Top News:
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to €3.7B, MAUs up 23% YoY to 602M, subscribers up 15% YoY to 236M, a €75M operating loss, and expects 618M MAUs in Q1 2024 — - Spotify posts second-largest gain ever for the quarter — Company has been cutting costs in drive to become profitable
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify says Q4 ad-supported revenue grew 12% YoY to €501M, a quarterly high; CFO Paul Vogel expects the podcast segment to reach positive gross margin in 2024 — Spotify pulled in more than new listeners than it expected for the fourth quarter, as the streamer narrowed its net loss …
Washington Post:
The Atlantic cuts ties with prominent contributor Yascha Mounk after writer Celeste Marcus accused him of rape; Mounk calls the claims “categorically untrue” — The Atlantic magazine has cut ties with writer Yascha Mounk, one of its prominent contributors, after a woman accused him of rape …
Discussion:
New York Post, @celestemarcus3, Mediaite, @esotericcd, @mskellymhayes, @brandyljensen, @davidklion, @juliaioffe, @moiradonegan, @annacbross, @roddreher, @willsommer and The Wrap
Amy Or / Bloomberg:
Sources: Reddit had over $800M in revenue in 2023, up 20%+ YoY, and was not profitable for the full year; a source says Reddit was profitable in Q4 — - Social site posted over $800 million revenue last year — Reddit may reveal public IPO filing as soon as this month
Discussion:
The Information, more at Techmeme »
Selome Hailu / Variety:
Nielsen: the 66th annual Grammys hit an average 16.9M viewers, up 34% YoY, across CBS, Paramount+, CBS.com, and the CBS app; Paramount+ streams were up 173% YoY — The 66th annual Grammy Awards took a fast car towards ratings success on Sunday, bringing in an average 16.9 million viewers …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube says YouTube TV now has 8M+ subscribers, up from 5M+ in mid-2022, and that the YouTube Partner Program has 3M+ channels receiving ad revenue share — CEO Neal Mohan also says more than 3 million channels now receive ad-revenue share, touts 1 billion hours viewed on TV daily
Clive Cookson / Financial Times:
An interview with editor Richard Horton about The Lancet's political advocacy, commercial success giving him the freedom to make controversial decisions, more — Veteran editor says commercial success has given him the freedom to make controversial decisions
Discussion:
@Samuelmoore@hcommons.social
Will Fischer / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with Javonte Anderson, editor of Capital B Gary, a Black-focused nonprofit news outlet, on working with locals, shaping coverage via user surveys, and more — “We want to meet the people where they're at, whether that's churches, neighborhood block clubs, salons, or barber shops.”
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Meta proposes standards to identify AI content that its industry peers could use, and plans to label AI images posted on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads — The social network wants to promote standardized labels to help detect artificially created photo, video and audio material across its platforms.
Discussion:
TechCrunch, The Hill, The Wrap, CNN, Engadget, @nickclegg, Bloomberg, Wired, The Guardian, Axios, NBC News, The Verge, @andymstone, @metanewsroom and Meta, more at Techmeme »
Katie Kilkenny / Hollywood Reporter:
The Onion Union votes to ratify the tentative deal with G/O Media, setting terms on G/O Media's use of generative AI, wage increases, and more — The new deal contains language governing the use of AI, wage increases and improved financial terms in the event of layoffs.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @onionincunion and Writers Guild of America …
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
A US judge finds WBD didn't overstate HBO Max streaming subscriber numbers prior to its 2022 merger and dismisses a proposed class action lawsuit from investors — Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) on Monday won the dismissal of a proposed class action led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost …
Discussion:
The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter
Alex Ritman / Variety:
Arthouse streamer Mubi acquires a majority stake in leading Benelux indie distributor Cinéart, marking the first acquisition of a distributor by Mubi — Arthouse streamer and distributor Mubi has acquired a majority stake in leading Benelux indie distributor Cinéart …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter
Financial Times:
Microsoft strikes an AI deal with Semafor for a breaking news feed called Signals; Ben Smith says it will be written by journalists, using AI as a research tool — Collaboration comes as tech giant faces multibillion-dollar lawsuit from the New York Times Microsoft is working with media start …
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