Mediagazer: Profile of Nick Quah, who says Hot Pod, his newsletter about podcasting, has between 20,000 and 25,000 subscribers and earns six figures (Rob Walker/Marker)

8:25 PM ET, October 21, 2020

Top News:

Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg confirm Quibi is shutting down: “Our failure was not for lack of trying; we've considered and exhausted every option” — We started with the idea to create the next generation of storytelling and because of you, we were able to create and deliver …

Discussion: The Information, Axios, New York Times, The Wrap, Deadline, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Variety, Variety, Fast Company, The Verge, Simon Owens's Tech …, @jtoonkel, TVNewser, Adweek, Ad Age, MediaPost, TechCrunch, Fortune, Vox, The Next Web, @tonyromm, Tubefilter, @jessicalessin, CNET, @jank0, @pinboard, @ryankadro, @jayrosen_nyu, Forbes, @michaelbyrnes, @ashkan, @yoda, @pierce, @emilydreyfuss, @bristei, @mattrosoff, @yoda, @kimmasters, Pop Culture Curriculum, Mashable, @yoda, @yoda, @yoda, @loudmouthjulia, @pkafka, @pkafka, CNET, Los Angeles Times, CNBC, Gizmodo, CNET, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, ComingSoon.net, Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, New Republic, The A.V. Club, 9to5Mac, @travistefft, @ashkan, TVLine, @greg_jenner, The TV Answer Man!, @lessin, @nicoleperlroth, @jcrutchmer, UPROXX, Fortune, @hshaban, @ericmgarcia, @kateclarktweets, Engadget, @thrasherxy, @scalzi, The Playlist, Bloody Disgusting!, @emilybell, @jessicalessin, @mekosoff, MacRumors, The Streamable, Game Rant, IndieWire, @jbenton, Boing Boing and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

The Information:
Sources: Jeffrey Katzenberg tried to sell Quibi's catalog to NBCUniversal and Facebook, but both passed

Discussion: @benmullin, Fast Company, Wall Street Journal, Axios, Variety, Mediaite, The Wrap, The Streamable, /Film, NBC News, Light Reading, Quibi USA/Canada, CNET, @owillis, @esaagar, The Verge, @casey, Best Evidence, @frankrichny, @tomgara, Mic, @emmavigeland, Cord Cutters News, @emilybest, @andysignore, @mims, @kevinroose, @jeffdlowe, @jeffjarvis, The Week, @jessicalessin, @sub8u, MediaPost, Digital TV Europe, @brosandprose, @tomgara, @asunflowerpose, @nathanblawrence, @jbillinson, @tomgara, @naveman, @nwcyeatman, @brandybeephd, @tony_zy, @corybe, @kateclarktweets, @clare_oc, @econompic, @coryweinberg, @simonowens, @kerrymflynn, @yoda, @i_zzzzzz, @mcwm, @pitdesi, @readdanwrite, @pixelatedboat, @joshuatopolsky, @probgoblin, @jessicalessin, @benedictevans, @yoda, @alexeheath, @nycjim, @cityofthetown, The Desk, Engadget and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »

Rob Walker / Marker:

Profile of Nick Quah, who says Hot Pod, his newsletter about podcasting, has between 20,000 and 25,000 subscribers and earns six figures — Nick Quah's newsletter vaulted him from obscurity to industry expert — a formula everyone is now trying to crack — It — was early November 2014, and Nicholas Quah was irritated.

Discussion: @notrobwalker, @gloria_oh, @kozemoze, @pkafka, @yoda, @daniellesacks, @gaberivera, @pkafka, @bobbiegossage, @taylorlorenz and @mrkr

Mother Jones:

Former Facebook employees describe tests of News Feed algorithm changes and their impact on left- and right-leaning news sites, with tweaks to favor the right — For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.

Discussion: @monikabauerlein, @clarajeffery, @clarajeffery, @adamserwer, @clarajeffery, @clarajeffery, @markfollman, @markfollman, @markfollman, @j_fassler, @markfollman, @mayboeve, @mattgertz, @jasonabbruzzese, @bendreyfuss and @mattgertz

Janko Roettgers / Protocol:

Netflix to test a 48-hour free streaming event in India, dubbed StreamFest and scheduled for December 4, and may bring the promotion to other countries later — Netflix is looking to promote its service with a 48-hour free streaming event, confirmed COO Greg Peters during the company's Q3 2020 earnings call Tuesday afternoon.

Discussion: Variety, Winter is Coming, @jank0, Cord Cutters News, Variety, CNBC, MediaNama, The Next Web, The Streamable, CNET, Engadget, The Verge and LightShed Partners, more at Techmeme »

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Netflix reports Q3 revenue of $6.44B, up 22.7% YoY, vs $6.38B est., and 2.2M paid net adds in Q3 vs 6.8M in Q3 2019 and 10.1M in Q2 2020

Owen Thomas / San Francisco Chronicle:

Hearst is offering San Francisco Chronicle employees voluntary buyouts in an effort to cut expenses — Hearst, the owner of The Chronicle, offered employees voluntary buyouts Tuesday in an effort to cut its expenses as the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the outlook for many businesses remained unclear.

Discussion: @jordan_rubio, @haleaziz and @palewire

Jared Newman / Fast Company:

Descript, which offers a simple podcast editing tool, expands into video editing, letting users edit videos by rearranging a transcript — For the past few years, Descript has offered an intuitive way to edit podcasts, letting you cut, paste, and delete from a written transcript to modify the corresponding audio.

Discussion: TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Leah Asmelash / CNN:

Student journalists at the Daily Gamecock, USC's independent student newspaper, say they are taking a two week hiatus, citing burnout and mental health concerns — (CNN)Student journalists at the University of South Carolina are putting themselves first. — Citing burnout and mental …

Discussion: @joeldavidsawyer, @johnemcginty, @blakeaued, @john_p_carvalho and @briannedmr

Lara O'Reilly / Digiday:

The Economist says subscriptions and circulation accounted for two-thirds of its £326M revenue in the year ending March 31, as it focuses on retaining subs — Bob Cohn joined The Economist Group in February after more than a decade at The Atlantic, where he served on both sides of the fence …

Discussion: @imkevinyoung and @larakiara

Nathan Grayson / Kotaku:

Twitch sent DMCA notices to streamers on Tuesday, deleting content without allowing counterclaims; Twitch says “thousands” of music rights holders complained — It's finally happening: Twitch is taking action against copyrighted music—long a norm among streamers—in response to music industry pressure.

Discussion: The Verge, Plagiarism Today, Music Business Worldwide, Destructoid, Music Ally and Game Rant, more at Techmeme »

Pew Research Center:

Pew study: 75% of US adults are paying “very” or “fairly” close attention to presidential election news, based on a survey Oct. 6-12, up from 66% a month prior — Partisan differences on COVID-19 change little after infection of Donald Trump

Discussion: Pink's Bottom Line on Media …

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:

FCC's top lawyer defends its authority to interpret Section 230, saying 1996 legislation that included Section 230 amended a 1934 act that created the FCC — FCC lawyer claims authority to interpret any part of the Communications Act. — The Federal Communications Commission's top lawyer today explained …

Discussion: Federal Communications …, @jisraelbalderas, CNET, Reuters, @mmasnick, Reason and Washington Examiner, more at Techmeme »

Thomas Seal / Bloomberg:

UK's Independent to launch in India in the next few months and in China in a year, says sales and profits grew in the “double digits” in FY ended last month — - Sales, profits grew in the ‘double digits’ in last fiscal year — Editor Christian Broughton to become managing director

Discussion: @srinisivabalan, Press Gazette and @jeffjarvis