Mediagazer: RIAA: music streaming revenue grew 26% YoY in H1 to $5.9B, comprising 84% of all revenue; paid sub revenue grew 26% to $4.6B, ad-supported grew 54% to $741M (Dan Rys/Billboard)

6:30 AM ET, September 14, 2021

Top News:

Fox Corp. buys TMZ from WarnerMedia, source says for less than $50M; Harvey Levin has signed a multi-year contract to keep running the gossip brand — As AT&T's WarnerMedia sheds the asset, founder Harvey Levin has signed a multi-year deal with Fox and will keep overseeing day-to-day operations.

Bennett Madison / Gawker:

A young adult novelist confesses to writing fake letters to Slate's advice column and duping Tucker Carlson into discussing an obviously phony scenario on air — Sometime at the tail end of 2018, shortly after abandoning yet another draft of what was supposed to be my fifth Young Adult novel …

Kim Lyons / The Verge:

Litecoin spiked ~20% after several news outlets, including Reuters and CNBC, reported that Walmart would begin accepting it based on a fake press release — GlobeNewswire, the site where the hoax release was posted, said it came from a fraudulent user account.

Rose Hill / Mirror:

Andrew Neil says he has resigned as chairman of GB News — Broadcaster Andrew Neil, 72, has said that he has decided to ‘cut back’ on a number of his work commitments — Andrew Neil has resigned as chairman on GB News, with the channel offering a statement following his sudden exit.

Jake Kanter / The Times:
Sources: several top presenters and producers are considering leaving GB News, as its increasingly populist agenda divides the newsroom

Discussion: @lukemcgee, @sturdyalex, @thetimes, @emmakennedy, @edhottv, @andrew_graeme, @mattholehouse, @thetimes, @defencebrief, @damocrat, @leomontague91 and @jake_kanter

Samantha Subin / CNBC:

Intuit says it has agreed to acquire Mailchimp for $12B in cash and stock — - Intuit will buy email marketing company Mailchimp for $12 billion, the companies announced Monday. — Intuit said it will use the acquisition to accelerate growth among small business clients.

Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:

Fox News' subscription streaming service Fox Nation acquires Cops, the reality TV show pulled off air last year amid the George Floyd protests — “Cops,” the reality TV series depicting law enforcement in action, was pulled off the air last year after 32 seasons amid the nationwide protests …

Discussion: Variety, @stevebattaglio, @mattgertz, @alexweprin, @jbenton, @onaircoop, @brianstelter, The Streamable, The Wrap, TVNewser, TVLine, The Hill and Hollywood Reporter

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Puck formally unveils its website and says it will soon launch a paywall, which will give readers access to stories, live events, and personal time with writers — Puck was founded by four media veterans in New York. — Julia Ioffe was finishing up a book earlier this year when she decided it was time to get a full-time job.

Discussion: Puck, @juliaioffe, @lucas_shaw, @beniaminov, @clarissaward, @tina_nguyen, @juliaioffe, @sarafischer and @raju

Dan Rys / Billboard:

RIAA: music streaming revenue grew 26% YoY in H1 to $5.9B, comprising 84% of all revenue; paid sub revenue grew 26% to $4.6B, ad-supported grew 54% to $741M — Recorded music revenues in the United States in the first half of 2021 returned to double-digit growth a year after the pandemic slowed …

Discussion: Medium, insideradio.com, MediaPost, Complete Music Update, AllAccess.com, RIAA, Variety and Music Business Worldwide, more at Techmeme »

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Fire and Fury author Michael Wolff continues teasing out stories from powerful people in his new book Too Famous, while remaining light on source attributions — In his new book, the author of “Fire and Fury” continues his specialty: teasing out stories from men in power.

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

A history of the modern TV news crawl, launched by Fox News and followed by other national news networks to feed viewer's need for constant news on 9/11 — The shock and panic of Sept. 11, 2001, faded with time. But the crawl endured. — Fox News was the first that day.

Discussion: @amyargetsinger, @notrobwalker, @sulliview, @itsokihaveabook, @robmarmet, The Art of Noticing and @niemanlab

Dawn Megli / Poynter:

A look at the trauma of local reporters for whom the line between personal and professional life is far more blurred than for national or foreign correspondents — In community journalism, trauma comes with the territory but mental health resources often do not — A local Marine died this summer while serving overseas.

Discussion: @poynter, @hollyvhays, @davidglaubke, @noelle_phillips, @reporterdawn, @toacornnews, @mediathoughts, @ashleyfitznl, @kristenhare and @ilanakeller

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Three media companies linked to wealthy Chinese exile Guo Wengui, including GTV Media, reach a $539M+ settlement with SEC for offering unregistered securities — - The SEC has charged three media companies linked to wealthy Chinese exile Guo Wengui with illegal unregistered securities offerings.

Discussion: U.S. Securities …, @kelmej, @truefactsstated, @secgov, @lrozen, @bobfu4china, @dfriedman33, @ushadrons, @profcarroll, @danprimack, @jamesfourm, @wendysiegelman, @felixsalmon, @sarafischer, Gizmodo, Insider, Financial Times, Axios and Reuters

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 6:30 AM ET, September 14, 2021.

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Who's Hiring in Media?

Senior Data Journalist, NY — WSJ

Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — Reuters

Oil Reporter, Singapore — Bloomberg

Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — AP

Business Reporter, SC — Post & Courier

State Government Reporter, WA — Seattle Times

Climate Crisis Columnist — Prospect UK

Multimedia Journalist, CA — Paramount

Community Engagement Mgr., DC — Freedom Forum

Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — SFGATE

Staff Writer - Business, NY — WIRED

Team Editor - Opinion, ON — Toronto Star

Assistant Correspondent, DC — Kyodo News

Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — Star Tribune

Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — The Verge

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City Correspondent, London — Financial News

Legislative Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Reporter, PA — Tribune-Review

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California Playbook Writer, CA — Politico

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More News:

Sharif Hassan / New York Times:
Local journalists say Afghanistan's free press, a point of pride, is threatened by the Taliban, leading to self-censorship and a dwindling journalist population

Discussion: The GroundTruth Project, @alfonslopeztena, @niemanlab, @peterbakernyt, @spj_tweets, @helene731 and @kenroth

Kalhan Rosenblatt / NBC News:
Instagram says Saint Hoax, an influencer with 2.8M+ followers, will livestream from this year's Met Gala red carpet as its first-ever Meme Correspondent

Discussion: @sainthoax, @saba_h, @kalhanr, @sarafischer and Los Angeles Times, more at Techmeme »

Stacy Heit / American Journalism Project:
American Journalism Project, which supports nonprofit local news sites, receives a $5M gift from Quadrivium, the foundation started by Kathryn and James Murdoch

Discussion: @jessicalessin, @pattypslutsky and @sarabethberman

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Washington Post relaunches its 202 newsletter suite with shorter, digestible newsletters that are personality-driven and adds an email focusing on climate

Discussion: @oliverdarcy, Washington Post, @jeremymbarr, @sarafischer, Washington Post and MediaPost

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Former New York Post gossip columnist Richard Johnson says he is coming out of retirement to write a gossip column for the Daily News

Discussion: Mediaite, @joepompeo, @claytonguse, @jeremymbarr, @joepompeo, @joepompeo, The Wrap, Yahoo Finance and MediaPost

Earlier Picks:

Jem Aswad / Variety:
Live Nation resumes its delayed acquisition of a 51% stake in Mexico's largest concert provider Ocesa Entretenimiento for around $444M

Discussion: Complete Music Update and Billboard

Tom Warren / The Verge:
Weeks after forcing Groovy Bot offline, Google is doing the same to Rythm, a bot with 560M+ users that lets Discord users play music from YouTube videos

Discussion: @hateshack, Tubefilter, @tomwarren, Gizmodo, PC Gamer and musically.com

Neha Gupta / WAN-IFRA:
A look at Spain's El Diario, founded in 2012, which had 2020 revenue of €9.7M, is economically independent, and offers free memberships for those who cannot pay

Discussion: What's New in Publishing and American Press Institute

Mark Jacob / Northwestern Local News Initiative:
A look at the challenges for many smaller newsrooms in developing a digital strategy, including affording tech support, gathering metrics, and spotty internet

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
ViacomCBS is revamping Paramount Pictures' operations, which will see its movie and TV production arms run separately, the latter led by David Nevins

Discussion: @anthony, New York Post, The Wrap, @jbflint, Deadline, @davidpoland, Variety and Hollywood Reporter

From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says the DOJ's “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision”, would hurt US consumers, and jeopardize the US' global tech leadership

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