Casa Magazines Seeks Savior for Beloved NYC Newsstand
New Yorker: The most recognizable newsstand in Manhattan's West Village needs a large investor to come in as a benefactor. "We are surviving, but now it's bad,” says Mohammed Ahmed, the owner of Casa Magazines, regarded as a "living shrine in print culture in New York...
Disney Keeps Streaming Viewer Data a Secret for ‘Hamilton’
Associated Press: Disney+'s streaming of "Hamilton" was surely the biggest event on television screens over the holiday weekend. Just how big, however, remains a mystery. Disney knows, but it's not telling. Data is coming in to Nielsen, too, but won't be released...
ViacomCBS Inks Deal to Stream European Soccer Matches
CNBC: ViacomCBS will become the exclusive English language streamer of UEFA Champions League games in the U.S. beginning in August, in time for the conclusion of the 2019-20 season. Previously, ViacomCBS's rights agreement began in...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Taps Exec for HBO Max International
World Screen: WarnerMedia has appointed Johannes Larcher, currently the managing director of digital at MBC Group, as head of HBO Max International, set to join the company in August. Larcher will be responsible for the international rollout and management of...
Comcast’s Universal Shuffles Film Slate as Covid Worsens
CNBC: Universal Pictures is pushing a number of its upcoming horror films to new release dates as the coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen in the US. "Candyman," originally slated for release Sept. 25, is moving to Oct. 16. "The Forever Purge," set for release...
Lionsgate, Oprah to Partner with New York Times for ‘1619’
Associated Press: Oprah Winfrey and Lionsgate are partnering with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones to adapt "The 1619 Project," a New York Times project examining the legacy of slavery, for film and television. The partners aim to develop a...
AT&T-ViacomCBS’s CW Casts Black Actress as ‘Batwoman’
Reuters: A Black woman will star in the television series “Batwoman,” a first for the superhero in live-action television or film, the CW network said. Javicia Leslie, who is also bisexual, will take on the cape and cowl for the CW show when it returns for its second...
Fox Corp News Host in Talks for Rush Limbaugh Radio Job
Vanity Fair: Laura Ingraham, the Fox News Channel host, said she's been in talks to take over for Rush Limbaugh, who recently revealed his Stage 4 lung cancer might force him off the radio. "Laura's really interested in Rush's job," a person close to Ingraham...
Comcast Hiring of Shepard Smith Irks Employees at CNBC
@CGasparino: "People inside CNBC aren't too thrilled with the hiring, and it's not because they dislike Shep. CNBC employees were asked to take a pay cut because of the pandemic recession. Now they're reading the network signed someone to what has to be a...
IAC’s Diller Predicts Return to Normal After Pandemic Ends
Bloomberg: Barry Diller is predicting that life pretty much returns to normal once there's a coronavirus vaccine. Families will again take vacations and managers will send employees to conferences. He'd better hope so, because one of his companies, Expedia, depends on...
Twitter Job Posting Hints of Plan for Subscription Platform
CNBC: Twitter posted a job listing saying it was building a subscription platform under the code name "Gryphon." The company revealed little about the new platform: "We are building a subscription platform, one that can be reused by other teams in the future. This is...
Google, Amazon Said to Funnel Money to Conspiracy Sites
Bloomberg: Digital advertising platforms run by Google, Amazon and other tech companies will funnel at least $25 million to websites spreading misinformation about Covid-19 this year, according to a newly released study. Google's platforms will provide $19...
ByteDance’s TikTok Unveils Ad Platform Amid Challenges
Reuters: TikTok's launch of a new platform to court small business advertisers is fraught with challenges, especially after the Trump administration's threat to impose a ban on China-based social media apps. The new ad platform is key to TikTok's ability to become a...
Spotify Nabs $20 Million Ad Deal with Help from Joe Rogan
Ad Age: Omnicom is committing $20 million for podcast ads on Spotify for the remainder of the year, saying that the company's exclusive rights to "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast played a large part in closing the deal. "Everything starts with...
BuzzFeed to Stream New ‘Sims’ Show After Airing on TBS
Variety: Gaming title "The Sims" is getting the reality-TV show treatment — a la "Project Runway" — in which 12 contestants vie for a $100,000 grand prize. "The Sims Spark'd" will launch later this month on TBS, as well as on BuzzFeed Multiplayer, which covers gaming,...
McClatchy Postpones Newspaper Auction to Help Bidders
McClatchy DC: Chatham Asset Management initially offered more than $300 million in what is known as a credit bid, according to a court filing in April. Court filings Wednesday indicated that Alden Capital Group, a Colorado-based hedge fund, is also among the...
Hearst Fashion Magazine Editors Among Latest Under Fire
New York Times: Former Harper's Bazaar editor Glenda Bailey once faced staffer complaints of verbally abusive behavior; now Stephen Gan, the creative director of Elle, has attracted criticism for his leadership at V magazine, which he founded. Staffers said that he...
New York Times Media Writer Predicts Rapid Power Shifts
Discourse Blog: Ben Smith, the media columnist for the New York Times: "People's consumption is shifting to digital faster. A lot of that stuff won't go back or won't go back exactly the same way, from television to movies to news. And I think it's true culturally,...
Washington Post Media Writer Explores Local News Crisis
Los Angeles Times: The decline of local news is no surprise to any journalist and certainly not to Margaret Sullivan, the media columnist for the Washington Post and author of an important new book, "Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American...
Comcast’s CNBC Lands Fox News Veteran Shepard Smith
CNBC: CNBC announced on Wednesday that former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith is joining the network to host a one-hour evening news program on weekdays at 7 p.m. ET. The newscast, which will be called “The News with Shepard Smith,” is set to launch in the...
Comcast’s Peacock Debut Plans Upended by Coronavirus
CNET: Because of the coronavirus pandemic, several plans for Peacock's July 15 rollout have been overturned. Filming production of original programming is largely shut down, and the plan to piggyback Peacock's launch on NBC's live coverage of the summer Olympics is...
Disney Says Florida Park Reopening on Track for Saturday
Reuters: Disney will stick to its plans to reopen its Walt Disney World theme parks in Orlando, Florida, to a limited number of guests on Saturday. Florida’s coronavirus cases have soared in the last month, with the state’s daily count topping 10,000 three times in...
ViacomCBS to Revamp Comedy Central with Charlamagne
Vulture: Under the new direction of Chris McCarthy, Comedy Central is shaking up its approach to scripted comedy. Among the new projects is a talk show hosted by Charlamagne Tha God, the "Breakfast Club" radio host recently in the news for his candid interview with...
Fox Corp’s News Channel Faces Criticism for ‘Hate Speech’
Associated Press: Tucker Carlson, TV's most popular political host, says leaders of the Democratic party should be disqualified from running the country because they "despise" it. That led the Biden campaign to accuse the Fox News host on of using "hate speech...
Comcast’s NBC News Chief Wants 50 Percent Diverse Staff
Los Angeles Times: NBCUniversal News chief Cesar Conde has set a goal of having a 50% diverse work force across his division, in response to the current national period of reflection on race. No timetable has been set for the target Conde set in an internal video sent...
ViacomCBS Fires Worker After Probe of ‘Toxic Environment’
The Hill: CBS announced that showrunner Peter Lenkov had been fired after an investigation into claims that he promoted a toxic work environment. Lenkov is to cease working for two shows at the network, “Magnum P.I.” and “MacGyver,” and end an overall deal with...
Disney Starts Excavation on New Manhattan Headquarters
YIMBY: Demolition is finished and excavation work is now in full swing for Disney's new 1.2-million-square-foot headquarters at 137 Varick Street, aka Four Hudson Square. The upcoming 22-story building will eventually top out at 320 feet tall. A completion date is yet...
Nielsen to Slash 3,500 Employees in Restructuring Effort
MediaPost: Nielsen will lay off about 3,500 employees as part of its continuing restructuring efforts. Nielsen said the total restructuring charge for this year will now be higher -- $150 million to $170 million versus its previous guidance in April 2020 of $120...
Facebook Ad Boycotters See ‘No Commitment’ from Zuck
Reuters: Organizers of a growing Facebook advertising boycott said they see "no commitment to action" after meeting with CEO Mark Zuckerberg. More than 900 advertisers have signed on to the "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign, organized by social justice...
ByteDance’s TikTok Faces US Probe on Children’s Privacy
Reuters: The Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department are looking into allegations that popular app TikTok failed to live up to a 2019 agreement aimed at protecting children’s privacy. The development is the latest bump in the road for the short video...