Mediagazer: Taboola's SPAC could enable the company to expand its business, via another merger attempt with Outbrain, making publishers even more reliant on its ad revenue (Sara Guaglione/Digiday)

11:05 AM ET, February 9, 2021

Top News:

Fox News files motion to dismiss Smartmatic suit, saying it can't be held liable for “fairly reporting and commenting on competing allegations” — (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Media said on Monday it filed a motion to dismiss electronic voting systems maker Smartmatic's lawsuit …

Discussion: Law & Crime, Wall Street Journal, Fox News Channel Press, MediaPost, Hollywood Reporter, @dylanbyers, NPR, @brianstelter, The Wrap and FTVLive

Colby Hall / Mediaite:

Fox News signs CEO Suzanne Scott to a multi-year agreement, extending her contract — Fox News Media has announced that CEO Suzanne Scott has signed to a multi-year agreement with Fox Corporation in a sign of support for the Fox News head. — Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer …

Discussion: The Hill, foxcorporation, Fox News, The Wrap, MediaPost, The Wrap, Variety, New York Times, @davidfolkenflik and @dylanbyers

PR Newswire:

Fox reports net Q2 income of $230M, down from $314M a year ago, on revenue of $4.09B, up 8% YoY; ad revenue increased 14% YoY — REVENUES OF $4.09 BILLION, AN INCREASE OF 8% AND ADJUSTED EBITDA OF $305 MILLION, AN INCREASE OF 17% — Fox Corporation (Nasdaq: FOXA, FOX) ("FOX" or the …

Discussion: @alexweprin, @dylanbyers and @taralach

Alexis Benveniste / CNN:
Fox News canceling Lou Dobbs is reminiscent of the way Murdoch handled phone-hacking scandals in UK: throw somebody over the side and see if that was enough

Discussion: @cnnbusiness, @apbenven, Vanity Fair, @mollyjongfast, @jeremymbarr and @cnn

Sarah E. Needleman / Wall Street Journal:

Reddit raises $250M+ Series E led by Vy Capital at a $6B valuation, doubling in value since its last funding round in February 2019 — Its WallStreetBets community played a prominent role in recent stock-trading frenzy — Reddit Inc. doubled its valuation to $6 billion in a new round …

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Jason Gurwin / The Streamable:

CBS says it had an overall Super Bowl audience of 96.4M, down from 102.1M last year, and averaged 5.7M viewers per minute of the streaming broadcast, up 65% YoY — CBS announced today that Super Bowl LV between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs set a new streaming record.

Discussion: Variety, Deadline, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal, MediaPost, @ourand_sbj, Observer, Axios, Adweek, @ourand_sbj, @ourand_sbj, @themantz, @dylanbyers, The Week and Hollywood Reporter

Financial Times:

EU lawmakers are considering regulations that would force Facebook and Google to pay for news content on their platforms, echoing a similar move in Australia — Move by MEPs would strengthen hand of publishers against Google and Facebook — EU lawmakers overseeing new digital regulation …

Discussion: Insider, @superglaze, Fortune, @rasmus_kleis, CNBC, @lanceulanoff, @jason_kint and @martinsignoux, more at Techmeme »

Chris Gilliard / OneZero:

If reporters believe that surveillance data shouldn't exist, then they should not use info from invasive data brokers to make that point, like NYT did recently — The New York Times fails in its attempt to report on the surveillance economy — This op-ed was co-authored by Albert Fox Cahn …

Discussion: @issielapowsky, @willoremus, @froomkin, @cwarzel, @medium, @evanselinger, @dlberes, @p2173, @robinberjon and @bostonjoan

Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:

Massachusetts-based online greeting cards company Punchbowl, Inc. has filed a trademark lawsuit against A.J. Press, which owns political startup Punchbowl News — A Massachusetts company says the Capitol Hill news startup doesn't have the right to the Punchbowl name.

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

DOJ drops lawsuit seeking to confiscate proceeds from a tell-all book published by a former Melania Trump aide — The Biden administration nixes the controversial case against Stephanie Winston Wolkoff. — photo, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff leaves Trump Tower in New York. Andrew Harnik, File/AP

Discussion: Insider, Law & Crime, @joshgerstein, The Week and Mediaite

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Internal memo: Bloomberg Media is expecting $100M+ in consumer subscription revenue in 2021, forecasting 400,000 subscribers, up from 250,000 in 2020 — Bloomberg Media is expecting to bring in at least $100 million in consumer subscription revenue in 2021, according to an internal memo sent to staff from CEO Justin Smith.

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:

Taboola's SPAC could enable the company to expand its business, via another merger attempt with Outbrain, making publishers even more reliant on its ad revenue — The overall hit that digital publishers' advertising businesses took in 2020 pushed some to take solace in the revenue they received …

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

While nearly every major media company has launched a streaming service, most have no news content and it remains unclear how such content fits into streaming — - Most streaming services don't include live news as part of their offering. — Live TV news may be better monetized …

Discussion: @sherman4949, @eshap and @sherman4949

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