Mediagazer: Pence's pool reporter Wednesday wasn't a WH press corps member, but a Heritage Foundation VP and editor of the think tank's news site, the Daily Signal (Annie Karni/New York Times)

12:00 PM ET, August 6, 2020

Top News:

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

ViacomCBS Q2: revenue of $6.3B, down 12% YoY; net earnings of $478M, down 51% YoY; advertising fell 27% YoY; total streaming revenue grew 25% YoY to $489M — ViacomCBS absorbed a blow to its advertising business from COVID-19 in the second quarter, beating Wall Street forecasts for earnings but clearing the bar for total revenue.

Discussion: The Streamable, The Wrap, The Streamable and Business Wire

The Wrap:

ViacomCBS to launch a paid international streaming service in early 2021 starting with Australia, Latin America, and Nordic countries — ViacomCBS is launching an international streaming service in early 2021, the company announced during its second-quarter earnings call Thursday.

Discussion: Variety, Adweek and Multichannel News

Kate Irby / The Fresno Bee:

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Rep. Devin Nunes cannot sue Esquire and Hearst for defamation over a 2018 story about his family's farm in Iowa — Rep. Devin Nunes cannot sue Esquire magazine over a 2018 story that described his family's farm in Iowa, a federal judge ruled Wednesday …

Discussion: @lawsuitsdevin, @katiephang, @lawsuitsdevin, @kateirby, @girlsreallyrule, @pauldees3xchin, @adamgoldmannyt, @kateirby, @joshgerstein, Law & Crime and Raw Story

Dominic Sunnebo / Kantar Worldpanel:

In Q2, 44% of new SVOD subscriptions were taken by households with existing ones; Amazon Prime Video had 23% of new SVOD subs, up 14% QoQ, and HBO Max had 10% — Amazon saw its share of new streaming video on-demand subscribers in the United States surge more than 23% during …

Discussion: The Wrap, @kantar, Observer and Multichannel News

Naman Ramachandran / Variety: Ofcom study: Disney+, with 16% of online adults subscribing, surpassed Now TV to become UK's third most subscribed streamer after Netflix's 45% and Amazon's 39%

Nathan Bomey / USA Today:

Gannett Q2: $437M net loss; revenue of $767M, down 28% YoY; print ads down 45% YoY to $188M, digital ads down 27% YoY to $104M; digital subs up 31% YoY to 927K — USA TODAY owner Gannett reported a net loss of about $437 million in the second quarter as businesses cut back on advertising amid …

Discussion: Business Wire

Apekary / Ariana Pekary:

An MSNBC producer who quit her job describes how ratings pressure distorts commercial TV news, amplifying fringe voices and stoking division even amid crisis — “Just quit.” — That's the advice Alec gave a year and a half ago when I expressed concerns about my job. — “You just quit.

Annie Karni / New York Times:

Pence's pool reporter Wednesday wasn't a WH press corps member, but a Heritage Foundation VP and editor of the think tank's news site, the Daily Signal — Instead of a member of the White House press corps, the role of pool reporter was filled by Robert B. Bluey, a vice president at the Heritage Foundation.

Discussion: @lachlan, @anniekarni and @robertbluey

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Roku beats analyst estimates with Q2 revenue of $356.1M, up 42% YoY, and says it has 43M active streaming accounts with streaming hours rising 65% YoY — Roku, helped again by stay-at-home streaming during the coronavirus pandemic, topped Wall Street earnings estimates for the second quarter …

Discussion: Multichannel News, Roku, MediaPost, @xpangler, AdExchanger, @xpangler, @loudmouthjulia, @megancgraham, Light Reading, The Streamable, CNBC and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Ken Doctor's Lookout Local, a network of local digital outlets, to launch first in Santa Cruz in the fall with $2.5M in grants and an LAT content partnership — As promised last fall, Ken Doctor is turning from reporting and analyzing the trials of the local news industry to creating Lookout Local …

Discussion: Lookout Local

Alex Barker / Financial Times:

Sources: staff hired for international news channel NBC Sky World News were told that Comcast couldn't support the project as the business model is now unviable — Business model of NBC Sky World News project has become unviable due to Covid-19, staff told

Discussion: Deadline, Digital TV Europe and @vivian

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

The Kashmir Walla launches a membership program after online traffic disappeared following Kashmir's internet blackout and ad revenue dropped due to COVID-19 — “People don't just pay for the product and the content. People pay for the idea behind it and the credibility.

Discussion: @sanasaeed, @ibnkhalid_, @yashjournals, @pzfahad, @mariabustillos, @tkwmag and Business Insider

Dave Davies / NPR:

Q&A with WaPo's Margaret Sullivan, author of Ghosting the News, on the decline of local news, how orgs like Report for America are helping, and more — More than 2,000 newspapers have shut down in recent years, and some regions have become news deserts.

Discussion: bookforum.com, @report4america and @sulliview

Business Wire:

NYT reports Q2 net income of $23.7M, down 6% YoY, revenue of $403.8M, down 7.5% YoY, with ad revenues down 43.9%, and has a total of 6.5M subscribers — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today second-quarter 2020 diluted earnings per share …

Marc Tracy / New York Times:
NYT says it has added 669K new digital subscribers in Q2 and its digital revenue, at $185.5M, exceeded print revenue, at $175.4M, for the first time

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 12:00 PM ET, August 6, 2020.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

News Assistant, NY — Quanta Magazine

Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — Patch

News Writer, CA — Hollywood Reporter

News Editor/Reporter, KS — Blade-Empire

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:

Voice of America:
USAGM review ordered by Pack finds chronic deficiencies in employee vetting going back ~10 years but whether the lapses resulted in security breaches is unclear

Discussion: @jmgrygiel and Real Clear Politics

Tribune Publishing Company:
Tribune Publishing reports Q2 net income of $1.6M on revenue of $183.1M, which is down 26.9% YoY; ad revenue fell 48.1% YoY and digital-only subs rose 39.7% YoY

Discussion: @byjonharris and @byjonharris

Gilad Edelman / Wired:
Dutch public broadcaster Nederlandse Publieke Omroep dropped cookies from its site and saw digital revenue grow by double-digit percentage points over 2019

Discussion: MediaPost, @jason_kint, @rdbinns, @jason_kint, @giladedelman, @jason_kint, @elibietti, AdExchanger, @johnwilander, @jason_kint, @robcurley and @yelvington

Politico:
The death of independent media in Hungary exposes how EU lacks the political will and the legal tools to help preserve a vibrant free press in member states

Discussion: @kenroth, @politicoeurope and Politico

Priyanjana Bengani / Columbia Journalism Review:
Study finds 700 more “pink slime” sites, partisan outlets masquerading as local news orgs, have been activated ahead of US election, up from 450 in Dec. 2019

Discussion: @alenamaschke, @spj_tweets, American Press Institute, @andrewliptak, @jtmstream, @rap30, @mikeorren, @mrdenmore, @jessamahone and @emilybell

Earlier Picks:

Craig Chamberlain / Illinois News Bureau:
Study of 2,000 journalists' Twitter use: Beltway journalism may be “even more insular than previously thought” with journalists talking too much to each other

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @andrewbatesnc, @annehelen, @theradr, Beyond Search, @amlwhere, @jamiejbartlett, @katerinareports, @davejorgenson, @mattwolfab, @loganclarkhall, @chuckrossdc, @jbflint, @katiebowill, @natsfert, @noahcrothman, @pkafka and Washingtonian

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:
Pete Hamill, the celebrated reporter who worked as a columnist and the top editor of The New York Post and The Daily News, and authored many books, dies at 85

Sara Fischer / Axios:
TikTok tightens policies against manipulated content, expands fact-checking partnerships, and is working with DHS's Countering Foreign Influence Task Force

Discussion: @mosseri, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Newsroom | TikTok, @xsparkage, @alexsalvinews, @shook_yt, @sibu_mpanzasa, @sonnybunch, @taylorlorenz, @mattnavarra, @sarafischer, Engadget, TechCrunch, NBC News and Mashable

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Facebook launches Instagram Reels, its TikTok competitor that lets users create and publish 15-second videos, in 50+ countries, including the US, UK, and Japan

Discussion: Instagram, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Axios, The Verge, @cuducos, Lighthouse Insights, Alex's Newsletter, @edbott, @jamesrbuk, @karaswisher, Ad Age, Wall Street Journal, Android Police, Vox, Mumbrella and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »

CBS News:
Biden campaign announces what it says is the largest TV ad buy ever by a presidential candidate, with $220M for TV ads in 15 states and $60M for digital ads

Discussion: Digiday, Discourse Blog, @rolandsmartin, @tducklo, @danodonnellshow, @michaeljgwin, @davidlarter and @jeffjarvis

From Techmeme:

Alex Heath / The Verge:
Meta details Llama 3: 8B- and 70B-parameter models, a focus on reducing false refusals, and an upcoming model trained on 15T+ tokens that has 400B+ parameters

Raffaele Huang / Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from its App Store in China, saying it was ordered to do so by China's cyberspace officials citing national security concerns

David Pierce / The Verge:
Google announces a new Platforms and Devices team overseeing Pixel, Android, Chrome, Photos, and more, to integrate AI across its products, led by Rick Osterloh

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