Mediagazer: 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 (Alex Sherman/CNBC)

1:45 PM 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, Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal, @benmullin, Fox News Channel Press, Washington Post, MediaPost, @rasmussen_poll, @mmasnick, @mathewi, @brianstelter, NPR, @dylanbyers, TVNewser, Axios, The Wrap and FTVLive

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 …

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: foxcorporation, The Hill, Fox News, The Wrap, MediaPost, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Variety, @jbflint, 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

Discussion: Mediaite, The Wrap, @taralach, @dylanbyers and @alexweprin

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: CNN, ViacomCBS Press Express, Variety, TVSpy, @ourand_sbj, Mediaite, Deadline, MediaPost, Wall Street Journal, Light Reading, Observer, Axios, Adweek, @zeitchikwapo, @zeitchikwapo, @zeitchikwapo, @zeitchikwapo, @zeitchikwapo, The Week, @ourand_sbj, @ourand_sbj, @dylanbyers, @themantz and UPI

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.

Discussion: Talking Biz News

DW.COM:

China will soon award all media accreditation based on social media history, causing some who reported on Wuhan to fear their credentials will be stripped — China will soon award media accreditation based on social media history. Journalists who uncovered the early truths about the coronavirus …

Discussion: @journalismfest, @rasmus_kleis and The Times

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, Fortune, @rasmus_kleis, @superglaze, 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: Best Evidence, @moonalice, @justinhendrix, @bryanrwalsh, @froomkin, @cwarzel, @medium, @willoremus, @issielapowsky, @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.

Discussion: @niemanlab

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

Chris Velazco / Engadget:

Spotify confirms it is testing its live lyrics feature in the US — Do you miss all the time you used to spend crammed in tiny karaoke rooms, belting out showtunes until three in the morning? So do we, but Spotify might have something that will help with your impromptu singalongs.

Discussion: TechCrunch, MacRumors and 9to5Mac

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: New York Times, Insider, @joshgerstein, Law & Crime, The Week and Mediaite

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Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
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Discussion: @coindesk and The Block, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

openDemocracy:
Editors of major UK papers, including Times, Guardian, and FT, sign a letter calling on UK to probe claims that a government FOI unit blacklisted journalists

Discussion: nuj.org.uk, Press Gazette, @opendemocracy and The Guardian

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Murdoch's News UK TV will be streamed live and on-demand on multiple streaming platforms rather than over the airwaves when it launches in the spring

Discussion: Pod Culture and @pressgazette

Financial Times:
China charges Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist who worked for a Chinese state TV channel, with leaking state secrets, six months after she was first detained

Discussion: @withmeaa, @1amychew, @ccp_china_watch, @yuanfenyang, The New Daily and BBC

From Techmeme:

Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says the DOJ's “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision”, would hurt US consumers, and jeopardize the US' global tech leadership

Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
The CFPB will supervise tech companies with digital wallets, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Venmo, with 50M+ annual transactions, treating them more like banks

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Adam Mosseri says Threads is rebalancing ranking to prioritize content from people that users follow, warns that creators' “unconnected” reach may go down

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