Playboy Founder’s Son Preps Move Into California Politics
TheWrap: Cooper Hefner, the son of the late Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner, is launching an exploratory campaign in the California State Senate race. The 28-year-old wrote on Instagram that “it is time for more young leaders to focus on the...
SiriusXM Pushes Into Podcasts with Acquisition of Stitcher
TechCrunch: SiriusXM has reached a deal to acquire Stitcher from E.W. Scripps for $325 million, a return of more than double Scripps’ investment in podcasting. Stitcher is a podcast pioneer that provides a one-stop platform to create, monetize and distribute...
Hearst Plans Virtual Shopping ‘Hauliday’ for Cosmopolitan
WWD: Cosmopolitan's audience lists shopping as a favorite pastime and has spent a lot of time during quarantine shopping online. Cosmo's audience is also a demo of savvy shoppers largely made up of digitally native Gen Z and...
Maven’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Makes a Splash
E! News: Kate Bock, Jasmine Sanders and Olivia Culpo have landed the cover of 2020's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. The iconic cover with the three models was unveiled Monday. This is the first SI Swimsuit cover for the three, all of whom were photographed in...
News Corp Revives Personal Section of Wall Street Journal
TalkingBizNews: The Wall Street Journal is relaunching Personal Journal, a print section and coverage area to help readers navigate their personal lives in a complex world. Like the previous Personal Journal, the new version will cover subjects "close to readers'...
Associated Press, Washington Post to Join ‘Trusted News’
Press Gazette: Major news publishers and tech giants are preparing to collaborate in the fight against disinformation ahead of the US election. The Trusted News Initiative, launched last year, has recently been focusing on countering false claims about...
G/O Media Brings Back Former Editor to Oversee Gizmodo
TalkingBIzNews: Tech news site Gizmodo has hired John Biggs, who was editor of Gizmodo from 2003 to 2005 and has been editor of Coindesk, to be its editor. Biggs has two decades of experience as a tech editor and journalist across sites such as CrunchGear and...
Media, Tech Giants in Identity Crisis During Plans for M&A
CNBC: Distribution and content companies are redefining themselves because the definition of distribution is changing with broadband-connected television. There are multiple levels in which media and technology companies can play. Choosing a path dictates content...
Facebook Beats Out Disney as Most Valuable Media Brand
AdNews: The world's 25 most valuable media brands could lose up to 10% of brand value, or about $40 billion, from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an analysis by Brand Finance. An increase in demand and subscribers "may not offset, or compensate for, Covid-19's...
Disney Stirs Online Backlash from Florida Park Reopening
MarketWatch: Florida on Sunday broke the national record for the biggest single-day number of positive coronavirus cases in any state since the beginning of the pandemic, following a week in which the Sunshine State saw 514 people die of the disease, or 73 each day,...
Comcast to Shun ‘Casino Feel’ with New Streamer Peacock
Deadline: Matt Strauss, a veteran Comcast exec who took the helm of NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock last fall, knew one thing when he started: He wasn’t creating a copycat offering. "TV tends to be very dynamic. It’s current. It’s social. Many streaming...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Readies ‘Batman’ Series at HBO Max
CNBC: Filmmaker Matt Reeves’s take on the Dark Knight won’t arrive in theaters until 2021, but that’s not stopping HBO Max from committing to giving the film its own expanded universe. The streaming service owned by AT&T announced that it had given a series...
Fox Corp Condemns ‘Horrific’ Behavior by News Employee
Fox News: Fox News Media immediately accepted the resignation of a staffer on Friday upon learning he made “deeply offensive racist, sexist and homophobic” comments online under a fictitious name. In a company-wide memo, Fox News warned colleagues that such behavior...
Disney’s ESPN Suspends Journo After Profane Email Leak
Fox News: ESPN suspended NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski a day after a profane email from him to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., was leaked to social media. Wojnarowski is arguably ESPN's most prominent reporter and breaks so much NBA news on Twitter that his messages have...
ViacomCBS’s MTV Blocks Ads from Racism, Protest News
Wall Street Journal: MTV has avoided advertising placements near articles about protests and unrest. The ViacomCBS-owned youth-oriented cable channel asked a leading publisher to avoid placing its ads in stories that mentioned words including "George Floyd," "Black...
Fox Corp Gets a Boost on YouTube from Algorithm Change
Bloomberg Businessweek: YouTube wanted to promote more "authoritative news" as its algorithms fed viewers conspiracy theories. But after the Google-owned video giant changed its algorithms in January 2019, YouTube found it accidentally gave prime billing to America's...
Amazon’s Audible Content Officer Exits After Just a Month
Bloomberg: About a month after Audible announced that Brad Schwartz would oversee its big push into original audio series, the executive has left the Amazon division. Audible reconsidered having Schwartz take over as the audio-book company’s chief content officer...
Facebook Mulls Political Ad Blackout Ahead of US Election
Bloomberg: Facebook is considering imposing a ban on political ads on its social network in the days leading up to the US election in November. The potential ban is still only being discussed and hasn’t yet been finalized. A halt on ads could defend against misleading...
Amazon: We Sent TikTok Ban Email to Employees in Error
Reuters: Amazon said it sent an email on Friday that requested employees remove the TikTok app from mobile devices that also had access to company emails in error. “There is no change to our policies right now with regard to...
Cumulus Cuts Jobs, Shutters News Network at Radio Giant
Radio Ink: Cumulus CEO Mary Berner has informed employees that 3% of the US radio giant's workforce is being eliminated and the Westwood One News Network will be shuttered. Westwood One's news product is heard on over 900 affiliates. so that’s going to leave stations...
Lupa Systems, from Murdoch, to Invest in Art Basel Owner
Bloomberg: James Murdoch plans to invest in ailing Art Basel organizer MCH Group, which has been hammered by delays and cancellations due to the coronavirus pandemic. His investment company Lupa Systems will acquire a stake of 30% to 44%, Basel-based MCH Group said in...
News Corp Gets a Push for Changes at Wall Street Journal
New York Times: Staff members of the Wall Street Journal have been pressing newsroom leaders to make fundamental changes in how the newspaper covers race, policing, and its primary focus, the business world, along with other matters. The paper must "encourage more...
McClatchy Says Chatham is Winner in Bankruptcy Auction
Reuters: Hedge fund Chatham Asset Management’s bid succeeded in a court-supervised auction for bankrupt news publisher McClatchy, the news company said on Sunday. The Miami Herald publisher said Chatham’s proposed deal would help it exit Chapter 11 protection in the...
Meredith to Unveil Book Club for Kids at Parents Magazine
MediaPost: In Parents upcoming August issue, themed “Raise a Reader,” the title will debut a new list called “100 Books to Inspire Your Kids,” alongside new initiatives being launched, such as the Raising the Future Book Club. The issue includes tips on how to raise a...
Maven Touts First Transgender Model at Sports Illustrated
NBC Today: Sports Illustrated will feature its first openly transgender model for the magazine's annual swimsuit issue. Valentina Sampaio was named a 2020 rookie for the upcoming issue that hits stands on July 21. "I am excited and honored to be part of the iconic...
Disney in Clash Over Covid Tests as Florida Parks Reopen
Orlando Sentinel: The Actors' Equity Association has filed a grievance against Disney, accusing the company of retaliating against its members after the union argued that its theme park performers should be regularly tested for Covid-19 because it's difficult to wear...
Comcast’s Universal Denies Covid Shutdown of ‘Jurassic’
Screen Rant: "Jurassic World: Dominion" reportedly stopped filming on its very first day back, due to crew members testing positive for the coronavirus. But Universal Pictures has denied the shutdown: "Any reports [of a] halted production are categorically...
Fox Corp’s News Hosts Differ from Pundits on Face Masks
Daily Beast: Fox News contributor Dan Bongino declared this week that he "will not comply" with mandatory mask orders. The network that employs him as a paid pundit, meanwhile, has recently been airing ads urging viewers to wear face coverings to stem the spread of...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Expects to Hire New Ad Sales Chief
Adweek: Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the abrupt exit of Donna Speciale as WarnerMedia ad sales chief. But even more astonishing than the timing of her departure — just after she had wrapped 2019’s upfronts — is the fact that a full year later, the job...
Comcast’s MSNBC Announces Reid as Evening Show Host
Associated Press: Joy Reid says she wants to bring some different perspectives to MSNBC's evening lineup — lots of them. As anticipated, the host of MSNBC's weekend "AM Joy" show was appointed to succeed former "Hardball" host Chris Matthews in the 7 pm ET time slot...