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:
Multichannel News, MediaPost, The Streamable, The Wrap, The Streamable and Business Wire
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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
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.
Discussion:
@andrewyang, @noonanjo, @samstein, @noahshachtman, The Hill, @arianapekary, @barbararkay, @rustycannon, @arianapekary, @jenniferbrandel, @jordynelee, @greta, @jbarro, @dannagal, @jbview, @jordynelee, @elienyc, @jeffjarvis, @jeffjarvis, Independent Women's Forum, New York Daily News and Ariana Pekary
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
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
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
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
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
BBC:
Twitter says it will start labeling government-linked media accounts, as well as “key government officials”, from China, France, Russia, the UK, and US — Twitter says it will no longer “amplify” tweets by state-controlled media organisations, by excluding them from its recommendation systems.
Discussion:
@twittersupport, CNN, @hadas_gold, @twittersupport and @nickpickles, more at Techmeme »
Lesley Goldberg / Hollywood Reporter:
NBC Entertainment Chairman Paul Telegdy is leaving following a shakeup, after claims he fostered a toxic culture; Frances Berwick to lead NBCU content strategy — The conglomerate is searching for an executive to oversee a new entertainment programming unit.
Discussion:
The Wrap, NBC News, Los Angeles Times, @thewendylee, @adriennelaw, @kimmasters and @dylanbyers
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, @xpangler, @loudmouthjulia, AdExchanger, @megancgraham, Light Reading, The Streamable, CNBC and Hollywood Reporter
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 — WASHINGTON - A report on security procedures for vetting workers at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice …
Discussion:
@jmgrygiel and Real Clear Politics
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 …
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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
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, Talking Biz News, Press Gazette, @niemanlab, CNBC, Poynter, Associated Press, @mathewi, @scribeguy, @cliffordlevy, @pilhofer, @jason_a_w, @dsamuelsohn, @palafo, @jimhansondc, @niemanlab, @yeselson, @kerrymflynn, @jessekblum, @emilybell, @jbenton, @edmundlee, @palewire, @sarafischer, The Wrap, @jodikantor, @marcatracy, @mattzeitlin, @jimwaterson, @ericcrawford, @juliehdavis, Axios, AdExchanger and bookforum.com
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