Forward

Exec summary: Huge day and night of media news. Here are 45+ stories you should know about, from ABC to "Sesame Street," TIME to Twitter, "60" to "Empire..."

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Spotify and The New York Times have something in common: Both companies are retaining and gaining subscribers by adding new kinds of content.

They're in different businesses, but the questions are the same: "What will people pay for?" "What will keep them coming back for more?" "What can we do to keep cancellations to a minimum?" "What new features or services will attract new subscribers?" "How can we compete for the public's attention?"

I kept noticing similarities between the announcements from both companies on Wednesday. The NYT wowed the news industry by reporting a new paid subscriber number, 4.3 million, and by publicly setting a goal that's been discussed internally for a while: 10 million subscribers by 2025.

Some of the NYT's growth comes from offshoots of the core paper like the Cooking and Crossword apps. "The company also said that it generated more than $709 million in digital revenue, a number that positions it to meet another goal — $800 million in digital revenue by the end of 2020," Tom Kludt wrote here...

Just how big can the NYT get?

"There's reason to believe the ultimate number of subscribers could be far larger" than 10 million, Mark Thompson told investors on Wednesday, but said he believes the goal is "realistic..."

Spotify's $500 million bet on podcasting

While most media companies are focusing on video, Spotify wants to be all about audio. Gone are the days when the company dabbled in TV-style series. Daniel Ek is investing heavily in podcast production and making a play for radio listening while invoking concerns about excessive "screen time." Wednesday's two acquisitions, Gimlet and Anchor, are just the start: Spotify plans to spend $400 million to $500 million on the "emerging podcast marketplace" this year, according to the company's guidance to investors. The idea is to expand Spotify's current offerings -- betting that this will help retain existing subscribers and spur new subscribers to sign up...

Ek pitches a "massive audio opportunity"

I thought this was the most interesting part of Ek's letter announcing the podcast pivot: "With the world focused on trying to reduce screen time, it opens up a massive audio opportunity."

Ek, portraying video as a trillion dollar market and audio as a $100 billion market, said "I always come back to the same question: Are our eyes really worth 10 times more than our ears? I firmly believe this is not the case."

Spotify has been leaning in this podcast direction for the past two years. Now, Ek told CNBC's Jim Cramer and David Faber, "we want to grow the number of shows that we have." More shows, happier subscribers, fewer cancellations, etcetera. Here's my full story...

-- Verge's Ashley Carman offers some advice: "What Spotify needs in order to become a great podcast app..."

BACK TO THE NYT NOW...

The Times newsroom is bigger than ever

What can you do once digital subscriptions are firing on all cylinders? You can hire more people.

NiemanLab's Joshua Benton wrote Wednesday: "A common goal in newspaper circles a few years ago was to someday be able to make enough money in digital to cover the cost of the newsroom. Well, at this point, the Times could pay for the newsroom two times over with just digital money. Which is probably why that newsroom keeps growing — the Times reported it now employs 1,600 journalists, an all-time high."

But here's a reality check

Getting people to pay for something? It's hard. Getting people to pay for news? It's even harder. The media world's current push toward paywalls is underestimating just how hard it is, IMHO.

Think about it. What are you willing to pay for? I pay for services that make my life better (ad-free Hulu), easier (Amazon Prime), smarter (Washington Post), safer (Nest). That's a useful test to apply when asking whether a proposed subscription platform will work...

--> BTIG's Rich Greenfield tweeted: "Legacy media companies who are looking at the daunting task of entering the direct-to-consumer world should listen" to Spotify and the NYT's earnings calls -- "customer acquisition, cohort analysis tied to promos, churn, lifetime value [are] not terms most legacy media folks really comprehend..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- The Committee to Protect Journalists "will host a press conference outside of the White House" on Thursday morning "to demand justice in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi..." I'll be there... (CJR)

-- "Continuing to put up steady results across its TV and film operations, 21st Century Fox posted a dip in earnings in its fiscal second quarter while reporting 'significant progress' toward the closing of the Disney merger..." (Deadline)

-- Snap stock closed up 22% on Wednesday... (CNN)

-- Twitter will release its Q4 earnings after the bell on Thursday...

-- Laura Bassett, formerly of HuffPost, spent SOTU day with some of "the women of CNN." She says Kaitlan Collins, Abby Phillip, Pamela Brown, Dana Bash, Gloria Borger, Kate Bennett, Brianna Keilar, and Sunlen Serfaty embody "shine theory..." (InStyle)

-- Keilar is launching a weekly column for CNN.com, "Home Front," highlighting military families. Her first column incorporates her own experience as a new mom... (CNN)

Jill Abramson accused of plagiarism

Michael Moynihan, a "Vice News Tonight" correspondent, posted a troubling Twitter thread about former NYT executive editor Jill Abramson's new book "Merchants of Truth" on Wednesday. He said he found multiple "plagiarized passages" in the book, which is about Vice, the NYT and other news outlets.

"Moynihan offered several examples in which the language used by Abramson was similar to language that first appeared elsewhere," Oliver Darcy wrote in this just-published CNN Business piece.

Abramson denies it

Abramson happened to be a guest on Martha MacCallum's Fox show less than an hour later. Abramson said "I certainly didn't plagiarize in my book." But she also said she hadn't read Moynihan's thread yet. She has not responded to our requests for comment, and neither has the book's publisher...

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST:

ABC launching a new podcast all about the Mueller probe

On Thursday ABC News is announcing "The Investigation," a weekly podcast about the special counsel investigation into Russian interference. ABC Radio will launch the series next Tuesday. Correspondent Kyra Phillips and senior E.P. Chris Vlasto will host... ABC says "the free podcast will focus on the lead up to the highly-anticipated report from the special counsel and explore its aftermath, analyzing the potential fallout and political consequences..."

-- Speaking of Mueller: Here's Garrett Graff's latest about what the special counsel "isn't telling us..."

-- Beyond Mueller: Chris Cuomo said Wednesday night, "It's worth remembering, very early on, the president said, don't mess with my money. That's a red line. Well, that line has now been erased and the Democrats are coming for the president's taxes."

$100 million for this pod startup

Katie Pellico emails: San Fran-based startup Himalaya announced a massive $100 million in funding Wednesday, along with plans to roll out exclusive podcast programming. Variety's Janko Roettgers teased new shows from OZY's editor-at-large Eugene S. Robinson and "Vanderpump Rules" star James Kennedy.

>> Uniquely, Himalaya's recently launched Android and iOS apps boast "a tipping feature that allows fans to support their favorite shows with micro-payments," which might help bring new podcasters to the platform...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- More and more candidates keep getting in, so it's notable when others get out: Mitch Landrieu told John Berman he doesn't think he's going to run for prez in 2020... ("New Day")

-- Jeff Merkley told Elaine Quijano that he'll make his 2020 decision by the end of this quarter... (CBSN)

-- "All my friends are running for president:" This is a great story about "how Senate Democrats are navigating 2020..." (CNN)

-- CNN's next 2020 season town hall is with Howard Schultz, who's publicly thinking about an independent run... Poppy Harlow will host the prime time event next Tuesday in Houston... (CNN)

-- Speaking of Schultz, his book "From The Ground Up" debuted at #4 on this week's NYT best-seller list...

-- Cliff Sims' "Team of Vipers" is #3 and Chris Christie's "Let Me Finish" is #5 on the list... Meanwhile, Michelle Obama's "Becoming" has been #1 for three straight months...

FIRST LOOK:

Ava DuVernay guest-edits this week's TIME mag

TIME's second annual Optimists issue comes out on Thursday... Here are the two covers, one featuring Cicely Tyson by Djeneba Aduayom, and the other by South African painter Nelson Makamo:

Last year Bill Gates guest-edited the Optimists issue. This year it's Ava DuVernay. TIME says the issue "spotlights 34 people changing how we see our world and features viewpoints from notable contributors including director Guillermo del Toro, actor-activist Laverne Cox, screenwriter, producer and actor Lena Waithe, and more..."

Trump tops Obama's SOTU ratings

Trump's first joint address to Congress in 2017 and his first State of the Union in 2018 were big TV events, but they didn't out-rate the comparable speeches by Barack Obama from 2009 and 2010. This week, it's different. Trump's second SOTU averaged 46.8 million viewers across 12 channels, while Obama's comparable speech in 2011 averaged 42.8 million. (Trump tweet in the works?) Here's my ratings recap...

>> Just like last year, Fox News was #1 overall, and NBC was #1 among the broadcast networks...

Bill Owens becomes "60 Minutes" E.P.

Five months after Jeff Fager was fired from "60 Minutes," Fager's longtime No. 2 Bill Owens has officially been named the new executive producer of the newsmag. Owens has been running the show, but now he has the title.

Susan Zirinsky's note announcing the news internally: "I have known Bill for almost 30 years. He is a tremendous leader and will be a great partner to everyone at CBS News. We are in a new era. As an organization, and as an industry, we are forever changed. As only the third EP in the broadcast's history, he is anxious to bring the #1 news program in the country into the future."

NYT reporters writing book about Facebook

The NYT's Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang are writing a book "based on their Facebook reporting for the Times..." Joe Pompeo hears "HarperCollins was the winning bidder in a competitive auction..." And "one source briefed on the negotiations said it was a seven-figure deal..."

>> Oliver Darcy adds: This illustrates the thirst that exists among publishers for content focused on how certain Silicon Valley companies are reshaping society...

From bad to worse...

"Virginia politics descended further into chaos on Wednesday." Here's the latest from CNN's Dan Merica and Ryan Nobles in Richmond...

NYT updates blackface headline after criticism

Oliver Darcy emails: NYT faced a storm of outrage on Wednesday for a headline about Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring revealing in a statement that he had once dressed in blackface. NYT's initial headline said the AG had worn "dark makeup," prompting immediate backlash from journalists and critics who denounced it as cowardly language. Ultimately, the editors at NYT appeared to agree with some of the feedback it received. The newspaper replaced the original headline with a new one that said the AG had "dressed in blackface."

NYT also deleted its original tweet, and replaced it with a new tweet which explained the first version was "inadequately framed." NYT politics editor Patrick Healy later said the newspaper relied on the AG's statement "to inform our initial language," adding, "The coverage should have said blackface; once we realized this, we made the change. It was never my intent to hide the change we were making. This was a breaking news story, and the headlines and text in breaking news stories are often revised and updated."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Craig Newmark has donated $15 million for ethics initiatives at Columbia Journalism School and Poynter. Why? "With disinformation flowing through social platforms and the news, it's critical to modernize journalism ethics so that the industry keeps pace with the ever-changing digital landscape," he says... (AP)

-- Facebook's top comms exec, Caryn Marooney, "is leaving the social media giant after eight years..." (Recode)

-- Vox's Andrew Golis is becoming New York Public Radio's chief content officer... (WNYC)

-- Via Oliver Darcy: Conservative talk radio host Doc Thompson died on Tuesday after being hit by an Amtrak train while jogging in Texas... (Dallas News)

-- Benny Johnson is heading to work as chief content officer of Charlie Kirk's right-wing organization Turning Point USA… (Daily Beast)

-- Thomas B. Edsall's latest: "What does Tucker Carlson know that the Republican party doesn't?" (NYT)

"Fortnite is crushing the rest of the gaming business"

"Stiff competition is eating into the sales and profits of Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive and other major video game companies," Paul R. La Monica reports. "The problem: Fortnite."

Fortnite creator Epic Games "is now worth $15 billion, according to research firm CB Insights..." Execs at EA "cited Fortnite as a game that built momentum last quarter while EA stalled..." Read on...

BAFTA suspends Bryan Singer's director nomination

Katie Pellico emails: Days ahead of Sunday's ceremony,BAFTA has suspended Bryan Singer's director nom. The British Academy said it found "the alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with its values."

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is still up for seven other awards, including Outstanding British Film...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- THR's cover package about "Sesame Street" as it turns 50 years old is just wonderful... (THR)

-- Keep an eye on what Mattel is doing: The company just hired Disney Channel vet Adam Bonnett as E.P. of Mattel Television... (Deadline)

-- Via Katie Pellico: Bradley Cooper admits he was "embarrassed" by his directorial snub at the Oscars... (People)

-- Paul Greengrass and Tom Hanks are in talks to team up for the big-screen telling of Paulette Jiles' novel "News of the World." The director-lead pair last worked together on "Captain Phillips," which racked up six Oscar nominations... (THR)

"Erasing a showbiz institution..."

Katie Pellico emails: THR's Pamela McClintock and Paul Bond have Wednesday's must-read, documenting the run up to "D-Day," i.e. Disney day, the yet-TBD moment when Disney makes 21st Century Fox "disappear."

This is an enormously complex undertaking. "Never in the modern era has one major studio gobbled up another." The deal could close any day now, so "fears are mounting on the storied Fox lot as colleagues prepare to become rivals, Bob Iger's every move is scrutinized and 4,000 jobs are about to vanish..."

MEANWHILE...

Touting New Fox at TCA

Brian Lowry emails: New Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier -- who's in charge of the assets that Disney isn't buying -- sounded upbeat at his first TCA session since joining the network in November. Collier cited the slimmed-down company's ability to be "free and nimble" when the Disney deal closes, in terms of partnering with content creators.

But he was asked an interesting question by Variety's Michael Schneider – namely, how a broadcast network now more closely aligned with Fox News Channel, in a smaller company, addresses progressive entertainment talent that has voiced objections to Fox News' conservative skew. Collier stressed that the two units are "run completely separately," while noting that Fox would continue to support risk-taking as a selling point, citing a "start-up mentality" at the new Fox. As you might recall, several high-profile producers — including "Modern Family's" Steve Levitan and Seth MacFarlane — have decried Fox's coverage, to the point of being "embarrassed" to work for Fox...

>> More: With TV production arm 20th Century Fox heading to Disney, Fox also announced a deal with former entertainment chief Gail Berman, who will run an entity called Sidecar, to develop content for both Fox and third-party platforms...

"Empire" powers through

Sandra Gonzalez emails: "Empire" showrunner Brett Mahoney told me they've made no adjustments to their storylines in wake of the attack on Jussie Smollett. "I wouldn't stoop to those cowards...in terms of allowing what they did to effect how I'm telling my story," he said.

As previously reported, the show, which is in its 5th season, shuttered production last week because of the snowy conditions in Chicago, but Smollett and the rest of the cast are "back and working," Mahoney said...

"The Simpsons" rolls on

Two more seasons! This show "could out-live us all," Sandra Gonzalez notes...

Getting ready for Sunday's Grammys

Brian Lowry emails: As the Grammys Awards get ready for this weekend, they come to the award-show process with one distinct advantage – namely, presenting fewer than half the number of trophies as most of their counterparts, allowing the show to emphasize live performances. Still, the music awards, like the Oscars, are seeking to rebound from a steep ratings decline in 2018...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

By Lisa Respers France:

-- R. Kelly tweeted, and then deleted, an announcement of an overseas tour...

-- Jennifer Lawrence's rep confirmed to me that she and Cooke Maroney are engaged...

-- Michael Bolton is denying he fell asleep during a live TV interview...

-- "Young and the Restless" will pay tribute to Kristoff St. John on Friday. His final episode aired on Wednesday.

Thanks for reading! Email me anytime... See you tomorrow...