Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T Q4: WarnerMedia revenue rose 15.4% YoY to $9.9B and DTC subscription revenue rose 11.5% YoY to $1.9B; the $43B Discovery merger is expected to close in Q2 — The company also announced that it expects the WarnerMedia spinoff and merger with Discovery to close in the second quarter …
Discussion:
The Wrap, @alexweprin, Hollywood Reporter, @thr, The Wrap, MediaPost, The Streamable, ZDNet, Deadline, @xpangler, @thewrap, Media Play News, AT&T, @brianstelter, @xpangler, Variety and @jpalmiotti
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Dade Hayes / Deadline:
HBO and HBO Max ended 2021 with 46.8M subscribers in the US, up 5.3M over 2020; AT&T reported earlier that the services had 73.8M subscribers globally — HBO Max closed 2021 with 46.8 million domestic subscribers when combined with linear HBO, up 5.3 million over 2020, parent AT&T disclosed in its fourth-quarter earnings report.
Discussion:
The Streamable and Next TV
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Spotify is removing Neil Young's music at his request, after he gave Spotify an ultimatum over hosting Joe Rogan's podcast with vaccine misinformation — The folk-rock star won't back down after discussions with his record label and Spotify — Spotify Technology SA is in the process …
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, Variety, @shannonpareil, Engadget, New York Times, UPROXX, Rolling Stone, @bizballmaury, @racheld, @davmicrot, @torriangray, @mcwm, @elopezgross, @green_footballs, @live1dnews, @rschooley, @dee_bosa, @esotericcd, @harrymccracken, @dennisperkins5, @ronwaxman, @jeffjarvis, @hkuppy, SPIN, CBS News, Hollywood Reporter, insideradio.com, CNET, USA Today and The Wrap
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Andy Greene / Rolling Stone:
Neil Young posts and then deletes a letter to his manager and a Warner exec demanding they remove his music from Spotify over Joe Rogan's vaccine misinformation
Discussion:
Billboard, TechCrunch, Deadline, The Wrap, CNN, UPROXX, Poynter, New Republic, @lilaaron911, Complete Music Update, Breitbart, @jimwaterson, @alastairmca30, Engadget, @jasonisbell, Mediaite, @dangillmor, @bretthamil, The Daily Beast, @thedailyshow, @page88, @scottwalker, The Guardian, @anthonylfisher, @benschwartz_, NBC 6 South Florida, Twelve Thirty Six, @rexchapman, RADAR, Vanity Fair, Forbes, Financial Times, Reclaim The Net, Wall Street Journal, UPI, Boing Boing, The Verge, Barrett Media, The Daily Beast, Music Ally, Consequence and Digital Music News
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
WaPo names Matea Gold as National editor and Philip Rucker as deputy National editor, as part of plans to expand coverage with a focus on visual storytelling — The Washington Post has named Matea Gold as national editor and Philip Rucker as deputy national editor, with plans to expand …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @mateagold, @paulsonne, @griffwitte, @jayrosen_nyu, @newsbysamuels, @froomkin, @vermontgmg, @shaneharris, @ceciliakang, @philiprucker, @nataliejennings, @waposean, @froomkin, @postroz, @owillis, @anniegowen, @jaxalemany, @colbyitkowitz, @scotusreporter, @carolleonnig, @philiprucker, @danlamothe, @loriamontgomery, @ashleyrparker, @petereporter and @ashleyrparker
Chris Mills Rodrigo / The Hill:
YouTube permanently bans Dan Bongino for trying to evade a previous suspension; the pro-Trump pundit had previously said he planned to leave the platform — YouTube on Wednesday permanently banned conservative commentator Dan Bongino from the platform, saying he attempted to evade a previous suspension.
Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:
Profile of Colorado-based Real America's Voice, an upstart network run by a little-known media exec, which distributes Steve Bannon's talk show to ~8M homes — ‘War Room’ is at the center of a fledgling network monetizing what some employees saw as ‘Trump propaganda.’
Discussion:
Wayne Besen, @therickwilson, @tomfitton, @ddiamond, @carolleonnig, @isaacstanbecker, @tribelaw and Mediaite
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
VAB study: Nielsen's failure to count “out of home” impressions could have cost networks $350M+ in advertising revenue between May 2021 and November 2021 — A new study by the nation's big TV networks suggests Nielsen's efforts to count viewers watching their favorite programs in so-called …
Abid Rahman / Hollywood Reporter:
Disney says Disney+ will launch in 42 countries and 11 territories this summer, including South Africa, Turkey, Poland, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE — The streaming service will debut in new countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Discussion:
Engadget, Fierce Video, The Verge, Broadband TV News, Digital TV Europe, Variety, The Streamable, C21Media and Deadline, more at Techmeme »
On Substack:
Substack says it will stick to its hands-off approach to content moderation amid increased pressure to censor what some see as dubious or objectionable content — Hamish McKenzie, Chris Best, and Jairaj — Last year, in an interview with the New York Times, anthropologist Heidi Larson …
Andrew Kersley / Press Gazette:
Slow news outlet Tortoise raises £10M to invest in audio and events, and reports a £8.5M loss for the year to December 2020, up from £5.4M in 2019 — “Slow news” start-up Tortoise has secured £10m of new funding to invest in audio journalism, events and growing its membership revenue.
Bloomberg:
NewsGuild complains to NLRB that NYT's proposal to exclude union members from three paid holidays is meant to discourage NYT tech staff from voting for a union — A New York Times Co. employee union is accusing the publisher of violating federal labor law by excluding unionized employees from three paid holidays.
Discussion:
@kbui1, @thomdunn, Vanity Fair, @nyguild, @newsguild, @gaufre, @chactivist, @stacycowley, @nytimesguild and @josheidelson
Peter White / Deadline:
Sources: ViacomCBS reverses a plan to rename Paramount Network as Paramount Movie Network due to Yellowstone's success and COVID-19-related production slowdowns — EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Network is safe, for now. — ViacomCBS has reversed plans to rebrand the cable network …
Discussion:
ScreenRant, SlashFilm and Variety
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