AT&T Chief Outlines Strategy for Merger with Time Warner
TheStreet: AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson echoed the sentiments of other defense witnesses in the Department of Justice lawsuit to block the telecom's purchase of Time Warner. Stephenson outlined the new tech, products and corporate structures that AT&T...
CBS Investors Question Redstone Pay Amid Health Issues
Bloomberg: CBS directors must face investors’ claims they improperly granted network owner Sumner Redstone millions in compensation after he became incapacitated in 2014. Shareholders can press forward with claims Redstone was unjustly enriched through compensation...
Amazon, Netflix Team Up with Major Studios to Sue Set TV
GeekWire: Amazon and Netflix are teaming up with major movie and TV studios to go after streaming service Set TV, alleging in a lawsuit that the company is disguising piracy and “inducing mass infringement” of copyrighted material within an interface that looks just...
Netflix Edging Closer to Surpassing Market Cap of Disney
CNBC: After adding billions in the last week, Netflix is edging closer to surpassing Disney’s market cap. That could happen sooner rather than later if one strategist’s forecasts pan out. “Netflix is really an outperformer,” says Katie Stockton, founder and managing...
Apple’s List of Shows Hints of Plans for New Video Service
IndieWire: It’s the biggest question in Hollywood that everyone is asking, and no one has an answer yet: What will Apple’s upcoming video offering actually look like, and how will it be delivered to viewers? Stay tuned. For now, here’s what we do know: A list of...
Google’s YouTube Sees Return of P&G — But with a Catch
Bloomberg: Procter & Gamble kept its ads off YouTube for more than a year because of concerns about inappropriate content. Now it’s returning to the video site, but a lot more selectively than before. P&G plans to only advertise on videos the company has...
Facebook Mulls Creation of Newscast with Media Partners
New York Times: Facebook news czar Campbell Brown is pushing to create a curated breaking news destination and envisions a cohesive daily Facebook newscast using partner content highlights — paid for by Facebook, made by media partners, and edited by an editorial...
Vice Hit with Lawsuit After Freelancer is Sexually Assaulted
NBC News: A freelancer at the counterculture media giant Vice who was sexually assaulted while on assignment filed a lawsuit Friday claiming the company blamed her for the attack and pushed her out of her job. It's the latest controversy for the hipster global content...
Sinclair Runs Ads from Politico Bashing TV-Station Owner
Associated Press: A Democratic candidate for Montana’s U.S. House seat is using Sinclair’s own television stations to blast the company for forcing its reporters to read the conservative-leaning corporation’s statements on air. John Heenan bought airtime starting...
New York Times Reporter Hits Back at Trump After Tweets
HuffPost: New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted on Saturday that a source quoted in her story derided by Donald Trump as a “drunk/drugged up loser” is likely former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg. A story by Haberman and two other Times reporters on Friday...
Henry’s Boston Globe Places Writer on Leave Amid Probe
Associated Press: The Boston Globe has placed columnist Kevin Cullen on paid leave as an examination of his work is conducted. The newspaper said Friday it’s asking a third party to conduct the probe but didn’t detail what prompted it....
Conde Nast Study Claims Ads on Lifestyle Sites ‘Resonate’
FiercePharma: For a new neuroscience study from Conde Nast and Neuro-Insight, researchers actually hooked people’s brains up to sensors to measure neural activity. The study found that ads viewed within lifestyle content elicited emotional responses 47% more intense...
Hearst’s Online Mags Cut Back on Aggregation, Viral Fluff
Digiday: Digital scale used to be the watchword at Hearst Magazines, but it’s now joining the stampede to original reporting. Back in January 2017, only one of the company’s top 50 stories included some research or reporting or both. But by December, 28 of Hearst’s...
Meredith Boosts Video with Promotion of Time Inc Veteran
Meredith News Release: Meredith has named Andrew Snyder SVP, head of video. Snyder will oversee digital programming and production, business affairs and studio operations, and video revenue strategy. "A digital media veteran, Andrew is a talented and seasoned...
Conde Nasties Gripe About Exec Splurging on Oscars Trip
New York Post: While Conde Nast is in the process of firing employees to cut costs, one exec is spending money like it’s growing on trees. Sources at the publisher whispered that one exec charged $17,000 to the company last month — the bulk of which was spent on a...
Biglari’s Maxim Magazine Sees Top Editors Exit in Shakeup
New York Post: There’s been yet another shakeup at embattled lad mag Maxim — two top editors have left because of a standoff with management. Executive editor Mitch Moxley and a senior photo editorhave exited the men’s magazine because of a blowup with its...
Essence Magazine Lets Go Editor in Chief in Restructuring
Journal-isms: Editor-in-chief Vanessa DeLuca and editorial projects Director Patrik Henry Bass of Essence magazine have been let go in a restructuring. DeLuca, who became editor-in-chief in 2013, had been with the company for 15...
NewsGuard to Open Hotline for Reporting Fake News Sites
Axios: NewsGuard, a new service that uses journalists to rate thousands of news and information sites, will announce that it has launched a secure, encrypted digital and telephone hotline for political candidates and members of the public to report suspected fake news...
AT&T Chief Unveils ‘Skinny Bundle’ During Antitrust Trial
Wall Street Journal: AT&T plans to launch a “skinny bundle” of television channels without sports that will cost $15 a month, one of the lowest prices available for a nationwide streaming live TV plan. The service, called AT&T Watch, was announced by CEO...
CBS-Viacom Merger Deal Inches Forward Amid Price Talks
Seeking Alpha: Among other deal talk on CNBC, David Faber says the potential re-merger of CBS and Viacom is inching along as the sides go back and forth on price. CBS has raised its offer from an initial 0.55 shares per Viacom share (vs. Viacom's counterproposal vs....
Fox’s Murdochs to Score Golden Parachutes from Disney
TheWrap: The Murdochs have a lot of money, and once Disney’s $52.4 billion acquisition of the bulk of 21st Century Fox goes through, Fox’s top executives can go swimming in a pool of gold coins a la Disney’s Scrooge McDuck. Rupert Murdoch stands to get a golden...
Disney-ABC’s ‘Roseanne’ Sees Boost Thanks to Fox News
Associated Press: As the rebooted “Roseanne” continues to dominate the television landscape, research indicates that enthusiasm expressed for the show’s initial success by President Trump and Fox News Channel had an impact on its audience. Viewership among people who...
Comcast’s NBCUniversal Joins OpenAP TV Ad Consortium
MarketWatch: Comcast’s NBCUniversal has been reluctant to support OpenAP, a TV audience targeting concept from a consortium of TV networks, instead touting its own data and targeting efforts. Now, the media company is changing its...
Disney Digital Video Veteran is Named New CEO of Mattel
TubeFilter: Ynon Kreiz has a new gig. More than two years after he left his post as the CEO of Maker Studios (which is now part of the Disney Digital Network), Kreiz has been named as the next CEO of toy company Mattel, where he is also expected to become chairman of...
Verizon Shifts Video Show Ambitions from Go90 to Tumblr
Digiday: Will people watch TV-like shows on Tumblr? Verizon is looking to find out, as its media arm Oath tries to establish a digital video service that can succeed where Go90 has failed. Verizon is seeking new shows to air exclusively or primarily on the...
Amazon Secures Rights to US Open Tennis in UK, Ireland
Reuters: Amazon confirmed it has secured UK and Ireland rights to broadcast the US Open Tennis Championship, adding its first Grand Slam to a sports offer that already includes action from the ATP World Tour. The five-year deal will begin with the 2018 US...
Google’s YouTube Posts Top Ads on Extremist Channels
CNNMoney: Ads from over 300 companies and organizations -- including tech giants, major retailers, newspapers and government agencies -- ran on YouTube channels promoting white nationalists, Nazis, pedophilia, conspiracy theories and North Korean...
Netflix to Introduce 30-Second Preview Videos for Mobile
TechCrunch: Netflix is introducing its own take on Snapchat and Instagram stories after it began to roll out 30-second preview videos for mobile viewers. The previews look much like Stories because the thumbnails are circular and the content plays with virtual...
Time Warner’s DC Comics Unveils Redo of Mad Magazine
Boing Boing: MAD Magazine has made the move from New York City to Los Angeles, relaunching itself with a new logo and staff. And if you get a two- or three-year subscription, they'll send you a little tiki mug that looks like Alfred E....
Conde Nast’s Likely Wintour Successors Include Protégés
WWD: Will she stay or will she go? The speculation might not be totally fanciful that Anna Wintour could be eyeing the exit at Conde Nast and Vogue. But only she, the Newhouse family and perhaps a handful of others know for sure. Regardless, the talk has sparked a...