Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Alphabet says it surpassed 270M paid subscriptions, driven by YouTube and Google One, and reports YouTube Q1 ad revenue up 10.3% YoY to $8.93B, vs. $8.97B est. — YouTube continues to rake in money from advertisers worldwide, with the video giant's ad revenue reaching $8.93 billion …
Discussion:
StreamTV Insider, @matthewkeyslive, @tvgrimreaper, Tubefilter, MediaPost, Alphabet, Media Play News, The Register, Music Ally, MEDIANAMA, @munster_gene, Neowin, Fortune, Adweek, Wall Street Journal, 9to5Google, Business Insider, TVNewsCheck, Investor's Business Daily, @crumbler@threads.net, Benzinga, Reuters, The Information, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The Desk, The Wrap, Forbes, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Thurrott, more at Techmeme »
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Ziff Davis sues OpenAI, alleging it used Ziff Davis' content to train AI models; sources say Ziff Davis is seeking at least hundreds of millions of dollars — Ziff Davis, which owns more than 45 media properties, is accusing the tech company of infringing on the publisher's copyrights and diluting its trademarks.
Lachlan Cartwright / Politico:
A look at the future of MSNBC under Mark Lazarus and Rebecca Kutler once it's spun off from NBC; MSNBC must fill 100 roles to build out newsgathering operations — What becomes of every liberal's favorite TV network once it loses its connection to NBC? — Inside 30 Rock …
Discussion:
@nick_field90, @nick_field90, @lachcartwright, @lachcartwright and The US Sun
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
British insurance tycoon and Prospect magazine owner Clive Cowdery takes a minority stake in Tortoise; the Scott Trust has a 9% stake after committing £5M — The 234-year-old Sunday newspaper will produce its first edition under new ownership this weekend
Discussion:
The Times
Bloomberg:
Sources: Tencent Music is in advanced talks to buy Chinese podcasting startup Ximalaya in a $2.4B deal — An agreement could be reached as soon as the coming weeks, the people said. — Talks are ongoing and no final decisions have been made, the people said.
Discussion:
@jenniferxie12, Reuters and Music Business Worldwide
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Charter Communications lost 181K pay TV subscribers in Q1 vs. a decline of 405K in Q1 2024; it had 12.7M pay TV subscribers as of March 31 — The cable giant shed less video customers than last year as overall revenue edge up slightly to $13.67 billion. — Cable and broadband giant Charter …
Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:
The European Commission accepts requests from Austria and the Netherlands to assess UMG's proposed $775M Downtown Music acquisition announced in December 2024 — European regulators are officially preparing to investigate Universal Music Group's proposed $775 million Downtown Music acquisition.
Discussion:
Billboard, Financial Times, Variety, Reuters, Music Ally, @eu_competition, Reuters and Bloomberg
Carmen Arroyo / Bloomberg:
Docs: X's data licensing and subscriptions revenue grew 32% YoY to $91M in February, ad revenue grew 4% YoY to $146M; Twitter had $4.5B in ad revenue in 2021 — Elon Musk's X Holdings Corp. is evolving from a social media platform powered by mainstream advertisers to one betting …
Discussion:
The Information, @simonowens.bsky.social, @simonowens.bsky.social and Yahoo Finance
Advanced Television:
Kantar: 33% of new UK paid subscribers chose ad tier in Q1 2025, up from 31% in Q4; Prime Video had the highest share of new paying subs, followed by Apple TV+ — Kantar, the marketing data and analytics company, has revealed growing adoption of ad-supported streaming …
Discussion:
WORLD SCREEN and Broadband TV News
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Paramount has begun talks with the FCC on the necessary steps to gain approval for its Skydance merger, including concessions on its diversity policies — The discussions are a small step in a complex effort to secure federal approval for the media company's deal with Skydance
Wall Street Journal:
A look at private equity's incursion into the advertising industry, offering smaller agencies new resources to compete with the larger holding companies — Once put off by ad agencies' fickle cash flows, private investment firms now see an opportunity to capitalize on the sector's accelerating shift toward automation
Discussion:
Tony Chen on LinkedIn and Rod James on LinkedIn
Bron Maher / Press Gazette:
An interview with Politico Europe's Kate Day on the outlet ten years in: ~50% of its 350 staff are journalists and Politico Pro makes up 50% to 60% of revenue — Politico is seeing “significant growth” in Europe as it celebrates the tenth birthday of its edition on the continent.
Discussion:
Simon Owens's Media Newsletter
