Mediagazer: Journalists from TV Rain, also known as Dozhd, leave Russia after some employees received threats and the country set up a digital roadblock of the news network (CNN)

A look at plans for CNN+, scheduled to launch at month's end despite the turmoil at CNN, for $2.99 per month initially; a bundle with HBO Max is planned — The show must go on, even in streaming video. — Employees at CNN are keeping that adage in mind as they prepare to launch a new direct …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Financial Times, Next TV, Talking Biz News, Awful Announcing, Variety, MediaPost, CNN, The Streamable, @stevebattaglio, TVNewser, The Verge, @rexchapman, Cord Cutters News, @oliverdarcy and Deadline

BBC:

Russian-backed RT disappears from UK TV broadcast platforms, due to a ban imposed by the EU which stops companies in Luxembourg and France from offering feeds — Russian-backed news channel RT has disappeared from all broadcast platforms in the UK. — UK access to the TV network …

Discussion: Reuters, Techdirt, The Guardian, Press Gazette and Digital TV Europe

Jon Fingas / Engadget:

Reddit bans links to Russian state media outlets across its entire service for all users worldwide — Reddit isn't done clamping down on misinformation following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The social hub has banned links to state-supported Russian media outlets across the entire site, and for all users worldwide.

Discussion: Reddit Upvoted, The Verge, @drewharwell and @thinking_panda, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify closes its office in Russia “indefinitely”, removes all content from RT and Sputnik, and adds a guide offering users localized “trusted news” sources

K.J. Yossman / Variety:

ITV buys out BBC's share of BritBox UK ahead of the launch of its streaming service; BritBox International will remain a 50/50 joint venture between ITV and BBC — ITVX will integrate BritBox U.K. although the latter best-of-British offering will remain a “separate entity” within the app and require a paid subscription.

Discussion: The Streamable and Radio Times

Thomas Seal / Bloomberg:
ITV announces ITVX, a new streaming service with ads or ad-free options, replacing its current Hub streaming service; ITV will invest £1.35B on content by 2023

Discussion: The Guardian, The Drum, Press Centre, Deadline, London Evening Standard, Broadband TV News and Financial Times

Voice of America:

Russia's media regulator warns VOA that it will block the outlet's Russian website unless it takes down Ukraine coverage; VOA's director says it won't comply — Today the Russian government warned the Voice of America of its intention to block the VOA Russian language service's news website …

Discussion: @w7voa, Axios, @a_picazo, @bubbaprog, @w7voa, @w7voa, @davidfolkenflik, @phildstewart, @voadirector, @w7voa, The Hill and Associated Press

Sharon Knolle / The Wrap:

Serena Williams calls out The New York Times for running a photo of her sister labeled “Serena Williams” in Wednesday's print edition — Tennis superstar Serena Williams urged The New York Times to “do better” after an article about her new $111 million Serena Ventures ran …

The Moscow Times:

Two days after being taken off the air for spurning Kremlin-approved terms, liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy has been dissolved by its board of directors — Russia's iconic liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) has been wound up after falling afoul of Russia's censorship of coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Discussion: @cliffordlevy, @antontroian, @sbg1, @orlovakarine and @murphymike

CNN:
Journalists from TV Rain, also known as Dozhd, leave Russia after some employees received threats and the country set up a digital roadblock of the news network

Discussion: @kevinrothrock, Nieman Lab, Mediaite, @juliaioffe, New Yorker, Fox News, @jimrutenberg, @sbg1, Committee to Protect …, @brianstelter, @cliffordlevy and Reuters

Joshua Benton / Nieman Lab:

An attempt to quantify RT's reach in UK, Germany, and France shows little traction outside social media; RT's Facebook engagement is large in Germany and France — Is RT's international audience real? — That's an important question, as regulators and distributors debate …

Discussion: @rasmus_kleis, @rasmus_kleis, @rasmus_kleis, @rasmus_kleis, @niemanlab, @mattnavarra, @m_scribe, @rasmus_kleis, @evoterra and @rasmus_kleis

Kellen Browning / New York Times:

Twitch says it will ban “harmful misinformation superspreaders” that persistently share debunked misinfo, including about vaccines and election fraud — The new policy will target channels that persistently lie about vaccines and election fraud, as well as Russian state-run media.

Discussion: Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Memo: Vox Media plans to lay off 3% of employees; most of those affected are in “revenue organization, core services, studios,” and at the space website Seeker — Vox Media told employees Thursday it plans to lay off 3% of employees following the completion of its merger with Group Nine Media …

Discussion: @katie_robertson and Bloomberg

Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:

Analysis: Twitch has lost at least six executives alongside 60+ employees during 2022; sources say Twitch is losing touch with its core focus on streamers — Twitch, the popular site where people go to watch other people play video games, has lost at least six top employees since the beginning of the year …

Discussion: @cecianasta, @cecianasta, @cecianasta and @ascendantnomad, more at Techmeme »

Marina Adami / Global Investigative Journalism Network:

Q&A with Bellingcat's Christo Grozev on the outlet's current goal of documenting war crimes in Ukraine, the impact of digitization on wartime reporting, more — Editor's note: Christo Grozev is an investigative journalist and the executive director of GIJN member Bellingcat …

Discussion: @gijn

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Verizon unveils Plus Play to let customers discover, buy, and manage media, fitness, and lifestyle subscriptions, in partnership with Netflix and others — Verizon, having exited the original content business, is escalating its play as an aggregator of streaming services — including forming a new partnership with Netflix.

Discussion: The Streamable, The Verge, What's On Disney Plus and AppleInsider