ViacomCBS Wants More Trevor Noah Following ‘Daily Show’
Adweek: After pulling the plug on its latest post-"Daily Show" program, Comedy Central has decided that for now, the best 11:30 companion for Trevor Noah is … more Trevor Noah. "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" has expanded to 45...
Discovery to Offer Free Online Cooking Classes via Amazon
TechCrunch: Amazon is bringing a year’s worth of free, live and on-demand cooking classes to tens of millions of Amazon Fire TV and Fire tablet owners across the US, thanks to an expanded collaboration with Discovery’s Food Network...
Google’s YouTube to Host Free Online Global Film Festival
Associated Press: Film festivals worldwide are teaming up to launch “We Are One: A Global Film Festival,” which will play out over 10 days and be available for free on YouTube.Tribeca Enterprises and YouTube announced the online festival...
Netflix Readies New Film About Michelle Obama Book Tour
Reuters: Michelle Obama’s tour to promote her best-selling 2018 memoir “Becoming” has been turned into a documentary film for Netflix. “Becoming,” a behind-the-scenes look at the former first lady’s 34-city tour, will be released on May...
Quibi Short-Form Video Founder Starts Workday at 2:30 AM
Wall Street Journal: What’s it like to launch a $1.8 billion streaming platform in the middle of a pandemic? “Everything about it is upside down and inside out,” says Jeffrey Katzenberg, who debuted the short-form video company Quibi on April...
News Corp Calls In Deloitte for Redo of Aussie Newspapers
Sydney Morning Herald: News Corp Australia has hired consultants to cut costs by centralizing some editorial and commercial functions, cutting print production of some smaller newspapers and reviewing its regional newspapers...
Chicago Sun-Times, Newsday Obtain US Coronavirus Loans
Wall Street Journal: At least 80 percent of the US newspaper industry, by circulation, is ineligible for federal small business loans designed to keep people employed amid the pandemic. Newsday and the Chicago Sun-Times have received...
New York Times Waves Off Legal Threat from Fox News Star
Daily Beast: The New York Times brushed off Fox News primetime star Sean Hannity’s threat of legal action on Monday night over several articles criticizing his coronavirus coverage, saying there was “no basis” to retract any of the pieces....
Financial Times Suspends Media Journo for Zoom Hacking
Guardian: Mark Di Stefano, who joined the Financial Times from BuzzFeed in January, has been suspended after the UK's Independent newspaper accused him of listening in on sensitive Zoom meetings discussing staff salary cuts and...
News Corp’s Wall Street Journal Launches Money Microsite
TalkingBizNews: The Wall Street Journal has launched WSJ Money, a free, mobile-first microsite that aims to teach people how to be smarter with their money. It is part of an effort to reach new audiences with the Journal’s personal finance reporting....
Hearst Pivots as Covid-19 Hits Oprah Magazine Anniversary
MediaPost: The team behind O, the Oprah Magazine has had to adjust launching the celebratory issue amid the Covid-19 pandemic. With a canceled party planned for May, the team had to quickly pivot to alternative...
Conde Nast’s Wintour Dares President to Drink Disinfectant
Daily Mail: Anna Wintour has dared President Trump to be the first to drink disinfectant after he proposed injecting cleaning agents into the body to kill coronavirus — stressing that "we must choose new leadership" in the coming...
Forbes Chief Stirs Backlash for Tweeting ‘Pandemic is Over’
@SteveForbesCEO: Steve Forbes was called out on Twitter after deleting a tweet saying: "This pandemic is over. Let's stop the economic suicide, and get back to work." Forbes later tweeted a link to an article with a similar...
Trusted Media Brands Names Its First Chief Content Officer
MediaPost: Trusted Media Brands is uniting its content teams through the appointment of Beth Tomkiw to the post of chief content officer across its brands, a first for the company. Tomkiw previously oversaw content for Taste of...
Bustle Digital Wins Approval for Federal Coronavirus Loan
WWD: To date, only a handful of media companies have disclosed that they received a loan from the Small Business Administration’s $349 billion Payment Protection Program despite widespread struggles in the...
Netflix, Amazon ‘to Rule’ After Coronavirus Ravages Media
Hollywood Reporter: "The production and distribution of media content will be permanently changed," including fewer US cinema screens and a further focus on tentpole titles, Michael Nathanson says in his report "Say Goodbye to...
Disney Gets a Rethink as Analysts Forecast Media’s Future
CNBC: "This has all been just a perfect storm for Disney, except that Disney+ has been a shining star. There is still a bright spot for Disney and the stock is priced for worse than what I think will happen. And so, I do think it represents...
ViacomCBS Chief Angers Investors for Pushing Big Merger
Los Angeles Times: ViacomCBS investors in a sweeping class-action lawsuit allege that controlling shareholder Shari Redstone used her “persistent influence” to push through a controversial merger and sideline those who stood in her...
AT&T Ups WarnerMedia Head to CEO After Job Search Fails
CNBC: AT&T ran a months-long search to replace CEO Randall Stephenson but ultimately couldn’t find an outside executive with suitable experience in both telecommunications and media that satisfied hedge fund Elliott...
Fox Corp’s TV Sports Talent Agree to Temporary Pay Cuts
MarketWatch: Much of the on-air talent at Fox Sports have agreed to take a temporary pay in solidarity with executive salary reductions there and at parent company Fox Corp., as it deals with the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus...
MGM Makes Permanent Cuts to Workforce Amid Pandemic
Los Angeles Times: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, the company behind the James Bond franchise, is making permanent cuts to its workforce as the coronavirus crisis continues to hit employment in Hollywood....
Altice USA’s Cheddar Lays Off Staffers, Shuts Down Studio
TheWrap: Cheddar, the live-streaming news and entertainment outlet, has permanently closed its Los Angeles studio amid company-wide layoffs. The layoffs are part of a recent consolidation of Cheddar’s two live-streamed...
Google’s YouTube Users Shift Interest to At-Home Projects
CNN: YouTube's trending list reflects the evolving nature of the pandemic as stay-at-home orders stretch into a second month in many states. "We certainly have seen how our users have changed," said YouTube CEO Susan...
Quibi’s Short-Form Style Gets a Really, Really Bad Review
Vulture: "Quibi shows almost universally feel cheaper and less memorable than similar stuff on other platforms. The Quibi shows that are meant to seem like TV shows ... just remind you of how much better they could be if they were TV...
Verizon Media’s Yahoo, HuffPost Hit by Impact of Covid-19
Hollywood Reporter: Verizon Media, which includes the likes of Yahoo and HuffPost, posted revenue for the first quarter of $1.7 billion, down 4 percent. The firm said that was "driven almost entirely by Covid-19...
Gannett Lays Off Journalists After Coronavirus Furloughs
Poynter: Layoffs were underway Friday at Gannett, which merged with GateHouse in late 2019 to become the largest newspaper chain in the US with 261 newspapers in 46 states. It’s unclear if the layoffs are in response to the...
Conde Nast’s Belt-Tightening Yet to Reach Veteran Editors
New York Times: The only people with nothing to fear at Conde Nast appear to be the veterans of the glory days, when senior editors were promised pensions for life equivalent to more than half of their generous salaries. The company’s current woes have not affected...
News Corp Eyes New York Times as Model for Times in UK
BuzzFeed: The Sunday Times is changing, as several senior staff members depart and it moves closer to a merger with the daily Times under a new editor with a vision to transform it into a premium, politically liberal brand like the New York...
Meredith Sees Dramatic Increase in Use of Voice Platforms
FIPP: Voice-enabled platforms are seeing an uptick in use, as significant portions of the global population find themselves staying home. At Meredith, Allrecipes' Alexa skill and Real Simple's Relax skill have seen a steep increase in...
Conde Nast Taps Bloomberg Alum to Lead Vogue Business
Talking Biz News: Sarah Shannon has been hired as editorial director of Vogue Business. She will start on May 18. Vogue Business launched in January 2019, as Conde Nast’s first business media title covering the fashion, beauty and luxury...