Bustle Digital, Vice Media Try Photo Shoots Using FaceTime
WWD: Not being able to go out has led a number of photographers, brands and publications to experiment more with virtual photography. Bustle, the lifestyle site owned by Bustle Digital Group, has been using FaceTime...
Axios’s HBO Show Shifts Time Slot as New-Age ’60 Minutes’
Associated Press: No one can accuse Axios co-founder and CEO Jim VandeHei of small dreams for his bi-weekly news series on HBO, which is ramping up production to air nearly every two weeks for the rest of the year and moving to Monday...
BuzzFeed CEO Faces Test as Covid-19 Slams Digital Media
Business Insider: Will BuzzFeed, which has turned down acquisition offers and once mulled a public offering, be able to pull off success, let alone survive? CEO Jonah Peretti must "prove that BuzzFeed is essential to an...
AT&T Names Former Leader of WarnerMedia as New CEO
CNBC: AT&T announced CEO Randall Stephenson will retire. President and COO John Stankey will take over the position on July 1. Stankey recently dropped his position as CEO of AT&T’s WarnerMedia, which will soon be led by Hulu co-founder Jason...
Apple CEO to Waive iTunes Fee on Covid-19 Relief Single
Apple Insider: Tim Cook has appeared on British television's BBC1 in aid of Covid-19 relief efforts, and announced that Apple will waive iTunes store fees on a charity single while praising the "strength and good humor" of...
Discovery CEO Plans Poker Tourney for Coronavirus Fund
New York Post: High-rollers from Bryan Cranston to Chip Gaines and Joy Behar are joining a poker tournament to raise cash for Mount Sinai’s coronavirus fund. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is spearheading the event. Zaslav is kicking it off with a $500,000...
Disney Chief Among Hollywood Elite in Zoom ‘Quarantunes’
Bloomberg Businessweek: Hollywood agent Richard Weitz is throwing the most exclusive party — password required — in Los Angeles. And New York, London and Sydney. His "Quarantunes" are a combination of talk show and industry...
Comcast’s Universal Inks Movie Franchise Deal with Lego
Los Angeles Times: Lego films have found a new studio home in Universal Pictures after spending years as a key animated franchise for Warner Bros. Universal signed a five-year deal with Lego Group to develop, produce and distribute new...
Liberty Media Relocates Stake in Live Nation to SiriusXM
Bloomberg: Liberty Media has shifted Formula One’s entire stake in troubled Live Nation to Liberty SiriusXM, and moved a net of $1.4 billion in cash to Formula One from Liberty SiriusXM. Liberty said it moved the stock into a group that “could handle it better.”...
Comcast to Offer Digital Shopping Tools at NBCUniversal
Reuters: NBCUniversal aims to help retailers that have been forced to shut down amid the pandemic through new ecommerce tools that will let people buy products directly from NBC content. NBCUniversal Checkout comes as many brands reduce advertising...
Netflix Founder Lauds ‘Secret Weapon’ in Streaming Wars
Yahoo Finance: Marc Randolph, who built Netflix along with Reed Hastings, said the company's "secret weapon" is focus. Netflix is not worried about theatrical releases, theme parks or live sports. “There is a certain advantage to being a pure [streaming]...
Quibi Loses Another Exec Shortly After High-Profile Debut
Wall Street Journal: The marketing executive who helped develop Quibi’s Oscars-night and Super Bowl ads is leaving the short-form streaming service shortly after its launch. Megan Imbres called the post-launch period an “opportune time to...
Google to Slash Marketing Budgets, Readies Hiring Freeze
CNBC: Google is slashing its marketing budgets by as much as half for the second half of the year, according to internal materials. One email about the cuts went out to marketing employees this week, noting the cuts and a new hiring freeze for...
New York Times Pauses Printing of Sports, Travel Sections
Cheddar: With no major sporting events and barely any travel due to the coronavirus, the New York Times plans to stop printing hard copies of those sections in the newspaper's Sunday edition and replace them with a section focused on life while sheltering in...
Axel Springer’s Insider Editor Praises Subscription Model
Press Gazette: Nicholas Carlson, Insider’s global editor-in-chief, recognizes that the media landscape looks “horrible.” But he is confident the crisis will lead to new opportunities for companies operating in “new ways that are sustainable in the new...
Daily Mail Emerges as Reigning Online Tabloid Titan in US
Vanity Fair: Thanks to the New York- and Los Angeles-based web operation it set up just over a decade ago, the Daily Mail has become America’s reigning tabloid titan. On average, the Mail churns out roughly 1,700 stories and 900-odd videos each...
Conde Nast’s Vogue Publishes ‘Mighty’ Coronavirus Cover
Vogue: Vogue’s new issue is unlike any other in the magazine’s 128-year history. With the staff in quarantine, no photo shoots were possible. The cover features a single red rose — a symbol of “beauty and hope” — marking the first still-life cover Vogue has published...
American Media’s Sale of National Enquirer Still in Limbo
New York Post: This week marks the one-year anniversary of the sale of the National Enquirer — a headline-grabbing publishing deal that still hasn’t been consummated. On April 18, 2019, a press release heralded American Media’s $100 million sale...
Hearst’s Cosmo Editor Favors YouTube, TikTok, Instagram
Folio: Jessica Pels, the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan: "Our YouTube is growing really quickly ... TikTok is a really important one to talk about ... We are also doing cool new things on Instagram ... Instagram Live is another...
Conde Nast’s Wintour Gets Scorched in Upcoming Memoir
Daily Mail: The former editor-at-large of Vogue paints a scathing portrait of his once close friend and boss Anna Wintour, saying she is "not capable of human kindness," in his new memoir. André Leon Talley says he now has "huge emotional and psychological...
Vox Media Says Curbed Editor to Depart After Five Years
@maxwelltani: Per an email sent to Vox Media staff, Curbed editor in chief Kelsey Keith is stepping down May 1. "Kelsey has imbued Curbed with a mission and a sense of passion. We will still have the privilege of working with Kelsey on special...
Axios Stirs Questions with $5 Million US Emergency Loan
Daily Beast: When Axios announced its nearly $5 million pandemic-related loan from the Trump administration, the obvious question was how this news outlet will avoid going soft on the government officials they’re supposed to be holding...
AT&T Signals Job Cuts Amid $430 Million Coronavirus Hit
New York Post: AT&T warned that job cuts are likely on the horizon as its first-quarter results took a $430 million hit from the coronavirus. AT&T's WarnerMedia has been forced to suspend film and television production, as well as rejigger its slate of...
Fox Corp CEO Gives Up Salary, 700 Staffers Take Pay Cuts
Fox News: Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch announced that 700 senior members of the company would forego or take reduced salaries amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic so that other employees can continue to receive...
Disney Taps Facebook to Help Add Viewer Videos to ESPN
Bloomberg: In its quest to keep fans engaged without live sports, ESPN is partnering with Facebook to find new highlights. Every Wednesday for the next 10 weeks, the Top 10 segment on “SportsCenter” will feature videos from average Joes and...
ViacomCBS Brings Local CBS News Streaming to Chicago
CBS Chicago: CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive have announced the launch of CBSN Chicago, the ninth of ViacomCBS’s 13 local direct-to-consumer streaming news services in major markets across the...
AT&T-Owned CNN Says No Returning to Offices Until Fall
Daily Beast: CNN won’t send staffers back into its offices until at least September, per an internal email from chief Jeff Zucker. “Our expectation is that the rest of you will not return before early September, with a few exceptions in July ,,, and some in...
Snap to Revamp Office Floor Plans Before Staffers Return
CNBC: CEO Evan Spiegel said Snap is making changes to its office floor plans and considering implementing temperature checks before employees return to work. “We’re thinking of our micro-kitchens, what snacks can we provide? Do we have to get rid of ice...
Netflix Seeks $1 Billion for Funding of Shows, Acquisitions
Reuters: Netflix plans to raise about $1 billion in debt to beef up original content, a day after the streaming pioneer doubled its own projections for new customers. Netflix also plans to use some of the cash for possible...
Sinclair Spat Moves Jobless Workers to Run Cable-TV Ads
Los Angeles Times: When sports fans in Los Angeles turn to watch reruns of games on cable TV aired during the coronavirus lockdown, they will be interrupted by ads funded by the union representing technicians who worked on those...