Disney Raises Price of Sports-Streamer ESPN Plus by $1
The Verge: ESPN Plus will get a $1 price hike in August to $5.99 a month, making the baseline price for Disney's sports streaming app the same as Hulu's basic tier. The price hike is only being applied to ESPN Plus's monthly fee. The annual price of $49.99 will remain...
Google Hikes Price of Cable-TV Rival YouTube TV by $15
TechCrunch: YouTube TV will be getting another price hike, making its live TV streaming service less competitive with the cable TV services it aims to replace. The company announced its service would now cost $64.99 per month for new members. The increases are due to...
Netflix Hires High-Profile Black Exec for Marketing Officer
Reuters: Netflix has appointed Bozoma Saint John as the streaming giant's chief marketing officer, starting in August, adding a high-profile Black executive to senior management. Saint John, who has been vocal about inequality in corporate America, joins from...
Google to Suspend Monetization for YouTube Personality
Tubefilter: Amid a firestorm of controversy, YouTube has suspended monetization on all three of Shane Dawson's channels. Dawson operates flagship hub Shane (22.5 million subscribers), Shane Dawson TV (8.4 million subscribers), and a newer beauty channel, Shane...
Hearst Hires to Expand Global Venture Capital Operation
FinSMEs: The global venture capital division of Hearst has made a series of hires as it continues to seek new investment opportunities across key regions. Notable current Hearst Ventures investments include 3D Hubs, BuzzFeed, Duality, FlashEx, GeoPhy, Kujiale, Otonomo...
Tribune in Talks to Give Alden Global Another Board Seat
Wall Street Journal: Tribune Publishing is said to be in talks to add the co-founder of Alden Global Capital to its board as part of an agreement that would prevent the hedge fund from making a hostile bid to buy the rest of the newspaper company in the near...
New York Times Metro Section Disappears in Print Edition
New York Post: It's still called the New York Times, but good luck finding any section of the print edition that's devoted exclusively to news from New York. The paper's March 23 edition ran a "Note to Our Readers," in which it said the New York section would not be...
News Corp Launches WSJ Digital Magazine for Under 35s
Nieman Lab: The Wall Street Journal has been previewing Noted, a monthly digital “news and culture” magazine for 18- to 34-year-olds, for the past couple of months, and on Tuesday it officially launched. Noted, whose tagline is “For you. With you. By you,” is a push...
Conde Nast’s Former W Magazine Looks for a Buyer Again
WWD: W magazine’s new leadership is already looking to sell the magazine. Acquired only last summer from Conde Nast by Surface Media, which then changed its name to Future Media Group, the oversize fashion magazine has had years of troubles (financial and with waning...
Meredith’s Former Golf Magazine Tees Off with New Owner
Forbes: The past several months have been pretty big for Golf. Not simply the game, mind you, but the brand and its various media properties — from the relaunched website, Golf.com, to a reinvigorated magazine that starting in July will have even more...
Maven’s Sports Illustrated in Story Flap with Football Star
New York Post: Dallas Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott threatened to sue Sports Illustrated after the magazine ran a column online with the headline, “Ezekiel Elliott Forgets to Log Off, Admits to Being High on Twitch: Traina Thoughts.” Elliott tweeted: "You guys will...
The Hill’s Owner Arranges White House Position for Wife
Politico: The owner of the news outlet that published the columns at the center of the Ukraine scandal helped secure an unpaid White House position for his wife — a fact the publication did not disclose to readers. The Hill owner Jimmy Finkelstein personally discussed...
Disney, AT&T’s WarnerMedia Hit by Big Ad-Sales Losses
New York Post: Media giants Disney and WarnerMedia logged some of the steepest ad declines last month due to a delay in the NBA playoffs, which typically take place in May and is broadcast by Disney’s ABC and ESPN and WarnerMedia’s...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Looks to Sell CNN Center in Atlanta
TheWrap: WarnerMedia leadership told staffers that the CNN Center in Atlanta will be sold, downplaying questions about whether the move signals impending layoffs. WarnerMedia will not be leaving Atlanta altogether: "Our strategy is to...
Disney Musicals on Hold as Broadway Theaters Stay Dark
Laughing Place: Disney's "The Lion King" and "Aladdin" have cancelled all Broadway performances until January 2021 at the direction of government officials. Broadway venues have been closed since mid-March as New York City went into lockdown to help stop the spread of...
ViacomCBS Plans MTV VMAs in Brooklyn Despite Crisis
Associated Press: The 2020 MTV Video Music Awards will still go ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic. An MTV spokesperson confirmed that the show will take place Aug. 30 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New...
Comcast’s NBC Wins Golf as Fox Corp Cancels Contract
Associated Press: The US Open is returning to NBC after Fox Sports has asked to end its 12-year contract with the US Golf Association. The US Open was postponed to Sept. 17-20 when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down golf for three months....
Fox Corp’s Murdoch Eyes Stake in Swiss Events Company
Bloomberg: Rupert Murdoch is interested in providing capital to MCH Group, the company that organizes Switzerland's Art Basel shows. James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, is said to be negotiating the possible investment on his father's...
News Corp Unveils British Radio Service to Take On BBC
AFP: The British newspaper group that owns The Times and the Sunday Times launched a news and current affairs radio station, aiming to position itself as a rival to the BBC. Times Radio had Prime Minister Boris Johnson as its first big-name...
Disney Removes ‘Golden Girls’ Mud-Pack Episode on Hulu
The Hill: Hulu removed a 1988 episode of "The Golden Girls" in which actresses Betty White and Rue McClanahan wear black mud on their faces, with the decision prompting backlash on social...
Netflix Preps New Series on Kaepernick’s Path to Activism
Associated Press: Colin Kaepernick is joining with Emmy-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay on a Netflix drama series about the teenage roots of the former NFL player's activism. “Colin in Black & White” will examine Kaepernick's high school...
Google’s YouTube Bans Top White Supremacist Channels
The Verge: YouTube has banned several prominent white supremacist channels, including those belonging to Stefan Molyneux, David Duke, and Richard Spencer. The channels repeatedly violated YouTube policies, a spokesperson...
ByteDance’s TikTok Banned in India Over Security Issues
CNBC: The Indian government banned dozens of Chinese mobile apps, including TikTok, over alleged security issues. India "has decided to block 59 apps since in view of information available they are engaged in activities which is...
Amazon’s Twitch Suspends Trump Over ‘Hateful Content’
TheWrap: President Trump's Twitch account is temporarily suspended from posting because of "hateful conduct." Trump’s Twitch account is another social platform for his campaign to distribute videos, including rebroadcasts of...
Reddit Bans ‘The Donald’ Forum in Attack on Hate Speech
CNET: Reddit banned The_Donald forum as it makes sweeping changes to its hate speech policies. The subreddit became known for playing host to racist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic and other problematic...
New York Times Pulls Out of Partnership with Apple News
New York Times: The New York Times is exiting its partnership with Apple News, as news outlets struggle to compete with large tech companies. The Times said Apple gave little in the way of direct relationships with readers and little control over the...
Tribune, McClatchy Near Deadlines on Publishing Future
Nieman Lab: Tribune and McClatchy are both approaching critical deadlines that could lead to mergers, divisions — or even the first big nonprofit US newspaper chain. What happens in the next few days could prompt a wave of other moves across the...
News Corp CEO: Journalism is Becoming ‘Unsustainable’
Press Gazette: Robert Thomson said the "dysfunctional digital landscape" disproportionately rewards distributors like Facebook and Google over the creators of journalism. "Journalism around the world is...
Conde Nast: Vogue.com Editor Out After Less Than a Year
Business of Fashion: Stuart Emmrich, Vogue.com's new editor, is exiting the publication at the end of the summer after less than a year in the role. "We have all enjoyed working with him," said Anna Wintour in a...
Report: Doctors’ Offices, Airlines Banish Print Magazines
Bloomberg: Magazines are grappling with a new challenge — fears that you can get the coronavirus by touching them. It’s just the latest blow to an industry already ravaged by an aging customer base and the shift of advertising to Google and...