Fox’s Murdoch Son Wins Aussie OK to Buy Ten Network
Reuters: Australia's antitrust regulator cleared on Thursday a consortium led by News Corp, co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch to buy free-to-air television broadcaster Ten Network, saying the move would not harm competition. The Australian government has proposed...
Comcast Ditches SportsNet Name to Embrace NBC Brand
Philadelphia Inquirer: In a long-anticipated rebranding of its 24-hour regional sports cable networks, Comcast says it will do away with the Comcast SportsNet name in Philadelphia and other Comcast cities and replace it with “NBC Sports” on Oct....
CBS Leads as Most TV Broadcasters Fail Test of Diversity
Bloomberg: For all Hollywood’s talk about diversity, the major broadcast networks have made little progress in hiring more women and minorities. About 89 percent of executive producers of new series airing this season on the four U.S. broadcast networks are white, and...
Disney’s ESPN Under Fire for Removing Game Announcer
MarketWatch: "It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play by play for a football game has become an issue." That's ESPN explaining in part why it shifted a college football broadcaster in the wake of deadly white...
Sinclair Fires Back at Critics of Deal to Take Over Tribune
Multichannel News: Sinclair is vigorously defending its proposed merger with Tribune to the FCC as both in the interest of the public and of the company, which it said needs to scale up to be better able to compete with a growing number of less-regulated...
Discovery CEO: I Rise Early Each Day to Boost Productivity
CNBC: Discovery CEO David Zaslav tries to make the most of his time. "First, I'm a morning person," says Zaslav, 57, who gets up at 4:45 a.m. "I have this time between a quarter to five in the morning and 7:00 a.m. when everyone's...
Viacom TV Networks Restored by Suddenlink After Clash
Fierce Cable: Suddenlink, the midsized MVPD now part of Altice USA, has begun restoring Viacom networks in parts of Texas and Oklahoma, the beginning of a full reset across its nationwide...
CBS Feuds with ‘Judge Judy’ Star in Lawsuit Over Profits
Deadline: This certainly won’t end up in "Judge Judy’s" court, but a scathing multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed against CBS has no-nonsense host Judy Sheindlin, her syndicated series and its spinoff "Hot Bench" in the legal spotlight....
Snap Mulls Adding Scripted Shows to App by End of Year
Tubefilter: Snapchat has seen some success with the content it has shared under its Snapchat Shows banner, and it plans to diversify its programming. Speaking at a festival in Scotland, the app’s VP of content Nick Bell said that users will likely see scripted,...
Facebook Names Exec to Help Develop Video Chat Device
Business Insider: Facebook has tapped one of its most veteran execs to lead all of its consumer hardware efforts, including the mysterious Building 8 division responsible for its forthcoming video chat device. Andrew "Boz" Bosworth will oversee Building 8 and Oculus,...
Amazon Ramps Up Openings of Brick-and-Mortar Stores
Seattle Times: Amazon is opening its ninth and 10th bookstores this week — in Bellevue and San Jose. The brick-and-mortar stores provide a glimpse into what Amazon’s ultimate goal might be as it undertakes a massive effort to understand how to deal face to face with...
Twitter Acquisition Sought by FBI Expat to Eject Trump
Associated Press: Former undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson is looking to crowdfund enough money to buy Twitter so President Trump can't use it. "If @Twitter executives won't shut down Trump's violence and hate, then it's up to us. #BuyTwitter...
Jukin Media to Expand LA Viral Video Production Space
Los Angeles Times: Jukin Media, the company behind viral sensations such as Pizza Rat and Chewbacca Mask Lady, will nearly double its office space in Culver City to produce more original programming off its trove of user-generated video...
WPP Chief Explains Causes Behind Struggling Ad Market
CNBC: The weakening in the ad market is due to digital disruption, activist investors and the low cost of capital money, according to WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell. "It's the digital disruption in consumer consumption of media, the digital disruption you see in...
Tronc’s New LA Times CEO Nabs Very Golden Parachute
TheStreet: Tronc, the country's third-largest daily newspaper company, may be in the midst of cost-cutting, jettisoning three corporate execs this week alone, but it's paying top dollar to its new publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Times, Ross...
Bezos’s WaPo Brings Artificial Intelligence to Native Ads
Digiday: Publishers are running into a wall with so-called native ads. Once seen as the panacea for declining digital ad rates, these ads that are designed to mimic editorial content have turned out to be costly to make and distribute and hard to scale, which makes...
News Corp: WSJ Editor Admonishes Journos Over Trump
New York Times: Gerard Baker, the editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal, has faced unease and frustration in his newsroom over his stewardship of the newspaper’s coverage of President Trump, which some journalists there say has lacked toughness and verve. s:...
Report: Media Pros Must Shape Future, Not Merely Adapt
Media Village: The Internet, digital, mobile, streaming and other technologies have dramatically changed the news, advertising and entertainment industries in the last 20 years. A new report from the S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University warns media execs to...
Google, Wal-Mart Team Up in Shopping to Battle Amazon
CNBC: Wal-Mart is about to encroach even further on to Amazon's turf. The big-box retailer will soon offer customers the ability to order hundreds of thousands of its products by voice with the help of Google. The partnership is another critical step as Wal-Mart looks...
Apple, Amazon, Comcast Prep Early Movie Rental Service
Hollywood Reporter: Insiders say Comcast, Apple and Amazon are actively developing the delivery system for PVOD titles, including figuring out antipiracy measures. A number of platforms, including the other major cable providers and digital players, will ultimately be...
Disney Streaming Service to Nab One-Third of Millennials?
TechCrunch: Disney's forthcoming streaming service may be able to carve out a niche for itself because choosing a subscription service is not a zero-sum game. A number of recent studies have already indicated that today's consumers are willing to pay for multiple...
Fox’s Bid for Sky ‘Looks Less Rational’ as Costs Escalate
Reuters Breakingviews: Rupert Murdoch’s bid for Sky looks ever less rational. The media mogul’s 21st Century Fox in December offered 11.7 billion pounds to buy the 61 percent it doesn’t own of the UK pay-TV group. Murdoch will struggle to make the deal pay – though...
AT&T-Time Warner Deal May Face Delay, Thanks to Brazil
Bloomberg: Brazil's antitrust watchdog said AT&T's $85.4 billion deal for Time Warner poses a high risk to competition, a potential complication that threatens to delay the final approval process. The antitrust agency recommends asset...
Time Warner’s CNN On-Air Talent Calls Trump ‘Unhinged’
The Hill: CNN anchor Don Lemon unloaded on President Trump after his rally Tuesday night, calling him "unhinged" and ripping his remarks as "a total eclipse of the facts." Trump "lied directly to the American people and left things out that he said in an attempt to...
CBS, NBC, ABC News Ratings Drop from Too Little Trump
Bloomberg: Cable networks have figured out how to successfully capitalize on President Trump’s outrageous antics, but viewership for NBC, ABC and CBS newscasts have declined as much as 14 percent this year among coveted younger...
Sinclair Chief Eyes Collaboration with Breitbart Pal Bannon
Financial Times: Sinclair chief David Smith is said to be close to Steve Bannon and an admirer. He is keen to increase Sinclair’s heft in conservative commentary, a market currently dominated by Fox News Channel, and is believed to be eyeing a collaboration with...
Viacom to Pull Channels from Optimum Amid Reshuffling
FierceCable: As it continues portfolio tightening and fence mending under new CEO Bob Bakish, Viacom has pulled two music channels from Optimum and shuffled other networks on the cable service. NickMusic and BET Soul were yanked altogether and Nick Jr. and MTV2...
Disney’s ESPN Taps Ad Agency for New Branding Campaign
Wall Street Journal: ESPN has tapped creative agency darling Droga5 to support a new brand campaign as it grapples with changing behaviors in TV viewing. The media company has hired the agency to handle a new campaign for its overarching brand and...
Verizon to Throttle Video Quality, Redo Unlimited Data Plan
MarketWatch: Verizon said it would start limiting video quality for all customers across its network, months after the No. 1 U.S. carrier by subscribers launched unlimited data plans. The video throttling technique is also employed by rival...
Hulu Live TV Service Arrives on Microsoft Xbox 360 Console
TechCrunch: Starting Tuesday, Xbox 360 will support Hulu’s Live TV service. Hulu launched the highly anticipated streaming service earlier this May, which provides access to live television as well as Hulu’s library of original and streaming content for just under $40...