Mediagazer: Adthena, an AI-driven search marketing intelligence platform, has acquired Kantar's paid search business; financial terms of the deal were not disclosed (Anthony Ha/TechCrunch)

3:55 AM ET, January 20, 2021

Top News:

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Fox News is laying off some digital staff, including Chris Stirewalt, per source, a politics editor who oversaw the team that projected Arizona for Biden — Fox News is laying off some employees who work for its digital operations, part of an ongoing examination of its overall business …

Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:
Fox News launches a new 7PM opinion show tonight with six hosts in rotation: Bartiromo, Kilmeade, Trey Gowdy, Katie Pavlich, Rachel Campos-Duffy, and Mark Steyn

Zoë Bernard / The Information:

Sources: Andreessen Horowitz to launch an opinion section on its website that will publish articles related to technology and business from outside contributors — Silicon Valley investment firm Andreessen Horowitz, which once courted attention from the news media, is ramping up its own media efforts.

Eric Newcomer / Newcomer:

A look at a16z's communication efforts over the years, as the firm expands its own media operations and has largely stopped cooperating with reporters — Benedict Evans, Andreessen Horowitz's former in-house analyst, has mused over the years that “A16Z is a media company that monetizes through VC.”

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

Netflix reports Q4 revenue of $6.64B vs. $6.63B est., up 21.5% YoY, global streaming paid memberships 203.7M, up 8.5M vs. 6.5M est.; stock up 12%+ after hours — - Netflix reported fourth quarter 2020 earnings Tuesday that beat analyst expectations on revenue and net subscriber additions but fell below EPS estimates.

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Netflix says its “Shuffle Play” feature, which lets Netflix's algorithm choose what you watch next, will roll out globally to all users in H1 2021 — Netflix is always in search of a better way to instantly connect users to something to watch, instead of having them waste …

Discussion: The Indian Express, Gizmodo and CNBC, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Forbes will launch a newsletter service, initially hiring 20-30 journalists to start paid newsletters, splitting revenue 50/50 and giving salaries and benefits — Forbes is launching a newsletter platform that will allow journalists to launch their own paid newsletters and split the revenue …

Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:

Adthena, an AI-driven search marketing intelligence platform, has acquired Kantar's paid search business; financial terms of the deal were not disclosed — Adthena is expanding its partnership with market research company Kantar by acquiring Kantar's paid search business.

Discussion: MediaPost

Sara Fischer / Axios:

FOIA Project: in the last four years, the media filed 386 federal FOIA suits, more than during the Bush and Obama admins combined; BuzzFeed News led in filings — More Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests were filed during the past four years than at any time in American history …

Discussion: @hannahgreports

Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:

A decade after the Arab Spring, press freedom progress remains uneven; Tunisia has improved but Egypt is one of the world's most prolific jailers of journalists — Ten years ago last Thursday, the dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali fled Tunisia and his regime fell.

Discussion: @sherifmnsour, @ahmed, @cjr, DW.COM and New York Times

Jeff John Roberts / Fortune:

A look at Blockworks, a Brooklyn-based startup that has a five-person editorial staff and built a podcast network to serve those interested in cryptocurrency — Our mission to make business better is fueled by readers like you. To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism, subscribe today.

Discussion: @larakiara and @jasonyanowitz

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

ViacomCBS says it will launch Paramount+, its expanded rebrand of CBS All Access, on March 4 in the US and Latin America — ViacomCBS has set March 4 as the launch date for Paramount Plus, the company's effort to join the direct-to-consumer streaming revolution alongside its larger rivals.

Discussion: CNBC, Digiday, @joshuadubois, @matthewacherry, @amodelslife, @tvgrimreaper, @pkafka, @richlightshed, TVLine, The Desk, /Film, The A.V. Club, TechCrunch, GameSpot, Adweek, The Verge, The Wrap, MediaPost and The Streamable

Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:

Deloitte survey in October found 46% of 1,100 people canceled at least one streaming service in the last year, up from 20% in a similar survey 9 months earlier — Say you sign up for HBO Max to watch “The Flight Attendant.” — The eight-episode season concludes, and you browse for your next binge-viewing fix.

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Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Association of American Publishers: from January to October 2020, ebook sales were up 16.5% YoY to $956M and audiobook downloads rose 17.3% YoY to $554M

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Malcolm Owen / AppleInsider:
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
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Earlier Picks:

New York Times:
Shareholders in advertising giant Omnicom and Home Depot have filed resolutions asking to investigate whether company ads contribute to hate speech and disinfo

Discussion: @openmicmedia, The Red Tape Chronicles, @johnbattelle, Wall Street Journal and Ad Age

Reuters:
Turkey bans ads on Twitter and Pinterest for not appointing local representatives as mandated by social media law, says their bandwidth will be cut 50% in April

Discussion: @chey_cobb, @rasmus_kleis, Al Jazeera and The Indian Express, more at Techmeme »

Denise-Marie Ordway / Journalist's Resource:
Study of 46,218 US national TV news program transcripts from 2005 to 2013 shows the most time was given to members of Congress with the most extreme views

Discussion: @janebsinger, @joshuadarr and @journoresource

Kerry Flynn / CNN:
Newsrooms are distributing protective equipment, like body armor and gas masks, and holding safety trainings to prepare reporters for Inauguration Day

Paul Hammel / Omaha World-Herald:
Joe Ricketts says he will launch an online national news outlet based in Omaha, called Straight Arrow News, to provide news without a political slant

From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
Polymarket says the FBI seized CEO Shayne Coplan's phone and electronics; source: the DOJ is investigating Polymarket for allegedly accepting bets from US users

Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Sources: the CFPB moves to place Google under formal federal supervision, an extraordinary move that may lead to regular inspections; Google fiercely resisted

John Voorhees / MacStories:
Apple releases updates to Final Cut Pro, adding AI-generated closed captions and Vision Pro spatial video editing, and Logic Pro for macOS and iPadOS

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