater clarity over how it filters ads around coverage of pandemic

Discussion: @markdistef, more at Techmeme »

Shuchi Bansal / Livemint:

BloombergQuint, Bloomberg's joint venture in India with Quintillion, shuts TV division after failing to get a broadcast license; source: BQ is writing off $26M — - It had FIPB nod for a 74:26 joint venture in November 2016 to operate an English language business news channel

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:

Disney co-founder's granddaughter Abigail Disney criticises the company for protecting exec bonuses and dividends of $1.5B+ while cutting pay of 100K+ workers — Abigail Disney hits out at executive payouts while staff weather coronavirus impact — An heir to the Walt Disney fortune …

Discussion: @abigaildisney, Hollywood Reporter and The Kingdom Insider

Kathryn Hopkins / WWD:

Bustle relaunches Nylon's digital edition but delays a promised print edition to fall 2021 and postpones a monthly live music series, Nylon Nights — Nylon's first digital issue under BDG's ownership features cover star Maya Hawke. — After acquiring fashion, music and cultural site Nylon last summer …

Discussion: Nylon, @benjamingoggin, @raywongy and MediaPost

Mandy Jenkins / The Compass Experiment:

The Compass Experiment, McClatchy and Google's digital local news initiative, plans to launch the Longmont Leader in Colorado in May with a team of five — We're launching The Longmont Leader to provide critical news and information during this time of crisis — and beyond.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, Axios, @fishnette, @mattsebastian, @mjenkins, The Keyword, @juliewestfall, @mjenkins, @rubinojc, @mcclatchy, @benfischersbj, MediaPost, Longmont Observer, PR Newswire, Longmont Observer and Free Press

Alexandra Steigrad / New York Post:

Filing: NBCUniversal sold about half of its stake, worth ~$178M, in Peloton; Peloton shares are up more than 50% since mid-March because of the pandemic — NBCUniversal has sold a $178 million stake in stationary-bike company Peloton, whose shares have lately been surging because of the coronavirus crisis.

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 10:00 AM ET, April 22, 2020.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

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:

Connie Loizos / TechCrunch:
Bustle's former EIC Kate Ward and former SVP Lindsay Mannering launch a “personalized subscription website for TV's biggest fans” called The Dipp

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
After the pandemic shut down live music venues, some artists have turned to sites like Stageit to livestream performances with typical viewers paying around $15

Discussion: @sammyandrews, @lucas_shaw, @rhettmiller, @lucas_shaw and @lucas_shaw

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
eMarketer forecasts TV networks will collect between $24B and $26.3B in ad spending in H1 2020, compared to $33.9B collected in H1 2019, due to sports shutdown

Discussion: @latimes, @swanniontv, @mediumbuying and @megjameslat

Issie Lapowsky / Protocol:
A behind-the-scenes look at the Facebook News team's early response to COVID-19, including a push to make news more prominent in the Information Center

Discussion: @blackamazon, @issielapowsky, @jason_kint and @kerrymflynn

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Jewish News to continue publishing after the collapse of the merger with the Jewish Chronicle, which was acquired by a consortium and will go into liquidation

Discussion: The Times of Israel

Snap Inc.:
Snap reports in Q1 DAUs increased 20% YoY to 229M, revenue increased 44% YoY to $462M, time spent watching Discover content rose 35%+; stock up 19%+ after hours

Discussion: The Wrap, VentureBeat, @tiffkhsu, @peterhamby, @joshelman, Mashable, The Verge and Variety, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify launches a set of 17 editorially curated podcast playlists, akin to its RapCaviar music playlist, in the US and five other countries

Discussion: Nieman Lab, @forpodcasters, Spotify, Gizmodo and Android Central

Earlier Picks:

@si_union:
Maven has recognized the Sports Illustrated union, formed in January with support from more than 90% of the staff

Discussion: @grantwahl and bookforum.com

Variety:
Georgia to let movie theaters reopen April 27, but hiring staff, safety protocols, a lack of new releases, and limits on crowd sizes pose significant challenges

Discussion: Mediaite, @srdtv, @brycezabel, @cinestate, Deadline, /Film, The Playlist, Comic Book Movie, Variety and The A.V. Club

Marc Tracy / New York Times:
NPR cuts CEO pay 25% and reduces other executives' salaries between 10% and 15%, but CEO says there are no layoffs planned at the moment

Discussion: @aliabunimah, @jonahblank, @bobbyallyn, @kindandunblind, @taylakaye, @vwpickard, @mirokorenha, @jimwindolf and The Wrap

Seb Joseph / Digiday:
YouTube says it's working on letting advertisers use keyword or contextual targeting to decide what posts their ads will appear on before running them

Tim Dams / Variety:
Apple Music expands to 52 new countries, for a total of 167 countries, while Spotify operates in 79; Apple Podcasts becomes available in 20 more countries

Discussion: Apple, RAIN News, My Podcast Reviews, TechCrunch, MacRumors and The Verge

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Michael Jordan docuseries “The Last Dance” debuts to an average 6.1M viewers across ESPN and ESPN 2, the most-viewed original content on the network since 2004

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
NBCUniversal's movie ticketing company Fandango has agreed to buy Walmart's on-demand video streaming service Vudu for an undisclosed sum

Discussion: Variety, Digiday, @ercboxoffice, Ad Age, AdExchanger, MediaPost, Marketing Dive, @seannarrates, @film_girl, @jasonlynch, @megancgraham, @natjarv, @moiseschiu, @ashkan, @alexweprin, @taralach, @thekenyeung and IndieWire

From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Anthropic raised another $4B from Amazon, will make AWS its primary training partner, and is working with Annapurna Labs to develop new Trainium accelerators

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Researchers detail a “nearest neighbor attack” by Russia's APT28, which remotely breached a target's Wi-Fi by hijacking a laptop in a building across the street

Wall Street Journal:
Elon Musk, as Trump's efficiency czar, is singling out ordinary federal staffers, including some with climate-related jobs, on X and unleashing his fans on them

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