Mediagazer: Vizio IPO filing reveals its SmartCast OS, which offers free streaming content and OTT apps, had 12.2M active accounts at the end of 2020, up 61% YoY from 7.6M (Todd Spangler/Variety)

12:35 PM ET, March 2, 2021

Top News:

Jacob Lorinc / Toronto Star:

Major Canadian publisher Torstar is launching an online gambling site to fund its journalism, pending government approval — updateArticle was updated 19 hrs ago — Torstar is entering the online gaming market. — The corporation announced Monday it intends to launch an online casino betting brand …

Discussion: The Guardian, Globe and Mail, CBC News, @wearecanproud, @johnocap, @goldsbie, @standingthegaff and @gramiq

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Fox News allowed host Pete Hegseth and contributor Dan Bongino to address CPAC this week, after it banned its hosts from speaking at partisan events last year — The network's streaming service laid out $250,000 to sponsor CPAC and some of its personalities gave speeches in an unusual arrangement.

Discussion: @rightwingwatch, The Daily Beast, @thedailybeast, @jmartnyt, @b52malmet, Fox News and Mediaite

Elaine Low / Variety:

Disney CEO says the company will let consumer behavior guide its decisions on theatrical windowing and that 50%+ of the Disney+ subscribers don't have kids — Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference on Monday, Walt Disney Company chief exec Bob Chapek said he's …

Discussion: Axios, Observer, The Wrap, Reuters, MediaPost, @great_katzby and UPROXX

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

Altice USA CEO says cable TV providers shouldn't be held accountable for misinfo on networks like Fox News, and cable TV will die as OTT platforms get better — - Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei questions the future of cable providers providing bundles of video.

Discussion: @sherman4949, @mattrosoff, @richlightshed, @sherman4949, @richlightshed, @sherman4949 and Light Reading

Brian Stelter / CNN:

Sources: George Stephanopoulos and David Muir to split leading breaking news at ABC News, after tensions over “chief anchor” title, which will no longer be used — New York (CNN Business)Earlier this year tensions between ABC News anchors George Stephanopoulos and David Muir boiled …

Discussion: TVNewser, Variety, @brianstelter, @hshaban, @oliverdarcy, @thebenbergman, @jbarro, @tvmojoe, @krolljvar, @bobbierman, @bryancurtis, @hshaban, @realjoeypoirier, @jbflint and The Wrap

Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap:

BBC apologizes and says it fell for a “deliberate hoax” after broadcasting a radio interview with a man claiming to be Sen. Cory Booker last week — The British Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday apologized for a radio interview broadcast last Friday that was presented …

Discussion: @psawers and @brianstelter

Dylan Byers / NBC News:

Fox News says former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany will join the network as a contributor — Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany will officially join Fox News, the network announced Tuesday. — The news, which was announced by Fox News host Harris Faulkner …

Discussion: Fox News, Variety, TVNewser, Mediaite, The Wrap, @brianstelter, @yashar, @alexweprin and Hollywood Reporter

Kate Kaye / Digiday:

As Google starts news partnership talks in the US, its VP of news says publishers don't want collective bargaining; USA Today and other publishers disagree — Media execs in the United States want to know what Google's publisher partnerships in Australia and other countries might mean for their own future negotiations.

Discussion: @jeffjarvis, @rasmus_kleis, @newsceo, @rafat, @jason_kint and Insider

Jemele Hill / The Atlantic:

Major sporting events experienced significant falls in ratings in 2020, with the NBA Finals down 51% YoY, the NHL Finals down 61% YoY, and US Open down 45% YoY — The public's emotional connection to big-money athletics has been grossly overestimated. — Contributing writer at The Atlantic

Discussion: @ericaisbusy, @andygrewal, @janesports, @jemelehill, @thekendallbaker, @escrimshaw, @jamilsmith and @nxthompson

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Vizio IPO filing reveals its SmartCast OS, which offers free streaming content and OTT apps, had 12.2M active accounts at the end of 2020, up 61% YoY from 7.6M — Value-oriented TV maker Vizio has filed to go public, revealing that its base of over-the-top streaming viewers in the U.S. grew 61% in 2020.

Discussion: The Streamable, nexttv.com, MediaPost, @richlightshed, United States, The Verge and Bloomberg

Washington Post:

Reporters Without Borders files criminal complaint in Germany against MbS and top aides alleging crimes against humanity for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi — A media advocacy group has filed a criminal complaint with a German prosecutor alleging that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman …

Discussion: Voice of America, CNN, The Hill, @ninaburleigh, Al Jazeera, Axios and The Guardian

Fred Ryan / Washington Post:
Washington Post Publisher and CEO Fred Ryan calls on Biden to honor his campaign promise to hold MbS accountable and not give him a “one free murder” pass

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Roku says it's acquiring Nielsen's Advanced Video Advertising business, positioning itself to offer a fully addressable advertising solution for TV programmers — Under the agreement, announced Monday, Roku will obtain Nielsen's video automatic content recognition (ACR) technology and dynamic ad insertion …

Discussion: Ad Age, The Drum, Adweek, Axios, Digital TV Europe, Broadband TV News, @xpangler, @xpangler, Beet.TV, The Verge, AdExchanger, The Wrap, MediaPost, Radio & Television …, Cord Cutters News and Media Play News

Harry McCracken / Fast Company:

Flipboard expands its local news coverage to more than 1,000 cities and towns in the US and Canada — In the COVID-19 era, local news matters more than ever—but it can be tough to track down. The magazine-style reading app hopes to help. — In January 2020, Flipboard …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Adweek and @kerrymflynn, more at Techmeme »

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Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

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Assistant Editor - Digital, NC — SBJ

Video Producer - YouTube, NY — Morning Brew

Senior Managing Ed. - Daily Desk — The Athletic

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More News:

Emily Atkin / HEATED:
Q&A with Emily Holden, whose just-launched climate news organization, Floodlight, partners with local outlets to cover corporate influence on the climate agenda

Discussion: Floodlight, The Guardian, @kerrymflynn, @scottdetrow, @stopmoneypipe, @raju and @emorwee

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Amazon Prime Video apologizes for its Indian original series Tandav, some parts of which offended Hindu nationalists, as India sets a strict content code

Archie Bland / The Guardian:
BBC says youth-oriented channel BBC Three will return as a broadcast channel in January 2022, five years after it was taken online-only

Discussion: Variety, Forbes, The Wrap, @greg_jenner, @raymondsnoddy, Broadband TV News, @martinsfp, @adamadzp, @furquan, @archiebland and Hollywood Reporter

Reuters:
A BBC reporter and two translators working with journalists from the FT and AFP have been detained in Ethiopia, according to their employers

Discussion: Voice of America, Al Jazeera, Financial Times and Committee to Protect …

Marc Tracy / New York Times:
Profile of Democracy, a 15-year-old quarterly with 500 subscribers that incubated many of Biden team's policy ideas, publishing essays by six Cabinet officials

Discussion: @mollyjongfast, @tomperriello, @ddiamond, @karenkornbluh and @michaelpollan

Charles Riley / CNN:
Axel Springer says it won't join Facebook News when it launches in Germany in May, due to “inappropriately low remuneration” offered for journalistic content

Discussion: Reuters, @oliverdarcy, Reuters, @jason_kint, @wblau, @mattnavarra, @campbell_brown, @torstenbeeck, @rasmus_kleis and Facebook

Earlier Picks:

Mark Jacob / Local News Initiative:
Analysis of 45 local news outlets: 49% of digital subscribers didn't visit the website even once a month while 54% visited it just one day a month or fewer

Discussion: @pilhofer and @ashleyalvarado

Rhian Daly / NME:
Spotify confirms it has removed hundreds of K-pop releases worldwide as it tries to renew a global licensing agreement with distributor Kakao M

Discussion: @nme, @billwerde, @cscdoll, @jeff__benjamin, Garbage Day, Bruin Entrepreneurs, BBC, Music Business Worldwide, Soompi, Complete Music Update and musically.com

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Instagram launches Live Rooms for live broadcasts with up to four creators, up from two, and says it will roll out new audio features in coming months

Donald G. McNeil Jr / Medium:
Donald McNeil writes a four-part rebuttal to the allegations against him, says what happened to him is “a series of misunderstandings and blunders”

Brian Welk / The Wrap:
At the Golden Globes, celebs including host Tina Fey point out that none of the ~90 journalists comprising the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are Black

Discussion: Variety, @ava, MediaPost, Mediaite, ScreenRant, /Film, The Sun, Yahoo Entertainment, Vulture, Chicago Tribune and nexttv.com

From Techmeme:

Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:
Sources: EU regulators are planning to fine Apple under the DMA, after it failed to let developers steer users to cheaper deals and offers outside the App Store

Marshall Cohen / CNN:
CCDH: before the election, Elon Musk made 87 X posts that were debunked by fact-checkers, hitting 2B+ views; his political posts got 17.1B views since July 2024

Financial Times:
In its annual report, Apple warns of future products maybe never being as profitable as its iPhone business, “geopolitical tensions”, and AI tools' safety risks

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