Mediagazer: Some House Democrats still want to change pension rules to help McClatchy, The San Diego Union-Tribune, and Newspapers of New England, but critics are skeptical (Doug Sword/Roll Call)

AT&T says it will bring its advertising unit Xandr under its WarnerMedia label — (Reuters) - AT&T Inc (T.N) said on Thursday it will bring its advertising unit Xandr under its WarnerMedia label, which is set to launch its streaming channel HBO Max in May.

Discussion: Ad Age and Broadcasting & Cable

Melynda Fuller / MediaPost:

McClatchy rolls out a text-to-speech feature, which creates audio versions of articles with ad inserts; its pilot program saw story page views rise 89% — Readers of McClatchy's 30 news outlets can now access stories through a new text-to-speech audio feature.

Discussion: The Hill and @kolbemarket

The Daily Beast:

NY Post announces cost-cutting measures, including laying off staff, cutting freelance budgets, and freezing hiring; sources: over a dozen have been laid off — Employees were informed Wednesday of plans to freeze all new hiring, cut and even eliminate most freelance budgets, and lay off some staff.

Discussion: The Wrap, @eglazarev, @carolynryan, bookforum.com, @wlabovitz, @joereubens, @maxwelltani, @noahshachtman, @lalpert1, @oliverdarcy, @harrysiegel, @theo_wayt, @lalpert1 and @claireatki

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Twitter reports Q1 revenue of $808M, up 3% YoY, and ad revenue of $682M, up about $3M YoY, with cost per engagement down 19% YoY, and 166M mDAUs, up 24% YoY — Despite traffic for many online properties being at an all-time high, advertising has fallen off a cliff because of the downturn …

Discussion: Adweek, Variety, MediaPost, Ad Age, VentureBeat, Fast Company, @twitterir, @twitterir, @carnage4life, @damonlinker, @thekenyeung and Variety, more at Techmeme »

CNBC:

Comcast Q1: NBCU earnings fell 25.3% to $1.7B on revenue of $7.7B, down 7%, with film revenue down 22.5% YoY to $1.4B and ad revenue down 2.2% YoY — - Comcast posted $2.1 billion in net income for the first quarter. That's roughly 40% lower than the first quarter last year when Comcast earned more than $3.5 billion.

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, Comcast Corporation, The Streamable, The Verge, ZDNet, @megancgraham, @jbursz and @stevekopack

Doug Sword / Roll Call:

Some House Democrats still want to change pension rules to help McClatchy, The San Diego Union-Tribune, and Newspapers of New England, but critics are skeptical — Proposal would allow more newspapers to benefit from pension relief, though critics say industry problems were evident long before COVID-19

Discussion: @dkiesow, @rollcall and @nielslesniewski

Sara Fischer / Axios:

The Hollywood Reporter names AP's Nekesa Mumbi Moody editorial director, replacing Matthew Belloni, who quit over reported disputes with owners on news coverage — Nekesa Mumbi Moody has been named editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter, joining the publication after more than two decades …

Discussion: @theinsneider, @sarafischer, The Daily Beast and Axios

Zoe Samios / Sydney Morning Herald:

In Australia, Bauer Media suspends print publication of Harper's Bazaar, Elle, OK!, and Now and lays off 70 people as it acquires Pacific Magazines for $40M — Bauer Media is making 70 staff redundant and temporarily suspending the print editions of titles including OK! …

Discussion: The Guardian and New Zealand Herald

Trey Williams / The Wrap:

ViacomCBS has laid off at least 100 employees, including top executives at the Smithsonian Network and Comedy Central as well as MTV and LogoTV staff — CEO Bob Bakish sent a letter to staff on Wednesday reassuring them, “we are focused on making their transitions easier at this time”

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, MediaPost, Deadline and Variety

Fazal Ashfaq / The Keyword:

In the second round of the Google News Initiative Asia Pacific Innovation Challenge, 18 outlets from 11 countries will split a $2.3M grant — Last October, we invited news organizations to apply to the second round of the Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge in Asia Pacific …

Discussion: TechCrunch, @sruthijith, @daftari, @neeleshmisra and @avinashkalla

Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:

The US Supreme Court has upheld the right to freely share the official annotated law code of Georgia despite the state's claim to own the copyright of the code — The state of Georgia licensed the official copy of state law to LexisNexis. — A narrowly divided US Supreme Court on Monday upheld …

Discussion: Slate, New York Times, @techlinkedyt, @allafarce, @j0hnnyxm4s, @marshallyoum and Bloomberg Law

Caleb Ecarma / Vanity Fair:

Profile of The American Conservative, a publication aiming to take advantage of Trump's populist realignment of the GOP and styled as The Atlantic for the right — TAC was MAGA on trade before Trump, anti-war when the neocons ruled. Its new acting editor is hoping to be an intellectual driver …

Discussion: @kausmickey

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

Tucker Carlson hyped a YouTube video of two doctors who incorrectly downplayed the COVID-19 threat, and the Fox host also slammed YouTube for removing the video — (CNN Business)A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.

Discussion: NBC News, VICE, @knightlat, @jason_koebler, @jason_koebler, @jason_koebler, @jeremymbarr, @brianstelter, @jeremymbarr, The A.V. Club, YouTube Blog and Mediaite

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Spotify beats with Q1 revenue of €1.8B and net income of €1M, with MAUs up 31% YoY to 286M, premium users up 31% to 130M, and ad-supported MAUs up 32% to 163M — The coronavirus may be decimating some corners of the economy, but the impact on the digital music …

Discussion: Spotify, @ncsh, Los Angeles Times, @brianstelter, @philipmorton, @thr, Variety, @ingridlunden, Ad Age, CNN, The Wrap, Fast Company and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify-owned Anchor introduces a feature that will allow creators to turn their video chats and virtual hangouts into podcast-ready audio

Discussion: RAIN News, Anchor, @rfaughnder, @ivan_brussels, @rverrier, Input, @leimer, MediaPost, Mobile Marketer and Engadget