Top News:
New York Times:
Warner Bros. Discovery will shut down CNN+ on April 30, after its March 29 debut; sources: CNN+ had ~150K subscribers and was on pace to hit first-year goals — The new corporate owners of CNN are moving to end the new streaming service just weeks after a splashy debut. — Give this article- - - Read in app
Discussion:
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: ~350 of CNN+'s 700 staff will be laid off with pay and benefits for the next 90 days; CNN+ programming will be reallocated to other streaming services — The shuttering of CNN+ three weeks after the subscription service launched will be remembered as one of the most chaotic moments of CNN's 40-year history.
Discussion:
@saksappeal, @beverlyhallberg, @sarafischer, Daily Mail, MediaPost and The Federalist
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T reports HBO Max and HBO gained 3M subscribers to end Q1 with 76.8M globally; WarnerMedia revenue rose 2.5% YoY to $8.7B and ad revenue fell 3% YoY to $1.7B
AT&T reports HBO Max and HBO gained 3M subscribers to end Q1 with 76.8M globally; WarnerMedia revenue rose 2.5% YoY to $8.7B and ad revenue fell 3% YoY to $1.7B
Discussion:
Protocol, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Engadget, @sherman4949, The Streamable, Forbes, TechCrunch, Next TV, Financial Times, WORLD SCREEN, iMore, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Adweek
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta is reviewing whether COO Sheryl Sandberg pressured the Daily Mail in 2016 and 2019 into killing stories about her then-boyfriend Bobby Kotick — Social-media executive, who dated the Activision Blizzard CEO, was part of campaign to persuade the U.K. tabloid to shelve a potential article
Discussion:
@benfritz, @emilyglazer, @markdistef, The Guardian, @rmac18, The Jacob Wolf Report, @heminator, CNET, Transistori, @adashtra, @ericgeller, @kenklippenstein, Big Technology, @matthewstoller, @adashtra, @bostonjoan, @juddlegum, @can, Newser, @jason_kint, @dancow, @kantrowitz, @zackwhittaker, @nicktheandersen, New York Magazine, @amil, @nickstatt, @maximcolch, @jbflint, Gizmodo, TheStreet, Bloomberg, New York Post, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Insider and Protocol, more at Techmeme »
Luke Winkie / Nieman Lab:
A look at the paranoia in BuzzFeed's newsroom after cuts and the company's SPAC deal, as its media peers weigh going public and the potential effects on staff — Many of the members of BuzzFeed's newsroom feel as if they were sold a bill of goods. — The digital media stalwart opened itself …
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, @luke_winkie, @sewellchan, @niemanlab, @schulzsam, @reedfrich, @markstenberg3, @biettetimmons and @alissamarie
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: after churning out 500+ original programs last year, Netflix is looking to add fewer new titles and focus more on quality, while reining in spending — Streaming service spent lavishly on productions to win subscribers, but now growth has slowed — Your browser does not support the audio tag.
Brendan Brady / Antenna:
Netflix had 3.6M US subscribers cancel in Q1 2022, over 1M more than in Q1 2021 and Q4 2021; gross additions in the past six quarters ranged from 2.2M to 2.9M — Netflix Q1'22 results revealed a quarterly net subscriber loss ( link). Antenna unpacked some of the latest dynamics around …
Discussion:
MediaPost and @loudmouthjulia
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Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix's Q1 earnings show that Disney, Paramount, and other companies that reorganized around streaming video must deal with consistent subscriber volatility
Netflix's Q1 earnings show that Disney, Paramount, and other companies that reorganized around streaming video must deal with consistent subscriber volatility
Discussion:
New York Times, @reckless, @taliaringer, @kennethturan, @smulpuru, Simone's Newsletter, Vanity Fair, @paul__armstrong, Deadline, Variety, @reckless, @reckless, @timsweeneyepic, @blackamazon, @nina_metz, CNBC, @alexweprin, @sherman4949, @aemccarthy, @digitalshields, Bloomberg and TechCrunch
Aisha Majid / Press Gazette:
Analysis: eight of the 50 leading local UK news sites drew 50%+ of their UK audience from nearby; for 20 sites, less than a third of their audience was local — As local print newspapers have declined and closed, traffic to local news websites across the UK has surged.
Discussion:
@liverpoolpost, @danielcave_, @joshi, @brianwhelanhack, @jamesrbuk and @jamesrbuk
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Florida's legislature votes to revoke Disney World's special tax district status, which it held for 55 years, after a clash over the state's “Don't Say Gay” law — Lawmakers in the state voted to revoke the company's special designation following a dispute with Gov. Ron DeSantis over a new education law.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Vox, CNBC, The Drum, Spectrum News 13, @rolandsmartin, @seldo, @repjasoncrow, @dissentingcat, @yousefmunayyer, @lingerie_addict, @marlownyc, Breitbart, Four Freedoms, @johndned, @drewsav, @brianstelter, @alfonslopeztena, @jamessburnett, The Guardian, The Verge, Skift, CNN, Rolling Stone, TheStreet, Variety, Fox News, IndieWire, Reuters, The Wrap, The Publius National Post, CBS News and NPR
Rick Porter / Hollywood Reporter:
Nielsen: streaming services took 29.7% of US viewers' TV usage in March, the highest in the 11 months Nielsen has measured use by platform; cable took 36.9% — Nielsen's platform rankings for March also show cable posting gains driven by news coverage of Ukraine.
Discussion:
nielsen.com, @nielsen, Next TV and Deadline
Mollie Cahillane / Adweek:
Ad tech company Xandr partners with six Nielsen alternatives, 605, Comscore, EDO, Samba TV, TVision, and VideoAmp, to create an alternative for the TV ad market — Xandr is the latest company to jump on the alternative currencies train. Ahead of the upfronts, the ad-tech company partnered …
Discussion:
Business Wire, Ad Age, @adweek, Beet.TV and Radio & Television …
Maliha Shoaib / Vogue Business:
Condé Nast closes Vogue Russia and ceases publishing in the country due to the war in Ukraine and related censorship laws, after suspending operations in March — Condé Nast is closing Vogue Russia and ceasing publishing due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and related censorship laws, CEO Roger Lynch said today.
Discussion:
New York Post
David Barnett / The Guardian:
Report: UK publishers' total income hit a new high of ~$8.7B in 2021, up 5% from 2020; TikTok emerged as a driving force for new books and backlist purchases — The social media platform was a surprise driver for new and older books as sales rose 5% for print and digital