Mather Report - David Clinch

Happy Friday and welcome to our roundup of important #MediaRevenue stories.

I missed last week as I was speaking at an Adobe conference at Stanford on the subject of content authenticity and provenance.

On the subject of a great Symposium, please REGISTER HERE to attend our Mather Symposium in March ->

I also loved being a guest on the Nikita Roy Newsroom Robots podcast on the subject of build vs buy for AI tools in newsrooms.

Please let me know if you see stories and updates I should be aware of to include in this weekly update, especially those from more diverse sources and markets.

Also let me know if you are planning to add games and puzzles to your revenue and engagement strategy for 2024. Take a look at News Games.

Here is this week's curated selection of #MediaRevenue news:

Axel Springer, OpenAI strike "real-time news" deal for ChatGPT: "The deal marks a new milestone in the relationship between journalism companies and artificial intelligence firms — one that involves not just providing data to train ChatGPT’s models, but also using vetted journalism to bolster the accuracy of ChatGPT’s responses. The deal also marks the first time OpenAI has detailed plans for ChatGPT to provide attribution to news publishers in its responses." - Axios.

News/Media Alliance Applauds Global AI Partnership between Axel Springer and OpenAI: “"We represent the industry and are working on an option available to all publishers in a way that makes sense and provides equity and fairness. OpenAI is doing the right thing to ensure technology and quality journalism exist and thrive in harmony. Our members are exploring all options, and we are ensuring no one is left behind.”" - News/Media Alliance.

News Publishers See Google’s AI Search Tool as a Traffic-Destroying Nightmare: "What was once a hypothetical threat is now a very real one. Since May, Google has been testing an AI product dubbed “Search Generative Experience” on a group of roughly 10 million users, and has been vocal about its intention to bring it into the heart of its core search engine." - Wall Street Journal.

TikTok owner ‘scraping’ UK news sites to train ChatGPT rival: "The Chinese owner of TikTok has been accused of using UK news sites to train up its rival to ChatGPT without permission or fair payment" - Telegraph.

News Publishers Are Fighting Big Tech Over Peanuts. They Could Be Owed Billions.: "The study estimated that Google owes U.S. publishers 50 percent of the value created by news, which it estimated at $10 billion to $12 billion in revenue sharing annually. The study found that Facebook, whose users spend less time seeking news — about 13 percent of their time — owes $1.9 billion to U.S. news publishers." - New York Times Opinion piece.

New York Times Hires First Newsroom Leader Focused on Artificial Intelligence: "The Times has tapped Quartz co-founder Zach Seward to work with newsroom leadership in establishing principles for “how we do and do not use generative A.I.,” Executive Editor Joe Kahn and Deputy Managing Editor Sam Dolnick said in a note to staff Tuesday morning." - Wall Street Journal.

Mother Jones to Merge With the Center for Investigative Reporting: "Ms. Bauerlein said the merger would result in “a very small number” of redundancies on the administrative side. The nonprofits have $21 million committed by foundations and donors over the next three years, she said." - New York Times.

MailOnline to launch paid subscriptions for premium content: "While most articles will remain free to read, a selected 10 to 15 each day will be available only to those who pay. The overhaul is expected in January. The model is said to be based on German tabloid Bild, which introduced a partial paywall on its website a decade ago. DMGT executives have travelled to Germany to discuss the plans." - Telegraph.

Guardian US ad chief on how publisher is navigating ‘toughest ad market since 2008’: "They include entering new verticals, appealing to smaller businesses and “educating” advertisers about brand safety in a bid to get them to spend their marketing budgets with them, rather than the tech platforms." - Press Gazette.

Future pledges £25m investment and 200 hires to reverse revenue decline: "Magazine publishing giant Future plc has announced a £25m to £30m investment programme that will see it hire 150 new editorial staff. But investors today looked alarmed at declining profit and a sluggish outlook in its full-year earnings release, with the company’s share price dropping more than 20% at market open on Thursday." - Press Gazette.

Punchbowl News Strikes Deal to Buy Data Start-Up: "Now, they are opening a new avenue for reaching political obsessives by acquiring a start-up that tracks legislation making its way through Congress." - New York Times.

Altice USA in talks to sell Cheddar News to private equity firm Regent: "In one iteration of a potential transaction, Altice USA and Regent have discussed a deal where no money will initially exchange hands" - CNBC.

Arena Group fires CEO in wake of Sports Illustrated AI articles scandal: "The Arena Group, publisher of Sports Illustrated, has fired the magazine’s CEO not long after it was revealed Sports Illustrated had published articles written by fake authors with AI-generated headshots and biographies." - The Guardian.

Japan’s SmartNews was growing fast in the U.S. What went wrong?: "Former SmartNews employees point to failed product launches and far-right obsession of former CEO." - Rest of the World.

Newsday shares defensive, offensive strategies of its digital transformation: "As news media companies look at how to create sustainable business models in this changing world, the role of digital subscriptions inevitably enters the discussion. During INMA’s recent Media Subscriptions Town Hall, Pete Doucette, global consulting lead and senior manager for Mather Economics, sponsor of the town hall, explained some components affecting digital transformation and what strategic levers publishers should use to execute their vision." INMA Blog.