Spotify announces Q4 2020 financial results – Monthly active users increased 27% YOY to 345 million. Subscribers increased 24% YOY to 155 million in the quarter.
The company says they’re leaning into their “ubiquity strategy.” That means launching increased podcast support on connected Google and Alexa devices during the quarter. Also, integrating Spotify into PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S gaming consoles.
Spotify says their goal is to become “the world’s number one audio platform through compelling new music and exclusive non-music content.”
The company believes the pandemic had “little impact” on subscriber growth and may have “actually contributed positively to pulling forward new signups.” However, advertising revenue was negatively impacted in the end of Q1 and rest of the year. [Spotify]
TikTok adds new prompts to help people consider before they share – TikTok says they will remove misinformation as they identify it. They’ll also partner with fact checkers at PolitiFact, Lead Stories and SciVerify to help them assess accuracy of content. But, users can also flag videos with non validated content. Users will also see if a video is flagged so they can decide whether to share or not. [TikTok]
Nickelodeon to Kick Off Super Bowl LV Weekend with the Nickelodeon Super Duper Super Bowl Pregame Spectacular – Nickelodeon Super Duper Super Bowl Pregame Spectacular, an original half-hour pregame show hosted by Nick stars Gabrielle Nevaeh Green and Lex Lumpkin. The show will feature Super Bowl fun facts, “Nick-ified” season highlights and predictions of this year’s winning team with help from special guests. The special will premiere Friday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) and re-air multiple times over the weekend.
On Super Bowl Sunday, CBS’ pregame show, THE SUPER BOWL TODAY, which airs from 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (ET), will feature a specially produced segment of Nickelodeon’s game show Unfiltered, where Green and Lumpkin will try to guess the virtually disguised identity of one of the NFL’s biggest stars from Super Bowl LV. Additionally, a “Nick-ified” highlights package will air as part of CBS’ halftime coverage of Super Bowl LV, which features the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. (ET) at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
In other Nickelodeon news, their Kids’ Choice Awards will air Saturday, March 13 at 7:30pm ET/PT. – Kenan Thompson (Kenan, All That) will take kids on a wild and slimy ride as host of Nickelodeon’sKids’ Choice Awards 2021
Said Thompson, “Nickelodeon has been part of my life and my family forever and I can’t wait to host this year’s Kids’ Choice Awards. Am I worried about getting slimed? Naaaah. It’s going to come fast and cold, but it’s not my first rodeo–you know what I’m saying? So, bring on the slime and let’s do this!”
Kids’ Choice Awards nominees were also announced. Leading the pack with the most nods are: Justin Bieber with five; Stranger Things with four; and Ariana Grande, The Croods: A New Age, Henry Danger, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Soul,Trolls World Tour and Wonder Woman 1984,all tied with three nominations each. Musical performances will be announced shortly.
Fox News Media signs Ben Domenech to Contributor Role – FOX News Media has signed The FederalistPublisher & Co-FounderBen Domenech as a contributor, announced Suzanne Scott, CEO of FOX News Media. In this role, Mr. Domenech will provide political commentary across all FOX News Media platforms and host a weekly podcast for FOX News Audio.
2021 Golden Globe Awards nominations announced – The 78th Golden Globes will take place on February 28, coast to coast from 5 pm to 8 pm PT/8-11 ET on NBC. The event will be hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, returning for the fourth time, after hosting in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Fey and Poehler will share duties from their respective cities, with Fey on the East Coast and Poehler on the West Coast. Fey will be live from New York’s Rainbow Room, Poehler will be live from the Beverly Hilton, in Beverly Hills, and nominees, from various locations around the world.
The Crown led series with 6 nominations; Mank led motion pictures with 6. Netflix had 22 nominations as a motion picture distributor and 20 for television. [Full list of nominations here]
Comscore Finds Online Food Delivery Surge Driving Growth in Digital Payment Usage – According to the latest insights from Comscore’s Emerging Digital Payments Survey, which provides quarterly market sizing, and online and in-store payments data, 31% of digital buyers ordered food for delivery online, an increase of 14% points in Q2 2020 compared to Q3 2019. 36% of digital buyers also said they ordered food more often during the pandemic. This increase in online food delivery and digital payment usage follows a larger trend of surging levels of mobile retail spending. [Comscore]
