BuzzFeed Reaches Deal to Continue Publishing in Germany
Der Standard: The German offshoot of BuzzFeed will continue to publish under the umbrella of Ippen Digital. "All employees keep their jobs," said BuzzFeed Deutschland editor Daniel Drepper. Since April, "more than three dozen publishers, investors and individuals"...
Americans Return to the Movies Despite Ongoing Pandemic
Financial Times: "Unhinged," the first major US film since the pandemic, has attracted more than $4 million in box office sales, a tentative sign Americans are ready to return to theaters after a five-month hiatus. "I hope there aren't any viral videos of people...
ViacomCBS to Broadcast MTV Music Awards for First Time
Deadline: For the first time in the 36-year history of MTV’s Video Music Awards, the show will air live on a broadcast network. The 2020 VMAs will simulcast on the CW. The network joins 11 ViacomCBS brands that also will carry the show live alongside MTV at 8 pm ET...
Discovery, Murdoch to Team on News Channel, Tweet Says
Media Mole: Discovery and Rupert Murdoch are said to be teaming up on a new UK news channel to launch in 2021, according to a tweet by Kelvin MacKenzie, a former editor of Murdoch's UK tabloid the Sun. "Andrew Neil and Nigel Farage due to sign. Taking on the quite...
Fox Corp’s News Channel Staffers Privately Express Unease
Associated Press: Several people at Fox News privately expressed worries about the growing power of prime-time opinion hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham at the expense of Fox's news operation. "There is a real resistance inside Fox...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Recreates Confabs with DC FanDome
CNET: DC FanDome's first half has come and gone, and revealed some spectacular new footage, including from "The Batman," "Wonder Woman 1984" and "The Justice League Snyder Cut." The second part of DC Fandome follows on Sept. 12. The event is aimed at fans of DC...
Netflix Struggles to Find the Right Formula for Talk Shows
TheStreet: Netflix can't do everything -- and some say, based on a pattern of cancellations, that the streaming giant is falling behind in the talk show genre. Netflix typically does not release information about its viewership, but one way to tell what's working or...
Facebook CEO Stokes Fears in Washington About TikTok
Wall Street Journal: When Mark Zuckerberg delivered a speech about freedom of expression in Washington, D.C., last fall, there was also another agenda: to raise the alarm about the threat from Chinese tech companies and, more specifically, the popular video-sharing...
Amazon CEO Adds First Black Woman to Elite Inner Circle
Fast Company: Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment, has become the fourth female and first Black member to join the gilded ranks of the company’s senior team, aka the S-team. Davis joined Amazon in 2019 after serving as GM’s head...
Twitter CEO Donates $10 Million to Anti-Racism Research
Business Insider: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced via tweet a $10 million donation to Boston University's Center for Antiracist Research, which was founded by best-selling author and thought leader Ibram X Kendi. Dorsey made the gift through his charitable...
iHeartMedia Radio Fires News Host After ‘Colored’ Remark
Plain Dealer: WTAM in Cleveland, Ohio, fired an anchor who referred to Sen. Kamala Harris as the nation’s “first colored vice presidential candidate” in a news promo. “We are aware of the reference made on WTAM by Kyle Cornell. We take this matter very seriously and...
Verizon-Hearst’s Complex Appoints New Execs After Probe
Business Insider: Complex Networks named two new department heads amid a reckoning over allegations of unfair treatment of employees. The company has named Krystle Douglas as head of HR and Aia Adriano as head of social media....
American Media CEO-Trump Ally to Depart in Merger Deal
New York Post: David Pecker, whose reign as the owner of the National Enquirer got mired in scandals over “catch and kill” for President Trump — has stepped down as CEO of the supermarket tabloid’s owner as part of a merger deal arranged by Chatham Asset...
Hearst Eyes Skyscraper for San Francisco Parking Garage
SocketSite: Plans to raze the 11-story Hearst Parking Center complex in San Francisco are in the works. As envisioned, a 52-story tower would rise up to 600 feet in height upon the site, with 354 units of housing over a 313-room hotel, 49,990 square feet of office...
Conde Nast to Ignite ‘Great Fire’ with September Vanity Fair
CBS News: Vanity Fair's special September issue, guest edited by Ta-Nehisi Coates, is called "The Great Fire." It features contributors of color on almost every page. The cover is a portrait of Breonna Taylor, the young Louisville woman who was shot and killed by...
Maven Tells Sports Illustrated Publishers to Delete Tweets
Awful Announcing: After laying off several publishers of Sports Illustrated team channel sites, a Maven exec texted at least two of those writer/publishers and asked them to take down their tweets: "We are still paying you and are asking you delete...
News Corp Signs Up ‘Renaissance Man’ for New York Post
MediaPost: The New York Post announced a multiplatform partnership with former NBA player Jalen Rose that spans a weekly column, video and podcast series called “The Renaissance Man.” It’s the first content partnership of this kind for the...
G/O Media Veterans Ready for September Debut of Defector
Adweek: Defector Media, an online publication with an editorial team made up of 18 former Deadspin writers and editors, is entering a crowded field of publishers looking to drive subscriptions. "Ad-supported models are in unstable economic...
Survey: Some Journalists Say They Prefer to Work at Home
Press Gazette: Less than a third of Press Gazette readers who responded to a poll on remote working said they miss the office and want to go back. People were more likely to say they were more productive at home than in the office: 185 people (45%) said this versus 80...
Disney, Fox Corp to End Temporary Pay Cuts from Pandemic
Deadline: Thousands of executives across Disney and Fox Corp. are getting their paychecks restored to pre-Covid-19 levels.The impacted executives from both companies were notified in internal emails. A slew of cash-strapped companies resorted to slashing salaries in...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Launches Probe of ‘Justice’ Filmmaker
Fox News: Joss Whedon's alleged misconduct on the set of "Justice League" is the subject of an independent third-party investigation launched by WarnerMedia, actor Ray Fisher said Thursday on Twitter. The goal is to "get to the heart of the toxic and abusive work...
Netflix ‘Ozark’ Series Plans Production Restart in November
IndieWire: As film and TV production starts to ramp back up across the industry, “Ozark” has planned a start date for shooting its final season. “We’re going to start November 9,” Jason Bateman said in an interview. “We’re very confident in the guidelines and...
Google at Work on Streaming Video Aggregator for Browser
Fierce Video: Google is said to be building a streaming video service aggregation feature – dubbed Kaleidoscope – within its Chrome web browser. Screenshots suggest that Kaleidoscope is designed to unify access for services including Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and...
MGM Remakes Orion Pictures with Vow of Inclusive Stories
New York Times: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is hiring young producer Alana Mayo to remake its Orion Pictures division to focus exclusively on underrepresented filmmakers and stories. Mayo will lead a greenlight committee made up entirely of...
Fox Corp’s News Channel Lets Trump Preview GOP Confab
Deadline: President Trump joined Sean Hannity on his Fox News show via phone call as the final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention kicked off. Vanity Fair: Some Fox News staffers are quietly fuming over the channel's coverage of...
Comcast’s NBC Ready to Bring Indy 500 to Huge Audience
Associated Press: One year after NBC assumed the rights from longtime broadcaster ABC, the network is preparing to bring one of the iconic events in sports to a potentially record-setting television audience Sunday. There remain far fewer live events than normal...
ViacomCBS Eyes $5.5 Million for 30-Second Super Bowl Ads
Wall Street Journal: CBS is seeking around $5.5 million for 30-second commercial spots in next year's Super Bowl, roughly in line with commercial prices in the 2020 game. CBS is also requiring advertisers in the Super Bowl telecast to appear in the game’s online...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Names Exec for Interim Head of Xandr
Variety: Joe Hogan has temporarily been given oversight of media sales at Xandr, the ad-tech unit that was operated separately from WarnerMedia’s ad sales efforts until April, when the two operations were combined. Hogan is a longtime sales executive at...
BBC’s Outgoing Director to Address Edinburgh TV Festival
World Screen: Tony Hall is to deliver an exclusive address to open this year's Edinburgh TV Festival. In one of his final public appearances as director-general of the BBC, Hall will address delegates on August 24. He will speak about the unique role of public service...
Comcast CEO Sells Off Florida Condominium for $6 Million
Real Deal: The CEO of cable giant Comcast has "cut the cord" on his North Palm Beach condo. Brian Roberts and his wife, Aileen, sold unit 201 at 11050 Turtle Head Beach Road for $5.5 million, according to records. Built in 1981, the condo has three bedrooms and three...