Disney Closes Mega Deal for Fox, Disrupts Media, Murdochs
Los Angeles Times: Bob Iger is closer to realizing his vision for Disney as the entertainment giant late Tuesday finalized its $71.3-billion purchase of much of 21st Century Fox. Bloomberg: Disney's takeover is also reshaping the fortunes of the Murdoch...
Fox Emerges as Standalone Entity with Paul Ryan on Board
Fox News: Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox became official early Wednesday morning, with Fox News becoming a key part of the newly created Fox Corporation. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan is among the new members of the company's...
AT&T Names Three Interim Leaders to Oversee Warner Bros
Wall Street Journal: Three senior Warner Bros. execs -- Toby Emmerich, Peter Roth and Kimberly Williams -- will oversee operations at the studio in the wake of former CEO Kevin Tsujihara’s resignation after an investigation into a past relationship with an...
Verizon Pays $60 Million to Former AOL Leader in Departure
Wall Street Journal: Tim Armstrong, the former leader of AOL, is walking away with more than $60 million as he leaves Verizon, which recently wrote down half the value of the internet business he...
Viacom Warns of Blackout on DirecTV Amid Spat with AT&T
Reuters: Viacom said on Tuesday it had begun warning DirecTV’s 24 million subscribers its channels could stop being shown on the AT&T-owned satellite TV service if it fails to reach a new contract by midnight March...
CBS Seeks ‘Big Bang’ with $1.5 Million Ads for Series Finale
Variety: CBS hopes to get a bigger bang out of the very last episode of “The Big Bang Theory.” The network is seeking between $1.2 million and $1.5 million for a 30-second ad in the finale of the veteran...
Report: More Households Subscribe to Streaming Than TV
Los Angeles Times: For the first time, a higher percentage of households in the U.S. subscribe to a digital streaming service than to traditional pay television, according to the results of a new survey released Monday by...
Netflix CEO Sees Video Streaming Giant as Media Company
CNBC: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings broke with his big tech peers when he argued the company is actually more of a media operation than a tech one. Many of the other big tech firms have resisted labeling themselves as media...
Snap to Debut New Slate of Made-for-Mobile Original Shows
Axios: Snapchat is planning to launch a new slate of Original — short, made-for-mobile shows — for the Discover section of the Snapchats app, according to sources familiar with the company's plans. The new set will debut at Snap's invite-only Partner Summit on April...
Google Announces Browser-Based Streaming Game Service
Reuters: Google announced on Tuesday that it would launch this year a browser-based video game streaming service dubbed Stadia that attempts to capitalize on the company’s cloud technology and global network of data...
Facebook’s Instagram Tries Letting Users Purchase Products
Bloomberg: After years of ogling beautiful images of food, fashion and design on Instagram, people will now be able to buy things they see and like directly through the app -- providing instant gratification for the trend-obsessed and a new source of income for...
Apple’s Subscription News Service Gives Publishers Doubts
Business Insider: Apple is set to launch a new all-you-can-read news subscription service along with other services at a big event next Monday, and it's causing major angst among some of the biggest publishers, even those that are sitting it...
Medium Starts Food Magazine with Expat of New York Times
New York Times: Mark Bittman, a former journalist for the New York Times and author of 20 books, including “How to Cook Everything,” is going to work for Medium, the online platform and publisher, to head Salty, an online magazine focused on...
Hearst Uses Data to Create Good Housekeeping Digital Issue
Adweek: Good Housekeeping has released its first so-called special fan issue online with behind-the-scenes info and exclusive interviews for avid fans of the NBC drama "This Is Us." The issue was closely informed by data about what readers wanted to...
Forbes Unveils Pay Digital Video Program for Entrepreneurs
Business Insider: Forbes is launching an $8.99-a-month video network for entrepreneurs dubbed Forbes8. It's the latest example of a publisher jumping on the direct consumer revenue train to supplement its ad...
American Media Inc to Turn Over Data in Trump Investigation
New York Post: The National Enquirer parent American Media and its CEO David Pecker and Chief Content Officer Dylan Howard plan to turn over the information requested by the House Judiciary Committee in its probe into the dealings of President...
Salem Media to Buy Conservative Online News Site PJ Media
The Hill: Salem Media Group has acquired conservative news site PJ Media, which will become part of the Townhall Media portfolio alongside conservative sites Townhall, HotAir, RedState, Twitchy and Bearing Arms....
Soon-Shiong Reveals Big Digital Goal for Los Angeles Times
Wall Street Journal: After years of declining readership and endless newsroom cuts, the new owner of the Los Angeles Times is setting a high target in his effort to turn the company around. Patrick Soon-Shiong said the Times needed to build its digital-subscriber base...
Fox, After Disney Deal, Won’t Seek a Merger with News Corp
Bloomberg: Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of the newly renamed Fox Corp., is said to want to build on the company’s entertainment business. The new Fox may make acquisitions in areas like production and new sports rights. But a deal that won’t happen anytime soon is a Fox...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Studio Chief to Depart Amid Sex Probe
Hollywood Reporter: Kevin Tsujihara is exiting his role as chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a job he's held for six years. "It is in the best interest of WarnerMedia, Warner Bros., our employees and our partners for Kevin to step down," WarnerMedia CEO...
Viacom Plans Worldwide Rollout of Ad-Supported Pluto TV
Deadline: Viacom is to roll out its ad-supported video streaming service Pluto TV internationally after its $340 million acquisition closed earlier this month. “Viacom believes the global SVOD sector is becoming too crowded and capital intensive. So, instead, we’re...
Disney’s ESPN Reaches Exclusive Streaming Deal with UFC
MarketWatch: ESPN is taking another big swing at mixed martial-arts. Ultimate Fighting Championship has struck a seven-year agreement with ESPN for the rights to sell and stream its pay-per-view bouts exclusively on its ESPN+ streaming service, starting in...
Comcast Looks to Build Global Ad Platform with NBCU, Sky
Reuters: Comcast is pooling the advertising power of its NBCUniversal and British-based Sky units to better target viewers worldwide, it said on Monday, a major step by the top U.S. cable TV provider to transform itself into a global media...
Fox Names Democratic Committee Veteran as News Pundit
USA Today: Fox News says it has hired former Democratic National Committee chief Donna Brazile as a political commentator. Brazile had been let go from a similar role at CNN in 2016 after it was revealed that she had shared material about topics that would be...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Says HBO Streaming Leader to Depart
CNBC: HBO's president of global distribution, Bernadette Aulestia, has announced her resignation. Her resignation follows that of HBO CEO Richard Pleper, who stepped down last month after realizing he would no longer have the autonomy to run the premium...
Apple Unveils New iPad Ahead of Streaming Service Launch
Reuters: Apple, in a surprise move on Monday, launched a new 10.5-inch iPad Air and updated its iPad Mini ahead of a March 25 event where it is expected to launch a television and video...
Netflix Says Streaming Giant Will Not Join Apple’s TV Service
Reuters: Netflix will not make its TV shows and movies available through Apple’s upcoming video offering, CEO Reed Hastings said on Monday. “We prefer to let our customers watch our content on our service,” Hastings told reporters at the company’s offices in...
Google to Unveil Service Aiming to Become ‘Netflix of Gaming’
Bloomberg: Google is set to unveil a video game service, codenamed Project Stream, that will reportedly allow people to play Fortnite and other modern titles in a web browser or on a television using inexpensive hardware. If it’s successful, the system might herald a...
Twitter Faces $250 Million Lawsuit for ‘Banning’ Conservatives
Fox News: California GOP Rep. Devin Nunes filed a major lawsuit seeking $250 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages against Twitter and a handful of its users on Monday, accusing the social media site of "shadow-banning conservatives"...
Facebook Says Service is Hindered by Scarcity of Local News
Associated Press: Facebook’s effort to establish a service that provides its users with local news and information is being hindered by the lack of outlets where the company’s technicians can find original reporting. The service, launched last year, is currently...