Top News:
Jacob Lorinc / Toronto Star:
Major Canadian publisher Torstar is launching an online gambling site to fund its journalism, pending government approval — Torstar is entering the online gaming market. The corporation announced Monday it intends to launch an online casino betting brand in 2021 pending approval from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
Discussion:
Globe and Mail, The Guardian, CBC News, @wearecanproud, @johnocap, @goldsbie, @thetowncrier, @tommytomlinson, @standingthegaff, @jrhennessy, @gramiq and @harryslaststand
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 — A little over a year ago, a few months after I launched HEATED, I got invited to speak at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.
Discussion:
Floodlight, @akshatrathi, @kerrymflynn, @scottdetrow, @sarahscire, @stopmoneypipe, @sarahkaplan48, @michellemanafy, @emilyhholden, @raju, @sammy_roth, @sarahkaplan48, @emorwee and The Guardian
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, The Wrap, The Streamable, Ad Age, Reuters, Too Much TV Newsletter, Deseret News, Observer, @great_katzby, MediaPost, Quartz and UPROXX
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:
CNN, Variety, The Daily Beast, Fox News, The Guardian, The Wrap, Newser, nexttv.com, Media Matters for America, @billpascrell, @brianstelter, Insider, Mediaite, UPROXX, @alexweprin, TVNewser, @yashar, @exavierpope and Hollywood Reporter
Kerry Flynn / CNN:
Wired names Gideon Lichfield of MIT Technology Review as global editorial director, replacing Nicholas Thompson, recently appointed CEO of The Atlantic — New York (CNN Business)Wired, the preeminent tech magazine, has its new leader: Gideon Lichfield of MIT Technology Review is coming on as its global editorial director.
Discussion:
Condé Nast, New York Times, @glichfield, @glichfield, @justinhendrix, @akshatrathi, @n_vpatel, New York Post, @glichfield, WWD, Talking Biz News, @bramsonboudreau, @nxthompson, @howelloneill, @jtemple, @chr1sa, @theyomikazeem, @reditlhabi, @jeffjarvis, @_karenhao, @anelsona, @jkaraian and @kerrymflynn
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Sony says the PlayStation Store will stop offering movie and TV show purchases and rentals on Aug. 31, citing users' preference for video streaming services — As of Aug. 31, 2021, the PlayStation Store will stop offering movie and TV show purchases and rentals.
Discussion:
PlayStation.Blog, /Film, ScreenRant, Fortune, BetaNews, Gizmodo, Kotaku, The Verge, CNET, Engadget, Siliconera, Polygon and @ajci282002, more at Techmeme »
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, @thedailybeast, @jmartnyt, @b52malmet, The Daily Beast, Fox News and Mediaite
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
eMarketer: Spotify is on track to reach US monthly podcast listenership of 28.2M by the end of this year and surpass Apple's Podcasts for the first time — Investors have been waiting for Spotify's multimillion-dollar bet on podcasting to pay off, in terms of increased paid subscriptions or improved revenues.
Discussion:
@blackamazon, eMarketer, @ashleyrcarman, MacRumors and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »
Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:
Soundcloud to launch “fan-powered royalties” April 1; revenue from listeners' subscriptions or consumed ads is divided among artists they listen to, not pooled — This model sees streaming royalties paid out based on individual subscriber behavior - with a percentage …
Discussion:
Variety, SoundCloud press releases, @tankcrimes, TechCrunch, Engadget, @future_of_music and The Verge
Sophia June / The Daily Beast:
How four alt-weeklies, Cleveland Scene, Seven Days, The Stranger, and The Austin Chronicle, have been surviving the pandemic after it crippled events revenue — ‘A WAY FORWARD’ — One year ago, the consensus was that alt-weeklies faced certain extinction amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Discussion:
Media Nation, @thedailybeast, @sophianjune, @shaboom, @coreyhutchins, @eddy_sarah and American Press Institute
Christopher Zara / Fast Company:
MoffettNathanson: cable and satellite TV companies shed 6M subscribing US households in 2020; penetration was around 60% of households vs. ~90% in 2010 — Crank up the Weezer and throw yourself a My So-Called Life watch party tonight, because the cable-TV industry just hit a totally retro milestone.
Discussion:
MediaPost
Josef Adalian / Vulture:
Nielsen: Golden Globes drew an average audience of just 6.9M people this year, compared to 18.3M in 2020 — With few stars and even fewer blockbuster nominees, America pretty much ignored Sunday night's Golden Globes broadcast. Per Nielsen, an not-so-nice average audience …
Discussion:
@blackamazon, New York Times, @megjameslat, @thewendyburch, @tvmojoe, @mattbelloni, Los Angeles Times, Axios, Vanity Fair and The Week
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 — Democracy, an unassuming policy journal with an office near the White House, is a place where members of the new administration …
Discussion:
@rafat, @uchicagolaw, @mollyjongfast, @michaelpollan, @karenkornbluh, @tomperriello and @ddiamond