Top News:
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
Study of subscriber retention techniques at 526 news organizations across the US: just 41% “make it easy” for subscribers to cancel their subscriptions online — Bad news for people who hate using the phone: Just 41% of U.S. news publishers “make it easy” for subscribers to cancel …
Discussion:
American Press Institute, American Press Institute, @ampress, @kerrymflynn and @bryanmvance
John Koblin / New York Times:
Nielsen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show lost more than a million viewers, a decline of 43%, following Ellen's on-air apology in September — “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” a sturdy daytime hit, has had a steep ratings decline since the host addressed accusations by former staff members that led to firings and an internal investigation.
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
CNN lost 45% of prime-time audience in the past 5 weeks and WaPo unique visitors fell 26% from Jan. to Feb., as outlets lose audience gained during Trump years — Of all Donald Trump's prophecies and predictions — that Mexico would pay for a border wall, that coronavirus would spontaneously disappear …
Discussion:
@farhip, @radleybalko, @jayrosen_nyu, @brannonmc, @jeffcannata, @muskrat_john, @chrismessina, @dylanbyers, @edwardwasserman, @benjaminramm, @jsaquella, @tomgara, @rasmussen_poll, @zaleskiluke, @ggreenwald, @t_fisherking, @tomgara, @ddayen, @jtemple, @daweiner, @hotlinejosh, Mediaite and The Hill
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
The controversies around Substack miss the point that it is just a tool for sovereign writers who are in control as they are paid directly by subscribers — There has been a bit of controversy around Substack over the last week; I'm not going to get into the specifics of various accusations …
Discussion:
@davidsirota, Freddie deBoer, Matt on Audio, @chrislhayes, @thestalwart, @kantrowitz, @alexhern, @robkhenderson, @alexhern, @m_c_klein, @nickconfessore, @juddlegum, @paulconstant, @janefriedman, @melissakchan, @razibkhan, @caseynewton, @karlbode, @kerrymflynn, Washington Post, @dhh, @kantrowitz, @them_l_g, @jamessurowiecki, @alex, @notjessewalker, @mathewi, @timodc, @asymmetricinfo, @ericnewcomer, @tomgara, @mattzeitlin, @mattyglesias, @benyt, @stratechery, Proof, Astral Codex Ten, Today in Tabs, Dana Blankenhorn, Grasping Reality Newsletter,, Let Your Life Speak, tiny driver and American Press Institute
Jem Aswad / Variety:
Tencent Music and Warner Music to expand licensing agreement with a joint venture record label in China; Tencent became a 20% owner of Universal Music last year — Tencent Music Entertainment Group, part of the massive China-based Tencent media company, and Warner Music have announced …
Discussion:
Complete Music Update, TechCrunch, Rolling Stone and Music Business Worldwide
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Eric Spinato, the head booker and senior story editor for the Fox Business Network who worked primarily with Maria Bartiromo, dies from the coronavirus — New York (CNN Business)Eric Spinato, the head booker and senior story editor for the Fox Business Network, died over the weekend, the network said Monday.
Discussion:
Mediaite, TVNewser, @slpng_giants, @mikenoe, @fridaghitis, @oliverdarcy, @dougheye, @jedi_adopted, @brianstelter, HuffPost, Talking Biz News and The Hill
Tom Jones / Poynter:
Interview with Katie Couric on hosting Jeopardy!, her upcoming memoir, and building a company to produce a newsletter, a podcast, and other original journalism — She has a daily newsletter. She has a podcast. She produces original journalism on her website. Is there anything Katie Couric isn't doing?
Discussion:
@poynter, @poynter, @poynter, @benmullin, @amberhutchins and @tomwjones
Lucy Sherriff / Future Human:
Researchers translating text from Hawaii's 100+ forgotten native-language newspapers are discovering a treasure trove of historical climate data — Researchers translating the papers uncovered accounts of extreme weather that struck the islands in the past
Kate Kaye / Digiday:
As publishers adopt single ID systems to replace third-party cookies, they are falling short in asking for users' consent and transparency about data use — Publishers, advertisers and ad tech companies are rallying around identity tech such as Unified ID 2., a system developed …
Discussion:
Insider
Julia La Roche / Yahoo Finance:
TIME Magazine to auction three covers as NFTs including one asking “Is Fiat Dead?” and plans to add a “pay by crypto” option for its subscribers within 30 days — TIME Magazine plans to lean into surging demand for digital currency and art, currently two of the hottest trends in the global economy.
Discussion:
TIME, @benioff, @keithgrossman, @apompliano, @hunterw, @benioff, @ourielohayon, @julialaroche, @patrick_oshag, @alex, Insider, The Verge and Ad Age
Marcia Brown / American Prospect:
Activists say CNN aired a clip about a border crossing despite warnings it may have been staged, as outlets compete to frame the border situation as a “crisis” — An unusual video has been flagged by activists as deliberately manufactured to present a story of a border crisis …
Bloomberg:
In 2020, 60% to 70% of 9-year-old YouTuber Ryan Kaji's $30M annual revenue came from merchandise licensing deals, passing YouTube ad revenue for the first time — Ryan Kaji is one of the most popular YouTube creators in the world, with a main channel that's drawn 29 million subscribers interested …
Discussion:
@efeng, @lucas_shaw and @lucas_shaw, more at Techmeme »
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