Mediagazer: Bad Robot launches a podcast division, to be led by former Audible and Spotify exec Christina Choi, and strikes a multiyear first-look deal with Spotify (Peter White/Deadline)

8:40 AM ET, November 18, 2021

Top News:

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Spotify expands real-time lyrics to all users globally in partnership with Musixmatch, after initially launching in 26 markets — After years of ignoring consumer demand for in-app lyrics, particularly in the U.S., Spotify announced today it will make a new Lyrics feature available to all global users …

Discussion: Spotify, CNET, Variety, @eldsjal, The Verge, Gizmodo, Engadget, @spotifynews and @richlightshed, more at Techmeme »

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

As well-written obituaries of prominent figures attract large online readership, outlets are bolstering their pre-written obituaries, including 1,850 at NYT — When Rush Limbaugh died this year, the mainstream media he had so long railed against gave him the kind of immaculately choreographed send-off …

Discussion: @katierosman, @oknox, @dlippman, @john_p_carvalho, @richardjustice, @ironicsans, @davidmaraniss, @ashkan, @ktumulty, @dlippman, @alexvadukul, @paulschwartzman, @raju and @amyargetsinger

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Spotify expands Podcast Subscriptions globally with 20 price points from $0.50 to $150 and will let creators download subscribers' contact info — Just a few months after launching support for podcast subscriptions to U.S. creators, Spotify today is making the service available to creators in global markets.

Discussion: Fast Company, Variety, Music Ally, What's New in Publishing, XDA Developers and Waivly, more at Techmeme »

Reuters:

Rupert Murdoch accuses Google and Facebook of trying to silence conservative voices and cites a lawsuit claiming they colluded on digital ad market manipulation — Rupert Murdoch renewed his attacks on Google and Facebook during News Corp's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday …

Discussion: The Guardian, Press Gazette, Newser, Vanity Fair, Axios, @martysilkhack, @thetowncrier, @jonkudelka, The Hill, New York Post, @mrkrudd, Bloomberg, Mumbrella, Mediaite and The Wrap

Peter White / Deadline:

Bad Robot launches a podcast division, to be led by former Audible and Spotify exec Christina Choi, and strikes a multiyear first-look deal with Spotify — JJ Abrams' Bad Robot is moving into the audio space. — The production company is launching its own podcast division …

Discussion: @baekdal, Tubefilter, Spotify, Engadget and Los Angeles Times

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Netflix expands its Top 10 lists to display the most-viewed shows and movies, for English and non-English titles, ranked by aggregate viewing hours — Netflix says it's heard the complaints about how it “cherry picks” the self-reported data it releases about content viewed on its platform.

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig steps down; Ted Verity will become Mail Newspapers editor overseeing Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, and You magazine — Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig is leaving his role this week, with the Mail on Sunday's Ted Verity stepping up to take charge of a new seven-day operation.

Discussion: The Guardian, The Guardian, Spectator, @domponsford, @jimwaterson, @johayeslibdem, @brexit_sham, @jolyonmaugham, Vanity Fair, @andrew_adonis, @hautepop, @warrenmorgan, @brokenbottleboy, @pressgazette, @jimwaterson and The Independent

The Hollywood Reporter:

Sources: Disney held talks with betting operators about an ESPN partnership, with BetMGM, Caesars, and DraftKings seen as frontrunners — Now that major leagues are getting on board with gambling, the family-friendly Hollywood giant is eyeing that revenue and may start with a splashy ESPN licensing deal.

Discussion: @erik_hayden, @news_maker, @stearnsseattle, @brianroemmele and @mediaevan

Agence France-Presse:

Google will begin paying Agence France-Presse for content in Europe as part of a five-year partnership, the first with a news agency under a 2019 EU directive — Under the agreement with Google, AFP will also offer fact-checking training on several continents (AFP/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)

Discussion: Bloomberg and Reuters

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Russian tech exec Aleksej Gubarev drops his defamation lawsuit against BuzzFeed over its publication of Steele dossier — Aleksej Gubarev and BuzzFeed issued a joint statement on the status of the lawsuit. — A BuzzFeed News logo adorns a wall inside BuzzFeed headquarters in New York City.

Discussion: @joshgerstein and TK News

Antoinette Siu / The Wrap:

Substack expands its health insurance program to all US writers making over $5,000 in gross annualized revenue on the service — Substack on Tuesday expanded its health insurance program to all writers making $5,000 a year on its newsletter platform. — The health insurance program …

Discussion: Substack and @caseymlewis

Chrissy Towle / The Keyword:

Google selects 25 projects from local news outlets to receive a share of $3.2M+ in the North America Innovation Challenge to build ties to their communities — We can't write about our communities without understanding them and being part of them. We don't want to just parachute ourselves …

Discussion: @jkealing, Google News Initiative, @raju, @pennyriordan1, @ncnewsworks, @nicdawes, @localmediaassoc, @reillykneedler, @eugwklycamilla, @ncnewsworks, @localmediaassoc, Editor and Publisher and Local Media Association …

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 8:40 AM ET, November 18, 2021.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

Lead Business Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Managing Editor, WA — Everett Herald

Private Credit Reporter, NY — Debtwire

City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

Visual Editor, Remote — Rest of World

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Senior Political Reporter, DC — The Lever

California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

National Investigative Reporter, NY — HuffPost

Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — CT Mirror

Coordinating Editor, OR — OPB

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

Business Reporter, WA — Longview Daily News

Editor-in-Chief, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Patrick Hipes / Deadline:
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences says the Children's & Family Emmy Awards will be a standalone show starting in 2022

Discussion: Variety, nexttv.com, The Wrap and Hollywood Reporter

Micah Singleton / Billboard:
Tidal launches a free tier in the US and direct-to-artist payments with fan-centered royalties based on HiFi Plus subscribers' streaming activity

Discussion: @tidal, PR Newswire, CNET, @mqamusic, CelebrityAccess, @tidal, @tidal, Variety, @micahsingleton, @alex, @aaronesilvers, @jack, Gizmodo, Digital Trends, Engadget, 9to5Mac, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally and The Verge

Steve Inskeep / @nprinskeep:
[Thread] Complaints that journalists should have published Trump info sooner rather than holding it for books is mistaken, as reporting with context takes time

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @scarylawyerguy, @owillis, @norsemythnews, @dangillmor, @ericboehlert, @nprinskeep, @digiphile, @nprinskeep, @digiphile, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep, @nprinskeep and @brianstelter

Giving Compass:
Institute for Nonprofit News Index finds 90%+ of ~400 nonprofit newsrooms tracked over the past 12 years are operating; ~70% have at least four revenue sources

Discussion: @michellemanafy

Rebecca Davis / Variety:
In a five-year plan, China wants domestic films to make up 55% of box office, encourages film companies to invest abroad, plans for 100K movie screens, and more

Discussion: Insider, @zeeshanaleem, @mattzeitlin, @comfortablysmug and Deadline

USAGM:
USAGM reports that it reached 394M people in 62 languages each week in 2021, up 42% since 2017, with top audiences in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine

Earlier Picks:

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
US agrees to provide renewable yearlong visas to Chinese journalists, while China lets WSJ, WaPo, and NYT reporters return

Steve Dent / Engadget:
Google partners with PBS Student Report Labs and other journalism organizations to create programs that promote media literacy

Discussion: American Press Institute, @googlenewsinit, The Keyword and The Keyword

Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Miramax sues Quentin Tarantino over copyright infringement for selling NFTs based on Pulp Fiction screenplay excerpts; Miramax says it owns screenplay rights

Diane Haithman / The Wrap:
The California Film Commission says the state's Film & TV Tax Credit Program is expected to generate $2.6B in in-state spending in its first fiscal year

Discussion: Variety

Axios:
Analysis: the top five most-followed accounts on TikTok do not rank in the top 50 on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram

Discussion: Terms of Service w …, @nrothschild3, Beyond Search, @jimvandehei, @liahaberman, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @sarafischer and Reuters Institute …

From Techmeme:

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Anthropic raised another $4B from Amazon, will make AWS its primary training partner, and is working with Annapurna Labs to develop new Trainium accelerators

Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
A UK CMA report finds that Apple's policies hold back innovation in mobile browsers and recommends investigating Apple and Google's mobile ecosystem activities

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Researchers detail a “nearest neighbor attack” by Russia's APT28, which remotely breached a target's Wi-Fi by hijacking a laptop in a building across the street

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page