Report: Covid Turns America Into Nation of Freelancers
Bloomberg: More than a third of the American workforce did at least some work on the side this year as the Covid-19 pandemic decimated jobs and wages. That translates to 59 million people, or 2 million more than in 2019, according to the Freelance Forward...
Alphabet Unveils TikTok Copycat Called YouTube Shorts
The Verge: YouTube is rolling out a new short-form video creator that the company hopes will take some attention away from TikTok. The company is launching YouTube Shorts in beta in India. Shorts will let people make 15-second videos which can be set to...
Facebook is Aware of Political Manipulation, Staffer Says
BuzzFeed News: Facebook ignored or was slow to act on fake accounts that were undermining elections worldwide, according to an explosive memo sent by recently fired data scientist Sophie Zhang. "I know that I have blood on my hands by...
Disney Bets on Deals with Caesars, DraftKings for ESPN
Fox Business: DraftKings and Caesars Entertainment are entering separate deals with Disney-owned ESPN. The sports network will use Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill as its sponsor for fantasy products and DraftKings as its partner for fantasy sports...
Comcast Start-Up Accelerator to Target Future of Work
Philadelphia Inquirer: Comcast's mentorship program says it is seeking start-up companies working on connectivity breakthroughs. Specifically, Comcast says the program will focus in part on the future of work, as well as innovative...
Fox Corp News Stars Face Grilling on Debunked Reports
Daily Beast: Sean Hannity will have to answer questions under oath about Fox News's coverage of the death of Seth Rich, the murdered Democratic National Committee staffer. Hannity is to be deposed with other Fox staffers over the network's debunked...
ViacomCBS Talks Trump with Head of Simon & Schuster
Bloomberg: Simon & Schuster is the publisher of Bob Woodward's "Rage," Mary Trump's "Too Much and Never Enough," Sean Hannity's "Live Free or Die," and Brian Stelter's "Hoax." Says new publishing head Dana Canedy: "People are reading...
Vice Media Inks Disney Deal to Bring TV Content to Hulu
Deadline: Vice's fledgling TV distribution division is off to a productive start with a big package deal with Hulu. The US streamer has picked up 100 hours of Vice TV shows including the likes of breakout wrestling doc series "Dark Side of the...
CAA Claims New Deal to End Standoff with Writers Guild
Los Angeles Times: Creative Artists Agency says it reached a deal with the Writers Guild of America, potentially ending a standoff that has lasted more than a year. But the WGA says it has not yet reached a deal with CAA and called the agency's statement "not...
Netflix to Take Crown for Spending on Films, TV in 2020
Financial Times: Netflix's spending on films and programming is expected to rise by $3 billion to $13.6 billion in 2020, edging out its closest rivals ViacomCBS, Disney and NBCUniversal when sports rights purchases are...
Spotify Podcaster Offers Four-Hour Trump-Biden Debate
New York Post: President Trump jumped on an offer from Spotify podcast host Joe Rogan to moderate a four-hour debate with former Vice President Joe Biden. "I do," Trump responded on Twitter to a post from Tim Kennedy, a retired MMA...
Quibi Advertisers Say ‘Quick Bites’ Aren’t Meeting Goals
AdAge: Early advertisers of Quibi say they are in talks with the company to consider how the service can improve. One of the suggestions that has emerged is longer episodes. "Their bet on a mobile-only, short-form entertainment environment hasn't paid...
New York Times Invests in Transcription Software Tool
Silicon Canals: Trint, a London-based speech-to-text transcription platform, is announcing a Series A acceleration round led by the New York Times. Trint will be deployed to journalists across the Times. "Trint has already struck a chord with thousands of...
News Corp’s Australia Chief to Quit ‘Dangerous’ Twitter
Australian Financial Review: News Corp. Australasia head Michael Miller is deleting his Twitter account, saying the lack of regulation of content on the platform has moved beyond offensive to dangerous. Twitter "has become a dark place for destructive...
Nikkei’s Financial Times Editor Touts Solid Digital Model
Financial Times: "These have been challenging months, but we remain in robust financial shape thanks to the loyalty of our subscribers. Our business model — with its reliance on digital subscription revenues — has proven its value and...
Tribune Job Cuts Spark City Council Plea to Hedge Fund
Hartford Courant: The Hartford, Conn., City Council is backing a resolution urging Alden Global Capital to end the layoffs that have "decimated" the staff of the local Hartford Courant and to return the newspaper to local ownership. Alden is called a "destroyer of...
Conde Nast Sees Departure of Vogue ’73 Questions’ Guy
Variety: Joe Sabia, best known as the host of Vogue's "73 Questions" interview series, says he is leaving Conde Nast on good terms. Sabia says he's setting up shop as an independent creative video producer to "go back to my roots as an...
Hearst: Remote Work is Dulling Creative Edge of Staffers
FIPP: While media companies embrace remote working, there's a growing desire for face-to-face brainstorming. "We are allowing teams to come and work as groups because that is something our people are saying they are really missing," says Hearst UK CEO James Wildman....
Drudge Report Gets a Trump Lashing as ‘No Longer Hot’
TheHill: President Trump says the right-leaning news aggregator Drudge Report is "no longer 'hot.'" Trump tweeted: "Such an honor! Drudge is down 40% plus since he became Fake News. Most importantly, he's bleeding...
Apple Appears Ready for ‘Apple One’ Subscription Bundle
CNBC: Code found inside an Android version of the Apple Music app suggests that Apple is preparing to bundle its services together in a product called "Apple One." If Apple One launches this fall, Wall Street investors and analysts will be happy. An Apple bundle has...
Disney CEO Under Fire from US Lawmakers Over ‘Mulan’
Reuters: A group of bipartisan US lawmakers wants CEO Bob Chapek to explain Disney's connection with "security and propaganda" authorities of China's Xinjiang region during the production of live-action war epic "Mulan." Disney's "apparent cooperation ... is...
ViacomCBS Eyes $500 Million in Sale of Tech Site CNET
Wall Street Journal: ViacomCBS is close to selling CNET Media Group to Red Ventures, as the media giant sheds parts of its business to focus on video streaming. Red Ventures is expected to pay about $500 million to acquire the network of websites, which includes CNET,...
Comcast Fumbles TV Kickoff of Football Season on NBC
Associated Press: About 19.3 million fans turned on NBC to watch the NFL's season kickoff between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, or 13 percent fewer viewers than 2019's opening game. NBC touted it as the "most-watched sporting event since the Super...
AT&T Delays ‘Wonder Woman’ After Tepid Test of ‘Tenet’
Showbiz411: Warner Bros. is moving the theatrical release of "Wonder Woman 1984" to Dec. 25 from Oct. 2 "because basically no one went to see 'Tenet' and they're praying for a vaccine. And now Dr. Fauci is saying that even with a vaccine it might be a year before...
ViacomCBS to Try Out ‘Drew Barrymore’ on Daytime TV
Associated Press: Drew Barrymore is setting a high standard for herself as she joins the world of daytime talk show hosts on Monday. She wants to emulate David Letterman and Howard Stern as interviewers. "I'm not looking to mess someone over. But at the same time, I...
Fox Corp Makes History with Most-Watched TV Channel
Forbes: Fox News Channel was the most-watched US television network from May to September, the first time any cable news network has finished the summer months in first place among total viewers. Ad Age: Fox News plans to exploit a possible delay in US election...
Lupa Systems’ Murdoch Joins Wife in Anti-Trump Effort
Australian Financial Review: James Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, are busy deploying some of their proceeds from last year's $71 billion Disney-Fox merger, turning themselves into one of America's largest anti-Trump political donors. CNBC: James and Kathryn Murdoch...
Univision Investor to Host Biden Fundraiser on Monday
Variety: Haim Saban, the media billionaire who is a fixture in Democratic Party fundraising, is organizing a $500,000-per-person fundraiser for Joe Biden on Monday. Like all fundraisers in the Covid era, the event will be held virtually. It will be hosted by Saban and...
Bloomberg Founder to Spend Big in Florida to Aid Biden
Bloomberg: Michael Bloomberg plans to spend $100 million in Florida to help Joe Biden defeat President Trump in the crucial battleground, which would allow Democrats to divert money to Pennsylvania and other must-win states. The money will be spent on voter-turnout...
Verizon’s HuffPost Wins Spat Over Jon Hamm Bulge Pic
Daily News: A paparazzi picture of Jon Hamm's bulging trousers was so newsworthy the photographer who took it can't collect a fee for its use in a mocking online article, a federal judge ruled. HuffPost's use of the photo led to a copyright lawsuit by Lawrence...