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Mark Zuckerberg splits media

Moving the Market: Facebook's plan to offer news publishers millions of dollars a year for their content is being met with enthusiasm among small to midsize publishers (many of which have already signed deals) and some trepidation among larger legacy media organizations (many of which are still holding out), New York media executives and Facebook sources tell me.

• The context: Facebook is offering about 40 or so publishers around $2 to $2.5 million a year each for the rights to put their content in News Tab, a new section of the site that will only feature reputable content and be curated in part by editors.

• The offers seek to address the chief frustration publishers have long had with Facebook, which is that the service does not adequately compensate publishers for the content they provide.

How small and midsize publishers see it:

• If you're a website like the Dallas Morning News or BuzzFeed, this is effectively free money. Facebook isn't asking you to spend the money on creating new content — it's just giving it to you in order to link back to what you already produce. It's a 100 percent profit margin.

• Moreover, Facebook's offer could force other tech giants like Google and Apple to pony up similar sums for your content — if Facebook can do it, why can't Apple? — in which case you could soon be receiving $6 to $8 million a year from Silicon Valley.

• In the digital media business, where profit margins are slim at best and most often negative, these multimillion-dollar handouts would go a long way toward helping you reach your annual revenue goals.

How larger legacy publishers see it:

• If you're a website like The New York Times or Fox News, this is free money, but it's ultimately not that much relative to what your company (or parent company) already makes on its own.

• Moreover, you wouldn't just be giving Facebook access to your content — you'd also be giving them the ability to use your brand as a marketing tool every time they promote the News Tab.

• Surely that brand is worth more than a few million dollars, no? And surely Facebook can afford to pay you more than a few million?

The big picture: Facebook's News Tab could be a sea change in the relationship between tech firms and the news media. It could also recast Facebook as a friend of the news industry while putting pressure on Apple and Google to put up funds as well.

• Or, not. It all depends on whether Facebook can close the deal with a big enough majority of legacy publishers.

What's next: Facebook's deals with publishers are for about three years, some of the sources told me. Needless to say, everything would be reassessed when those deals expire — or, if and when regulators decide they don't want Facebook to be in the news business.

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Facebook plays dating game

Big in the Bay: Facebook has introduced Facebook Dating in the U.S. and integrated the service with Instagram, providing yet another way for Mark Zuckerberg to keep users engaged with his platforms.

• The big picture: The more services Facebook provides, be it dating apps or digital payment systems, the more time people spend on the platform. The more time they spend, the more data they share.

The big question: What took so long?

🇺🇸 Talk of the Trail 🇺🇸

Digital disintegration: In today's New York Times, David Brooks channels the mind of an internet extremist.

• It's a trip.

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John Lansing takes NPR helm

Big in the Beltway: "John Lansing, a veteran government broadcast and cable television executive, has been selected by NPR's corporate board to succeed its current chief, Jarl Mohn," NPR's David Folkenflik reports.

• The big picture: Lansing tells Folkenflik he wants to become even more dominant in podcasting and more prevalent in streaming.

• "What you really want to do is be connected to people that are consuming content on something they're holding in their hand, and aren't necessarily tied to a TV set on a wall or a radio in a living room," he says.

• "Your mobility becomes extremely important to be involved and connected to audiences that are mobile and that tend to be, frankly, younger."

NPR by the numbers: "NPR draws more than 28 million listeners each week and 40 million unique monthly visitors to its website — both represent a rise of several million over those five years."

• "NPR has also been the nation's leading producer of podcasts since Podtrac started measuring audiences."

Market Links

• Tim Cook spooks privacy-focused developers (Information)

• Duncan Milner sues TBWA for cutting his job (Adweek)

• Michael Finnegan launches an Atlantic paywall (Nieman)

• Morgan Hertzan joins Viceland as general manager (Deadline)

• Tony Vinciquerra closes door on Spider-Man talks (Variety)

Mike Coppola/Getty

Netflix signs Patty Jenkins

The Streaming Wars: Netflix has signed "Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins to "a multi-year overall deal" valued at $10 million over three years, Variety's Joe Otterson reports.

• The big picture: Media companies have an insatiable need for content, and they're betting that exclusivity deals with creators will give them a leg up in an increasingly competitive landscape.

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Jennifer Salke pivots to Prime

Talk of Tinseltown: Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke is downplaying the importance of the box office as she heads into this year's fall festival season, choosing instead to focus on how films fare on Amazon Prime, THR's Rebecca Keegan reports.

• The move comes after Salke dropped a record $47 million in acquisitions at Sundance, with little to show for it so far at the box office.

• Mindy Kaling's "Late Night," which Amazon bought U.S. rights to for $13 million, has grossed just $15.5 million since June.

The big picture: Amazon says box office gross isn't the right metric by which to measure the success of its films, because cinematic releases are merely marketing efforts for Amazon Prime.

• "Success for our films is not measured by traditional metrics or simple box office reporting," Matt Newman, co-head of movies at Amazon Studios, says. "The theatrical release is one path for us to market a film before its Amazon Prime Video release."

What's next: Amazon will take a page out of Netflix's playbook, offering shorter theatrical windows for several of its new films in order to make them more immediately available to at-home viewers.

• The risk is the same one Netflix faces: alienating the Hollywood creatives who still like to see their names on marquees.

What's next: The weekend. 🎾 The U.S. Open Women's Final is Saturday at 4 p.m. ET; the Men's Final is Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

🏈 Saturday: #6 LSU at #9 Texas (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC); Sunday: Pittsburgh at New England (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC).

See you Monday, from L.A.