New York Times CEO Touts Digital Media Focus, Plans to Hire
Financial Times: CEO Mark Thompson expects New York Times ad revenues to drop more than 50 percent in the second quarter, but the newsroom will be spared from layoffs. "Our thesis is you have to invest in the product to have a chance in the digital media...
News Corp Slashes Staff, Shutters 100 Newspapers in Australia
Sydney Morning Herald: News Corp Australia has confirmed it will axe hundreds of jobs and stop the print editions of more than 100 suburban and regional mastheads as part of a major restructure aimed at cutting costs and consolidating its editorial and commercial...
Conde Nast, Hearst Mum on Publishing Frequency of Magazines
Adweek: It's not clear whether fashion magazines Vogue, Elle or Harper's Bazaar will publish on the same schedule as they did in previous years. Spokespersons for these companies declined to comment. InStyle is sticking to its production schedule of 12 issues per...
Hearst Offers Free Ads to Leading Brands in ‘Together’ Initiative
WWD: It's no secret that advertising has been hit hard by the coronavirus, but Hearst Magazines is keeping key brand partners sweet in the meantime with the offer of free PSA ads in Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and Marie Claire’s summer...
Drudge Report Plugs Armenian Site Plagiarizing US Publishers
BuzzFeed News: The Drudge Report, the venerable website run by Matt Drudge, has been sending visitors to copy-pasted version of stories on dnyuz.com, an obscure site filled with content plagiarized from publishers, including the New York Times, the Atlantic and...
Media, Tech Workers Stung by Job Openings That Aren’t Real
The Information: Freshly unemployed workers in tech and media are flocking to online job listings with a new sense of urgency amid recent layoffs and furloughs. That is leading to a frustrating realization: Many employers aren’t actually hiring for the open positions...
AT&T Hopes to Crush ‘Enemy’ Netflix with Launch of HBO Max
New York Times: AT&T's new streaming platform goes live on Wednesday. At $15 a month, it's more expensive than its rivals and comes at a time when household income is dropping. AT&T boss John Stankey once reportedly described Netflix as the enemy: "We're going...
ViacomCBS: Redstone Turns 97 as Daughter Solidifies Control
Fox Business: Sumner Redstone turns 97 years old on Wednesday. The billionaire is best known as the chairman emeritus of media giant ViacomCBS, which was created by a merger late last year. Today, Redstone's daughter Shari is the chairwoman of...
Disney, CBS Face Lawsuit Over ‘Rampant’ Sexual Misconduct
Associated Press: The state of California filed a lawsuit against CBS, Disney and producers of the long-running series “Criminal Minds,” alleging that the show’s cinematographer engaged in rampant sexual misconduct against crew members for...
Warner Music Moves Forward with IPO Amid Streaming Surge
Los Angeles Times: Warner Music Group announced that it is moving forward with its IPO. The IPO price range values the L.A.-based company at as much as $13.3 billion, showing optimism in the music industry, which has transformed itself by embracing the streaming...
ViacomCBS to Offer Face Masks from ‘SpongeBob,’ ‘Star Trek’
Deadline: ViacomCBS has begun selling protective face coverings featuring characters from shows including "SpongeBob SquarePants," "Star Trek: Picard," MTV programs and more. Proceeds will go to charity, ViacomCBS says. The face wear is available online and at retail...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Staffers to Work at Home Until Year-End
@maxwelltani: WarnerMedia's chief human resources officer emailed staff on Tuesday afternoon saying "most of us should plan to continue to work from home most likely through the end of 2020. We wish we could provide a definitive date, but that's not our reality right...
Google to Give Staffers Working at Home $1,000 for Supplies
CNBC: Google will reimburse employees up to $1,000 to pay for equipment to help them work from home, CEO Sundar Pichai wrote to employees. He also detailed how the company will slowly reopen its offices, starting by rotating employees through offices at 10% capacity...
Amazon Looks to Invest in Podcasts About Local News, Sports
Axios: Amazon is looking to invest in localized podcast content, like news and sports. Sports content is top of mind as the company plans to buy up more TV rights and have adjacent audio content for users. Amazon sees a strategic advantage in podcasts by leveraging...
Apple Plans Reboot of ‘Fraggle Rock’ for Streaming TV Service
Vulture: Apple TV+ is going all-in on "Fraggle Rock." Weeks after debuting a handful of pandemic-produced shorts, the streamer has struck a deal with the Jim Henson Company to produce a formal reboot of the classic kids’ show, complete with full-length...
Quibi to Reduce Costs as Advertisers Seek to Defer Payments
Wall Street Journal: Streaming service Quibi is beginning to feel the pinch of its lackluster performance since launching last month, as major advertisers seek to defer payments and the company looks to cut costs. The advertisers have concerns about the service’s low...
Amazon Writes TV News Segments to Trumpet Virus Response
Bloomberg: After weathering a couple of months of withering news coverage about its response to the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon is offering its own take on the news. Several local TV news stations recently broadcast strikingly similar reports about Amazon safety...
Twitter Begins Adding Warning Labels to Trump’s False Tweets
Associated Press: For the first time, Twitter has flagged some of President Trump’s tweets with a fact-check warning. On Tuesday, Twitter added a warning phrase to two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots “fraudulent” and predicted that “mail boxes will be...
News Corp Warns Trump of ‘Hidden Risks’ in Feuds on Twitter
New York Post: President Trump often says outrageous things on Twitter. "But is that really the president you want to be, sir?" asks the editorial board of the New York Post. "The president for whom people disregard half or even most of what you say as...
Torstar, Owner of Toronto Star, Agrees to $52 Million Sale Deal
Toronto Star: Torstar, the publisher of the Toronto Star and other newspapers in Ontario, has agreed to be sold to a company run by entrepreneurs Jordan Bitove and Paul Rivett, in a deal worth roughly $52 million. The Toronto Star is Canada's largest daily...
New York Times Columnist to Move On After Internet Backlash
New York Post: Food columnist Alison Roman is temporarily moving on from her post at the New York Times following her controversial comments about Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo. "This was a huge shake-up for me both personally and professionally, and I’m still...
Meredith’s People ‘Smash’ Live Stream Becomes a Real Smash
MediaPost: Last week, People live streamed "Bombshell in Concert," featuring a cast reunion of the NBC show that ended in 2013. The event, which aired across People.com, PeopleTV and People's Facebook and Twitter feeds, report 2.8 million...
Atlantic Media Gets Tweet from Trump: ‘Boring, Nasty Magazine’
The Hill: President Trump touted recent layoffs at The Atlantic, slamming the magazine as "boring but very nasty" as part of his latest broadside against the media. The title, Trump tweeted, is "rapidly failing, going down the tubes. ... This is a tough time to be in...
G/O Media Says No to Writer Mandates for Revival of Deadspin
Folio: Despite a staff exodus, months of subsequent inactivity and a long, accusation-filled dispute with a union representing staffers at several of its brands, G/O Media remains committed to resurrecting Deadspin. "I haven’t been given, nor shared with my writers,...
Netflix Nabs First-Look Advantage Amid Media Paradigm Shift
Deadline: "The media paradigm has shifted," says Jefferies analyst Alex Giaimo. "Netflix now gets the first look at acquiring content rather than the last, a significant go-forward advantage." In addition, the company "remains in 'land-grab'...
AT&T Finds Viewers in the Dark About New Streamer HBO Max
Bloomberg: In a poll earlier this month, some 2,000 US adults were asked to choose from a list of TV shows and movie titles which ones they think will be available on HBO Max, a new Netflix-like service being introduced by AT&T's WarnerMedia. The results...
ViacomCBS Faces Backlash Over Deal for ‘Some Good News’
USA Today: After John Krasinski sold his free, feel-good web series "Some Good News" to ViacomCBS, following a massive bidding war, some fans were no longer feeling so good. "Way to completely lose the integrity behind it," said one viewer on...
CBS Former News Chief Bemoans Liberal Creep in News Biz
Wall Street Journal: Van Gordon Sauter, former president of CBS News: "Two of the three leading cable news sources are unrelentingly liberal in their fear and loathing of President Trump. News organizations that claim to be neutral have long been creeping...
Fox Corp News Channel Star Bashes Rival Media ‘Groupthink’
Mediaite: Sean Hannity, the Fox News host and most-watched broadcaster on cable news: "I've never seen a media so singularly focused on this groupthink, psychotic hate-Trump. Watch any 24 hours of fake news CNN. They wake up in the morning hating this...
Disney in Talks with NBA to Resume Games at ESPN Complex
Associated Press: The NBA is in “exploratory” talks with Disney for a resumption of play in Florida in late July, the clearest sign yet that the league believes the season can continue amid the coronavirus pandemic. Games would be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports...