Top News:
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Sources: Ozy Media co-founder Samir Rao impersonated a YouTube exec on a Goldman Sachs call ahead of a $40M deal; Rao is back at Ozy after time off — The digital media company has raised eyebrows for its claims about its audience size for years. Then came the strange voice on the phone.
Discussion:
@banikarim, Gawker, The Wrap, Mediaite, @mattzeitlin, @trungtphan, @netw3rk, @genepark, Boing Boing, @brianstelter, @lea, New York Post, @hamiltonnolan, @lachlan, @matt_levine, @katie_robertson, @melissajourno, @hshaban, @dgisserious, @hayesbrown, @bubbaprog, @bendwalsh, @rafat, @felixsalmon, @davidmackau, @seanspicer, @annehelen, @caseyjohnston, @owillis, @sonnybunch, @timodc, @s_m_i, @rmac18, @oliviasolon, @jbarro, @craigsilverman, @jodyavirgan, @edmundlee, @foxcahn, @cliffordlevy, @nickbilton, @lwoodhouse, @sonnybunch, @dandrezner, @maxseddon, @banikarim, @grahamstarr, @vincemancini, @moorehn, @nickconfessore, @caseynewton, @joshuatopolsky, @digitalshields, @danprimack, @justinsink, @tonyromm, @jimwaterson, @bydanielvictor, @banikarim, The Wrap and @kevinmdraper
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube says it will cut YouTube TV's fee by $10/month and drop NBCUniversal channels if it can't reach a deal with NBCU by September 30 — Another carriage fight has burst into public view: NBCUniversal on Sunday said it was notifying customers with YouTube TV that more than 14 of its networks …
Discussion:
YouTube Official Blog, The Streamable, The Streamable, MediaPost, The Verge, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, Light Reading, @xpangler, Gizmodo, Fast Company, @lukebk, @pkafka, @nbcphiladelphia, Pocketnow, @dsilverman, 9to5Google, Too Much TV Newsletter, Cord Cutters News, @chrisbarnestech and Awful Announcing
Todd Spangler / Variety:
TikTok says it now has 1B MAUs — TikTok says it has crossed a key milestone: The social video app claims it now counts more than 1 billion monthly active users. — TikTok is the successor to Musical.ly, the short-form video app that was acquired by Chinese internet giant ByteDance in 2017 …
Discussion:
TikTok, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, Engadget, Tubefilter, CNBC, @joshelman, @yoda, Music Business Worldwide, @carnage4life, @kelsaywhat, @kerrymflynn and @tiktokcomms, more at Techmeme »
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
Axios Local says it is planning to expand into 11 new markets by Q3 2022, for a total of 23, and its 14 newsletters have about 400K subscribers — Axios is popping up local news-focused newsletters across the country, with ambitious plans to be in 23 markets in 2022.
Discussion:
@raju, @michelemclellan, @djtweets, @ted_williams and Media Nation
The New York Times Company:
NYT launches The New York Times Corps, a talent pipeline program for early-college students to receive career guidance from journalists over a multi-year period — The New York Times is launching a first-of-its-kind talent pipeline program for early-college students to receive career guidance …
Discussion:
@marclacey, @migold, @pr_johnson, @alexlaughs, @cliffordlevy and @mickimaynard
Travis Bernard / TechCrunch:
TechCrunch renames its membership product to TechCrunch+ and says it plans to expand it to most major startup ecosystems in the world next quarter — Extra Crunch has a new name — We're changing the name of our membership product to TechCrunch+. We're doing so for a few reasons …
Discussion:
@travisbernard
Wall Street Journal:
Spotify begins a campaign to win more advertisers, rebranding its ad business as Spotify Advertising, focusing on SMBs, and expanding its podcast marketplace — The audiostreaming company wants to appeal to new advertisers and publishers in a new campaign titled “All Ears on You”
Discussion:
TechCrunch and @sjgoldstein
Tatiana Cirisano / Billboard:
NMPA drops its $200M copyright lawsuit against Roblox and strikes a partnership with the company to let NMPA members reach individual music licensing deals — A week after signing a long-awaited agreement with Twitch, the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) has struck a deal with Roblox …
Discussion:
Variety, Forbes, Engadget, The Verge, @billboard, Music Business Worldwide and musically.com, more at Techmeme »
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
A look at NYT's trust-and-innovation project, one of several newsroom initiatives unfolding amid speculation over who will succeed Executive Editor Dean Baquet — On a mission for 10 million paying customers, the paper has formed a new team to help ensure confidence in its journalism …
Discussion:
@daphnehk, @will_bunch, @will_bunch, @benedictevans, @mattortega, @matthewstoller, @regularron, @moorehn, Defector, @_richardhall, @jayrosen_nyu, @mlcalderone, @malika_imani, @joelockhart, @shannonfreshour, @joepompeo, @jayrosen_nyu, @geechee4kamala, @mekkaokereke, @will_bunch, @wagatwe, @soledadobrien, @anoushasakoui, @wokbonds, @nameshiv, @blackamazon, @maxapotter, @ericboehlert, @yottapoint, @biblioracle, @jeffjarvis and @biblioracle
James Hercher / AdExchanger:
Google says it will no longer use last-click attribution as the default conversion model in Google Ads, and will default to “data-driven attribution” instead — “Because of how we've been improving and training our data-driven attribution models, we've eliminated [that] previously existing requirement,” she said.
Discussion:
The Keyword, @scottcowley, @zachcoelius and @jameshercher, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
The Mississippi Free Press, a nonprofit committed to solutions-based journalism that launched in March 2020, had little choice but to focus on the pandemic — On the Mississippi Free Press' birthday, publisher Kimberly Griffin headlined her summary of what the new nonprofit news organization …
Discussion:
@scchak, @haimerlad, @keaux_, @msfreepress, @ashtonpittman, @msfreepress and @niemanlab
Charlotte Ricca / Digital Content Next:
Behind Vox Media's acquisition of the Hot Pod newsletter, which it plans to keep at its $7/month subscription price, and how it intends to grow its audience — There is no doubt the media industry can be pretty cutthroat. Publishers are always looking for new ways to generate revenue …
Discussion:
What's New in Publishing, The Muffin por Mauricio …, @dcnorg and @niemanlab
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