Top News:
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, @wlabovitz, @lalpert1, @joereubens, @maxwelltani, @noahshachtman, @lalpert1, @oliverdarcy, @harrysiegel 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, Ad Age, VentureBeat, Fast Company, @twitterir, @twitterir 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:
Variety, Comcast Corporation, Broadcasting & Cable, The Wrap, ZDNet and @stevekopack
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, The A.V. Club, @jeremymbarr, YouTube Blog and Mediaite
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
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 and Bloomberg Law
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:
MediaPost, Hollywood Reporter, 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, @daftari and @neeleshmisra
Dave McNary / Variety:
Cineworld joins AMC Theatres in refusing to show Universal Pictures films after NBCUniversal CEO's promise to open titles simultaneously on PVOD and in theaters — Cineworld, owner of the Regal Entertainment exhibition chain, is joining AMC Theatres in refusing to play any Universal Pictures films …
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Thom Geier / The Wrap:
Universal says Trolls World Tour on-demand release has netted ~5M downloads; source: it's made $77M in revenue from the 80% it retains from digital rental fees
Discussion:
MediaPost, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, The Verge, Variety, @zeitchikwapo, @zeitchikwapo, @zeitchikwapo, @zeitchikwapo, @mortuaryreport, @bookishplinko, @scrawfish, @scott_tobias, @witneyseibold, @wsj, @frankpallotta, @edmundlee, @awallenstein, @mjsamps, @davidlsims, @cinematicbanter, @dkthomp and Wall Street Journal
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
GOV.UK:
UK government announces it will use the £400,000 Community Radio Fund to provide a lifeline for community radio stations hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic — £400,000 redirected to provide emergency support to hard-hit community stations. Funds to be made available to successful applicants within weeks.
Discussion:
@reevesian, @stevebakerhw, @chrism4chester and RadioToday
Andy Baio / Waxy.org:
Roc Nation files copyright claim over deepfake YouTube videos that use AI to impersonate Jay-Z's voice, raising new copyright and fair use questions — On Friday, I linked to several videos by Vocal Synthesis, a new YouTube channel dedicated to audio deepfakes — AI-generated speech …
Discussion:
The Guardian, @gregghoush, @glassbottommeg, @mantzarlis, @grady_booch, The Verge, @henryajder, @waxpancake, @hollyherndon, Input, Reclaim The Net, Techdirt, Plagiarism Today and Music Ally
Max Willens / Digiday:
As Facebook ad rates nosedive, publishers are using them to drive subscribers; Condé Nast says 50% of its new subscriptions are from paid efforts — Over the past seven weeks, many publishers have welcomed a coronavirus bump in subscribers as news consumption rises.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
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, Los Angeles Times, @ncsh, Variety, @brianstelter, @philipmorton, @thr, @ingridlunden, Ad Age, CNN, The Wrap, Fast Company and VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »
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