Mediagazer: Snap reports Q4 revenue up 5% YoY to $1.36B, vs. $1.38B est., DAUs up 10% YoY to 414M, a net loss of $248M, up from $288M in Q4 2023; SNAP drops 30%+ (Jonathan Vanian/CNBC)

5:40 AM ET, February 7, 2024

Top News:

Fox, ESPN, and WBD announce a new joint venture to launch a streaming sports service in the US in the fall of 2024; each entity will own a third of the JV — The service will be available to ESPN+, Hulu and Max subscribers.

Dave Lawler / Axios:

Former Fox host Tucker Carlson says he has traveled to Moscow to interview Vladimir Putin and will air the interview “unedited” on his website and on X — Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said in a video posted to X on Tuesday that he is in Moscow to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

Gina Carano, who was fired from The Mandalorian after controversial social media posts, sues Disney and Lucasfilm for wrongful termination in a suit funded by X — The actress claims the entertainment giant discriminated against her for voicing right-wing opinions on hot-button issues.

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

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

YouTube says Shorts averages 70B+ daily views and the number of channels uploading Shorts rose 50% YoY — YouTube CEO Neal Mohan today shared what the video service is focusing on in 2024. At a high-level, it's AI, elevating creators, safety, and the “next frontier” of the living room and subscriptions.

Discussion: Tubefilter, The Desk, Observer, Next TV, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

Julia Turner, who led LA Times' entertainment coverage before becoming SVP for content business strategy, is leaving, the fourth high-ranking editor to depart — Julia Turner, who led culture and entertainment coverage for the Los Angeles Times before taking on a business strategy role …

Discussion: @usc_cclp, @juliaturner, @juliaturner, Adam Powell on LinkedIn, The Wrap and MediaPost

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:

Betches, acquired by LBG Media last year and aimed at young women, partners with TikTok creator UnderTheDeskNews on a political podcast, American Fever Dream — The brand says it's not shy about leaning liberal — A company best known for its posts on Instagram announced on Tuesday …

Discussion: @underthedesknews@threads.net and Betches

Lachlan Cartwright / The Hollywood Reporter:

Richard Beckman and Jimmy Finkelstein paid themselves seven-figure salaries at the shuttered Messenger; sources: two staffers filed HR complaints about Beckman — The shuttered site The Messenger, run by Jimmy Finkelstein and Richard Beckman, spent $50 million in less than a year …

Discussion: Buttondown, The Daily Beast, Nieman Lab, @miketanier.bsky.social and @miketanier.bsky.social

John Hanna / Associated Press:

Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn sues the city of Marion and local officials, saying the Aug. 2023 raid caused her physical and mental health problems — A reporter for a weekly Kansas newspaper that police raided last year filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against its hometown and local officials …

Discussion: KEYT-TV and @jessmcmasterkc

Melanie Goodfellow / Deadline:

Dubai-based Camb.ai, which makes a translation tool that “instantaneously” dubs speech in 100+ languages and was used at the Australian Open, raised a $4M seed — Dubbing Platform Camb.ai, which has recently been used for coverage of the 2024 Australian Open tennis tournament …

Discussion: Sports Business Journal, Business Wire and The Hollywood Reporter

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:

Snap reports Q4 revenue up 5% YoY to $1.36B, vs. $1.38B est., DAUs up 10% YoY to 414M, a net loss of $248M, up from $288M in Q4 2023; SNAP drops 30%+ — - Snap said fourth-quarter revenue rose about 5%, while the company's net loss narrowed 14% from a year earlier.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Snap, NBC 7 San Diego, NBC Bay Area, @thestockmarketnerd …, CNN and KNSD-TV, more at Techmeme »

Adam Chitwood / The Wrap:

An 87% majority of editorial and creative employees at video game outlet IGN vote to unionize with the NewsGuild-CWA; the group will consist of 80+ employees — The newly formed IGN Creators Guild will consist of over 80 employees — A majority of editorial and creative employees at IGN …

Discussion: Variety, The NewsGuild, @sweetpotatoes, The Hollywood Reporter and Kotaku

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 …

Discussion: @xpangler, @xpangler, The Verge, CMU, Reuters and The Wrap

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

Discussion: @richlightshed, @economyapp, @eldsjal, @sarthakgh, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @eldsjal, The Guardian, The Information, @lucas_shaw@threads.net, Axios, Billboard, Music Business Worldwide, Deadline, The Verge, The Hollywood Reporter, Spotify and TechCrunch

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More News:

Liz Hoffman / Semafor:
Sources: Standard Industries, a roofing conglomerate that has invested in Puck and Pushkin, is in talks to acquire Graydon Carter's Air Mail for ~$50M

Discussion: @bigmeaninternet, @nbj914, @jbarro and @nichcarlson@threads.net

Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Linda Wertheimer, an NPR “founding mother” who joined the outlet at its 1971 launch and directed and hosted All Things Considered, is retiring after 53 years

Discussion: VPM, Barrett News Media, @davidfolkenflik, @nprkelly, @scottdetrow_npr@threads.net, @audieoffmic@threads.net and Current

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Substack is running a pilot program to help creators on the platform sell ads; a writer says Substack contracted an outside team to approach advertisers

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

Discussion: @onionincunion, Writers Guild of America … and The Wrap

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

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

Earlier Picks:

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

Discussion: TechCrunch, Meta, Digiday, The Information, Saanya Ojha on LinkedIn, Neowin, Fast Company, @nickclegg, @metanewsroom, @andymstone, The Register, Engadget, The Hill, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Wired, Axios, NBC News, The Guardian, The Verge and CNN, more at Techmeme »

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”

Discussion: Poynter, @celestemarcus3, @moiradonegan, @juliaioffe, @esotericcd, @willsommer, @mskellymhayes, @davidklion, @roddreher, @brandyljensen, @annacbross, @moiradonegan, @2600@mastodon.online, New York Post, The Wrap and Mediaite

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

Discussion: The Information

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

From Techmeme:

Gavin Anderegg / anderegg.ca:
Bluesky is working to become fully decentralized but it could take years amid financial concerns as it makes money only by selling domains for usernames

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: ByteDance is valuing itself at about $300B as part of a recent buyback offer, one of its highest valuations ever

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: T-Mobile's network was among the systems hacked by the China-linked Salt Typhoon group, and some foreign telecommunications firms were also compromised

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