Top News:
NC Policy Watch:
UNC backs down from offering Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure, instead offering a fixed five-year contract, after conservatives object to her work on The 1619 Project — Journalism school will instead offer Nikole Hannah-Jones a fixed five-year contract — In her career in journalism …
Discussion:
@arthomason, Mediaite, @jduffyrice, @kreissdaniel, @adamserwer, @juliaioffe, @creynoldsnc, @scottmgreer, @wajahatali, @clintsmithiii, @losowsky, @nickconfessore, @drskyskull, @jswatz, @ryanlcooper, @macloo, @sopandeb, @albertocairo, @hgargan, @donmoyn, @bgrueskin, @andybechtel, @jacobrubashkin, @jeffjarvis, @celesteheadlee, @joyannreid, @ericboehlert, @brizzyc, @johnburnsnc, @rlnave, @blackamazon, @henryfarrell, @henryfarrell, @michaelsocolow, @davmicrot, @henryfarrell and @stephenjowens_
Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
AT&T and Verizon conflated controlling distribution with controlling demand and hence wasted billions by buying media businesses like Time Warner and Yahoo — Felix Salmon asked a question on Twitter: — While Salmon's question was driven by the news that AT&T would spin out WarnerMedia …
Discussion:
Digiday, @stratechery and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »
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New York Times:
Sources: Jeff Zucker, who said he expects to leave CNN at the end of 2021, may be open to a longer stay as his “best friend” David Zaslav becomes his boss — Phone buddies and golf partners, Jeff Zucker and David Zaslav have a 30-year history. Now Zucker may be open to working for the man he calls a “best friend.”
Discussion:
@poppyharlowcnn, @peterlattman, @ennisnyt, @grynbaum, @aagave, @jamiestelter, @dylanbyers, @yashar and @dylanbyers
David Dayen / American Prospect:
The main legacies from AT&T/Time Warner are lost jobs and a $400M payout for Time Warner's former CEO; now, Discovery and WarnerMedia promise savings of $3B/yr
Discussion:
New York Times, NBC News, Quartz, @prospectanna, @secur80consult, @joshelman, @theprospect, @joejerome, @theprospect, @ourand_sbj, @ddayen, @ryanlcooper, @ddayen, @doree, Los Angeles Times and Wired, more at Techmeme »
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Profile of David Zaslav, one of the highest-paid US corporate CEOs, who spent 14 years building Discovery into the preeminent player in unscripted programming
Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
For CNN, the WarnerMedia-Discovery deal lets CNN avoid a difficult union with MSNBC, beefs up overseas opportunities, and puts to rest speculation it's for sale
Discussion:
Variety, @lawrencehurley, @davidclinchnews, MediaPost, @gerryfsmith, New York Times and @rolandsmartin
Joan E. Solsman / CNET:
WarnerMedia says HBO Max's cheaper, ad-supported tier will cost $10 per month and launch in the first week of June — HBO Max, so far, had a single subscription price at $15 a month. … HBO Max's cheaper, ad-supported tier will cost $10 a month and launch in the first week of June, WarnerMedia said Wednesday.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google says Android TV OS, which includes Google TV, now reaches over 80M monthly active devices, with 80% YoY growth in the US — Google offered an update on its TV platform, Android OS, at its Google I/O developer event on Tuesday. The company said its Android TV OS now reaches …
Discussion:
The Streamable, MediaPost, 9to5Google, FierceVideo and Android Developers Blog, more at Techmeme »
Keach Hagey / Wall Street Journal:
Right-wing video platform Rumble says it has raised an undisclosed amount from Peter Thiel, JD Vance, and others; sources say Rumble is valued at ~$500M — Backing from conservative venture capitalists comes amid push for alternative social-media channels with looser rules on speech
Discussion:
@craigsilverman and @mediaevan, more at Techmeme »
The Daily Beast:
In recent months, Newsmax has quietly poached some top OANN talent who, sources say, sought either bigger audiences or a break from OANN's increasing extremism — ONE AMERICA EXODUS — In recent months, Newsmax has quietly poached some top OAN talent who, insiders said …
Discussion:
@justinbaragona, @owillis, @idguy, @mattgertz and @justinbaragona
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Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google is testing a “Follow” button in Chrome for sites that support RSS, with content appearing in the New Tab page, initially with Chrome Canary users — Chrome, at least in its experimental Canary version on Android (and only for users in the U.S.), is getting an interesting update …
Discussion:
Chromium Blog, @thekenyeung, @gaberivera, @mhbergen, @anildash, @__apf__ and 9to5Google, more at Techmeme »
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Marie Claire owner Future reports revenues of £272M, up 21% YoY, in the six months to end of March, and says e-commerce income grew 56% YoY driven by lockdowns — Future's share price soars as it says full-year results will be ‘materially ahead’ of expectations
Discussion:
Financial Times
Billy Steele / Engadget:
Spotify announces a virtual concert series, offering “prerecorded livestreams” of 40-75 minutes from The Black Keys and others for $15 each, starting May 27 — If you're a fan of live music, you probably paid to stream at least one performance at some point in the last year.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Spotify, CNET and musically.com, more at Techmeme »
Max Willens / Digiday:
Vice says its titles now produce more Stories-style content every month than text or horizontal video content, helped by an in-house Stories Studio app — Vice Media Group Cory Haik doesn't want to call it a pivot. — But a new mobile app developed in house last year, called Stories Studio …
Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat:
Marketers release data after Apple ATT ad tracking change: Android spending is up ~21%, iOS spending drops ~3%; 63.5% to 83.2% of iOS users opt out of tracking — Did you miss GamesBeat Summit 2021? Watch on-demand here! — Apple's decision to emphasize user privacy over targeted advertising …
Discussion:
AppleInsider
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
The Information says it hired 22 people in the last year, as it adds beats and newsletters, with plans to reach “hundreds of thousands” of subs in a few years — The Information has hired 22 people in the last year, adding more beats, staffing up popular ones and adding more newsletters to drive subscriptions.
Discussion:
@alexeheath, @thesamparr and @rafat
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