News Information and Media Site: Byers Market: Daniel Ek eyes The Ringer; Adam Mosseri gets NYT profile

January 21, 2020

By DYLAN BYERS in Los Angeles &

AHIZA GARCÍA-HODGES in San Francisco

Good morning. 🏔️ The World Economic Forum's annual meeting kicks off today in Davos. Andrew Ross Sorkin says President Trump is likely to get a warmer reception from the C-Suite crowd this year.

🎞️ Reed Hastings reports Netflix Q4 earnings after the bell. The streamer missed growth targets in both Q2 and Q3.

🛫 Dylan is en route to New York. Ahiza is back in the Bay.

Join the Market.

Sean Zanni/Getty

The (Audio) Streaming Wars

Daniel Ek eyes The Ringer

Moving the Market: Spotify's Daniel Ek and Dawn Ostroff are in talks to acquire The Ringer, Bill Simmons' popular sports and pop-culture podcast network, in a move that would further fuel the company's ambition of dominating the podcast space, sources familiar with the talks tell the Market, confirming a WSJ report.

• The big picture: Spotify is investing aggressively in podcasting to help differentiate itself from Apple and other audio streaming services. It spent $400 million last year acquiring Gimlet Media and Parcast, as well as the Anchor podcast distribution platform.

• The Ringer acquisition would give Spotify exclusive rights to "The Bill Simmons Podcast," the most downloaded sports podcast of all time, and the Ringer podcast network, which boasts 100 million monthly downloads and more than $15 million in annual ad revenue.

The latest: WSJ's Anne Steele and Ben Mullin reported late on Friday that Spotify was in "early talks" to buy The Ringer, but that it was too soon to say whether those talks would result in a deal. That's where things remain as of this morning, according to our sources.

• On Monday, Front Office Sports' Michael McCarthy reported that Simmons was seeking "roughly $200 million" for The Ringer. Our sources tell us it's way too early to be talking price.

Bloomberg/Getty

Future of Social

Adam Mosseri kills 'likes'

Moving Menlo: Instagram chief Adam Mosseri is the subject of a new New York Times profile. The piece, by Amy Chozick, is pegged to Instagram's plan to eliminate public "likes" in order to combat one of the more negative aspects of the platform: the pressure to be popular.

• The big picture: The profile is really about the relationship between Instagram, portrayed here as the cool kid, and Facebook, cast as the very uncool parent. The question posed and never really answered is, "how does Instagram stay cool under Facebook?"

The story in two grafs: "While Mr. Zuckerberg has been cast by critics as defensive and closed off to criticism and the news media, Mr. Mosseri, 36, projects the opposite. He's affable and easygoing, exuding the laid-back intensity of a Bay Area tech executive who was born in the East Village."

• "This charm offensive, combined with Mr. Mosseri's efforts to stop bullying, remove photos of self-harm and other safety and integrity measures that Facebook may have been late to, has won him respect. But it has not quieted the larger concerns about the mother ship."

Snap ❤️ TikTok

Big in L.A.: Snap chief Evan Spiegel said over the weekend that he's "a big fan" of TikTok and believes the Chinese social network could become bigger than Facebook's Instagram, which boasts more than a billion monthly users.

• People on TikTok "are really making media to entertain other people," Spiegel said at the DLD Conference in Munich. "This talent-based content is often more interesting than status-based content."

Sean Rayford/Getty

Facebook 2020

Joe Biden vs. Zuckerberg

Big in the Bay, big in the Beltway: Joe Biden railed against Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg in an interview with The New York Times editorial board, calling the CEO "a real problem" and recommending that he be liable for all content on Facebook.

• "I've never been a fan of Facebook," Biden said. "I've never been a big Zuckerberg fan. I think he's a real problem."

• Biden also called for the removal of Section 230, which protects online platforms from bearing liability for the content that users post. As NYT's Charlie Warzel told Biden, it's one of the "foundational laws of the modern internet."

• Facebook "is not merely an internet company," Biden argued. "It is propagating falsehoods they know to be false. ... There is no editorial impact at all on Facebook. None. ... It's totally irresponsible."

The big picture: Beating up on Facebook continues to be popular politics for Democrats. Biden's attack came one day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the company "shameful" and accused it of being complicit in "misleading the American people."

Market Links

• President Trump accelerates U.S.-China tech war (NYT)

• Sundar Pichai calls for artificial intelligence regulation (FT)

• Taemoon Roh is Samsung's new smartphone chief (Bloomberg)

• Randy Smith faces revolt from Tribune Publishing staff (CNN)

• Ted Sarandos acquires 21 films from Studio Ghibli (Verge)

Bloomberg/Getty

No Fox Given

Bob Iger drops 'Fox'

Big in Burbank: Bob Iger is dropping the word "Fox" from the 21st Century Fox assets that Disney acquired last year. The move is intended to distance Disney from the Murdochs' Fox Corporation, which includes Fox News.

• What's next: 20th Century Fox will become 20th Century Studios; Fox Searchlight Pictures will become Searchlight Pictures.

Noah Berger/Getty

Apple TV, Pluses & Minuses

Tim Cook's Hollywood trouble

Talk of Tinseltown: Tim Cook and Eddy Cue are fast learning how fraught the business of Hollywood can be, having been forced to scrap two high-profile projects in as many months due to scandal or controversy.

• Apple and Oprah Winfrey recently pulled out of a documentary about sexual harassment allegations against hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Winfrey cited creative differences with the film's directors but also told The New York Times that Simmons tried to pressure her into ditching the project. (Simmons has denied all accusations of nonconsensual sex.)

• Back in November, Apple was forced to cancel the premiere of "The Banker," starring Samuel L. Jackson, due to sexual harassment allegations against one of the film's co-producers. Apple has dropped the co-producer's name from the film and plans to release the movie on Apple TV+ in March.

The big picture: Art is harder than AirPods. That said, if any company can sustain a few unforeseen setbacks, it's Apple.

• On the plus side: Apple landed its first major Hollywood win last night as Jennifer Anniston, co-star of "The Morning Show," took home the SAG Award for best female actor in a drama.

🏈 What's next: San Francisco will face Kansas City in Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2. But... ratings for both the AFC and NFC championship games were down from last year, and the combined audience was the lowest it's been since 2009.

See you tomorrow.