Top News:
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Filing: in FY 2021, ESPN's pay TV distribution shrank another 10% to 76M US households, while ESPN+ subscribers grew 66% YoY to 17M — ESPN, a longtime cornerstone of the Walt Disney Co., continues to lose lucrative pay-TV distribution, shrinking another 10% to end fiscal 2021 at 76 million U.S. households.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing
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Tim Baysinger / The Wrap:
SEC filing: Disney plans to spend around $33B on content in fiscal 2022, which began on October 1, up from around $25B in fiscal 2021 — Disney will spend around $8 billion more on content next year. In its annual report filed with the SEC on Wednesday, Disney said it would spend around $33 billion …
Discussion:
Variety and Hollywood Reporter
Choire Sicha / New York Magazine:
Former NYT exec says Wirecutter employees were treated as second-class citizens at NYT, with a lower pay scale and some NYT staff openly sneering at their work — In October 2016, Wirecutter, a scrappy website that uses journalism to help people make purchases, was five years old.
Discussion:
@choire, Fox News, New York Post, @pwhall, @edzitron, @amondozhou, @daveyalba, @laurenlamie, @zagatam, @laura_nelson, @bypatrickgeorge, @harrymccracken, @laurenlamie, @joemullin, @thedailybeast, @salgentile, @rsingel, @danfrakes, @discourse_blog, @mattdpearce, @titonka, @mathowie, @kathyvsinternet, @kait_tiffany, @mccarthyryanj, @runwithskizzers, @tomcoates, @chrislhayes, @alexkoppelman, @zoegberg, @maxjrosenthal, @janefriedman, @kingthor, @caseyjohnston, @lemonsand, @clancynewyork, @qhardy, @lisatozzi, @arieldumas, @johnkunza, @brandonetc, @francesrobles, @shiraovide, @intelligencer, @oliverdarcy, @caseyjohnston, @stanhoraczek, @leighjkboerner, @adriana_lacy, @pkafka, @andymanganelli, The Daily Beast, discourseblog.com and @wirecutterunion
Mark Jacob / Local News Initiative:
Analysis of ~50 outlets: users visit large outlets an average of 5.7 days/month, mid-sized outlets 9.2 days/month, and small outlets 10.5 days/month — Northwestern University's new Medill Subscriber Engagement Index highlights the need to identify at-risk digital subscribers and find effective ways …
Discussion:
digitalcontentnext.org
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify confirms it is testing Discover, a TikTok-like vertical feed of music videos that appears to repurpose Canvas videos, in its iOS app — TikTok has seen its short-form video feed copied by a host of competitors, from Instagram to Snap to YouTube and even Netflix.
Discussion:
ScreenRant, XDA Developers, Engadget, The Verge, Tubefilter, Gizmodo, Waivly, Music Ally and Señales.co, more at Techmeme »
Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal:
EU proposes broad disclosures about political ads and banning targeting based on sensitive data, but not microtargeting, and fines of up to 5% of global revenue — Proposed measure would ban targeting political ads based on categories such as religious views, sexual orientation
Discussion:
European Commission and @baekdal, more at Techmeme »
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Jillian Deutsch / Bloomberg:
EU approves Digital Markets Act measures: mandating social app interoperability, banning ad targeting to minors, and fines up to 20% of global annual sales
Discussion:
European Parliament, Light Reading, @ansip_eu, @jduch, @paultang, @ep_singlemarket, @alexandrageese, @blackamazon, TechCrunch and ScreenRant
Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
Lee Enterprises' board approves a shareholder rights plan, called a poison pill, to prevent Alden Global Capital from acquiring more than 10% of Lee for a year — Shareholder rights plan will be in effect for a year, giving Lee time to assess hedge fund's acquisition proposal
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, The Wrap, @hblodget, @davidfolkenflik, @dankennedy_nu, @brynstole, @farhip, The NewsGuild - CWA, bookforum.com and @jimfriedlich
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Reporting on security lapses carries legal risks, like threats from the Missouri governor against the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, stifling research and journalism — In August 2020, two FBI agents were standing on my doorstep, unannounced, wanting to ask me questions about a TechCrunch story we had published the year before.
Discussion:
@freedomofpress, @freedomofpress, @martinsfp, @ron_miller, @zackwhittaker, @gazthejourno, @kennwhite, @josephfcox, @kimzetter, @freedomofpress and Talking Biz News
Manori Ravindran / Variety:
Ofcom approves relaunching BBC Three as a broadcast channel, available on Freeview, Sky, and others, in February 2022; BBC Three was made online-only in 2016 — BBC Three, the digital platform that's been the home of “Fleabag” and “Normal People,” is returning as a broadcast channel.
Discussion:
@jimwaterson, @bbcthree, Televisual, @jimwaterson, Broadband TV News and Advanced Television
Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
The Salt Lake Tribune, which became a nonprofit in 2020, says it is financially sustainable and grew its newsroom 23% in the past year — The Salt Lake Tribune's transition to nonprofit status has been closely watched in the news industry. “The opportunity for us to prove that this can work …
Discussion:
@swilliamsjourno, @jayrosen_nyu, @mary_walrath, @erinbiba, @sarahscire and Salt Lake Tribune
Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
Disney, ViacomCBS, and others are offering steep discounts this week amid slowing subscriber growth, with one year of Hulu available for 99 cents per month — Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+ and Discovery+ are among the services offering steep discounts this week to entice new subscribers.
Discussion:
XDA Developers, @sherman4949, @alexweprin, CNET News, Decider, Billboard and Variety
Tessa Stuart / Rolling Stone:
Reality Winner criticizes The Intercept for poor protection of sources and accuses its parent company of reneging on a promise to pay her legal defense bills — After years locked away for leaking classified information on Russian interference, the former NSA contractor has a lot to say about how she got there
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