Top News:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Taboola says it is buying retail- and e-commerce-focused ad network Connexity for $800M in cash and stock — Taboola, the company that operates a popular grid-based advertising and content recommendation network across media properties, today announced an acquisition to expand its reach further …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, MediaPost, Ad Age and Adweek, more at Techmeme »
Chris Krewson / LION Publishers:
As local newspapers like Chicago Tribune die, digital ecosystems that unbundle legacy newsrooms have the potential to truly reflect and serve their communities — Digital newsrooms are having a moment — but they're not “replacing” something. They're creating something new, which could do much more.
Matthew Gault / VICE:
Old stories on news sites including WaPo are displaying embedded porn videos after the domain for the defunct video service Vidme was bought by a porn company — Stories on major news sites like ‘The Washington Post,’ and ‘New York Magazine’ currently have porn embedded in them.
Discussion:
Insider, Sputnik News, @motherboard, @caseynewton, @epro, @annemariebridy, @motherboard, @taylorlorenz, @s_m_i, The Daily Caller, @margarita, @davidbix, @lexnfx, Crikey, The Wrap, CNET, Boing Boing, Gizmodo, The Verge and Awful Announcing, more at Techmeme »
Los Angeles Times:
LA Times names Shani Hilton to a newly created role, managing editor for new initiatives; she'll oversee podcasts and video and foster newsroom experimentation — Shani Hilton has been appointed to the newly created role of managing editor for new initiatives at the Los Angeles Times, effective immediately.
Discussion:
@kristoncapps, @latlands, @acnatta, @lisatozzi, @sewellchan, @sorayamcdonald, @emilydreyfuss, @lpolgreen, @sdkstl, @meridak, @kyoshino, @craigsilverman, @niemanlab and MediaPost
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post:
In his final Media Ink column, Keith Kelly shares stories from his 23 years at NY Post, about David Remnick, David Carr, Graydon Carter, Jane Mayer, and others — This is my farewell column for Media Ink, which is going out of publication with my retirement.
Discussion:
@marareinstein, @oliverdarcy and @politico_steve
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
WaPo reporter Felicia Sonmez sues WaPo, Marty Baron, and other editors, claiming she faced discrimination after disclosing she was a sexual assault victim — New York (CNN Business)A reporter at The Washington Post filed a lawsuit Thursday against the newspaper, its former top editor …
Discussion:
Media Nation, @irin, Washington Post, New York Times, Poynter, @irin, @nytimes, @annmlipton, @mgerrydoyle, @zoeschiffer, @sanasaeed, @jeffyoung, @addysbaird, @mlcarmel, @tonyajoriley, @kansasalps, @patcaldwell, @maxjrosenthal, @emmacarew, @hshaban, @joemfox, @gabemschneider, Deadline, The Western Journal, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The Hill and The Wrap
Tiffany Hsu / New York Times:
How companies have updated their Olympics ad campaign strategies over the last year, including United, which won't advertise on linear TV — Companies have spent more than $1 billion on ads timed to the Tokyo Games, which will take place in empty arenas as the pandemic lingers.
Discussion:
Fast Company, Columbia Journalism Review, ESPN and Metro.co.uk
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
Future PLC, which owns Tom's Guide, Marie Claire, and more, says it drove nearly $1B in e-commerce revenue for its affiliate partners in 2020 — Future PLC's 2020 e-commerce business boom has carried over into 2021. — The U.K. media company — which owns brands like Tom's Guide …
Discussion:
@sarahmarshall
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T Q2: HBO Max and HBO have 67.5M subscribers, up 12M YoY; HBO Max subscription revenue grew 39% YoY to $2B; WarnerMedia income fell 11.3% YoY to $1.7B — For the second quarter of 2021, the company reported a net gain of 2.8 million total domestic HBO Max and HBO subscribers …
Discussion:
New York Times, MediaPost, The Wrap, AT&T, Fast Company, @thewrap, @attnews, @xpangler, Ad Age, @richlightshed, @richlightshed, @richlightshed, CBS San Francisco, FierceVideo, Light Reading, Los Angeles Times, The Streamable, Wall Street Journal, The Streamable, Cord Cutters News, Media Play News and Hollywood Reporter
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Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Jason Kilar says Warner Bros. will produce at least 10 movies exclusively for HBO Max in 2022
Discussion:
/Film, @edmundlee, Financial Times, @xpangler, UPROXX, Junghoon's Direct Media …, Yahoo Finance, ScreenRant, Hollywood Reporter, The Playlist, CNBC, Collider, Observer and Media Play News
Kate Kaye / Digiday:
After a delay, Facebook says it is starting a brand safety audit by industry body MRC, set to complete by the end of 2021; Twitter has started the audit process — Pressure from President Joe Biden, regulators and advertisers is building on tech platforms to do more to mitigate extremist, violent and illegal content on their sites.
Discussion:
@katekayereports and Twitter
Mike Juang / Ad Age:
NBCU is adopting the Ad-ID identifier, which helps reduce ad repetition and separate competitors' ads by assigning a trackable code to each ad — Collaboration between 4A's and ANA expands on existing work on broadcaster's Peacock streaming service — NBCUniversal is looking to clean …
Discussion:
MediaPost, FierceVideo, Beet.TV and Adweek
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC:
Snap Q2: revenue of $982M, up 116% YoY, DAUs up 23% YoY to 293M, and net loss shrunk 53% YoY to $152M; stock is up 13%+ after hours — - Snap on Thursday reported its second-quarter earnings, beating expectations across the board for earnings, revenue and user growth.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Snap Inc., 9to5Mac, @shaig, @carnage4life, @levie, @variety, @sharonwaxman, @xpangler, @heidi_chung, @roter, @sandhya, ZDNet, Los Angeles Times, Axios and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Former CBS CEO Joe Ianniello has launched a SPAC, called Argus, and hopes to raise $300M+ to pursue an acquisition in media, telecommunications, or technology — SPAC, dubbed Argus, hopes to raise at least $300 million and is hunting for an acquisition in media, telecom or technology
Discussion:
insideradio.com, @benmullin, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter
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