Top News:
Washington Post:
Sean Hannity's on-air angst reflects the tumult inside Fox News, as it faces a dip in January ratings and renewed scrutiny from the Murdoch family — Since Donald Trump's election loss in November, Sean Hannity seems to have been working through a process, live and on camera …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, CNN, TVNewser, @brianstelter, @oliverdarcy, @kbandersen, @drdenagrayson, @jeremylittau, @dabeard, CNN, @thetowncrier, @riegerreport, @ericboehlert, @joshuahol and @chrispolpsych
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Spotify reports Q4 results: 345M MAUs, up 27% YoY, as paying subscribers grew to 155M, up 24% YoY, topping expectations; revenue was up 17% YoY to €2.17B — But streaming giant offers conservative outlook for the current year as new sign-ups could ebb
Discussion:
Spotify, @paul__armstrong, 9to5Mac, Spotify, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @dylanbyers, The Verge, @kerrymflynn and @kerrymflynn, more at Techmeme »
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify says it had 2.2M podcasts in Q4, up from 1.9M in Q3, 25% of total MAUs engaged with podcast content, and podcast consumption nearly doubled YoY in Q4 — Spotify packed in a strong end to the year roiled by the pandemic, topping forecasts for Premium subscribers to reach 155 million …
Discussion:
Axios, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @xpangler, Bloomberg and Podcast Business Journal
Brent Lang / Variety:
Streaming services dominated nominations for the 78th Golden Globes: Netflix got a record 42 nominations across film and TV and Amazon Studios got 10 — Streaming services dominated nominations for the 78th Golden Globe Awards, signaling a power shift in Hollywood from traditional movie studios and TV broadcasters to digital upstarts.
Discussion:
Observer, The Wrap, /Film, Variety, The Wrap, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, WWD, @mdrndad, @indiewire, 9to5Mac and @xpangler
J. Clara Chan / The Wrap:
Gizmodo senior editor Alex Cranz says she was fired for involvement in a union letter and for false claims about performance; Gizmodo calls her claims meritless — Gizmodo's senior consumer tech editor, Alex Cranz, said she was fired from the company last Friday for her involvement …
Discussion:
@alexhcranz, @kellybourdet, @bcmerchant, @jetscott, @alexhcranz, @cecianasta, @jasonschreier, @xoxogossipgita, @lisaeadicicco, @charlespulliam, @briannawu, @film_girl, @joemfbrown, @k_trendacosta, @samrutherford, @whitsongordon, @paleofuture, @annamerlan, @davegershgorn, @halophoenix, @krichbutler, @bombur, @katiecollins, @xoxogossipgita, @vicmsong, @chrisvelazco, @itsdavidford, @harrisonweber, @vksmith, @jlnwrites, @outonalumb, @ballaban and @jasonschreier
Elaine Low / Variety:
YouTube reports $6.89B in Q4 ad revenue, up 46% YoY from $4.7B, as it more than doubled the number of advertisers on YouTube through its TrueView ad format — Google parent Alphabet handily topped fourth-quarter forecasts, with Google Search and YouTube driving up total revenue for the internet giant.
Chase DiFeliciantonio / San Francisco Chronicle:
Hearst releases its first US diversity and inclusion report, says 78% of employees who were managers or above, and 73% of its US employees were white — Hearst, the owner of The Chronicle, released its first U.S. diversity and inclusion report on Tuesday. — CEO Steven Swartz …
Discussion:
Nieman Lab
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
BBC fined £28K for contempt of court after breaching century-old law prohibiting filming inside court rooms by airing a six-second clip from a virtual hearing — The BBC has been fined £28,000 for contempt of court after “a catalogue of serious errors” resulted in the recording …
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Patrick Steel, CEO of Politico since 2017, tells staff he will leave the company this summer: it's “the right time to start the next chapter of my career” — Patrick Steel, the chief executive of Politico since 2017, said on Tuesday that he will leave the company this summer.
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @dylanbyers and @raju
Hannah Ellis-Petersen / The Guardian:
Nine journalists in India who published or tweeted about stories that say police shot a protesting farmer have had criminal cases filed against them — At least nine senior Indian journalists are facing criminal charges for reporting allegations that Delhi police fatally shot a farmer …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Scroll.in, @penamerica, @hvsbanwait, @monica_gill1, @gsjohal85, @ranaayyub, @pbhushan1, @kisanektamarch, @jayshreebajoria, @mg2411, @hrw, Baaz, @hannahep, @amankayamhai_et, @supriyashrinate, @delhipolice, Human Rights Watch, DW.COM, Al Jazeera, The India Cable and newslaundry.com
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Any US legislation to ban anonymity online will be unconstitutional, will not work, and most importantly will put many marginalized/vulnerable people at risk — There's an idea that pops up every so often among people who are upset about misinformation online but don't actually understand …
Discussion:
@mmasnick, @senatorshoshana, @jeffjarvis, @casuallaw and @dispositive
Sara Fischer / Axios:
After growing steadily for the past decade, 493 new scripted TV series were produced in 2020, according to data from cable network FX, down ~7% from 532 in 2019 — The number of new original scripted series finally declined last year, after growing steadily for the past decade to over 500 new shows in 2019.