Mediagazer

12:20 PM ET, March 3, 2021

Top News:

Former Disney exec Kevin Mayer named chairman of sport streaming service DAZN, replacing ex-ESPN president John Skipper — Service has substantial boxing and international soccer rights and is looking to expand — Kevin Mayer, a former senior executive of the Walt Disney Co. and architect …

Discussion: Variety, Awful Announcing, Sportico.com, The Streamable, The Wrap, Broadband TV News, @loudmouthjulia, @jbflint, @taralach and @sherman4949

Brent Lang / Variety:

Alamo Drafthouse files for bankruptcy as part of an asset purchase agreement with Altamont Capital Partners, and says it will close some of its 40 locations — Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, the Texas-based theater chain that has become a favorite with cinephiles for it dine-in service …

Discussion: /Film, The Wrap, Insider, New York Post, The A.V. Club, @alexweprin, @nickchester, @rejects, Collider, @studdedcollar, @pkafka, @pkafka, Hollywood Reporter, @brentalang, @wellsdunbar, austonia, @drewkerr and @bklynactivemama

Dustin Jones / NPR:

Six journalists in Myanmar including AP reporter Thein Zaw have been charged under a public order law for covering protests and could face three years in prison — At least eight journalists in Myanmar have been detained by authorities while covering protests against a coup that took place last month.

Discussion: Associated Press, @kenroth, @kat__stafford, Committee to Protect …, @sophia_yan, @williamsjon, @mannymaung, @f_potkin, @1amychew, @bcarovillano, @wai_moe, @jpacedc, newslaundry.com, The Wrap and Voice of America

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

Two professors documented the pandemic's effects on local newsrooms, working with press associations to gather histories in seven states in the center of the US — Last year, two journalism professors started an oral history project to document the work of local newsrooms in mid-America.

Discussion: @kristenhare, Columbia Journalism Review, @manshipschool, @brownonbusiness, @amariscastillo, @kujournalism, @craigtimes, @michaelsocolow, @hannaraskin, @emilybradburyks and The Rural Blog

Gilad Edelman / Wired:

Study: far-right pubs get 65% more engagement on Facebook when they publish fake news; liberal and centrist pubs get less engagement if they publish misinfo — Far-right pages that publish misinformation get the most interactions by far compared to other news sources, new research shows.

Discussion: Cybersecurity for Democracy, Protocol, CNN, The Week, @ryanlcooper, @dfreelon, @b_fung, @rasmus_kleis, @caitlin__kelly, @giladedelman, @hackintimseeley, Boing Boing and @jason_kint

Democracy Fund:

Democracy Fund, which gives grants to support newsrooms and press freedom, commits to confront systemic racism and to expand support for marginalized groups — Independent journalism is an essential instrument of accountability and critical to the health of our republic.

Discussion: @democracyfund, @gteresa, @jcstearns, @lmariahtrusty, @thedas, @gteresa, @thensim0nsaid, @mollydeaguiar, @jsamditis, @hdbacklund, @sarahaudelo, @abbyik, @thedas, @froomkin, @carlamurphy, @ckrewson and American Press Institute

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:

Daily Mail owner DMGT buys The New Scientist for £70M, says the weekly science magazine is forecast to make £7M in profits and £20M+ in revenues this year — The 65-year-old title is forecast to make £7m in profits this year — The publisher of the Daily Mail …

Samantha Hissong / Rolling Stone:

Kings of Leon to be the first band to debut an album as part of an NFT package, with tokens unlocking perks like limited-edition vinyl, front row concert seats — The band's revolutionary tokens will unlock special perks like limited-edition vinyl and front row seats to future concerts

Discussion: Cointelegraph, @ldrogen, @carlquintanilla, @zoescaman, @aridavidpaul and @raoulgmi

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Netflix launches Fast Laughs, a TikTok-like feed in its mobile apps that presents a string of comedy clips from its stand-up specials, TV series, and movies — Netflix just made its iPhone app a little more funny-looking. — The streaming giant Wednesday launched Fast Laughs …

Discussion: Bloomberg, @kylebrussell, The Verge and @lucas_shaw, more at Techmeme »

Reuters:20 minutes ago

The Islamic State claims responsibility for an attack that killed three women who worked for local broadcaster Enikas TV in eastern Afghanistan — (Reuters) - The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed three female media workers in eastern Afghanistan.

Discussion: The Hill

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:

Filing: ad sales at Disney's DTC businesses like Hulu and ESPN+ rose 47% to $882M last quarter and sales at ABC grew 5% to $984M — - Online ad revenue grew 47% last quarter, with broadcast up 5% — Company has been consolidating teams to create a one-stop shop

Discussion: MediaPost

Elahe Izadi / Washington Post:

Filipino distributors wouldn't air A Thousand Cuts, a documentary on press freedom, so PBS Frontline bought distribution rights and is offering it free online — On the evening before Valentine's Day in 2019, journalist Maria Ressa was arrested by the Philippine government and charged with “cyber-libel.”

Discussion: @rasmus_kleis, @akbarth3great, @priyankaboghani, @elaheizadi, @cleggthis, @frontlinepbs, @raneyaronson, @elaheizadi, @elaheizadi and @elaheizadi

Press Gazette:

The Mail On Sunday refused permission to appeal against High Court ruling in Meghan Markle privacy case, and faces an “extraordinary” legal costs bill of £1.5M — The Mail On Sunday has been refused permission to appeal against a High Court ruling granting the Duchess …

Discussion: @rasmus_kleis and @pressgazette

Facebook:

Facebook says Facebook Journalism Project's Accelerator program delivered “$60M in customer lifetime value” over three years to ~175 news organizations — Accelerator publishers reported $60 million* in customer lifetime value over the last three years of the Facebook Journalism Project's Accelerator program.

Discussion: @andymstone, @campbell_brown, @bgrueskin and @bgrueskin

Scott Roxborough / Hollywood Reporter:

Disney to sell its 50% stake in Europe's largest children's channel Super RTL to RTL Group, which will pivot to become an online-first broadcaster — The entertainment giant held 50 percent of Europe's largest children's channel, but is shifting its focus to its streaming platform Disney+.

Discussion: Variety, C21Media, Digital TV Europe and Broadband TV News

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More News:

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
UK business paper City AM says its website reached 3.2M unique visitors in February, up 125% YoY, as it considers an autumn return for its print edition

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Sports-focused FuboTV, which went public in October, reports 548K subscribers at Q4 end, up 73% YoY, and net loss for 2020 of $570.5M, compared to $35M in 2019

Discussion: The Streamable, MediaPost, Deadline and Business Wire

The Hindu:
India's new digital news media ethics rules give the government leverage via a cumbersome regulatory mechanism that could have a chilling effect on free speech

Discussion: @yusufdfi, @nramind, @rasmus_kleis, @rasmus_kleis, @1br0wn, @nambath, @rkradhakrishn, @happymonjacob and @jeffjarvis

Josef Adalian / Vulture:
Nielsen: Golden Globes drew an average audience of just 6.9M people this year, compared to 18.3M in 2020

Discussion: The Playlist, @blackamazon, @megjameslat, @thewendyburch, @tvmojoe, @mattbelloni, Axios, The Atlantic, New York Times, The Week, The Wrap and Vanity Fair

Christopher Zara / Fast Company:
MoffettNathanson: cable and satellite TV companies shed 6M subscribing US households in 2020; penetration was around 60% of households vs. ~90% in 2010

Discussion: @trumwill and MediaPost

Sophia June / The Daily Beast:
How four alt-weeklies, Cleveland Scene, Seven Days, The Stranger, and The Austin Chronicle, have been surviving the pandemic after it crippled events revenue

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, @thedailybeast, @sophianjune, @shaboom, @coreyhutchins, @eddy_sarah and Media Nation

Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:
Soundcloud to launch “fan-powered royalties” April 1; revenue from listeners' subscriptions or consumed ads is divided among artists they listen to, not pooled

Discussion: Variety, @opiumhum, @sharkyl, Complete Music Update, @tankcrimes, @ivorsacademy, @jetfury, @future_of_music, @tankcrimes, SoundCloud press releases, Engadget, TechCrunch and The Verge

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Sony says the PlayStation Store will stop offering movie and TV show purchases and rentals on Aug. 31, citing users' preference for video streaming services

Discussion: FierceVideo, PlayStation.Blog, @ajci282002, Gematsu, /Film, Gizmodo, Kotaku, BetaNews, Engadget, Fortune, ScreenRant, Media Play News, Polygon, CNET and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
eMarketer: Spotify is on track to reach US monthly podcast listenership of 28.2M by the end of this year and surpass Apple's Podcasts for the first time

Discussion: @blackamazon, @ashleyrcarman, musically.com, MacRumors, 9to5Mac and eMarketer, more at Techmeme »

Kerry Flynn / CNN:
Wired names Gideon Lichfield of MIT Technology Review as global editorial director, replacing Nicholas Thompson, recently appointed CEO of The Atlantic

Emily Atkin / HEATED:
Q&A with Emily Holden, whose just-launched climate news organization, Floodlight, partners with local outlets to cover corporate influence on the climate agenda

Discussion: American Press Institute, Floodlight, @sarahscire, @sarahkaplan48, @sarahkaplan48, @akshatrathi, @emilyhholden, @michellemanafy, @sammy_roth, @kerrymflynn, @scottdetrow, @stopmoneypipe, @raju and @emorwee

Dylan Byers / NBC News:
Fox News says former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany will join the network as a contributor

Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
Flipboard expands its local news coverage to more than 1,000 cities and towns in the US and Canada

Discussion: TechCrunch, @kerrymflynn and Adweek

Elaine Low / Variety:
Disney CEO says the company will let consumer behavior guide its decisions on theatrical windowing and that 50%+ of the Disney+ subscribers don't have kids

Discussion: The Wrap, Axios, Deseret News, The A.V. Club, ScreenRant, Insider, Forbes, Too Much TV Newsletter, The Streamable, @great_katzby, Observer, Quartz, MediaPost and Reuters

Jacob Lorinc / Toronto Star:
Major Canadian publisher Torstar is launching an online gambling site to fund its journalism, pending government approval

Discussion: @jenwsheehan, @tommytomlinson, @harryslaststand, @thetowncrier, @jrhennessy, @wearecanproud, @johnocap, NPR, @gramiq, CBC News, @goldsbie, @standingthegaff, The Guardian and Globe and Mail

Brian Stelter / CNN:
Sources: George Stephanopoulos and David Muir to split leading breaking news at ABC News, after tensions over “chief anchor” title, which will no longer be used

Discussion: The Wrap, The Wrap, Poynter, @benyt, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, @tvmojoe, @krolljvar, @jbarro, @hshaban, @thebenbergman, @bobbierman, @bryancurtis, @hshaban, @realjoeypoirier, TVNewser, @jbflint, @oliverdarcy and Variety

From Techmeme:

Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
Google promises it will not build alternate identifiers to track users after phasing out third-party tracking cookies

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:
Microsoft warns users a new Chinese state-sponsored threat actor is exploiting four previously undisclosed zero days in Exchange Server; patches are available

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:
Brave unveils a privacy-focused search engine, as it acquires an open source search engine developed by the team behind the Cliqz anti-tracking browser

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