Mediagazer: Source: Netflix executives met with major theater chains to test releasing movies with a longer window, likely 45 days, in thousands of theaters later in 2022 (Lucas Shaw/Bloomberg)

8:25 AM ET, May 17, 2022

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Paradise Media sells literary magazine The Believer to its original owner McSweeney's at a “meaningful” loss, after a fan backlash over clickbait content — The magazine, bought by a marketing company, briefly hosted clickbait content. Scandal ensued.

Antoinette Siu / The Wrap:

BuzzFeed, which bought Complex Networks and HuffPost in 2021, reports Q1 revenue up 26% YoY to $91.6M and a net loss up 295% YoY to $44.6M; stock falls 10%+ — BuzzFeed, Inc. on Monday reported its first-quarter earnings as a public company, with results showing growing content revenue …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, TechCrunch, Benzinga, Dow Jones Newswires, Digiday, @katie_robertson and BuzzFeed

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Sources: Disney will not accept ads about alcohol, politics, or rival studios on the ad-supported tier of Disney+ — Not every marketer is likely to get its commercials on a new ad-supported version of Disney+. — The popular streaming service — home to Marvel movies, the “Star Wars” …

Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:

Marriott launches the Marriott Media Network in partnership with Yahoo to help advertisers target consumers on its hotel websites and the TVs in their rooms — Marriott will use anonymized data on its guests to help brands target their ads. Walmart, Kroger, DoorDash and others have taken similar tacks …

Discussion: Skift, @rafat, MediaPost, @baekdal, @eric_seufert, @alexeheath, @donutshorts, @jeffjarvis, Marketing Dive, PYMNTS.com, TravelPulse, One Mile at a Time, MarTech, @megancgraham, adtech.yahooinc.com and PR Newswire

Bill Curry / Globe and Mail:

Google says Canada's proposed Online News Act amounts to a “link tax” that would “break” its search engine; Google made similar claims against Australia's code — Google is ramping up its opposition to the federal government's Online News Act, warning the proposed new law would …

Discussion: Press Gazette, @wturvill, Google, @vijayshekhar, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @dave1agar, @newsceo, @jj_mccullough, @jason_kint, Toronto Star, @bgrueskin, @jason_kint and @jason_kint

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Source: Netflix executives met with major theater chains to test releasing movies with a longer window, likely 45 days, in thousands of theaters later in 2022 — Netflix Inc. was absent when Hollywood executives gathered in Las Vegas late last month to preview the year ahead in movies, at least officially.

Discussion: @loudmouthjulia, @lucas_shaw, @masasoncap, @lucas_shaw, @loudmouthjulia, @lucas_shaw, Insider, @royprice, @kimmasters and The Streamable

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

Two fact-checking organizations, Argentina's Chequeado and Spain's Maldita.es, launch Factchequeado to address misinformation in Spanish-speaking US communities — Last month, Factchequeado launched as a way to address misinformation in Latino and Spanish-speaking communities in the United States.

Discussion: @mallarytenore, @nicolemfoy and @spj_tweets

Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:

Washingtonian names executive editor Sherri Dalphonse as its new editor, the first woman to edit the city magazine and its fifth editor in its 57-year history — She's the first woman to edit the city magazine and only its fifth top editor ever. — Sherri Dalphonse was named the new editor of Washingtonian on Monday.

Discussion: @brfreed, @erikwemple, @themediaisdying and @abeaujon

Andreas Wiseman / Deadline:

Deadline says it won't publish an interview with Cannes head Thierry Frémaux, after the festival demanded copy approval and removed answers about diversity — Long a bastion of artistic freedom, the Cannes Film Festival has a secret: it censors interviews with festival head Thierry Frémaux.

Discussion: @jon_allsop, @hertzbarry, @kristapley, @brian_tallerico, @samuelaadams, @jorcru, @andylevy, @tomilaffly, @812filmreviews, @lulamaybelle, @mattbelloni, @damennorton, @maggieofthetown, @ruskin147, Variety and Bloomberg

Ezra Marcus / New York Times:

An in-depth look at OnlyFans agencies, which manage hundreds of models' accounts and use teams of ghostwriters to chat with subscribers in private messages — Clever marketers have figured out how easy it is to simulate online intimacy at scale, ventriloquizing alluring models with cheap, offshore labor.

Discussion: @mikestabile, @tophcus, @justinhendrix, @angel_isab3lle, @ashleylatke, @ezra_marc, @pornoqueer, @liamstack, @nytimes, @veenadubal and @kevinbaker, more at Techmeme »

Alexander Lee / Digiday:

Current and former staffers detail how Enthusiast Gaming gut esports news site Upcomer after acquiring it in 2021, laying off 11 of 26 full-time staff in March — In 2021, gaming and esports company Enthusiast Gaming acquired the dormant esports media brand Upcomer, with plans to turn it into a leading esports news publication.

Discussion: @apzonerunner, @owoathkeeper, @amandatnstevens, @goopyknoopy, @alexleewastaken and @jacobwolf

Selome Hailu / Variety:

In a memo to staff, CEO David Zaslav elaborates on Warner Bros. Discovery's priorities, including combining HBO Max and Discovery+, bolstering CNN, and more — In a new memo sent out to Warner Bros. Discovery staff and obtained by Variety, Zaslav began to elaborate on those plans.

Discussion: @jonleebrody and The Wrap

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Jeremy Fuster / The Wrap:
SEC filing: in Q1, Warren Buffett acquired a $2.6B stake in Paramount via Berkshire Hathaway, his third stake in a streaming company along with Apple and Amazon

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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
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New York Times:
As the TV industry prepares to pitch advertisers in-person at upfronts for the first time in three years, a look at how the entertainment industry has changed

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Stuart Dredge / Music Ally:
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Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
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Steven Shepard / Politico:
Ahead of the US midterms, some major media polls are reaching respondents via texts and the mail to supplement phone calling, after presidential election misses

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Michael Schaffer / Politico:
A look at C-SPAN's social media and monetization efforts as its cable fee revenue, 98% of its budget, has fallen from a $70M peak to an estimated <$50M in 2022

Discussion: The Streamable, @david_darmofal, @drewsav, @politicomag, @pdad and @floorcharts

Aaron Moss / Copyright Lately:
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