AT&T Makes Plans to Wrest Ad Dollars from Google, Facebook
Wall Street Journal: AT&T's DirecTV knows where its subscribers live, how old they are and what they like to watch, helping brands send ads to households more likely to care about their products. But AT&T has barely scratched the surface on how its wireless...
CBS-Viacom Merger Pressure Lessens as Media Deals Heat Up
Wall Street Journal: Conventional wisdom has it that the wave of media deal making could renew Shari Redstone’s zeal for merging CBS and Viacom. A more likely outcome is that CBS is sold to someone else, putting a merciful end to one of the great corporate soap operas...
Fox Board to Weigh $65 Billion Bid from Comcast Wednesday
Bloomberg: Rupert Murdoch and the 21st Century Fox board will consider on Wednesday how to proceed with Comcast Corp.’s $65 billion bid for the company’s entertainment assets. The Fox board must decide whether Comcast's proposal has a reasonable chance of becoming a...
Time Warner is Renamed Warner Media; Turner CEO to Depart
New York Post: AT&T announced on Friday — its first full day of owning Time Warner — that the operating businesses in the $85 billion acquisition will be contained in an entity called WarnerMedia. John Stankey, who is charged with running WarnerMedia, also...
Disney-Pixar’s ‘Incredibles 2’ Breaks Record for Animated Film
Associated Press: The combined powers of superheroes, the Pixar brand and a draught of family-friendly films helped “Incredibles 2” become the best animated opening of all time, the biggest PG-rated launch ever and the 8th highest film launch overall. Disney estimated...
Fox to Unveil TV Mini-Dramas Airing During Commercial Breaks
Variety: Fox Networks Group hopes to make its commercial breaks as dramatic as some of its best-known series. Starting this fall, Fox outlets like Fox Broadcasting, FX and Nat Geo will begin running inspirational videos during advertising breaks. Fox hopes to get...
Cannes Lions Ad Fest Sees Entries Decline Following Backlash
AdNews: Entries into Cannes Lions have dropped a significant 21% this year from 41,170 entries last year to 32,372 this year. This was despite an 84% year-on-year increase in the number of brands entering the awards and a 59% increase in media owners entering...
Unilever to Take a Stand Against Digital Media’s Fake Followers
Reuters: Consumer goods giant Unilever, the world’s second-biggest advertiser, is cutting ties with digital media “influencers” that buy followers, saying it wants to help make advertising more transparent. The practice of buying followers risks eroding...
Amazon Tightens Grip on Video Game Live Streams with Twitch
New York Times: Video gaming as a spectator sport has gone mainstream, and Amazon-owned Twitch has captured the majority of those who want to watch it live. For the dedicated fans, the live, freewheeling sessions on Twitch have the appeal of a major sporting event...
Apple Nabs Oprah Winfrey as More Top Talent Flocks to Digital
Reuters: Apple on Friday announced a multiyear deal with Oprah Winfrey to create original programming -- a coup in the battle for A-list talent in the booming digital entertainment market. Winfrey and Apple "will create programs that embrace her incomparable ability...
Netflix Resurrects ‘Lucifer’ TV Series After Cancellation by Fox
USA Today: Netflix has answered your prayers, "Lucifer" fans. Following its cancellation last month after three seasons on Fox, Netflix has rescued the supernatural procedural, producer Warner Bros. confirmed on Friday. No word on how many episodes are in the new...
Hulu Says Video Streamer Has Become Hub for Binge-Viewing
Multichannel News: Hulu issued some revealing data this week that shines some light on how the OTT service has become a hub for binge-viewing, defined, in this case, as watching three to five episodes in succession. Hulu said that 44% of its viewers binge at least...
Jeff Bezos Under Fire for ‘Shocking’ Pay at Washington Post
Daily Mail: More than 400 employees of the Washington Post have signed on to a public letter to owner Jeff Bezos asking him to remedy working conditions at the newspaper, after more than a year of unsuccessful negotiation with upper management. "All we are asking for...
iHeartMedia Faces Call to Reject $25 Million Bonuses for Execs
Law360: The U.S. Trustee has asked a Texas bankruptcy court to reject iHeartMedia’s plan to pay its top executives up to $25 million in bonuses, saying the company has failed to show the plan’s performance goals are a challenge or how the executives would help reach...
Hearst Heiress Supports Son-in-Law After Sex Assault Charge
East Bay Times: Through Lydia Hearst’s marriage to Chris Hardwick, the Hearst family is now dealing with another scandal. Nerdist founder Hardwick was accused by Chloe Dykstra, an actress and cosplay personality, of being emotionally and sexually abusive during their...
AMI Acquires Bauer’s Celebrity Magazine Titles for $80 Million
New York Post: With a deal estimated at $80 million, American Media Inc. has managed to turn the world of glossy celebrity magazines on its head. By buying In Touch, Life & Style, Closer and nine teen titles from Bauer Publications on Friday, AMI has tightened its...
Tronc Set to Complete $500 Million Sale of Los Angeles Times
Chicago Tribune: Tronc is set to complete the $500 million sale of the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune to Patrick Soon-Shiong on Monday. The transaction will move the Los Angeles Times back to local ownership after 18 years under a Chicago-based...
New York Times Reveals Investment Rebuff by Warren Buffett
Vanity Fair: Last Thursday, during a gathering to celebrate the retirement of Arthur Sulzberger Jr., New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet treated the crowd to a dramatic anecdote from 2009: “Arthur himself got on the former company airplane to visit one mogul...
Meredith Plans to Wring More Revenue Out of Time Inc Titles
Digiday: Now that it’s bought Time Inc., Meredith is focusing on wringing more revenue out of Time Inc. titles. At the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, a team of writers, producers and videographers has been holed up in a house paid for by San Pellegrino, churning...
Penske Hires Disney Studio, TV Exec for Magazine Operations
WWD: Penske Media is filling out its executive ranks as it continues to evolve into a media conglomerate. The company, which owns WWD and Fairchild Fashion Media, along with Variety, Deadline and now a majority of Rolling Stone, has brought on Tom Finn as its senior...
Brant’s Interview Magazine Plots Return as Unpaid Staff Fumes
New York Times: With folks clamoring for payment, it wasn’t that surprising when Interview’s employees were summoned to their SoHo offices in May and told the magazine was folding. Its parent company, Brant Publications, was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, with close...
AT&T Plans to Ditch Time Warner Name as Mega Deal Closes
Deadline: AT&T has finalized its $85 billion deal to acquire Time Warner, two days after a federal judge cleared the way and ruled in favor of the merger over objections from the Justice Department. Jeff Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner, has agreed to remain as a senior...
Apple, Amazon Seen Unlikely to Join Hunt for Big Media Deals
Bloomberg: This week's AT&T-Time Warner court ruling was the starter pistol for the sale of anything and everything in the entertainment industry. But will Silicon Valley do any buying? And should it? "Tech companies should stay on the sidelines of this desperate...
Liberty’s John Malone Highly Skeptical of Vertical Integration
MarketWatch: Comcast and AT&T have made audacious moves to become media distribution and content conglomerates, but one of the industry’s most powerful players is skeptical of that approach and doesn’t plan to follow suit: cable tycoon John Malone. “Why would I...
Comcast Prepared to Shed Fox’s Hulu Stake to Win Approval
Deadline: Comcast is prepared to make concessions, including shedding Fox’s stake in the online streaming service Hulu, in order to win regulatory approval for its $65 billion offer to acquire most of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets, according to...
Netflix Poised to Become Big Winner in Bidding War for Fox
Quartz: The more Comcast’s Brian Roberts and Disney’s Bob Iger duel over Rupert Murdoch’s Fox media empire, the better it could be for Netflix’s Reed Hastings. The best outcome for Netflix would be some sort of split of Fox’s assets that sees its TV and film...
Apple Near Deal for Feature Film in Next Push Into Hollywood
Bloomberg: Apple has decided on its next Hollywood act: making feature films. A deal is near for the rights to an animated movie as part of its upcoming slate of original video offerings. Apple is in talks with Cartoon Saloon, an Ireland-based, Oscar-nominated...
Fox, Comcast’s Telemundo Near Ad Sales Goal for World Cup
Broadcasting & Cable: With their first men’s World Cup kicking off, Fox and Telemundo say they’re near their ad sales goals. This year’s tournament presented some challenges for the networks. The U.S. team was surprisingly eliminated from the event, erasing what...
Discovery Selects Park Avenue for New Global Headquarters
Multichannel News: Discovery said it is has selected a site in New York’s Flatiron District for its new global headquarters. The company will consolidate several of its current New York office locations into the new space at 230 Park Avenue South. Staffers will begin...
Sinclair-Tribune Merger Deal Ready for Help from Vote by FCC
Bloomberg: The Federal Communications Commission’s chairman is said to be planning a vote next month on limits to how many TV stations a company can own, rules he has said are too restrictive and that could factor into Sinclair Broadcast Group’s planned purchase of...