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New York Times Co. reported a 10 percent rise in Q4 revenues to $484M, driven by the addition of 157K new digital subscribers.The NYT now has more than 2.5M digital subs. Full-year revenue increased eight percent, to $1.7 billion, with subscription revenue hitting $1 billion. But things were not nearly so rosy on the print side. For the year, print advertising revenue slipped 14 percent to $320 million, with an eight percent drop for the fourth quarter. But the Times says it has no plans to discontinue its print operations. “We will go on printing the newspapers as long as it makes economic sense,” said NYT chief executive Mark Thompson.
 Gary Knell |
National Geographic Partners, the joint venture between 21st Century Fox and the National Geographic Society, has named Gary Knell CEO, succeeding Declan Moore, who is leaving the company. Knell, who presently serves as chairman of National Geographic Partners, has been president and CEO of the National Geographic Society since 2014. As CEO of NGP, he will have responsibility for all of National Geographic’s storytelling assets, which include television, print and digital ventures, licensing and travel expeditions. “Nobody understands National Geographic better than Gary,” said 21st Century Fox president Peter Rice. “His breadth of media experience, strategic mindset and global perspective make him the perfect leader of the organization.”
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Streaming service Hulu recorded a $920 million loss in 2017, a sharp rise from its $531 million loss in 2016. While the company says it closed fiscal year 2017 with 17 million total subscribers (up 5 million from 2016), the rising costs of producing original content for the service resulted in a corresponding rise in the amount of red ink. Disney, whose share in Hulu will rise from 30 percent to 60 percent if its proposed merger with 21st Century Fox goes through, said in a Tuesday earnings call that it expected its share of Hulu’s losses for 2017 to be $250 million more than for the previous year. And if estimates reported in Variety come to pass, Hulu’s losses could hit $1.7 billion for 2018. Disney has announced plans to launch its own streaming service, which would presumably compete with Hulu, in 2019.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
