Top News:
Netflix:
Netflix reports Q1 revenue of $7.16B, up 24% YoY, and 208M paid memberships, up 14% YoY but below its forecast of 210M; stock down 10%+ after hours — Revenue grew 24% year over year and was in line with our beginning of quarter forecast, while operating profit and margin reached all-time highs.
Discussion:
Variety, Financial Times, Digiday, @lucas_shaw, Variety, The Playlist, FierceVideo, CNBC, MediaNama, @charliebilello, @variety, @lucas_shaw, @tvmojoe, @tvmojoe, @tvmojoe, @pkafka, @thestalwart, @mylesudland, Forbes, Hollywood Reporter, musically.com, Junghoon's Direct Media …, The Verge, Ad Age, ZDNet, IndieWire, Light Reading, MediaPost, Protocol, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Yahoo Finance and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »
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Edmund Lee / New York Times:
Competitors like Disney+, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime Video have cut into Netflix's share of viewer attention, but the company is in its best financial shape ever — The streaming service reported the addition of four million new customers for the first quarter, below the six million it had forecast.
Discussion:
Axios, @edmundlee, @xpangler, @shakeelhashim, Collider, Variety, CNBC and New York Times
Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Apple unveils in-app subscriptions for Apple Podcasts; Apple will take 30% of revenue in the first year, and 15% in following years — For ad-free, early access, and bonus content — A monumental change is coming to Apple Podcasts' business: the company is launching subscriptions within the Apple Podcasts app.
Discussion:
Vox, Apple, @mattmedeiros, MediaPost, Matt on Audio, @ashleyrcarman, @kantrowitz, One Man & His Blog, Los Angeles Times, @jakeshapiro, @patreon, Podnews podcasting news, Nieman Lab, @simonowens, @ashleyrcarman, TechCrunch, @grovesprof, PRX Official, 9to5Mac, @nwquah, Supporting Cast, Nathan Gathright, Variety, Castos, Complete Music Update, @kylekashuv, @aexm, @kantrowitz, What's New in Publishing, @karaswisher, @caseynewton, @kevin_indig, @cheriehu42, @gauravchoudhury, @chrismessina, @ashleyrcarman, @alexeheath, @prodanstatev, @theshortboxjax, @lanterncast, @achangeoftune, @chrismessina, @nprextra, @sidharthajha, @pkafka, @sims, @itstreverr, @ow, @godfree, @simonowens, @ashleyrcarman, @heyheyesj, @simonowens, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, Mumbrella, Wall Street Journal, RAIN News, AppleInsider, ScreenRant, Gizmodo, The Wrap, CNET, MacRumors and Reuters
Ronan Shields / Adweek:
Outbrain confidentially files for an IPO, seeking a $2B valuation, after the abandonment of its earlier attempted merger with rival Taboola — Ad-tech company seeks $2 billion valuation in planned IPO
Discussion:
Yahoo Finance, @ediggs and @adweek, more at Techmeme »
Rebecca Davis / Variety:
Reporters Without Borders ranks China fourth to last out of 180 countries on its 2021 World Press Freedom Index, citing “grave threat” to Hong Kong journalism — China ranked 177th in 2019, 2020 and 2021, down from a period at 176th from 2015 to 2018.
Discussion:
TIME, Washington Post and Editor and Publisher
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Reporters Without Borders:
RSF's 2021 Press Freedom Index finds journalism is totally blocked or seriously impeded in 73 of 180 countries and constrained in 59 others; US ranks 44th
Discussion:
Nieman Lab, @michaelsalamone, Washington Post, @lcmporter, @sophia_yan, @withmeaa, @cdeloire, Associated Press, @radiofreeasia, @uspresstracker, @juliemajerczak, @thewire_in, @janebsinger, @rasmus_kleis, Voice of America, Newser, American Press Institute, EURACTIV.com, The Wire, EURACTIV.com, The Hill, Politico, Scroll.in and The Guardian
Sahil Patel / Wall Street Journal:
NBCUniversal hires Nielsen exec Kelly Abcarian as its first EVP of measurement and impact, and says it is spending $100M+ annually on data and tech initiatives — The media giant is spending more than $100 million annually on data and technology initiatives
Discussion:
MediaPost, Variety, @lindayacc, @sizpatel and @beet_tv
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Roku rebrands Quibi content as Roku Originals and says those 75+ shows will be available to watch for free on the ad-supported Roku Channel later this year — Roku is officially dropping the Quibi name. … The 75-plus original shows from Quibi will be available to watch for free …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, The Streamable, Adweek, @caro, @jeremarketer, The Verge, Hollywood Reporter, @sepinwall, @xpangler, WORLD SCREEN, Bloody Disgusting! and Cord Cutters News
Fern Siegel / The Streamable:
Byron Allen launches Local Now, a free ad-supported streamer that aggregates 300+ hyperlocal channels across 225 markets in the US — Local Now, the free ad-supported streamer, has kicked off on most major platforms. Local Now aggregates and streams local news, weather, sports, traffic and entertainment in real time.
Discussion:
@michellemanafy and The Wrap
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Bloomberg Media says its revenue grew ~30% YoY in Q1, as it hit more than 300,000 active subscribers, up from 250,000 in Q4 2020 — One to watch at this year's Upfront and Newfront advertising presentations (held virtually again in 2021): Bloomberg Media. — What to watch …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @alecmacgillis and @rafat
Alison Flood / The Guardian:
Simon & Schuster refuses to cancel a seven-figure book deal for Mike Pence's memoir, after staff open letter accused the publisher of “legitimising bigotry” — Simon & Schuster president Jonathan Karp says seven-figure book deal will go ahead, after open letter …
Discussion:
Insider, Wall Street Journal, @bencjacobs, @jasonleopold, @oliverdarcy, The Week and Bookseller News
Sara Fischer / Axios:
AP says StoryShare will expand in the coming months from geographic to topical networks, letting newsrooms share around topics like storms and gun control — “This is about giving customers the capability to launch networks and improve coverage.”
Discussion:
@norgillespie and @sarafischer
Aubrey Allegretti / The Guardian:
UK government drops plans for US-style TV briefings; press secretary Allegra Stratton will become Boris Johnson's spokeswoman on the climate change summit Cop26 — Proposals for White House-style televised presentations shelved as press secretary changes jobs
Discussion:
@thattimwalker, @theobuttphilip, Press Gazette, @tomstaniford and @thattimwalker
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