Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney reports Q1 revenue up 8% YoY to $23.51B, vs. $23.37B est., direct-to-consumer revenue up 13% YoY to $5.3B, and operating loss rose $0.5B to $1.1B — Overall, Disney posted revenue of $23.51 billion (up 8%) and adjusted earnings per share of 99 cents for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2022 (Disney's Q1 of fiscal year 2023).
RELATED:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney says it will reduce its workforce by 7,000 employees, or 3.2% of its global headcount of about 220,000 as it works to save $5.5B in costs — Disney will reduce its workforce by 7,000 employees in a bid to cut costs, Iger said Wednesday on the company's earnings call for the year-end 2022 quarter.
Discussion:
CNET, Adweek, CNBC, The Guardian, Insider, Los Angeles Times, Sydney Morning Herald, The Wrap, Ad Age, Vanity Fair, Associated Press, The Information, Skift, IGN, The Hollywood Reporter, The A.V. Club, CBS News, Financial Times, New York Times, Fortune, Media Play News, @aagave, IndieWire, @brooksbarnesnyt, Deadline and CBR
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Disney reports 161.8M Disney+ global subscribers in Q1, down 1% QoQ, its first drop since launching in 2020; Hulu had 48M and ESPN+ had 24.9M, both up 2% QoQ — Disney's first quarter with CEO Bob Iger back in command isn't looking so good. Disney announced its Q1 2023 earnings today …
Discussion:
The Verge and Zacks Investment Research
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
The New York Times reports Q4 revenue up 12.3% YoY to $667.5M, 2022 revenue up 11.3% YoY to $2.3B, 2022 operating profit of $347.9M, and 9.6M paying subscribers — The company said it added more than a million digital subscribers in 2022, bringing its total number of paying subscribers to 9.6 million.
Discussion:
@katie_robertson, The New York Times Company, Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, Awful Announcing, @nickconfessore, @stacycowley, @jbsgreenberg, @bgrueskin, @bencasselman, @alexcarp_, @nkulw, @jdawsey1, @tripgabriel, @jennyvrentas, @kathyvsinternet, @amandahess, @liamstack, @jayrosen_nyu, @ndhapple, @katie_thomas, @brianstelter, @heytherehaley, @taffyakner, @nycjim, @4evrmalone, @maggieastor, @dicktofel, @mariaramirezny and @jo_becker
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Warner Bros. Discovery plans to keep a standalone Discovery+ service after launching a streaming service that combines HBO Max and Discovery+ content — Move comes amid concerns that some Discovery+ subscribers might not want to move to upcoming pricier, bigger platform
Discussion:
Deadline, Cord Cutters News, CBR, Variety, Rolling Stone, CNN, TechRadar, @asharma, The Streamable, IndieWire, @jbflint, @great_katzby, SlashFilm, Engadget, The Wrap, The A.V. Club, @jbflint, TechCrunch, Mashable, CNET, @enzuigiri, @bysarahkrouse, The Desk, The Verge, @brianstelter, @sonnybunch, Media Play News, Next TV, The Hollywood Reporter, Decider, IGN and Screen Rant
David Friend / Canadian Press:
Netflix rolls out its long-anticipated password sharing rules in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain; other countries will be added in the next few months — Under new rules, premium and standard account holders will be given option to add extra members for $7.99 per month
Discussion:
About Netflix, The Wrap, CNET, CNBC, Media Play News, Los Angeles Times, Engadget, Deadline, Reuters, Canadian Press, The Verge, @dfriend, @sherman4949, The Hollywood Reporter, @netflix_ca and @ibogost, more at Techmeme »
Washington Post:
US House Oversight Committee members questioned three former Twitter executives about suppressing accounts, tweets, and the New York Post's Hunter Biden story — A congressional hearing today promises a moment of political reckoning more than two years in the making …
Discussion:
@justinbaragona, Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, Vanity Fair, Fox News, Mediaite, New York Times, @noahshachtman, The Guardian, @yoyoel@macaw.social, @willoremus, Reclaim The Net, HuffPost, Deadline, Las Vegas Review-Journal, NPR, @rvawonk, Boing Boing, @alex@cybervillains.com, @girlsreallyrule, @jonathanturley, @goldman, @parkermolloy, @jonathanturley, @willoremus, @jonathanturley, @atrupar, @rob_sheridan, @viacristiano, @sulliview, @digiphile, @digiphile, @reppatfallon, The Hill, @donmoyn, @parismarx, @jonathanturley, The Daily Beast, @viacristiano, @wesleylowery, @mlcalderone, @juddlegum, Politico, UPI, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Post and United States House Committee …, more at Techmeme »
Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
Google confirms that AI-generated content isn't against its Search guidelines, but using AI content to manipulate search results ranking violates its policies — AI is set to change the game in some big ways in the near future, and AI-generated content is one of the more controversial elements.
Discussion:
The Drum, MarTech, CNN, Search Engine Land, Night Walk, Wired and Axios, more at Techmeme »
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
Over 200 staff represented by NBC News Digital's union plan to walk off the job on February 9 to protest the outlet cutting seven union-covered staff in January — It's the latest major labor action to strike a national news organization in recent months as the media industry faces headwinds and cut-backs.
Discussion:
The Wrap, The NewsGuild, The Hill, @jackdickey, @hayesbrown, @redsteeze, The Hollywood Reporter, @jeremymbarr, @jeremymbarr, @benjamindictor, @kattenbarge and Fox News
Max Tani / Semafor:
Ozy, which imploded in 2021 and is facing US federal investigations over a misleading investor pitch, is raising money again, pitching itself as a “hip” brand — Ozy, the youth-focused media company that imploded in 2021 over a misleading pitch to potential investors …
Discussion:
@akarl_smith, @aagave, @jbillinson, @tomgara and @semaforben
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Fox Corp reports Q2 revenue up 4% YoY to $4.61B, ad revenue up 4% YoY to $2.5B due to the World Cup, and a $321M net income, up from a $73M net loss in Q2 2021 — After the Murdoch family recently dropped plans to merge Fox with News Corp, the company reported its fiscal second-quarter results.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Qustodio: kids aged 4 to 18 used TikTok for 107 minutes per day on average in 2022, up from 82 minutes in 2020, and 60% longer than YouTube's 67 minutes per day — For another year in a row, TikTok has found itself as the social app kids and teens are spending the most time using throughout the day, even outpacing YouTube.
Discussion:
Tubefilter, @glenngabe and @mattnavarra
Senior Data Journalist, NY — 
Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — 
Oil Reporter, Singapore — 
Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — 
Business Reporter, SC — 
State Government Reporter, WA — 
Climate Crisis Columnist — 
Multimedia Journalist, CA — 
Community Engagement Mgr., DC — 
Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — 
Staff Writer - Business, NY — 
Team Editor - Opinion, ON — 
Assistant Correspondent, DC — 
Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — 
Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — 
Lead Business Reporter, TN — 
Managing Editor, WA — 
Private Credit Reporter, NY — 
Trending News Reporter, TX — 
City Correspondent, London — 
Legislative Reporter, CA — 
Reporter, PA — 
Visual Editor, Remote — 
Staff Writer, MI — 
Senior Political Reporter, DC — 
California Playbook Writer, CA — 
National Investigative Reporter, NY — 
Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — 
Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — 
Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — 
Coordinating Editor, OR — 
Editor, Remote US — 
Business Reporter, WA — 
Editor-in-Chief, AZ — 
