The future of Medium – The company currently has around 725,000 paid subscribers. According to one source, the company had roughly 400,000 in 2019. They announced cuts in their editorial staff- what’s next? [Axios]
PUBG Mobile reports 1 billion accumulated downloads since 2018 launch -Chinese tech giant Tencent said on Thursday its cellphone action game PUBG Mobile has surpassed 1 billion accumulated downloads outside China, making it one of the most successful games worldwide.
PUBG Mobile, the mobile version of Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, in which a group of players fight one another until only a single combatant is left alive, has been hugely popular since the so-called battle royale style game was launched three years ago. [Reuters]
Comscore Reports TV Viewing Engagement for Week Ending March 14, 2021 – “Viewers have truly embraced reality programming, which snagged 7 of the top 20 spots on the Cable chart,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Senior Media Analyst, Comscore. “Notably “Grey’s Anatomy” returned to ABC and the Broadcast chart, joining compelling Spanish-language programming and procedural and crime dramas that are always popular with audiences.”
NBC’s Chicago Fire and The Voice lead the way in engagement, both with a 141 Stickiness Index. Other leading English language programs do skew heavily to the crime genre with CBS’s FBI, NCIS, FBI: Most Wanted among the top shows for the week in viewer engagement. [Comscore]
Ad Agencies Step Away From Oil and Gas in Echo of Cigarette Exodus – A queasiness has set in among some people who have made ads promoting fossil fuels. One executive likened the shift to the ad industry’s move away from tobacco. [NYT]
Fox News Channel anchor and executive editor of The Story (weekdays, 3-4 PM/ET) Martha MacCallum will broadcast the program live from Minneapolis, Minnesota on Monday, March 29th to report on the latest developments surrounding the beginning of the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd. The network will also provide ongoing news updates through the week as the trial progresses. [Fox News]
ABC Presents ‘Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days,’ a Two-Hour Special on the Legacy and Impact of the Beloved Global Phenomenon, Airing Monday, April 26, at 8|7C. The documentary features special guests including W. Kamau Bell, Gloria Estefan, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Whoopi Goldberg, Christopher Jackson, John Legend, Lucy Liu, Olivia Munn, Questlove, Chrissy Teigen and Usher.
Taylor Swift and Utah theme park Evermore drop lawsuits against one another over trademark infringement of her 2020 album of same name with ZERO money exchanged. [Daily Mail]
TV Maker Vizio Goes Public as Company Sets Sights on Ads and Software – Vizio makes the lion’s share of its money selling TV sets. But the company is looking to a future in the streaming ads that appear on those sets, too.
“We make money when we sell a TV and we make money every time a TV gets turned on,” said Mike O’Donnell, chief revenue officer of Vizio’s Platform+ division.
The interest in streaming advertising and other recurring revenue isn’t just about the faster growth: it also delivers bigger profits. [WSJ]
James Gunn promises new trailer for his The Suicide Squad tomorrow, March 26.
Big Tech CEOs told ‘time for self-regulation is over’ by U.S. lawmakers [Reuters]
