Mediagazer: Russian news outlet RusNews says its reporter Roman Ivanov was sentenced to seven years in prison for articles about alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine (Reuters)

Sources: Temu became Meta's top advertiser by revenue in 2023 by spending nearly $2B on ads, and became one of Google's top five advertisers by spending in 2023 — The e-commerce platform spent nearly $2 billion at Meta and was a top advertiser at Google — Meta Platforms' top advertiser …

Discussion: MediaPost, @nathandgregory, @eparody, @timothybucksf@threads.net, The Information, @2xaught7.bsky.social, Dylan Jones on LinkedIn, @firstadopter and @firstadopter, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

Analysis: Temu and Shein are spending heavily on Facebook, X, and YouTube ads in the US; Temu placed ~1.4M ads globally on Google services in the past year — Temu, Shein, and streaming and gaming apps looking to break into the U.S. market are spending huge sums to get their wares in front of American consumers.

more at Techmeme »

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

FT executive Alexandra Calinikos says FT Ventures plans to make £30M in initial deployments, investing £500K to £5M in “information, intelligence, media” firms — FT becomes strategic investor in growing media companies. — FT Ventures, the recently-announced venture arm …

Discussion: @pressgazette and Talking Biz News

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

Q&A with FT Group CEO John Ridding on the benefits of being owned by Nikkei, using AI in the newsroom and for engagement, US growth, and Big Tech's AI missteps — The FT has more than 1.4 million subscribers, including more than 1 million digital subscribers. About 20% are based in the United States.

Discussion: @worldeditors, @filip_struharik, @niemanlab, @benwhitelaw, Financial Times and The Drum

Reuters:

Spotify plans to raise its prices in France due to a new tax law that adds a 1.2% tax on streaming companies' revenue to help finance local music creation — Swedish streaming service Spotify (SPOT.N) on Thursday said it would increase its prices in France due to a new tax, which it argued would fail to accomplish its intended goal.

Discussion: Spotify, Billboard, Engadget, CMU, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Ben Markus / Colorado Public Radio:

Colorado Public Radio lays off 15, primarily in audio and podcast production, and spares the newsroom of cuts; staff grew from 48 in FY 2006 to 214 in FY 2022 — Colorado Public Radio laid off 15 employees this week, the largest cut to the public broadcaster's payroll in at least a quarter of a century.

Discussion: Inside Radio, @alexscoville, @cprmarkus, @coreyhutchins, Current, The Squeeze, Radio Ink and @oddryhepburn@threads.net

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Warner Bros. Discovery plans to overhaul its TruTV cable network with a new nightly block of sports programming, including a show focused on betting — The media company intends to create a new nightly sports block for TruTV, the reality-series cable network that has largely been left …

Reuters:

Russian news outlet RusNews says its reporter Roman Ivanov was sentenced to seven years in prison for articles about alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine — A reporter for an independent Russian news outlet was sentenced to seven years in prison on Wednesday for articles he wrote …

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, @globalfreemedia and Committee to Protect …

Jem Aswad / Variety:

In a letter to members, the National Music Publishers Association says it doesn't expect to renew its TikTok license when the deal expires on April 30 — The standoff between Universal Music Group and TikTok took another turn on Wednesday when the trade group National Music Publishers Association sent …

Discussion: Bloomberg, CMU, Billboard, Digital Journal, Music Ally, Digital Music News, CBS News, The Information and Music Business Worldwide

Bill Bradley / Adweek:

Disney sells out of ad inventory for the 2024 Oscars; a source says Disney was seeking $1.7M to $2.2M for 30-second ads, similar to its 2022 pricing — The ceremony will have a broad range of sponsors across 17 categories

Discussion: The Wrap, MediaPost and The Hollywood Reporter

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Condé Nast reports flat revenue gains YoY in 2023; in a memo, Condé Nast CEO says consumer revenue grew 7% YoY and expects operating costs to remain the same — - Lynch said moving to a place where the company is consistently breaking even has helped it invest in growth areas, particular in digital.

Discussion: @mediaevan

Cynthia Kroet / Euronews:

After IAB Europe appealed a 2022 decision, the EU's highest court rules that IAB's online advertising model uses personal data and is therefore subject to GDPR — After clarification from Luxembourg, the Belgian Court of Appeal will now rule on the case. — IAB Europe's online advertising …

Discussion: TechCrunch, IAB Europe, Irish Council … and @jason_kint, more at Techmeme »