Mediagazer: Snap reports Q4 revenue up 5% YoY to $1.36B, vs. $1.38B est., DAUs up 10% YoY to 414M, a net loss of $248M, up from $288M in Q4 2023; SNAP drops 30%+ (Jonathan Vanian/CNBC)

5:40 AM ET, February 7, 2024

Top News:

Fox, ESPN, and WBD announce a new joint venture to launch a streaming sports service in the US in the fall of 2024; each entity will own a third of the JV — The service will be available to ESPN+, Hulu and Max subscribers.

Dave Lawler / Axios:

Former Fox host Tucker Carlson says he has traveled to Moscow to interview Vladimir Putin and will air the interview “unedited” on his website and on X — Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said in a video posted to X on Tuesday that he is in Moscow to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

Gina Carano, who was fired from The Mandalorian after controversial social media posts, sues Disney and Lucasfilm for wrongful termination in a suit funded by X — The actress claims the entertainment giant discriminated against her for voicing right-wing opinions on hot-button issues.

Todd Spangler / Variety:

YouTube says YouTube TV now has 8M+ subscribers, up from 5M+ in mid-2022, and that the YouTube Partner Program has 3M+ channels receiving ad revenue share — CEO Neal Mohan also says more than 3 million channels now receive ad-revenue share, touts 1 billion hours viewed on TV daily

Abner Li / 9to5Google:

YouTube says Shorts averages 70B+ daily views and the number of channels uploading Shorts rose 50% YoY — YouTube CEO Neal Mohan today shared what the video service is focusing on in 2024. At a high-level, it's AI, elevating creators, safety, and the “next frontier” of the living room and subscriptions.

Discussion: Tubefilter, The Desk, Observer, Next TV, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

Julia Turner, who led LA Times' entertainment coverage before becoming SVP for content business strategy, is leaving, the fourth high-ranking editor to depart — Julia Turner, who led culture and entertainment coverage for the Los Angeles Times before taking on a business strategy role …

Discussion: @usc_cclp, @juliaturner, @juliaturner, Adam Powell on LinkedIn, The Wrap and MediaPost

Taylor Lorenz / Washington Post:

Betches, acquired by LBG Media last year and aimed at young women, partners with TikTok creator UnderTheDeskNews on a political podcast, American Fever Dream — The brand says it's not shy about leaning liberal — A company best known for its posts on Instagram announced on Tuesday …

Discussion: @underthedesknews@threads.net and Betches

Lachlan Cartwright / The Hollywood Reporter:

Richard Beckman and Jimmy Finkelstein paid themselves seven-figure salaries at the shuttered Messenger; sources: two staffers filed HR complaints about Beckman — The shuttered site The Messenger, run by Jimmy Finkelstein and Richard Beckman, spent $50 million in less than a year …

Discussion: Buttondown, The Daily Beast, Nieman Lab, @miketanier.bsky.social and @miketanier.bsky.social

John Hanna / Associated Press:

Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn sues the city of Marion and local officials, saying the Aug. 2023 raid caused her physical and mental health problems — A reporter for a weekly Kansas newspaper that police raided last year filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against its hometown and local officials …

Discussion: KEYT-TV and @jessmcmasterkc

Melanie Goodfellow / Deadline:

Dubai-based Camb.ai, which makes a translation tool that “instantaneously” dubs speech in 100+ languages and was used at the Australian Open, raised a $4M seed — Dubbing Platform Camb.ai, which has recently been used for coverage of the 2024 Australian Open tennis tournament …

Discussion: Sports Business Journal, Business Wire and The Hollywood Reporter

Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:

Snap reports Q4 revenue up 5% YoY to $1.36B, vs. $1.38B est., DAUs up 10% YoY to 414M, a net loss of $248M, up from $288M in Q4 2023; SNAP drops 30%+ — - Snap said fourth-quarter revenue rose about 5%, while the company's net loss narrowed 14% from a year earlier.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Snap, NBC 7 San Diego, NBC Bay Area, @thestockmarketnerd …, CNN and KNSD-TV, more at Techmeme »

Adam Chitwood / The Wrap:

An 87% majority of editorial and creative employees at video game outlet IGN vote to unionize with the NewsGuild-CWA; the group will consist of 80+ employees — The newly formed IGN Creators Guild will consist of over 80 employees — A majority of editorial and creative employees at IGN …

Discussion: Variety, The NewsGuild, @sweetpotatoes, The Hollywood Reporter and Kotaku

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Spotify says Q4 ad-supported revenue grew 12% YoY to €501M, a quarterly high; CFO Paul Vogel expects the podcast segment to reach positive gross margin in 2024 — Spotify pulled in more than new listeners than it expected for the fourth quarter, as the streamer narrowed its net loss …

Discussion: @xpangler, @xpangler, The Verge, CMU, Reuters and The Wrap

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify reports Q4 revenue up 16% YoY to €3.7B, MAUs up 23% YoY to 602M, subscribers up 15% YoY to 236M, a €75M operating loss, and expects 618M MAUs in Q1 2024

Discussion: @richlightshed, @economyapp, @eldsjal, @sarthakgh, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @eldsjal, The Guardian, The Information, @lucas_shaw@threads.net, Axios, Billboard, Music Business Worldwide, Deadline, The Verge, The Hollywood Reporter, Spotify and TechCrunch

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 5:40 AM ET, February 7, 2024.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Output Producer, CA — AP

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Senior Assignment Editor, DC — WaPo

Breaking News Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

Reporter - Ottawa Bureau — Globe & Mail

Local Government Reporter, IA — The Gazette

Research Director, CA — OCBJ

Immigration Enforcement Reporter — Documented

Presque Island Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — SFGATE

AI Content Editor, WA — Outlier

Legislative Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Editorial Assistant, Remote US — Launch Potato

Elon Musk Reporter, NY or CA — The Information

Government & Politics Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Business & GA Reporter. VT — VTDigger

Sports Reporter, WA — Everett Herald

Energy Reporter, TX — Houston Chronicle

Senior Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — FT

Reporter, WI — Racine County Eye

Political Newsletter Writer, CO — The Lever

Jackson Reporter, MS — Verite

Music Editor, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Breaking News Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Fearless Reporter/Producer, IA — BPC

Reporter II - Technology, Remote — NPR

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

City Reporter, WA — Tacoma News Tribune

Executive Editor, OR — Lookout Local

Education & Budget Reporter, CA — Politico

Senior Writer/Editor, FL — Gulfshore Business

Media Editor, Remote — Axios

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Liz Hoffman / Semafor:
Sources: Standard Industries, a roofing conglomerate that has invested in Puck and Pushkin, is in talks to acquire Graydon Carter's Air Mail for ~$50M

Discussion: @bigmeaninternet, @nbj914, @jbarro and @nichcarlson@threads.net

Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Linda Wertheimer, an NPR “founding mother” who joined the outlet at its 1971 launch and directed and hosted All Things Considered, is retiring after 53 years

Discussion: VPM, Barrett News Media, @davidfolkenflik, @nprkelly, @scottdetrow_npr@threads.net, @audieoffmic@threads.net and Current

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Substack is running a pilot program to help creators on the platform sell ads; a writer says Substack contracted an outside team to approach advertisers

Katie Kilkenny / Hollywood Reporter:
The Onion Union votes to ratify the tentative deal with G/O Media, setting terms on G/O Media's use of generative AI, wage increases, and more

Discussion: @onionincunion, Writers Guild of America … and The Wrap

Alex Ritman / Variety:
Arthouse streamer Mubi acquires a majority stake in leading Benelux indie distributor Cinéart, marking the first acquisition of a distributor by Mubi

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

Earlier Picks:

Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Meta proposes standards to identify AI content that its industry peers could use, and plans to label AI images posted on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads

Discussion: TechCrunch, Meta, Digiday, The Information, Saanya Ojha on LinkedIn, Neowin, Fast Company, @nickclegg, @metanewsroom, @andymstone, The Register, Engadget, The Hill, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Wired, Axios, NBC News, The Guardian, The Verge and CNN, more at Techmeme »

Washington Post:
The Atlantic cuts ties with prominent contributor Yascha Mounk after writer Celeste Marcus accused him of rape; Mounk calls the claims “categorically untrue”

Discussion: Poynter, @celestemarcus3, @moiradonegan, @juliaioffe, @esotericcd, @willsommer, @mskellymhayes, @davidklion, @roddreher, @brandyljensen, @annacbross, @moiradonegan, @2600@mastodon.online, New York Post, The Wrap and Mediaite

Amy Or / Bloomberg:
Sources: Reddit had over $800M in revenue in 2023, up 20%+ YoY, and was not profitable for the full year; a source says Reddit was profitable in Q4

Discussion: The Information

Will Fischer / Nieman Lab:
Q&A with Javonte Anderson, editor of Capital B Gary, a Black-focused nonprofit news outlet, on working with locals, shaping coverage via user surveys, and more

From Techmeme:

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Apple says Meta has made 15 interoperability requests under the EU's DMA, more than any other company, and that these could affect users' privacy and security

Hayden Field / CNBC:
OpenAI debuts a way to talk to ChatGPT by dialing 1-800-CHATGPT for 15 minutes of free access per month in the US or messaging the number via WhatsApp globally

Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
GitHub offers Copilot in VS Code for free with 2,000 code completions and 50 chat messages per month; GitHub now has 150M developers, up from 100M in early 2023

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page