Gannett, New York Times Report Covid Subscriber Gains
Press Gazette: Ten of the biggest newspaper groups in the US and UK have collectively gained more than 1 million new digital subscriptions amid the Covid-19 crisis. The New York Times alone attracted more than half a million paid online...
News Corp Signs Top Journalists for Digital Radio Outlet
Press Gazette: Times Radio in the UK has secured a number of high-profile journalists to present on the new digital radio station, which launches on June 29. It is hoped the station will boost subscriber numbers to the UK Times and Sunday...
Axel Springer’s Business Insider Flip Flops on Donations
Daily Beast: Business Insider, following an employee outcry, quickly clarified its position on staff donating to groups helping pay bail for protesters arrested during the Black Lives Matter protests. BI's top editor had said the company frowned upon such...
Conde Nast’s Wintour Touts Role as Supporter of LGBTQ
Hollywood Reporter: "Conde Nast stands for respect to all," said Anna Wintour. "All of our titles, not just Vogue, need to reflect the world that we live in and everything that that means. We need in our workforce an inclusive as a society as we possibly...
American Media Inc Mum on Report of Tie-Up with Trump
Daily Beast: President Trump urged his pals at the National Enquirer in 2017 to push the debunked conspiracy theory that MSNBC host Joe Scarborough murdered a female congressional aide. Jared Kusher asked the Enquirer to pursue the...
G/O Media CEO Sees a ‘Light on the Horizon,’ Mulls M&A
Digiday: G/O Media has begun projecting an image of stability, with Deadspin under a new editor and the hiring of a chief revenue officer. CEO Jim Spanfeller said he is focused on potential mergers and acquisitions. "We're keeping an eye on the...
Apple, ViacomCBS Pause Content for Blackout Protests
Reuters: The hashtag #BlackOutTuesday became the top trending item on Twitter as hundreds of thousands of businesses and individuals, including TV channels and celebrities, posted black screen shots to signal support for racial...
Facebook Finds Instagram Swarming with Blackout Posts
CNBC: Instagram users have flooded the platform with black squares in support of black victims of police violence as part of a Blackout Tuesday protest. Searches for “blackout tuesday image” and “blackout image” surged 400% Tuesday...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Offers Racial Injustice Film for Free
Associated Press: The 2019 film "Just Mercy," which chronicles courtroom struggles against racial injustice and mass incarceration, will be made free on digital platforms throughout June in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Warner Bros....
ViacomCBS Gets Gripes for Silent Protest at Nickelodeon
Orange County Register: Nickelodeon, the cable TV channel devoted to children’s programming, briefly suspended programming to air a message expressing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement — a strategy that drew both praise and...
Disney Eyes Big Sports Future at ESPN Complex in Florida
New York Times: ESPN Wide World of Sports, a sprawling 220-acre complex at the Disney mega-resort in Florida, is poised to become the capital of basketball. The NBA has been in talks with Disney to restart its season by holding games and practices at the...
Nexstar Aims to Take On CNN, Fox News at WGN America
Los Angeles Times: Cable network WGN America's new national newscast "News Nation," set to debut Sept. 1, aims to be a down-the-middle alternative to the opinion-driven shows airing on cable news. "We let you come to your own...
Facebook CEO: No ‘Dog Whistle’ in Trump’s ‘Shooting’ Post
Recode: In an internal video call with Facebook employees, CEO Mark Zuckerberg doubled down on his controversial decision to take no action on a post last week from President Trump. "The right action for where we are right now is to leave this...
Twitter Taps Former Google CFO for New Board Chairman
CNBC: Twitter has appointed former Google chief financial officer Patrick Pichette as the company's new chairman of the board. Pichette takes over the role after joining Twitter's board of directors in 2017. He previously served as Google's CFO from 2008 until...
Roku Unveils 100 Free TV Channels in New Program Guide
CNET: Roku has expanded its free Roku Channel service with the addition of 100 live channels housed in a new program guide. It offers linear programming from categories including news (ABC News Live, Reuters, Newsy) and lifestyle (Bon Appetit, Bob...
Quibi Staffers Upset Over Big Talent Paydays Amid Layoffs
New York Post: Quibi staffers are said to be seething after Reese Witherspoon was paid $6 million to narrate a nature show on the troubled platform where her husband works as head of content acquisition. "The mood is...
Edelman Lays Off 390 Workers as Covid Woes Hit PR Giant
Business Insider: Edelman is laying off 390 people, about 7% of its employees worldwide, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The world's largest PR firm is also asking for salary reductions from 5 to 20% based on employee compensation...
New York Times Rewrites Front-Page Headline After Outcry
Daily Mail: The New York Times changed a front page headline after the first edition was derided as "possibly one of the worst headlines ever written." The headline -- "As the chaos spreads, Trump vows to 'end it now'" -- was met with a swift online...
Hearst’s San Francisco Newspaper Top Editor Steps Down
San Francisco Chronicle: Audrey Cooper, editor in chief of the San Francisco Chronicle, has told her staff she plans to leave the newspaper later this month for a new position in journalism. Cooper has been the Chronicle’s editor since...
Meredith Faces Playboy Lawsuit Over Subscription Data
WWD: Playboy has sued Meredith and two other companies, seeking millions of dollars of damages it suffered for losses related to a separate subscriber privacy suit. Playboy alleges that its magazine subscriber data was improperly disclosed to third...
Conde Nast Hits Back at Tatler Tales from British Royals
WWD: Lawyers for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have sent a letter to society glossy Tatler contesting the depiction of Kate Middleton in a (mostly) flattering feature called “Catherine the Great.” The story centers describes her as the “ultimate power...
Vox Media Touts Gains at New York Magazine, Strategist
Ad Exchanger: Vox Media and New York Media combined last year, which gave the company scale to ride out the storm. New York Media had its biggest month of new subscribers in April, bringing in triple the number of new subscribers as it did the year...
BuzzFeed News Editor Predicts Permanent Use of Zoom
CNN: "The way that people will work is not going to be the way it was before," says new BuzzFeed news editor in chief Mark Schoofs. "I would venture to guess that there will still be a large work from home component. I think Zoom is just a permanent part of our lives...
Shamrock Capital Set to Become Ninth Owner of Adweek
MediaPost: Adweek has a new parent for at least the ninth time in its 41 years of publishing. Los Angeles-based investment firm Shamrock Capital has announced it acquired Adweek from Beringer Capital. Terms were not...
Google’s YouTube Encourages Staffers to Take Tuesday Off
The Information: Executives across YouTube are encouraging their employees to take Tuesday off or cancel their meetings in solidarity with nationwide protests of police violence against African Americans, according to emails sent to...
Sony to Join Music Industry Leaders in ‘Black Out Tuesday’
Associated Press: The music industry is planning to turn off the music and hold a day to reflect and implement change in response to the death of George Floyd and the killings of other black people. Several top record labels organized Black Out...
Disney, Netflix Help Prep Protocols for Return of Movies, TV
Reuters: Hollywood studios and labor unions on Monday proposed extensive coronavirus testing and other safeguards to allow actors and crew members to resume movie and TV show production in the United States. An industry task force made dozens of...
AT&T Names Hulu Veteran for Tech Officer at WarnerMedia
Hollywood Reporter: CEO Jason Kilar has named Richard Tom to the role of chief technology officer at AT&T-owned WarnerMedia. Tom replaces Jeremy Legg, who will move to AT&T's telecom business, AT&T Communications, to lead technology...
Fox Corp CEO Praises ‘Brave’ Journalists Covering Protests
Deadline: Lachlan Murdoch on Monday sent a memo to Fox Corp. employees about the death of George Floyd last week and the national protests that have come since. The note comes as companies continue to stress their support for the black...
ViacomCBS Free Streamer Boosts TV Return of Bill O’Reilly
Axios: Bill O'Reilly's show, "No Spin News," which currently airs on his website and across YouTube, will be broadcast twice daily on The First, a conservative digital television network that runs on several platforms, including ViacomCBS-owned Pluto...