Big Media Face Uncertainty as Moguls Play Musical Chairs
Ad Age: Media megadeals and the #MeToo movement are reshaping the makeup of the largest empires’ top brass. In what is basically an intense game of musical chairs, some former, seemingly invincible titans are losing their seats. The sheer amount of reshuffling creates...
Disney Teams Up with Jam City to Expand in Mobile Games
CNBC: Disney has entered a multi-year games development partnership with leading mobile gaming company Jam City, continuing the Mouse House's foray into gaming. Jam City now holds the rights to develop new games based on elements from Disney's Pixar and Disney...
Liberty CEO Predicts Big Fight as Tech Eyes Sports Rights
NBC News: Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media: "There is going to be a big fight. These tech platforms all want to have a stronger position. The war is going to be in the home. One of the questions will be do they do things like buy content, maybe not exclusively for...
CBS Interactive Chief: We Have a ‘Real Business’ in Digital
Digiday: Digital-only media brands with millions of dollars in venture capital funding have gotten a lot of attention. However, slowly but surely, they’re hitting a wall. And CBS is capitalizing. "We never fell into the bucket of 'cool factor' buy," said Jim Lanzone,...
Fox News Promotes New Streamer as Members-Only Club
TVNewser: Fox News Channel’s subscription-based OTT service Fox Nation launches in a few days, and it’s coming out armed with a new promo. The video includes almost all of the talent that will be featured on Fox Nation as they gather at a high-end lounge to drink,...
Vivendi’s Universal Swift Accord Accents Music Streaming
Reuters: Pop music titan Taylor Swift has announced a new record deal with Universal Music that will give her greater control over her own music and could boost future payouts to artists for music played on streaming service...
iHeartMedia to Acquire Programmatic Radio Platform Jelli
AdExchanger: iHeartMedia said it will acquire programmatic radio platform Jelli. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. iHeartMedia has been working with Jelli since 2015 to power its private marketplace, SoundPoint, which represents programmatic inventory on its 850...
Amazon to Offer Early Look at Warner Bros Film ‘Aquaman’
Bloomberg: Amazon is teaming up with Warner Bros. to offer members of its Prime shopping service early theatrical screenings of the new DC Comics superhero movie “Aquaman.” Prime members will be able to see the movie in select theaters a week early, starting Dec....
Facebook Chief is Urged to Step Down After Controversies
Washington Post: Mark Zuckerberg once set out a bit of digital-world wisdom that became Facebook’s informal motto: “Move fast and break things.” After last week’s developments, the 34-year-old should declare mission accomplished — and find something else to do, writes...
Google’s News Site in Europe Could Shutter Over Link Tax
CNBC: The future of Google News in Europe could be uncertain if European Union plans for a "link tax" for using news stories go ahead. The so-called link tax is part of proposed European legislation that grants publishers copyright over content that is shared...
New York Times Cuts 11 Staffers to Speed Growth in Digital
WWD: The New York Times has serious digital ambitions and the further crossing of non-editorial work is resulting in some layoffs. The newspaper cut 11 people from its marketing team through a combination of its “audience and brand” and “consumer revenue” departments...
Conde Nast Names Tastemade Exec to Run Entertainment
TheWrap: Oren Katzeff is leaving Tastemade to become president of Condé Nast Entertainment. Katzeff is replacing Dawn Ostroff who left in July to fill the role of chief content officer at Spotify. Katzeff spent over five years as Tastemade’s global head of...
Hearst Magazines Chief Working on Reinventing Business
Mr Magazine: Troy Young, president of Hearst Magazines: "Obviously, the brands that we have are incredible, and are foundations on which to build a lasting media company upon. ... All of that makes it an exciting, supportive place to continue to reinvent the magazine...
Goop, from Paltrow, Developing Wellness Series for Netflix
WWD: There’s no stopping the growth of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop. The high-end, love-it-or-hate-it lifestyle brand is in talks with Netflix to shoot and stream a series based on the brand’s core theme of “wellness” — a focus that has put both Goop and Paltrow, the...
Benioff’s Time Magazine Holds ‘Person of Year’ Online Poll
Time: Time readers have voted on who they want to see as the 2018 Person of the Year. While editors will ultimately decide who is chosen, the magazine's online poll provides insight and gives readers a chance to weigh in with their...
Uzabase’s Quartz to Unveil Studio for Artificial Intelligence
Digiday: Quartz has formed the Quartz AI Studio to produce articles that use machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence that trains computers to identify patterns and anomalies and otherwise analyze data, to assist in the reporting of those...
Ziff Davis Says Mashable Founder to Depart at End of Year
The Drum: Pete Cashmore, CEO and founder of Mashable, will be leaving the digital media and entertainment website at the end of the year. "We’re grateful for his vision and thank him for the critical role he played," said owner Ziff...
BuzzFeed Asks for Money Amid Hunt to Merge with a Rival
Fast Company: After months of trialing, BuzzFeed News is making its membership program official. The company is asking people who enjoy its journalism to show their gratitude with money. Meanwhile, BuzzFeed is also reportedly looking into a digital media merger of...
CBS-Viacom Merger Seen Likely Within Just a Few Months
New York Post: After CBS boss Les Moonves’ sensational September downfall on sexual-assault allegations, insiders said the TV giant’s board could announce a merger with Viacom in the next three to six months — a deal that Moonves had fiercely resisted....
Sinclair Broadcasting Hits Another Media-Merger Dead End
New York Post: Sinclair, which suffered a blow in July when federal regulators stopped its proposed $6.6 billion acquisition of Tribune Media, has been quietly speaking to buyout firms, including Apollo Global Management, about teaming on a new bid for the...
Nine, Fairfax Get Green Light for Aussie Mega-Merger Deal
Associated Press: Shareholders on Monday gave final approval to the merger of television network Nine Entertainment and newspaper publisher Fairfax Media into an Australian media giant to be known only as Nine despite one shareholder’s late bid to stop the deal....
Disney Taps Freeform Exec for Head of ABC Entertainment
Reuters: Karey Burke will replace Channing Dungey as president of Disney’s ABC Entertainment, the company said on Friday. Burke is currently head of original programming for Disney’s cable channel...
AT&T’s FilmStruck Death Brings Birth of Criterion Streamer
Los Angeles Times: The Criterion Collection’s treasure trove of classic movies will have its own streaming home after the closure of FilmStruck, WarnerMedia said. Criterion, which distributes classic movies, will launch a free-standing online service called the...
Viacom’s Paramount Strikes Multi-Picture Deal with Netflix
Los Angeles Times: Paramount Pictures has struck a multipicture deal with streaming giant Netflix, Jim Gianopulos, the studio’s chairman, announced Friday. “Our priority is to expand our role as a global content provider.” Gianopulos...
Apple in Deal with Oscar-Winner to Make Original Movies
CNBC: Apple has entered a multi-year agreement with entertainment company A24 to create produce films for the company. The movie deal comes as Apple is ramping up its foray into original content. The company plans to give away free movies and TV shows to device owners...
Google’s YouTube Starts Showing Movies with Ad Breaks
AdAge: YouTube has quietly begun showing ad-supported movies for the first time, giving viewers access to Hollywood titles including "The Terminator" and "Legally Blonde" for free. The platform started promoting the free feature-length films in the movie section of...
AT&T’s CNN Says White House Still Threatens Press Pass
CNN: The White House has issued a new warning to CNN's Jim Acosta, saying his press pass could be revoked again at the end of the month. In response, CNN is asking the U.S. District Court for another emergency...
Report: Advertisers Spent $5.25 Billion on Midterm Election
Adweek: The dust hasn’t completely settled on the 2018 midterm elections yet, with a few races still in limbo. However, broadcast, cable and digital outlets are tallying their ad revenue haul from this year and, not surprisingly, it’s a...
Spotify, Pandora Music Streamers to Expand Into Podcasts
Wall Street Journal: Spotify and Pandora are looking to expand beyond music streaming and into the world of podcasting, as they aim to capture more of consumers’ listening time and, eventually, boost their profit margins....
Report: US News Isn’t Translating Well on Smart Speakers
Axios: News consumption on smart speakers isn't picking up in the U.S. even though the purchases and overall usage of smart speakers is increasing overall, according to a report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of...