American Media Shutters 60-Year-Old Surfer Magazine
Surfer Today: Surfer Magazine has announced the end of its regular print editions. It's the end of the surfing's golden era. Todd Prodanovich, editor-in-chief of Surfer magazine, revealed that issue number three of volume 61 will be the legendary publication's...
Roundup: Media Enjoy ‘2020 Moment’ Despite Job Cuts
Axios: It's easy to dog the media. But stop for a second and reflect on everything we know thanks to the media — and often the media alone. It was the media that gave light to the negligence of White House officials in containing the coronavirus. It was Bloomberg's...
Analysis: Trust Falls as Trump Era Sires ‘Media Remora’
Air Mail: A number of media professionals and outlets have been enriched by trashing President Trump — or sucking up to him. They are the remora of the Trump swamp — fishy creatures who attach themselves to bigger fish. The question many of them should be asking now...
Twitter: Trump Tweets Covid News, Then Media Tweet
CNN: President Trump tweeted early Friday that he and his wife both tested positive for the coronavirus, an extraordinary development coming months into a global pandemic. TheWrap: Media and entertainment figures tweeted their reactions to the...
Alphabet’s Google to Pay $1 Billion for News Content
Bloomberg: Google will start paying select media outlets to display curated content on its news app in a concession to the industry which has accused tech giants of unfairly using content for years. The company has set aside more than $1 billion to cover the program's...
Facebook Tightens Political Ad Ban as Election Nears
Associated Press: Facebook has expanded restrictions on political advertising, including new bans on messages claiming widespread voter fraud. Banned ads "would include calling a method of voting inherently fraudulent or corrupt, or using isolated incidents of voter...
Comcast, Fox Corp Eye Ad Windfall from US Election
Reuters: Television news networks will benefit from a US presidential race that may not be decided on election night. A drawn-out, nail-biter of an election could appeal to marketers like the finance, technology, retail, social media and entertainment companies that...
Fox Corp Former News Host in New Hush-Money Flap
Mediaite: Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former Fox News host, was reportedly forced out of the network in 2018 after she faced an internal review over lurid allegations about sexual harassment from her former assistant. Fox paid her assistant "upward of $4 million" to...
Disney Chief Exits California Task Force Amid Layoffs
Sacramento Bee: Bob Iger has quit California Gov. Gavin Newsom's economic recovery task force. A Disney spokesperson would not say why or precisely when the Disney chairman left the task force, but the news comes as the Newsom administration is preparing to release...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Rejiggers Team of Global Execs
Hollywood Reporter: Gerhard Zeiler, head of international at WarnerMedia, has moved to make good on a promise to integrate the entertainment company's businesses outside the US and bring them together as "One WarnerMedia International," rounding out his leadership...
Disney Forecast to Double Streaming Payers by 2024
MediaPost: Disney+ is projected to double its subscriber growth in four years, according to MoffettNathanson Research, to reach 159 million subscribers worldwide. Bloomberg: Disney+ gets its first big test of subscriber loyalty next month, when a free trial with...
Comcast’s NBC Readies Opinion Offering for Peacock
Wall Street Journal: MSNBC has underperformed rivals CNN and Fox News as Covid-19 and national protests overshadowed political news. A streaming channel is said to be in the works for NBCUniversal's Peacock service that would be devoted to progressive opinion...
Vice Media Assures Staffers of No Ties to Proud Boys
The Wrap: Vice Media CEO Nancy Dubuc emailed her global staff to assure them that Vice founder Gavin McInnes — who also launched the Proud Boys — no longer has anything to do with the company. Her email came after President Trump mentioned the group during the...
IAC’s Barry Diller Says Staffers Don’t Want to Return
Fox Business: On Labor Day, when IAC's New York headquarters was reopened, the company's 750 employees were given the option to come back to the building and only about 5% returned to the office. "If you give people the choice, they're going to say, 'No. I am working...
Quibi’s Slow Start Pressures Founder to Boost Cash
Bloomberg: By compiling Quibi's statements about content spending, advertising, subscribers and more, a picture emerges of a company headed for financial distress after a tough first year. In one scenario, if little changes, the company faces a funding shortfall of...
FuboTV Sports Streamer Files to Go Public on NYSE
Fast Company: FuboTV has filed for a public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The sports-focused streaming service, first launched in 2015 as a way to watch soccer games without cable, has been rapidly growing its subscriber count in recent years, despite a...
Playboy Inks Deal to Go Public Again Within 90 Days
Wall Street Journal: Playboy plans to go public again after being acquired by a blank-check firm, a deal that valued the brand made famous by its iconic adult magazine at $415 million. Playboy will return to the public markets by merging with Mountain Crest...
Gannett Sells Data Firm to Location-Marketing Vendor
MediaPost: Gannett has sold its location-marketing platform SweetIQ to Uberall, which will become the exclusive location-marketing vendor for Gannett's digital agency ReachLocal. Gannett purchased SweetIQ in 2017. "There's meaningful benefit for Gannett...
News Corp CEO Praises Google’s Plan to Pay for News
Business Wire: News Corp CEO Robert Thomson has commented on Google's announcement regarding partnerships with news publishers: "We applaud Google's recognition of a premium for premium journalism and the understanding that the editorial eco-system has been...
Meredith Drops $1 Million Spat Over Sports Illustrated
New York Post: Meredith has dropped its $1 million lawsuit against Maven, the operator of Sports Illustrated. "We dismissed our suit as we have come to an agreement with them that we are satisfied with." Meredith sold SI to licensing giant Authentic Brands Group in...
Hearst Offers Free Online College 2.0 at Cosmopolitan
Daily Front Row: Cosmopolitan has launched a series of no-nonsense lessons called ExtraCurricular — a cheat sheet to everything from networking and saving money to straight-talking sex education. "These motivational classes are designed to be real talk for the real...
Conde Nast, Hearst Face Fear of Magazine Shutdowns
Business of Fashion: Looking ahead, magazine editors, CMOs and analysts say they expect more titles to close. And cost-saving strategies, including synergies among international editions of a magazine, are expected to gain momentum. "The magazine industry hasn't...
Hollywood Fears Movie Theaters Won’t Survive Covid
Los Angeles Times: After months of struggles from the pandemic, Hollywood has issued a dire message about the movie theater industry — the nation's cinemas "may not survive" without help. Groups representing movie studios, theater owners and directors on called on...
Disney Workers Caravan to Seek Help from Governor
Hollywood Reporter: A group of Disney employees will caravan to the California state capitol in an effort to urge the governor to sign a bill that would guarantee recall and retention for hospitality workers. The move comes after Disney announced plans to lay off...
Fox Corp CEO Toasts News Anchor After Fiery Debate
New York Times: Chris Wallace, the moderator of the first presidential debate, flew home from Cleveland on Tuesday night. At an airport there, he accepted a glass of champagne from Lachlan Murdoch, whose family controls Fox Corp, and Suzanne Scott, the CEO of Fox...
ViacomCBS Simulcasts Covid Special of ‘South Park’
Deadline: "South Park" headed to MTV and MTV2 after ViacomCBS revealed plans to simulcast the animated comedy's hour-long pandemic special. The long-running Comedy Central series premiered its supersized episode Wednesday at 8 pm. It's the latest simulcast across the...
AT&T Sees Decline in Downloads of App for HBO Max
Variety: A September discount promotion for HBO Max didn't help grow its reach on mobile devices, suggests new data from app analytics firm Apptopia. In the US, the HBO Max app was cumulatively downloaded roughly 1.5 million times during the promotional period of...
Disney, AT&T, BuzzFeed Team on TV Marketing Effort
Adweek: Disney, Xandr, BuzzFeed and TrueX teamed up on a new white paper to discuss how advertisers can use attention to learn more about consumer behavior across ad units, ad lengths, audience segments and overall campaign planning. "As consumer behavior continues to...
Vice Media Guy Responds to Trump About Proud Boys
Mediaite: Gavin McInnes, a co-founder of Vice Media and founder of the Proud Boys extremist group, reacted in real-time to President Trump's controversial debate remarks about the organization by feigning outrage that the president would presume to issue orders to the...
Gallup: Lack of US Trust in Media Hits an All-Time High
Gallup: At a time when Americans are relying heavily on the media for information about the pandemic and the presidential election, the public remains largely distrustful of the mass media. The percentage of US adults with no trust at all is a record high, up five...