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Financial Times:
In an email to advertisers, Twitter insists it will remain a safe place for brands after Elon Musk's takeover, as campaign groups predict rising toxicity — Campaigners and car manufacturers among groups to express concern over Tesla chief's $44bn takeover
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The Verge, USA Today, Well, back to Work, Lee's Newsletter, New York Post and Insider, more at Techmeme »
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Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Twitter reports Q1 revenue of $1.2B, up 16% YoY but below estimates, and $513M net income; mDAUs reached 229M; Twitter will offer no guidance pending Musk's bid — - Twitter reported earnings for the first quarter of 2022. — It could be one of its last as a public company …
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The Wrap, PR Newswire and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Twitter has aggressively defended users' privacy and free speech rights, pushing back on unmasking subpoenas; it's unclear if this will continue under Musk
Twitter has aggressively defended users' privacy and free speech rights, pushing back on unmasking subpoenas; it's unclear if this will continue under Musk
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Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:
What went wrong at Netflix: sources say VP of content Cindy Holland's departure in 2020 let chief content officer Ted Sarandos prioritize quantity over quality — As rivals toggle between schadenfreude and fear, top creators and insiders are increasingly becoming vocal about what's gone wrong with the streaming giant's culture.
Yahoo Finance:
Meta reports Q1 ad revenue of $27B vs. $27.5B est., and says it expects FY 2022 expenses between $87B and $92B, less than the previously announced $90B to $95B — Facebook parent company Meta (FB) reported its Q1 2022 earnings on Wednesday, meeting expectations on revenue but missing on earnings per share.
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Washington Post:
The WHCA turned down an offer to install ultraviolet devices to fight coronavirus transmission at its dinner on April 30, for which it has sold 2,600 tickets — White House correspondents rebuff proposal to install special lights to stop viral spread — More than 2,000 journalists …
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Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
ESPN anchor Sage Steele sues the network and parent Disney, alleging ESPN violated her free-speech rights by retaliating for her words on a Jay Cutler podcast — Lawsuit centers on Ms. Steele's comments about Covid-19, ex-President Obama in a podcast interview last year
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Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Comcast reports Q1 revenue rose 14% YoY to $31B; NBCU revenue was $10.3B, up 46.6% YoY, as EBITDA reached $1.6B; Peacock had $472M revenue and a $456M loss — Comcast reports first-quarter results for its entertainment arm, cable systems and European pay TV giant Sky.
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Variety, The Wrap, Bloomberg and @richlightshed
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
Comcast and Charter launch a 50:50 joint venture to develop a nationwide streaming platform that will use Comcast's Flex streaming tech and its Xumo content — Comcast will license Flex, its aggregated streaming platform and hardware, and contribute streamer Xumo to the joint venture …
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Dell Cameron / Gizmodo:
Twitter confirms banning the promotion of HBO documentary Q: Into the Storm in 2021 via its ad platform, alongside QAnon account removal and content limiting — Twitter told the director of “Q: Into the Storm” it had “made the decision not to allow promotion of this documentary” when he tried to advertise the film.
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify Q1: revenue rose 24% YoY to €2.66B, including €282M from ads, up 31% YoY; paid subs rose 15% YoY to 182M, despite losing 1.5M in Russia; stock down 12%+ — Spotify Technology SA has spent more than a billion dollars in an effort to become the No. 1 name in podcasting …
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Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
The BBC plans to cut the number of programs it makes and weighs turning more TV stations into archive services, as the company looks for £285M in annual savings — Tim Davie suggests more stations could become archive services, as he prepares to announce deep cuts
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@jimwaterson
Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:
Real-time TV ad measurement service iSpot.tv raises $325M from Goldman Sachs and says it had $75M in 2021 revenue, up from $51M in 2020 — The firm helps marketers track whether their ads spurred a visit to their website or a purchase. The new funding is the latest in a flurry of deals around TV ad metrics
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