Mediagazer: 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 (Jon Porter/The Verge)

6:20 PM ET, August 3, 2021

Top News:

Tony Maglio / The Wrap:

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, Variety, Variety, @kelseymsutton, @loudmouthjulia, @alexweprin, The Streamable, MediaPost, The Wrap, The Streamable, WORLD SCREEN and nexttv.com

K.J. Yossman / Variety:

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 — More than 275 million viewers across Europe have watched the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the first nine days of the competition, Discovery has reported.

Discussion: The Wrap and Digital TV Europe

K.J. Yossman / Variety:
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: The Guardian, Personanondata, @edcumming, @scottygb, @adebradley, @djoneshoop, @eddierobson and @redditcfb

Knight Foundation:

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, @laurawags, @jenniferpreston, @groundtruth, @jeffjarvis, @froomkin, @raju, @vivian, @ckrewson and @sewellchan

Nia Prater / New York Magazine:

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, @nycsouthpaw, Fox News, New York Times, TVNewser, @nycsouthpaw, @juliareinstein, @joshsternberg, @jeffreyguterman, Deadline, Breitbart, Insider, New York Post and The Daily Beast

Nilay Patel / The Verge:

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: The Streamable, Social Media Today, @mhbergen, How-To Geek, @reckless, @reckless, @earcos, @reckless, @nealmohan, @alexeheath, 9to5Google and @alexeheath, more at Techmeme »

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
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 »

J. Clara Chan / Hollywood Reporter:

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, MediaPost, The Streamable, Variety, Collider, The Verge, Gizmodo, Decider, Cord Cutters News and FierceVideo

Lauren Easton / Associated Press:

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, @deepaltrevedie, @prasanto, @sarafischer, @mweissenstein, Poynter, @jpacedc, @dsupervilleap, The Wrap, The Hill and Reuters

Jon Porter / The Verge:

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: @johnlegere, @shiraovide, Hollywood Reporter, How-To Geek, ScreenRant, iMore, Gizmodo and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »

Sara Fischer / Axios:

For the first time, a film distributor will debut a movie on Facebook via a live ticketed event; the documentary “The Outsider” will launch on August 19 — For the first time ever, a film distributor will use Facebook to debut a movie exclusively via a ticketed live event, executives tell Axios.

Discussion: Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, The Wrap, Insider, Variety, @sarthakgh and The Streamable

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

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

Karlene Lukovitz / MediaPost:

ViacomCBS announces a multi-year distribution agreement with Cox Communications, which will now gain access to Paramount+, Showtime OTT, and Pluto TV — ViacomCBS announced a new multi-year distribution agreement with Cox Communications that includes greater access to ViacomCBS's streaming services …

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

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 and @greyhorsecomms

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More News:

Sara Fischer / Axios:
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

Discussion: @mr312

Todd Spangler / Variety:
WarnerMedia and LG reach an agreement to distribute HBO Max on recent-model LG smart TVs in the US

Discussion: Cord Cutters News, The Streamable and The Verge

Ashley Carman / The Verge:
Frustrated by Gimlet Media's control of The Nod's feed and IP, the podcast cohosts are relaunching For Colored Nerds on Sirius, where they retain total control

Discussion: @eleanorkagan, @ashleyrcarman, Podcast Movement and @kateepm

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
Belarusian journalist given 18 months for insulting Lukashenko; human rights org reports 200+ July raids on offices and homes of activists and journalists

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:
A look at CTInsider.com, a Hearst freemium initiative that pools the resources of its Connecticut newspapers, targeting 50K digital subscriptions by early 2022

Discussion: @mandyhofmockel, @bridgetwi, @rickedmonds, @poynter, @ferrarohearstct, @poynter, @poynter, @wendy_met, @mandyhofmockel and The Laurel

Miranda Sawyer / The Guardian:
Some podcasters worry about the impact of huge investment into the industry, led by Spotify and Amazon, especially on indie shows

Discussion: @michellemanafy, @edibow, @greg_jenner, hotpodnews.com, @henereyg, @julieamcdowall, @bobservo, @fallingtreeprod, @simonowens, @martinaustwick, @cathycullen, @cameronreilly, @thememorypalace, @msmirandasawyer, @fionasturges, @thecatfilmfan and Podcast Movement

Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:
A look at Fuck You Pay Me, a Glassdoor-like service where creators can review brands they have worked with and share ad rates

Discussion: @chavielieber, The Supercreator, @jamesnord, @gilly, @dealbook, @nytimesbusiness, @anoushasakoui, @taylorlorenz, @kirstinestewart, @brettkelman, @puiwingtam, @elamin88, @taylorlorenz and @taylorlorenz

Earlier Picks:

Leonard Greene / New York Daily News:
A staffer sues Fox News saying Andrew Napolitano sexually harassed him and Larry Kudlow made racist and sexist remarks; Fox has “parted ways” with Napolitano

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitter partners with Reuters and the AP, who will provide context and highlight links from trusted sources for Trends, Moments, Search, and more

Discussion: Twitter, Adweek, @twittersafety, @martinwaxman, Breitbart, Poynter, The Verge, Reclaim The Net, @jason_kint, @niketa, @christina_ugc, @ericzuck, @larakate, @hshaban, Reuters, Social Media Today, Associated Press, Mediaite and Editor and Publisher

Dave Jamieson / HuffPost:
Sources: Washingtonian Media CEO has called staffers, held meetings, and otherwise pressured employees to vote no on the upcoming NLRB election

Discussion: Poynter, @mattdpearce, @curious_kurz, @hshaban, @kalinanewman, @jayshams and @abeaujon

Todd Spangler / Variety:
News Corp says it will pay $1.15B in cash to buy the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) from S&P Global and IHS Markit

Discussion: @rafat, @sarafischer, Too Much TV Newsletter, Business Wire and MediaPost

New York Times:
While social media companies attract attention for vaccine misinformation, researchers say local media has been a powerful conduit for anti-vaccine messaging

Discussion: Axios, @sarafischer, @jkelly3rd, @jkelly3rd, @stphnfwlr, @trishathadani, @picardonhealth, @jkelly3rd, @daniel_kraft, @jeremarketer, @staceynycdc, @drsherrypagoto, @brettkelman, @brianstelter, Common Dreams and Free Press

Robert Silverman / The Daily Beast:
A deep dive into Tim Pool's career, from livestreaming Occupy to jobs at Vice before spotlighting extremists and white nationalists on YouTube and his website

From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: China's muted response to TikTok bill reflects the view that TikTok is of less strategic value than Huawei; China prefers TikTok US closure to sale

Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Apple removes three AI image generation apps from the App Store after a 404 Media probe found the apps advertised being able to create nonconsensual nude images

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang, and others join a board for advising the DHS on deploying AI safely within US critical infrastructure

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