Top News:
Leah Finnegan / Gawker:
Gawker, now owned by Bustle, relaunches with Leah Finnegan as editor-in-chief — When Bustle Digital Group first approached me to revive Gawker last year, I said absolutely no way in hell. Who in God's name would want to edit a website that was cratered by an evil tech lord and sullied by a botched relaunch?
Discussion:
Gawker, New York Times, Gawker, @gawker, The Wrap, New York Post, @mathewi, @viajoshhunt, @ryanvailbrown, @mathewi, @jeremypgordon, @dkaszor, @sarah_sloat_, @michaelroston, After School, @lwoodhouse, @jeremymonjo, @parkerortolani, @leahfinnegan, @joshuatopolsky, @rmac18, @e_alexjung, @rmac18, @mariebardi, @kottke, @kantrowitz, @ceciliakang, @ricsanchez, @tcarmody, @rmac18, @sarafischer, @nataliekitro, @dpd_, @brandyljensen, @auntcontent, @benyt, @jennygzhang, @thegoodolddais, @ashihipar, @dnvolz, @joshsternberg, @kindahagi and Boing Boing
Michael Barthel / Pew Research Center:
State of US news media in 2020: newspapers made more money from circulation than from ads for the first time, cable news saw explosive audience growth, and more — Every two years, Pew Research Center updates its series of fact sheets on the U.S. news media industry, tracking key audience …
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
NBA partners with iHeartMedia to develop a slate of daily and weekly podcasts using NBA's audio archives — - Basketball league will mine its archive for rare audio clips — Radio giant will handle sales, distribution and production — The National Basketball Association is developing …
Discussion:
Variety, Awful Announcing, insideradio.com, @lucas_shaw and AllAccess.com
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Spotify Q2: revenue of €2.3B, up 23% YoY, ad revenue up 110% YoY to €275M; paying subscribers reached 165M, up 20% YoY, total MAUs reached 365M; stock down 6%+ — Spotify, citing ongoing headwinds from the COVID pandemic, fell short of its total monthly user growth goal in the second quarter of 2021.
Max Willens / Digiday:
Sources: LinkedIn is testing LinkedIn Premium News, which gives Premium members access to paywalled content published by sites that use Piano's paywall tech — LinkedIn would like to broaden the base of people shelling out money for its premium membership, and it's hoping that access …
Discussion:
@jeremarketer, @dmitryshishkin and @maxwillens
Andrew Marantz / New Yorker:
A look at “dirtbag-left” podcasts like Chapo Trap House, that pair socialist ideas with the rhetorical style of social media, as some pivot away from politics — For years, “Chapo Trap House” and other podcasts have paired anti-capitalist ideas with the rhetorical style of social media.
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
AT&T is selling Vrio Corp., its DirecTV business unit in Latin America, to Grupo Werthein, after taking a $4.6B impairment charge — AT&T has sold 100% of Vrio Corp. business in Latin America to Grupo Werthhein. — Vrio provides live and on-demand video services via DirecTV Latin America …
Discussion:
Business Wire, Reuters and The Fast Mode
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:
Facebook says Q2 ad revenue was $28.58B, up 56% YoY, with average price per ad up 47% YoY and a 6% YoY increase in ads delivered — The rising price for ads delivered strong top and bottom-line results for Facebook, even as the social media giant continued to warn of “increased ad targeting headwinds.”
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Ad Age, Hollywood Reporter, @froomkin, @carnage4life and @benedictevans, more at Techmeme »
K.J. Yossman / Variety:
Comcast-owned British broadcaster Sky announces a major rebrand of its channel portfolio, including the retirement of flagship channel Sky One after 30+ years — Comcast-owned British broadcaster Sky has announced a major rebrand of its channel portfolio, including the retirement of its flagship channel Sky One.
Discussion:
@sothcott, @vk_hm, @thebarrylad, @adammaguire, @scottygb, @grifftannen, NME, @_jamieogrady, @mohammedali_93, Deadline and Hollywood Reporter
Maria Sheahan / Reuters:
Swiss publisher Ringier buys out Axel Springer in Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; Ringier and Axel Springer's Poland JV will remain — BERLIN (Reuters) - Swiss publisher Ringier is buying out its partner Axel Springer in Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Estonia …
Discussion:
Press Gazette and @jeffjarvis
Georg Szalai / Hollywood Reporter:
UK's ITV says its ad revenue grew 29% YoY in H1 2021, up 87% in May and 115% in June; ITV now has 3M global subs and BritBox International has 2M subs — CEO Carolyn McCall said the U.K. TV giant is “emerging from the worst effects of the pandemic.” — U.K. TV giant ITV reported …
Luppe B. Luppen / Pawprints:
Memo: Politico is naming its White House Correspondent Anita Kumar to the newly-created position of Senior Editor, Standards and Ethics, starting this fall — A quick bit of media news this morning: Politico is naming its White House Correspondent Anita Kumar to the newly-created position of …
Discussion:
@nycsouthpaw, @nycsouthpaw and @nycsouthpaw
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