Top News:
The Information:
Internal data shows only 11.3M US households regularly watch NBCU's Peacock; sources: NBCU has pitched ViacomCBS about bundling their streaming services — As Netflix and Disney cement their leads over an array of rivals in the video-streaming market, top executives at Comcast and its NBCUniversal arm are in a quandary.
Natalie Jarvey / Hollywood Reporter:
LightShed Partners' Rich Greenfield and others have launched a $75M tech and media investment fund and invested in Podchaser and audio startup Slipstream — The venture arm has already made investments into startups Podchaser, Slipstream and Antenna Analytics.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, GlobeNewswire, Variety, Insider, @richlightshed, @richlightshed and @richlightshed
Paul W. Valentine / Washington Post:
Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler magazine and a self-proclaimed First Amendment champion, has died at his home in Los Angeles at 78 — Larry Flynt, one of America's most notorious pornographers and self-proclaimed champions of First Amendment freedoms, who built his sprawling business interests …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, The Week, @jeannewhalen, @bradmossesq, UPI, @michaeldweiss, @mboorstein, @michaeldweiss, Decider, The A.V. Club, Fox News, CBS Los Angeles, Variety, The Wrap and Boing Boing
Sheila Dang / Reuters:
Kantar: CBS generated a record $545M in ad spending during the Super Bowl, which had a record 57 minutes of ad time — (Reuters) - ViacomCBS' CBS network generated a record $545 million in advertising spending during the NFL's Super Bowl LV this past Sunday, according to preliminary estimates from research firm Kantar.
Discussion:
Digital TV Europe
Angela Fu / Poynter:
Three Gannett newsrooms in New Jersey have announced they are jointly unionizing and forming the Record Guild, part of the NewsGuild of New York — The new union will include the Bergen Record, the Daily Record and the NJ Herald. — Three Gannett-owned newsrooms in New Jersey announced Wednesday morning they are jointly unionizing.
Discussion:
@mcdiduch, @poynter, @angelanfu, The NewsGuild - CWA and nyguild.org
Saqib Shah / Engadget:
Google launches Google News Showcase in UK and Argentina, after debuting the service in Australia last week, and says it now has over 450 publications globally — Google News Showcase is starting to roll out to more countries worldwide, including the UK and Argentina, on the heels of its Australian launch last week.
RELATED:
The Information:
Sources: Stir Money, whose software helps video and audio producers, writers, and performers manage their income, raises Series A led by a16z at $100M valuation — Andreessen Horowitz recently won a competitive deal to lead the Series A financing of Stir Money, a startup whose software helps video …
Discussion:
@kateclarktweets, @transitive_bs, @joshuaogundu, @k17ubha, @seyitaylor and @kateclarktweets, more at Techmeme »
Jabari Young / CNBC:
Sources: the NFL wants to finalize new TV rights soon; Fox, ViacomCBS, NBC, and ESPN currently pay ~$6B/year total, and DirecTV adds $1.5B for Sunday Ticket — - The NFL wants to finalize new TV rights agreements with partners before setting its 2021 salary cap. — The new pact could reach $100 billion.
Discussion:
ProFootballTalk, Thanks:@mattrosoff
Megan Graham / CNBC:
Shares of ad tech company Viant, which owns Myspace and debuted on Nasdaq, jumped 90% from its initial price after the company raised about $250M in its IPO — - Viant Technology saw shares pop significantly after the company launched its initial public offering Wednesday.
Discussion:
@megancgraham, @nasdaq, @jlafayette, Reuters, Broadcasting Cable, Barron's Online and Viant, more at Techmeme »
E. Tammy Kim / Columbia Journalism Review:
Q&A with Burmese journalist Swe Win, who fled the country after being shot in the leg, about reporting on the coup, future of journalism in Myanmar, and more — A few months after I profiled the Burmese journalist Swe Win, in August 2019, he was shot in the leg.
Discussion:
@cjr, @jon_allsop and UPI
The Atlantic:
The Atlantic launches Inheritance, a multiyear project to make oral histories and other artifacts of Black history and ancestry widely accessible — Too much knowledge has been lost, too many stories distorted, too many people forgotten. We mourn for all we do not know.
Discussion:
Digiday, @wagatwe and @jessedamiani
Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
This January, NYT's newsletter The Morning, which launched in May 2020, crossed 1B+ unique opens; readers opened 3.6B+ newsletters from NYT in 2020, up 150% YoY — The New York Times' flagship morning newsletter The Morning hit a milestone in January 2021: over 1 billion unique opens since it launched in May 2020.
Discussion:
@raju, @dangillmor, @mmasnick, @thebryandavis, @jorcohen and Simon Owens's Media Newsletter
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Twitter says it has suspended 500+ accounts in India for violating rules but has not taken any action on accounts of journalists, activists, and politicians — Twitter said on Wednesday it has taken actions on more than 500 accounts and reduced visibility of some hashtags in India …
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, pib.gov.in, Agence France-Presse, @michaelkugelman, Twitter, BuzzFeed News, ZDNet, @fabpaiy, @ibnkhayyam, CNBC, @tractor2twitr, @kashmirosint, @pnjaban, दृष …, @mathewi, @lee_toth, @adityakalra, @dhume, @dangillmor, New Republic, @sanjukta, @raheelk, @pranavdixit, @sagarikaghose, @rasmus_kleis, @sharmakadambini, @nixxin, @twittersafety, Insider, Financial Times, Gizmodo, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Indian Express and The Economic Times, more at Techmeme »
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