Mediagazer: Filing: Spotify bought Findaway for €117M, Sonantic for €91M, and Chartable and Podsights for €83M, with a possible extra payment of €21M (Paul Sawers/TechCrunch)

9:35 AM ET, July 28, 2022

Top News:

Alex Sherman / CNBC:

NBCU reports Q2 revenue of $9.4B, up 18.7% YoY, and adjusted EBITDA of $1.9B, up 19.5% YoY; Peacock had a $467M loss and subscribers stayed flat from Q1 at 13M — - Comcast reported earnings for the second quarter before the bell on Thursday — Comcast broadband subscribers were flat at 32.2 million for the quarter.

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, The Streamable, Variety, @sherman4949, Deadline, UPI, The Verge, Wall Street Journal, Comcast Corporation and The Hollywood Reporter

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

Google delays phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome to H2 2024, after deferring the plan from 2022 to 2023, citing the need for more Privacy Sandbox tests — Google was originally planning to get rid of third-party cookies in its browser by 2022, but that was later pushed back to 2023.

Discussion: Insider, The Keyword, Digiday, The Register, Mumbrella, @simonjharris, @johnwilander, @larakiara, @aexm, Social Media Today, @martinsfp, MediaPost, AdExchanger, The Verge, The Drum and StreetInsider.com, more at Techmeme »

Salvador Rodriguez / Wall Street Journal:

Meta reports its first-ever YoY quarterly revenue decline and issues a lowered Q3 forecast, citing a weak ad demand environment and macroeconomic uncertainty — Social-media giant missed Wall Street's sales expectation but added users—defying analysts' projections — The Tech Sector Is Taking a Beating.

Discussion: New York Times, Variety, BIG by Matt Stoller, Facebook, @arpitrage, @levynews, @ryanbarwick, Transistori, Fortune, CNBC, New York Times, CNBC, Forbes and Protocol, more at Techmeme »

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:

Filing: Spotify bought Findaway for €117M, Sonantic for €91M, and Chartable and Podsights for €83M, with a possible extra payment of €21M — Spotify has quietly announced how much it's paying for four of its recent acquisitions, revealing that it's doling out a combined €291 million …

Peter Houston / Media Voices:

Interview with Medium's VP of Content, who says it is focused on highlighting experts and needs to figure out how to provide users with predictable growth — In our final episode of the season, we hear from Medium's VP of Content Scott Lamb. Scott leads the content and creator relations teams …

Discussion: What's New in Publishing

Emma Roth / The Verge:

TikTok plans to give select researchers “public and anonymized data” from its platform and moderation system to “assess content and trends or conducts tests” — The move comes hours after a report reveals TikTok's efforts to distance itself from China

Discussion: @tiktokcomms, TikTok, @dfreelon, @attorneynora, @phmai, @brandonsilverm, @v_ness, @logandobson, Social Media Today, @joepcunningham, @senrubiopress and TechCrunch

Chris Stokel-Walker / Gizmodo:
Internal TikTok PR documents reveal suggested responses to difficult questions, including downplaying AI, parent company ByteDance, and “the China association”

Discussion: @jimhansondc, @thatdanstewart, Scope Creep 🎯, @annalecta, Tubefilter, @stokel, @iblametom, @stokel, @alexhern, Insider, New York Post, Newslit Daily, Fortune and BuzzFeed News

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:

ITV reports H1 2022 revenue rose 8% YoY to £1.67B, driven by ITV Studios, up 16% YoY to £927M; total ad revenue rose 5% YoY and digital ad revenue rose 20% YoY — U.K. broadcaster ITV's total external revenues are up 8% at £1.67 billion ($2.04 billion), according to half year financial results released on Thursday.

Discussion: Variety, Deadline, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter:

CEO Daniel Ek says Spotify plans to reduce the pace of hiring by 25%: “I do believe only the prepared survive, and we're preparing as if things could get worse” — As the music streaming giant's stock jumps, CEO Daniel Ek addresses macro-economic challenges, saying …

Discussion: Axios, @sarafischer, Spotify, The Verge, Deadline and Business Wire

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify reports Q2 revenue up 23% YoY to €2.9B, a €125M net loss, up from €20M YoY, MAUs up 19% YoY to 433M, and Premium users up 14% YoY to 188M; stock up 12%

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Spotify has “decided to stop further production of Car Thing units” and will take a €31M charge, citing factors like “product demand and supply chain issues”

Discussion: @lexnfx, @heilemann, @chrismessina, The Desk, @ashleyrcarman, @ashleyrcarman, @ashleyrcarman, ScreenRant, 9to5Google, TechRadar, Gizmodo, CNET, 9to5Mac and The Verge

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

Institute for Nonprofit News: 65% of US nonprofit news site launches in 2021 were local; foundations remain the largest funding source for most outlets surveyed — Local news sites have accounted for 55% of all U.S. nonprofit news sites launched since 2017, and last year, 65% of launches were local …

Discussion: Poynter

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Source and memo: Vox Media lays off 39 people, or less than 2% of its 2,000+ staff, including some in editorial, and will slow hiring, amid economic uncertainty — Vox Media is laying off 39 people, less than 2% of its total staff of more than 2000, in an effort to get ahead of economic uncertainty …

Discussion: CNBC, @oliverdarcy, @marisakabas, @sherman4949, @tvgrimreaper, @ewerickson, @heminator, @seanagnew, @jason_howerton, @sarafischer, @oliverdarcy, Discourse Blog, MediaPost and Variety

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:

Source: Meta is forming an advisory board composed of top entertainment executives, managers, and publicists; the board will not advise on product changes — A quick succession of new features and tests has left even the app's most loyal users, including Kim Kardashian, wondering what Instagram is for

Discussion: Insider, TechCrunch, BBC, The Signal, Los Angeles Times, AdExchanger, Mumbrella, @jessespector, @taylorlorenz, @arainert, @edwardbarsamian, @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz, @drewharwell, The Week, Today in Tabs and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Taylor Lorenz / Taylor Lorenz's Newsletter:
Nostalgia for the “old”, chronological Instagram makes sense but belies changing norms around online sharing, communication, privacy, and engaging content

Discussion: People vs Algorithms, Mascarpone, @alex, @caseynewton, @theurbanjuror, @rossreports, @boopfashionista, @rrroooiiirrr, @_zeets, @taylorlorenz, @taylorlorenz and @taylorlorenz

Jackson Richman / Mediaite:

After Turning Point USA sent a cease-and-desist to ABC News, The View apologizes for associating the youth group with neo-Nazis who protested outside its summit — The View apologized for lumping in Turning Point USA with neo-Nazis who protested outside the pro-Trump youth group's summit.

Discussion: Fox News, @johnrobertsfox, Decider and Deadline

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Money, the finance magazine that converted to digital-only in 2019, becomes the exclusive syndicated provider of finance news to McClatchy's 29 local outlets — Contrary to the unsual hedge fund narrative, McClatchy is increasing its editorial investment — Money, the longtime personal …

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From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Apple removes WhatsApp, Threads, Signal, and Telegram from its App Store in China, after orders from the country's regulators citing national security concerns

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Sources: EU may accept Apple's proposal to open its NFC payments tech to rivals, and may close its antitrust probe in May, letting Apple avoid hefty fines

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