Mediagazer: Bustle closes The Outline a year after acquiring it, amid broader layoffs of 24 people and pay cuts; Josh Topolsky to explore “alternative paths” for the site (Todd Spangler/Variety)

7:05 AM ET, April 4, 2020

Top News:

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Bustle closes The Outline a year after acquiring it, amid broader layoffs of 24 people and pay cuts; Josh Topolsky to explore “alternative paths” for the site — YouTube Beauty Guru James Charles on Launching His ‘Instant Influencer’ Reality Show and Coping During COVID-19

Sara Jerde / Adweek:

G/O Media, parent of Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Deadspin, and Lifehacker, has laid off 14 people, or less than 5% of its staff — It's not the first media company to announce layoffs today — G/O Media laid off 14 people—less than 5% of its staff—today in what it characterized as a “small restructuring.”

Discussion: Digiday, @gmgunion, @megreenwell, @bmorrissey, @timmarchman, @benmullin, @maxwelltani, @joshsternberg and The Wrap

Scott Nover / Adweek:
Sources: 20-30 people have been laid off from CQ Roll Call, mostly from the editorial department; the news outlet was bought by FiscalNote for $180M in 2018

Discussion: @eacrunden, @fawnjohnson, @ericmgarcia, @jackietothdc, @alexclearfield, @scottnover, @cahnemily and @joshtpm

H.G. Watson / JSource:

Canadian fast-food chain Mary Brown's Chicken & Taters partners with Postmedia to drop newspaper paywalls in April, part of an effort to serve the public — Fried chicken chain partnership lets newspaper company drop paywall in April — We live in unprecedented times.

Discussion: Nieman Lab, National Post, @perreaux, @hg_watson, @briandijkema, @mountroyalaudio, @laurahowellsnl, @benjaminmillar, @graemedmoffat, @michellemanafy and @jbenton

Pew Research Center:

Pew: 92% of MSNBC viewers said the media covered COVID-19 at least somewhat well vs. 58% of Fox News viewers; the former were likelier to know the virus' origin — Coverage of COVID-19 has dominated the news and resulted in skyrocketing ratings for the nation's cable news networks.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, @_cingraham, @pewresearch, @rezendi and @conradhackett

Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:

ViacomCBS closes its purchase of 49% of Miramax from beIN Media Group, which retains 51%; ViacomCBS paid $150M at closing, will invest $225M more over 5 years — ViacomCBS said Friday it's closed on the acquistion of a 49% stake in Miramax from owner beIN Media Group, whih will retain 51% in the company.

Discussion: The Wrap, The Wrap and Broadcasting & Cable

New Zealand Herald:

Bauer Media New Zealand, publisher of some of the country's most popular magazine titles, shuts down; about 300 people have lost their jobs — New Zealand's biggest newsstand magazines have folded, as Bauer Media NZ abruptly closed its doors permanently as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

Discussion: RNZ Business Headlines, @meljbunce, @theproject_nz, @rudemrlang, @helenclarknz, @judithcollinsmp and Newshub

Sara Guaglione / MediaPost:

Variety launches Variety Intelligence Platform, a subscription product offering analysis to high-level media professionals, for $399.99/year or $39.99/month — The entertainment trade Variety has launched a digital subscription offering. Aimed at media industry professionals …

Discussion: @awallenstein, Variety, @awallenstein, @awallenstein, Variety, @awallenstein and @awallenstein

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

Survey in Germany, UK, US, China, India, South Korea, and Germany: 16% of people pay for news, those under 34 are likelier to pay for news than people over 55 — The kids are all right, according to a new World Economic Forum report. Young people (ages 16 to 34) are twice as likely to pay …

Discussion: American Press Institute, @niemanlab, @sarahscire, @lauraelizdavis, @niemanlab, @spj_tweets and World Economic Forum

CampaignUK:

Cannes Lion, a major awards festival and conference in the ad industry, has been canceled after initially being postponed to October — Neither festival nor awards will take place this year. — Cannes Lions has announced it is cancelling the annual Festival of Creativity …

Discussion: Ad Age, Mumbrella, @kitten_mouse, @tkawaja, @arvindhickman, @creature_dan, @paulmarkbailey, @tobyrolla, Forbes, CNBC, Cannes Lions Festival 2020, MediaPost, The Drum and Ad Age

Abhilash Kumar / Counterpoint Research:

Global online music streaming grew 32% YoY in 2019, reaching 358M total subs; Spotify led with 31% market share of paid subs, followed by Apple Music at 19% — - Spotify continues to be the market leader and recorded a 23% YoY growth in total revenue during CY 2019.

more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Twitter says it will now allow ads mentioning COVID-19 under some conditions, such as ads about changes to business practices, a day after Google lifted its ban — Twitter will now allow advertising containing references to the coronavirus under certain use cases, according to a note …

Discussion: Ad Age, Search Engine Journal, Mashable, Bloomberg and @scottmaustin

Axios:

Sources: new WH chief of staff discussed hiring Pentagon spokesperson Alyssa Farah or Trump campaign spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany as a new press secretary — White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has privately discussed bringing on Pentagon spokesperson Alyssa Farah or Trump campaign …

Discussion: @jonathanvswan, Raw Story and @jonlemire

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Jennifer Maas / The Wrap:
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
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Tatiana Siegel / Hollywood Reporter:
Amazon Prime Video teams up with SXSW to offer free streaming of films that were to be screened at the canceled festival, likely in late April for 10 days

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Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
Ofcom warns broadcasters of sanctions if they air false COVID-19 health advice after a radio station aired a baseless suggestion that the virus is linked to 5G

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