Top News:


Discovery says it has 18M subscribers, most on Discovery+, reports Q2 net income of $672M on revenue of $3.06B, up 21% YoY; US ad revenue grew 12% YoY to $1.1B — Discovery surpassed financial expectations in the second quarter of 2021, when advertising sales and growth at Discovery+ made for a solid three-month period.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, @kelseymsutton, @loudmouthjulia, @alexweprin, IndieWire, WORLD SCREEN, Variety, The Streamable, MediaPost, The Streamable, Variety, The Wrap and nexttv.com
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Discovery says more than 275M viewers in Europe watched the first nine days of the Olympics, of which 100M watched on Discovery channels or digital services
Discussion:
The Wrap and Digital TV Europe

Discovery's deal to buy European rights for 2018-2024 Olympics, worth $1.5B, has led to severely limited free-to-air coverage in the UK, Italy, and elsewhere
Discussion:
Personanondata, @edcumming, @scottygb, @adebradley, @djoneshoop, @eddierobson, @redditcfb and The Guardian


NY AG report: Chris Cuomo of CNN sent an email that appeared to be a draft PR release for his brother, Andrew, when harassment claims against the governor arose — The newly released report from Attorney General Letitia James's office on sexual-harassment allegations against Governor Andrew Cuomo …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed News, @davidklion, @nycsouthpaw, Associated Press, @loopemma, Gothamist, @jackmirkinson, @davidminpdx, Deadline, @joshsternberg, @davidklion, @juliareinstein, @iamntyrell, @nycsouthpaw, @juliareinstein, @janicedean, @cfidd, Insider, Mediaite, @kashfida, @danarubinstein, @nadineyousif_, @jeffreyguterman, @joparkerbear, TVNewser, @jessehawken, New York Post, The Daily Beast, New York Times, Breitbart, @davidmackau, Fox News and @bytomfrank


Q&A with YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan on monetizing Shorts, content moderation with Content ID, YouTube TV, competing with TikTok, and more — YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan joined Decoder this week to discuss YouTube's new $100 million fund to begin paying creators …
Discussion:
@reckless, @caseynewton, Social Media Today, @reckless, @reckless, @mhbergen, The Streamable, @earcos, @reckless, @nealmohan, How-To Geek, @alexeheath, 9to5Google and @alexeheath, more at Techmeme »
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YouTube will pay creators up to $10K/month for making original videos on YouTube Shorts, starting in 10 regions this month and paid out of its $100M Shorts Fund
Discussion:
The Wrap, TechCrunch, Tubefilter, @samsheffer, @mrbrown, New York Times and Variety, more at Techmeme »


Facebook says it has disabled the accounts, apps, Pages, and access to its APIs for researchers running NYU's Ad Observatory Project, citing TOS violations — - Company says researchers of political ads were scraping data — NYU's Ad Observatory got cease-and-desist letter last October
Discussion:
About Facebook, @jonkeegan, @brooklynmarie, @hshaban, @daviduberti, @rmac18, @blackamazon, @caseynewton, @kurtwagner8, @fboversight, @bgrueskin and @kurtwagner8, more at Techmeme »


Knight Foundation announces Jim Brady as VP/Journalism; Brady has worked at WaPo, Digital First Media, and founded Spirited Media — Jim Brady will be VP/Journalism — Heidi Barker will be VP/Communications and Chief DEI Officer — Digital news leader Jim Brady will join the John S …
Discussion:
@knightfdn, @jimbrady, @jenniferpreston, @groundtruth, @jeffjarvis, @laurawags, @froomkin, @raju, @vivian, @ckrewson and @sewellchan


Longform podcast, with ~500 episodes of interviews with writers and others, is joining Vox Media Podcast Network, which will handle marketing and distribution — Starting today, the Longform podcast — a long-running show featuring interviews with nonfiction writers and journalists about storytelling …
Discussion:
Vox Media, @greyhorsecomms and @aaronlammer


Spotify is testing Spotify Plus, a low-cost tier that includes ads but doesn't impose limits on track skipping and lets users pick specific songs to play — Spotify Plus is being piloted with a ‘limited number’ of users — Spotify Plus is a new low-cost subscription tier being piloted …
Discussion:
XDA Developers, ScreenRant, @johnlegere, @shiraovide, How-To Geek, Gizmodo, Hollywood Reporter, iMore and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »


On-demand movie and TV service FandangoNOW has merged with video streaming service Vudu, which will become Roku's official movie and TV store — The updated Vudu service will have more than 200,000 titles to rent or buy — including features on Disney+ like ‘Black Widow.’
Discussion:
TechCrunch, nexttv.com, Light Reading, Decider, Cord Cutters News, The Verge, Variety, MediaPost, Gizmodo, FierceVideo and Collider


Subscription podcast company Quake raises $3.5M and says it has an almost 90% retention rate on monthly churn after the one-week free trial expires — Quake, a subscription podcast company founded by media veterans, has raised an additional $3.5 million, Axios has learned.
Discussion:
@mr312


Canada launches more talks on making digital platforms like Facebook and Google pay for journalism, with Australia's model and an indie media fund as options — The federal government has two options on the table for making digital platforms such as Facebook and Google pay media companies …
Discussion:
National Post, @mediamorphis, @torontostar, @torontostar, Canada.ca, @mediamorphis, @torontostar, @jason_kint, @mathewi and @mediamorphis


Daisy Veerasingham named president and CEO of The Associated Press, becoming the first woman, person of color, and foreign citizen to lead the outlet — NEW YORK - The Associated Press today named Daisy Veerasingham as its new president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2022.
Discussion:
Associated Press, New York Times, @sarafischer, @mweissenstein, @deepaltrevedie, @prasanto, Poynter, @jpacedc, @rosental, @dsupervilleap, The Hill, The Wrap and Reuters


Condé Nast and Universal Music Group partner to launch CNCV+, which will provide advertisers access to both audiences through one offering — This morning, Cond? Nast announced it has partnered with Universal Music Group to launch Cond? Nast Certified Video Plus (CNCV+) …
Discussion:
MediaPost