The moment of truth is coming for YouTube Red.
On Wednesday, YouTube will launch its first slate of original programming for its ad-free subscription streaming service. Three months after launch, it’s hard to gauge exactly how well YouTube Red is doing. YouTube has not disclosed subscriber numbers. But currently, the YouTube app is the 22nd-highest grossing app in Apple’s App Store, behind Netflix and Hulu but ahead of HBO Now. The Red subscription the only in-app purchase available in the app, though, which suggests YouTube is already pulling in some revenue from subscriptions.
Morning Update: Dorsey says ‘no’ new Twitter timeline; the best and worst of the Super Bowl; YouTube Red programming set to launch
The Drum: WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell claims ‘chickens have come home to roost’ over tax scandals
The head of advertising giant WPP has questioned the “judgment” of companies such as Google, Amazon and Starbucks accused of utilising “very aggressive” schemes to minimise their tax outputs in the UK.
Speaking to the Mirror, Sir Martin Sorrell said: “You can push the rules, you can abide by the laws, you can lower your tax rates. But should you do it from a question of judgment? “The chickens have come to roost because people have been very aggressive on their tax planning. Some people have judged it right, some people have judged it wrong.”
The Guardian: Jack Dorsey calms #RIPTwitter with carefully worded non-denial
Twitter users, don’t worry: the site’s co-founder and chief executive Jack Dorsey has hit back at rumours suggesting the company will introduce an algorithmic timeline. He unambiguously stated that the company “never planned to reorder timelines”.
Or, to put his statement in its full context: “We never planned to reorder timelines next week.” Which, as denials go, provides quite a lot of wiggle room. There is a reason for the curiously specific denial, which is that Dorsey was responding to a report from Buzzfeed News that said “Twitter could introduce an algorithmic timeline as soon as next week”.
AdAge: Budweiser: We Did Not Pay For Peyton Manning Plug
In post-game Super Bowl interviews Peyton Manning not once – but twice – said he was going to drink Budweiser. The shout-outs immediately prompted speculation on Twitter that the star quarterback of the winning Super Bowl team was paid to make the plug.
A spokeswoman for Anheuser-Busch InBev tweeted, however, that Mr. Manning was not paid.
https://youtu.be/PzLfPx-8OuM
AdWeek: The 5 Worst Ads of Super Bowl 50
We’ve looked at the five best ads of Super Bowl 50. Now, it’s time to hold our noses and dig into the spots that didn’t quite work so well—to say the least. We’ve already beaten up on WeatherTech enough, so we’re going to leave them alone this year. We’re also giving the Persil Pro Clean commercial a pass, as it did us the courtesy of exiting after just 15 seconds.
There are certainly some flat-out stinkers in the list below. (Some advertisers thought this was the Super Bowel.) But in some ways, the night’s very worst commercials were ones that you expected more from—those featuring much buzzed-about celebrities, in particular.
TheVerge: Who was Super Bowl 50’s musical MVP?
When you’re busy firing off jokes with your friends on Super Bowl Sunday and pretending to be unfamiliar with Coldplay’s discography, it’s easy to forget that an appearance at the Big Game® — whether it’s a halftime set, an anthem performance, or even a big commercial — is close to the pinnacle of anyone’s career. It’s one of the world’s biggest stages, and its audience is full of people who don’t typically pay close attention to music and culture. When else do musicians have a chance to play for people who don’t know Bruno Mars from a Bronco?
Digiday: YouTube’s subscription play has mixed start
Who came up with the name YouTube Red?
Have they never heard of Redtube?
Fail.
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