AT&T’s WarnerMedia Plots Internal Investigation of ‘Ellen’
Variety: "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" has become the subject of an internal investigation by WarnerMedia following accounts of workplace problems on the long-running daytime series. The move comes on the heels of recent unflattering...
Twitter Faces Boycott Over Rapper’s Anti-Semitic Tweets
CNBC: Twitter is facing a "walkout" over its handling of a string of anti-Semitic tweets that appeared on the account of British rapper Wiley. The 41-year-old London grime artist has been dropped by his management company, A-List...
Facebook CEO to Tell Congress Tech Success is Patriotic
Bloomberg: Mark Zuckerberg is prepared with what he sees as a compelling argument for lawmakers ready to grill him on antitrust issues: hindering American tech innovation helps China. Zuckerberg plans to portray his company as an American success...
Social Media Content Targeted by FCC in Push from Trump
MarketWatch: The Trump administration has moved forward with plans to regulate content on social-media platforms, asking US regulators to start overseeing how these platforms treat content. "Large online platforms appear to engage in selective...
Spotify New Podcaster Rogan Says He’s Fleeing California
The Hill: Joe Rogan announced on his popular podcast that he is moving from his longtime home of Los Angeles to Texas "soon" after months of hints, with the host citing overpopulation and "a little bit more freedom" for the...
Match Group Taps CBS Interactive Alum for CEO of Tinder
Wall Street Journal: Jim Lanzone, a former CEO of CBS Interactive, will be the new CEO of Match Group's flagship dating app Tinder at a time when the coronavirus pandemic is redefining the online dating industry. Lanzone will join the company Aug....
Fox Corp’s News Channel ‘Jeopardizes’ Trump Reelection
Washington Post: Fox News could end up playing a role in helping destroy President Trump's chances at reelection. Trump has relied on Fox as a positive feedback loop. The news channel's pundits could reinforce Trump's belief that his messaging is working for...
Sinclair Says It Won’t Air Fauci Conspiracy Theory Report
Associated Press: Sinclair Broadcast Group says it will not air a segment on its “America This Week” program in which a conspiracy theorist speculates about Dr. Anthony Fauci and the coronavirus. Over the weekend, Sinclair said it was delaying the story for a...
Scripps TV Stations Go Dark in Dispute with Dish Network
Fast Company: Dish Network customers are no strangers to sudden blackouts, but for many who had been eagerly awaiting the return of Major League Baseball games, this one has to hurt. Local TV stations owned by E.W. Scripps went dark on Dish and Dish-owned Sling...
New York Times’s New CEO Doesn’t Like the Term ‘Paper’
Nieman Lab: "What 'the paper' means is a journalism company that is not born of the digital age, that has legacies," says Meredith Kopit Levien, the newly named CEO of the New York Times. "Something like 3 million people listen to The Daily every day. [It's] a...
Belo Leads Local Media Push to Launch Digital Sports Site
Variety: The Local News Consortium, an alliance of local-media companies, plans to launch The Matchup, a new online sports news effort that aims to give fans of specific teams more news about them from a wider range of outlets than just those covering it...
Oprah to Host New TV Series of ‘Conversations’ for Apple
Reuters: Oprah Winfrey is returning to her talk show format with a new series on Apple TV+ in which she will discuss the topics of the day with prominent newsmakers. “The Oprah Conversation” will debut July...
Hearst Quietly Cuts Print Frequency of Several Magazines
WWD: Hearst is quietly reducing the print frequency of some of its major titles, including Cosmopolitan, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and Marie Claire. Hearst is looking to monetize digital more though membership programs and metered...
Conde Nast Makes Plans to Target ‘Post-Covid’ Shopping
MediaPost: Allure is redesigning its magazine for a special November issue. The aim is to help readers sample and shop beauty products. Integration with the YouCam Makeup app means readers can use augmented reality to "try on" products in the magazine....
Vox Media’s Strategist Preps First Site-Wide Product Sale
WWD: Amazon’s decision to push back its annual Prime Day of online shopping deals may have created something of an e-commerce vacuum and The Strategist is looking to fill it, to the extent that it...
Group Nine Media to Team with Old Navy on New Clothes
WWD: PopSugar and Old Navy are partnering to launch a unisex clothing line for tweens, called PS x ON. The limited-edition collection "is definitely an extension of the PopSugar brand," says PopSugar boss Lisa Sugar. "Our optimistic, playful vibe comes...
Amazon, Apple, Facebook CEO US Hearing Faces a Delay
CNBC: The major Congressional hearing on competition in the US tech sector has been delayed two days to Wednesday. The antirust hearing is to feature Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Google CEO Sundar...
Apple to Shift Streaming Strategy After Tom Hanks Movie
Fast Company: The success of Tom Hanks's World War II drama "Greyhound" has catalyzed Apple's ambitions in feature films, which are now being amped up to almost Netflix-like levels. Going forward, the streamer is discussing plans to release a dozen new movies a...
AT&T, Disney Hint of Opening Summer Movies Outside US
Financial Times: Hollywood is preparing to tear up its playbook for releasing billion-dollar blockbusters, as the pandemic forces big movie studios such as Disney and Warner Bros to lean more heavily on cinemas outside the US. Warner Bros is eyeing a late-August debut...
Fox Corp News Channel Founder Gets Positive Digital Film
TheWrap: Roger Ailes is the subject of a sympathetic new documentary, "Man in the Arena," narrated by Jon Voight, released across digital platforms. "Man in the Arena" was produced, written and directed by attorney and first-time director Michael...
Disney’s ESPN Scores Big Ratings with Return of Baseball
CNBC: Major League Baseball started its Covid-19 regular season Thursday night with a record average 4 million viewers, the most-watched regular-season MLB game on any network since 2011, according to ESPN, which aired the...
Fox Corp Lays Off 50+ Sports Workers in Efficiency Effort
The Big Lead: Fox Sports has laid off more than 50 workers in a move unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic. The company claims it is attempting to become more efficient after selling off the regional sports networks to Sinclair last...
Comcast Readies Relaunch of Video-Game TV Network G4
Variety: After nearly six years sitting in mothballs, the G4 video-game TV network is coming back — with some kind of relaunch next year by Comcast. On Friday, the Twitter accounts of two popular shows on the network both posted the same cryptic teaser...
Disney-Hearst: A&E Ratings Crash After Yanking ‘Live PD’
Wall Street Journal: Ratings for A&E Network have plummeted since it canceled the hit police reality show "Live PD" on June 10, a sign of how much the network relies on such programming. Average prime-time viewership is down 49% from the same period last...
Oprah Winfrey Magazine with Hearst to Close Print Edition
Business of Fashion: After 20 years, the monthly print edition of O: The Oprah Magazine will end after the December 2020 issue. The decision to rethink Winfrey's relationship with Hearst predates last week's exit of magazine division president Troy...
Hearst Journalistic Integrity Under Spotlight Amid Uproar
New York Times: The workplace at Hearst Magazines was troubled under Troy Young. And it may not have been good for ambitious investigative journalism. “It’s damning that Hearst would promote someone with multiple documented complaints against...
Sinclair Pulls TV Show Airing Conspiracy Theory on Fauci
Associated Press: Sinclair Broadcast Group says it is pulling from the air an edition of its "America This Week" program that discusses a conspiracy theory involving Dr. Anthony Fauci and the coronavirus. Sinclair hopes to add context and still air the controversial...
Disney-ABC TV Host Legend Regis Philbin Dies at Age 88
People: Regis Philbin has died. The beloved star was 88. The longtime television host died on July 24. "We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Regis Philbin passed away last night of natural causes, one month shy of his 89th birthday," his family...
Chernin’s Barstool Sports Under Fire for Trump Interview
Mediaite: Barstool Sports host Dan Katz excoriated his boss Dave Portnoy for his softball interview with President Donald Trump. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the president’s office reached out to Barstool four months before an election when he’s polling at...
News Corp Sees Workers Slack-ing at Wall Street Journal
Vanity Fair: Wall Street Journal staffers have created a private, non-company Slack channel that people have been invited to join via their personal email addresses. "There's some prominent reporters in there" ... "It definitely feels like there’s sort of a moment...