Mediagazer: Hulu says it has 26.8M paying subscribers in the US, up from 23M at the end of 2018, not including the 1.3M users signed up through promotions like free trials (Natalie Jarvey/Hollywood Reporter)

Jim Waterson / The Guardian:

The Guardian posts £800K profit for FY 2018-2019, its first since 1998, with 655K monthly supporters and £223M in revenue, of which 55% comes from digital — Record online traffic and financial contributions from readers play key part in putting GNM on sustainable path

Discussion: Nieman Lab, BBC, Press Gazette, Financial Times, The Guardian, Strange Attractor, The Guardian, @kathviner, @emilybell, Press Gazette, campaignlive.co.uk, @rasmus_kleis, @jimwaterson and @spignal

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Recode officially joins Vox, which purchased it in 2015, with Samantha Oltman, formerly of BuzzFeed News, as editor in chief — A letter from the editors-at-large. — Over the past year, the two of us switched coasts. Kara took up part-time residence in Washington, DC. Ezra moved to Oakland, California.

Discussion: Vox, @michellemanafy, @media_evan, @ow, @voxmediainc and @katienotopoulos

Sahil Patel / Digiday:

Sources: Quibi execs are seeking upfront ad commitments, prioritizing larger deals, and are planning a $5 ad-supported subscription and an $8 ad-free tier — Jeffrey Katzenberg's Quibi is spending big bucks on original content as the company hopes to build the next big thing in mobile streaming video.

Discussion: @reckless and TechCrunch

Kelsey Sutton / Adweek:

Vice to consolidate its 12+ digital brands under Vice.com with some, like Broadly, folded into the site and others, like Motherboard, with dedicated verticals — It's also rolling out its own audience measurement and new blacklist policy — As part of a larger redesign and streamlining …

Discussion: Variety, @djrbtr and @kelseymsutton

Sara Jerde / Adweek:

Medium has hired four editors in chief to launch new publications focused on power, black women, personal development, and business — The site hired 4 new editors in chief to lead those new verticals — Medium is expanding the scope of its editorial efforts with the hiring of four …

Discussion: @willoremus

Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:

Hulu says it has 26.8M paying subscribers in the US, up from 23M at the end of 2018, not including the 1.3M users signed up through promotions like free trials — Of those members, 1.3 million people are signed up for Hulu through promotions like free trials.

Discussion: Deadline, MediaPost, TechCrunch, Variety, Observer, CNBC, Broadcasting & Cable, Exstreamist, Variety, Forbes, Reuters, @xpangler and @natjarv, more at Techmeme »

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:

Indian media group Times Internet reports 450M+ monthly users across its ~36 news, video, and music properties, says its biggest challenge is increasing revenue — Media group now claims 450M users across services including news, video and music — The aggressive push by Silicon Valley companies …

Discussion: Times Internet and exchange4media, more at Techmeme »

Mathew Ingram / Columbia Journalism Review:

How the spreadsheet that classified job applicants, with rankings of social class, “justice seeking” traits, and more, illustrated the divide within The Markup — There are things about the recent implosion of The Markup that make it unique—in particular, that it raised $23 million …

Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:

In a letter to creators, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says YouTube wants to have half of the videos in its trending tab come from YouTube creators — YouTube wants to have half of the featured videos in its trending tab come from streams originating on the company's own site going forward …

Discussion: YouTube Creator Blog, TorrentFreak, Engadget, Tubefilter and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Max Willens / Digiday:

Slate's 30 podcasts had 180M listens in 2018, a 78% increase YoY; Slate's president says audio could represent “nearly half” of the company's revenue in 2019 — Last year, Slate bet big on audio as a way to drive advertising and membership revenue.

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Creative Commons launches its search engine out of beta, with over 300M images indexed — Nonprofit organization Creative Commons is today publicly launching its search engine, after over two years of beta testing. The new service is designed to offer an easy way to search the commons' archive …

Discussion: @mattmcgee

Todd Spangler / Variety:

VideoAmp, which focuses on optimizing cross-platform advertising and whose clients include CBS, AMC, and A+E, raises $70M Series C led by Raine Group — Media exec Peter Liguori joins board of ad-optimization company — Condé Nast Creating Shows With Tan France, Joe Sugg Among Massive Pipeline of 175-Plus Digital Pilots

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, AdExchanger and Beet.TV