Mediagazer: Warner Music acquires IMGN, which creates and tracks viral social media content in categories like e-sports, gaming, and ASMR, source says for just under $100M (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

1:40 PM ET, August 14, 2020

Top News:

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

USAGM has hired Frank Wuco, a former talk radio host who has called Obama a Kenyan and Nancy Pelosi a Botox-using Nazi, among other incendiary statements — The U.S. Agency for Global Media has hired Frank Wuco, a controversial former talk radio host who once called President Barack Obama …

Discussion: @muslimadvocates, @mmasnick, @alanmillernlp, @dlippman, Gizmodo, @schwartzbcnbc, @dlippman, @awarriorscholar, @gavinsblog, @ambdana, @media_evan, The Guardian and Politico

Spencer Hsu / Washington Post:

USAGM removed seven top execs on Wednesday after suspending their security clearances, citing security concerns over hiring of foreign workers — Members of Congress on Thursday condemned a leadership purge at the parent agency of Voice of America, escalating criticism that a new chief executive appointed …

Discussion: @karenkornbluh and @vivian

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Warner Music acquires IMGN, which creates and tracks viral social media content in categories like e-sports, gaming, and ASMR, source says for just under $100M — It's a whole new playing field these days for music labels and publishers, and today one of the big three made an acquisition …

Jacob Bernstein / New York Times:

W magazine will now be called W Media after being sold to Bustle Media Group and investors including film and TV producer Jason Blum — The movie and television producer Jason Blum, the racecar driver Lewis Hamilton and the model Kaia Gerber will also be investors.

Discussion: @eiffeltyler and @kerrymflynn

Digiday:

Sources at publications partnering with Apple News+ say Apple did not tell them about changes that force News+ users into its app instead of to publisher sites — Publishers have long fumed that platforms such as Google and Amazon tie their services and products together in ways that are anti-competitive.

Discussion: @arctictony, @arctictony, Press Gazette, @arctictony, @nevadapress, @maxwillens, @digiday, @arctictony, @arctictony, @larakiara, @larakiara and AppleInsider

Press Gazette:

More than 2,000 jobs at UK-based news organizations have been cut during the COVID-19 crisis so far, with a large proportion of editorial staff affected — More than 2,000 jobs at UK-based news organisations have been put at risk during the Covid-19 crisis so far, with more expected to follow.

Financial Times:

As ViacomCBS expands CBS All Access with programming from Viacom and Paramount, it is considering rebranding the streaming service to Paramount+ — ‘Paramount+’ tops shortlist as battle with Disney moves centre stage in attempt to lift shares — ViacomCBS is considering a plan to rebrand …

Discussion: The Streamable, @mattgarrahan, @sherman4949, @mgsiegler, @annaknicolaou and @tvmojoe

BuzzFeed News:

Facebook's employees and third-party fact-checkers say Facebook has sometimes overruled decisions on divisive content with little transparency — On May 8, Prager University, a nonprofit conservative media outlet, published a video on Facebook that incorrectly claimed “there is no evidence …

Discussion: @rmac18, @craigsilverman, @prageru, @slpng_giants and @taraemcg

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:

Sources: Apple to start offering first video content bundle to TV+ subscribers, combining CBS All Access and Showtime for $9.99/mo, starting as early as Monday — - Subscribers will pay $9.99 for Showtime and CBS All Access — Apple also plans push into services bundles for key offerings

Discussion: MediaPost, MacRumors, Digital TV Europe, Variety, The Streamable, AppleInsider, 9to5Mac, The Wrap, Vox, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, Decider, Cord Cutters News and Business Insider

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple to launch “Apple One”, tiered subscription bundles, which will include Music, TV+, News+, and a new virtual fitness service, as early as October

Press Gazette:

UK court rules that Reach must pay damages of £49,000 to a school teacher following defamatory articles in The Sunday Mirror, Mirror Online, and Kent Live — A primary school teacher has been awarded damages of £49,000 over a series of articles published by three Reach titles.

Discussion: bailii.org

Diana Kuryshko / BBC:

How Nexta, with a small editorial team of four in Warsaw and no website, is using its Telegram channel with 1.5M subscribers to bypass news blackout in Belarus — For days Belarusians have had little information of the unrest filling their streets, with state-run TV making little attempt …

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Facing saturation and stiff competition in the US, media giants including Fox News and ViacomCBS are planning to launch new streaming services internationally — Facing saturation and stiff competition in the U.S., media giants are planning to launch new streaming services internationally to accrue more subscribers.

Aaron Mak / Slate:

Google's Ad Exchange is demonetizing pages that merely mention issues of race and LGBTQ rights, classifying them as “dangerous or derogatory content” — On Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, the Atlantic decided to recirculate King's famous “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” …

Discussion: @josh_levin, @michellemanafy, @slate, @jon_fischer and @hypervisible, more at Techmeme »

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State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

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Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

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More News:

Patrick Frater / Variety:
Baidu's video streaming service iQIYI says it is being probed by SEC, after a report in April accused it of inflating its 2019 revenue by around $1.13B

more at Techmeme »

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Disney shut down more than 20 foreign channels last week and took a $4.9B charge against earnings to instead focus on international streaming via its Star brand

Discussion: @archivistpulp and @ballmatthew

Associated Press:
The Albuquerque Journal and the Santa Fe New Mexican will combine printing at The New Mexican's Santa Fe facility, resulting in about 70 Albuquerque layoffs

Discussion: @afcc_esq

WashPost PR:
Zeus Technology, WaPo's revenue platform, announces it will license its Zeus Performance ad framework and rendering engine to Tribune Publishing for 8 markets

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @sprakash007, @wapoarc, @hswolff, @mikeorren, @jarroddicker, Washington Post, @ckrewson and @arctictony

Earlier Picks:

Richard Nieva / CNET:
YouTube bans videos containing info obtained through hacking that could interfere with the election and will remove content that encourages meddling in voting

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, @dnvolz, New York Times, @campuscodi, About Facebook, TechCrunch, blog.youtube and Axios

Rick Porter / Hollywood Reporter:
Nielsen: streaming made up 25% of total TV usage in Q2 vs. 19% in Q4 2019; Disney+ comprised 4% of streaming, Prime Video 8%, Hulu 11%, YouTube 20%, Netflix 34%

Discussion: @rickporter, Adweek, MediaPost, The Streamable, Multichannel News and Insights - Nielsen

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
Newsweek stands by an op-ed by a former Kamala Harris opponent that used arcane arguments to question Harris' eligibility for VP

Discussion: @nancycoopernyc, Newsweek, The Atlantic, New York Times, @isaacdovere, @blakehounshell, Newsweek, The Banter, The Nation, @jonathanalter, @craigipedia, Vox, @graubart, Roy Edroso Breaks It Down, The Week, @anildash, @richsignorelli, @katestarbird, @taniel, @katestarbird, @katestarbird, @kat__stafford, @jonlemire, @alexkotch, @alexkotch, @alexkotch, @brhodes, @jayrosen_nyu, @donwinslow, @jrubinblogger, @robinkirk, @teri_kanefield, @teri_kanefield, @joycewhitevance, @teri_kanefield, @redtraccoon, @josh_hammer, @yarotrof, @bungdan, @ischafer, @malcolmnance, @mpinoe, @asharangappa_, @goldietaylor, @mollyjongfast, @kyle_feldscher, @jbkjbk1234, @jessicahuseman, @benyt, @jbenton, @jacobfhsmith, @nc_cyberlaw, @zunguzungu, @jimswiftdc, @markjacob16, @normative, @mmcauliff, @craigipedia, @jbendery, @normative, @normative, @melissaryan, @craigipedia, @connieschultz, @angryblacklady, @marthasjones_, @deniseshearin, @kurteichenwald, @reignofapril, @soledadobrien, @jemelehill, @johnwdean, @juliettekayyem, @jbouie, @davidfolkenflik, Newser, Axios, Newsweek, The Mary Sue, Devil's Tower, New York Times, Raw Story and Neeha Curtis

Frank Pallotta / CNN:
AMC will reopen more than 100 theaters on August 20 and expects to open two-thirds of its 600+ US theaters by September 3, when Tenet comes out

Discussion: Associated Press, Numlock News, The Week, @nicoleblades, @alexjamesfitz, @cnnbusiness, Variety, @asteadwesley, @media_marshall, @michael_steel, @adamweinstein, Techdirt, The A.V. Club, The Media Nut, The Playlist, /Film, Vanity Fair and The Verge

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

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft releases the first beta preview of its Recall AI feature for Copilot Plus PCs, including Click to Do, a feature similar to Google's Circle to Search

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

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