Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify says podcast listening hit an all-time high in Q1, crediting The Joe Rogan Experience; Spotify had 2.6M podcasts at end of Q1, up from 2.2M in Q4 2020 — Spotify reported results for the first quarter of 2021 in line with expectations, with total revenue up 16% — helped by 46% uptick in ad sales.
Discussion:
CNN, @alexpattyy, Media Matters for America, CNN, Forbes, Variety, Noahpinion, TMZ.com, Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, RAIN News, @aweiss, @ketanj0, @ashleyrcarman, @donie, @dcseifert, @amy_siskind, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, The Week, New York Post and @kerrymflynn
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Kerry Flynn / CNN:
Q&A with Máuhan “M” Zonoozy, hired as Spotify's first head of innovation earlier this year, about rise of live social audio, podcasting's inflection point, more
Discussion:
The Verge and @kerrymflynn
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Spotify reports Q1 profit of €23M, up from €1M a year earlier, revenue of €2.15B, up 16% YoY, 356M MAUs, up 24% YoY, and 158M paid subscribers, up 21% YoY
Discussion:
The Wrap, Spotify, AppleInsider, Fast Company, Financial Times, The Verge, 9to5Mac, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, Axios and Spotify, more at Techmeme »
Laura Italiano / @italiano_laura:
[Thread] NY Post reporter resigns, saying she was ordered to write an incorrect story that claimed a book by Kamala Harris was included in migrant welcome kits — An announcement: Today I handed in my resignation to my editors at the New York Post.
Discussion:
@italiano_laura, New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Washington Post, Media Matters for America, The Hill, @zeynep, @ddale8, Forbes, @ddale8, MSNBC, New York Post, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Boing Boing, @italiano_laura, @keitholbermann, @benyt, @j0ncampbell, @amy_siskind, @isaacdovere, @wolfe321, @ktumulty, @steveschale, @transscribe, @edlavacnn, @glennkesslerwp, @sarah_boxer, @lynnv378, @karaswisher, @jayrosen_nyu, @daveweigel, @bradmossesq, @markjacob16, @sahilkapur, @mollyjongfast, @juliancastro, @peterjukes, The Full Belmonte, @michaelharriot, @rizzotk, @goangelo, @keitholbermann, @ilvestoomas, @tomwatson, @joncoopertweets, @dangillmor, @richazzopardi, The Guardian, @scarylawyerguy, @alkapdc, @jaredlholt, @daveweigel, @fpwellman, Insider and The Wrap
Jennifer Elias / CNBC:
YouTube is on pace to book between $29B and $30B in revenue in 2021, equaling Netflix's expected revenue of $29.7B for the year — - YouTube is on pace to bring in annual revenue comparable to Netflix's. — The Google-owned video platform is seeing a rise in more traditional television advertisers.
Discussion:
@carlquintanilla, @carnage4life, @mediaevan, @sspencer_smb, @megancgraham, @adamsinger and The Bamboo Splinter, more at Techmeme »
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Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
YouTube ad revenue topped $6B in Q1, up 50% from the same quarter a year ago — That is up from $4 billion in the same quarter of last year, a 50 percent year-over-year growth rate. — YouTube continues to grow at a torrid pace, with any sign of pandemic slowdown seemingly behind it.
Discussion:
VideoNuze, Variety, Alphabet, @brianstelter, The Wrap, CNBC, @alexweprin, @danieljkelley, @xpangler, @ashkan, @loudmouthjulia and Tubefilter, more at Techmeme »
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Discovery reports Q1 revenue of $2.79B, up 4% YoY, with net income down 63% to $144M, and it now has 15M paying subscribers worldwide to its DTC services — Discovery revealed the big challenge behind getting involved in the media industry's streaming wars: A new broadband hub can bring …
Discussion:
Ad Age, MediaPost, The Wrap, The Streamable, @thestreamable, Hollywood Reporter, @bristei and Cord Cutters News
Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
USA Today has quietly started putting some of its stories behind a paywall with a $4.99/month digital-only subscription — Gannett's flagship national paper quietly started to put some of its premium stories behind a paywall. A subscription costs $4.99 a month.
Discussion:
@bradydale, @rickedmonds, @raju and @poynter
Mike Juang / Ad Age:
TV consortium OpenAP debuts OpenID, a new identifier to help brands target audiences across both linear and digital TV — OpenID is a step in moving TV advertising to ID-based targeting — TV consortium OpenAP is looking to do what it's done for standardizing audience segments …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, MediaPost, Radio & Television …, AdExchanger, Variety, @beet_tv and @alexbruell
Marisa Sarnoff / Mediaite:
Report: CNN has opened an internal investigation into workplace culture and treatment of women at CNN Business — CNN Business has launched an internal investigation into the treatment of women and workplace culture, according to a report Tuesday from Business Insider.
Discussion:
Insider, TVNewser, @justinbaragona, @perlberg and Talking Biz News
Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
Journalists in India are dealing with life-threatening assignments amid a COVID-19 surge as they also face eroding freedoms for the press — More than a year into the global pandemic, the coronavirus has exploded across India. The spread has been fueled, in part, by possible new variants …
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Times, The Atlantic, New York Times, Scroll.in, @elisewho, @diplopundit, Red, White and Brown, @maddow, @elisewho, newslaundry.com, The India Cable, @ignatiuspost, @aakar__patel, @annemariebridy, @thequint, @mumbaipressclub, @nsmlive, @ishaan_jhavs, @navathakuria, @ishaan_jhavs, @therockyfiles, @anandwrites, @gilkumar, @adrijac, @epigiri, @sandygrains, @paldhous, @jodixu, @jon_allsop, Gizmodo, Scroll.in and Scroll.in
Michael J. Socolow / Reason:
A history of NYT's “op-eds”, born in 1970 to highlight voices outside of the newspaper, and why NYT occasionally publishes offensive and even vile essays — When you're a kid, you love the comics. A few years later, you read the sports or the style section first.
Discussion:
@katiekings, NYT Open, Associated Press, @heidilegg, @laurahelmuth, @garyrosenwsj, @gregpinelo, @davidclinchnews, @brianmanzullo, @antd, @minassianmedia, @dlippman, @amanbatheja, @pogue, @nickconfessore, @yinkawrites, @nickconfessore, @pennykittle, @davidfolkenflik, @jesseholcomb, @bgrueskin, @benyt, @benyt, @michaelsocolow, @michaelsocolow, @michaelsocolow, @mdubowitz, Media Nation, @mmasnick, @nytopinion and @elisewho
Kellen Browning / New York Times:
Twitch has grown in popularity among QAnon adherents and far-right influencers, making it easy for streamers to make money while spreading conspiracy theories — QAnon adherents and other far-right influencers are making thousands of dollars broadcasting election and vaccine conspiracy theories on the streaming site.
Discussion:
@kellen_browning, @oliverdarcy, @bostonjoan, @kellen_browning, @rita_katz, @kellen_browning, @travisshreffler and CNET
Shen Lu / Protocol:
Profile of Chinese AI-driven aggregator News Break, which says it has 45M MAUs and is finding success in the US through a sharp focus on local news — It's the most downloaded news app in the world — and the content it carries is entirely local. In the U.S., it drives more traffic than all but three apps.
Discussion:
@emilyrauhala, @zeyiyang, @justinhendrix and @shenlulushen
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