AT&T, Comcast Yet to Mirror Fox Corp’s Offer of Free News
Fast Company: Now that Fox News Channel has come around to treating COVID-19 as a serious threat, it’s taking the next step and streaming its news channel for free. Now would be a good time for CNN and MSNBC to follow Fox's...
Fox Corp Chief Plans Pricey Facelift of Run-Down Mansion
Daily Mail: Jerry Hall and Rupert Murdoch have bought a doer-upper in the Cotswolds – a project that will cost a staggering £30 million. The estate has been uninhabitable for many years and the renovation will include installing a new domed...
Chernin, Conde Nast Owner Invest in Mobile-Gamer Scopely
TechCrunch: Scopely, the mobile gaming publisher, has added another $200 million to its hoard of cash for mergers and acquisitions. Investors include Advance, the company behind Conde Nast, and the investment firm Chernin...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Brings Back ‘Conan’ via iPhone, Skype
Associated Press: Conan O'Brien said he will resume putting out new episodes of TBS's "Conan" on March 30. His staff will remain at home, and the show will be cobbled together with O'Brien on an iPhone and guests via...
Facebook Influencers Urged by US to Share Virus Warnings
Fox Business: The U.S. Surgeon General is calling for celebrities and influencers to urge young people to stay indoors and heed warnings about the novel coronavirus after recent data shows they might be at "higher risk" than previously...
New York Times, TMZ Get Traffic Boosts from Coronavirus
Recode: If you feel like you’ve been glued to the news lately, you're not alone. We're collectively reading much more news during the novel coronavirus pandemic than normal, according to new publisher traffic data from...
Tribune Publishing Sees Media Veteran Buy 7 Percent Stake
Chicago Tribune: Mason Slaine, an investor and the former CEO of business information publisher Thomson Financial, has acquired a 7% stake in Tribune Publishing, making him the third-largest shareholder in the company. "I like the business," says...
Gannett Joins UK Newspapers Running Unified Front Pages
USA Today: Dozens of UK newspapers ran the same front page Friday morning to launch the #ThereWithYou campaign, an effort to reassure readers during the coronavirus pandemic. The front page reads, "When you're on your own, we're there with...
Analysis: Coronavirus May Bring End to Many Alt-Weeklies
Nieman Lab: COVID-19 is "a nearly perfect weapon against alternative weeklies." In dozens of cities, newspapers are asking for donations, laying off staff or abandoning print as social distancing helps to dry up their revenue...
News Corp’s Knewz Aggregator Leans On Murdoch Outlets
CJR: Knewz, News Corp.'s recently launched news aggregator, promises to deliver "news that's unbiased, unfiltered." But an analysis demonstrates that Knewz is not just heavily reliant on major news outlets, but frequently defaults to Murdoch...
Conde Nast Veteran Convicted of Soliciting Minors for Sex
New York Post: A former reporter for Conde Nast-owned Ars Technica was convicted of trying to engage in sex with minors and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison. Peter Bright, 39, was arrested in a public park during a sting...
Dennis Launches The Week Junior with Free Online Issues
MediaPost: This weekend, Dennis Publishing delivers the first issue of its kids spinoff magazine from The Week, The Week Junior, in-home. In response to the coronavirus outbreak, The Week Junior’s first four issues will be available as free...
Benioffs’ Time Magazine Says All Editors Work from Home
Ad Age: Time magazine is out with six covers for its special coronavirus-focused March 30 issue. "We are doing our work while remote from our offices," writes editor Edward Felsenthal. "Nearly all our employees are now working from...
Time Inc’s Former Sunset Magazine Faces Uncertain Future
San Francisco Chronicle: Sunset magazine has been a California lifestyle icon for more than 120 years — but now that its parent company has laid off a large number of its staff, employees wonder if the publication’s days are...
Netflix CEO Seeks to Keep Internet Running as Usage Rises
CNBC: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings spoke with EU Internal Market and Services Commissioner Thierry Breton to discuss how to keep the internet running smoothly as the coronavirus forces more daily activities to move online. Breton and Hastings discussed ways to prevent...
Fox Corp’s News Channel to Go Free in ‘Dangerous Times’
Los Angeles Times: Fox News will be made available free to viewers amid the coronavirus public health crisis. On Wednesday, Rupert Murdoch's media company said it would partner with cable and satellite TV providers to make Fox News Channel and its Fox TV stations...
Disney, Comcast, ViacomCBS Join Trump for Virus PSAs
CNET: President Trump said Wednesday the government is partnering with major media networks, digital platforms and the Ad Council to help bring information about the novel coronavirus directly to Americans. The partnership is part of an effort to combat the spread of...
ViacomCBS to Suspend Sale of Black Rock Headquarters
Hollywood Reporter: ViacomCBS is suspending the sale of CBS's New York headquarters, Black Rock, citing the quickly evolving coronavirus pandemic. Despite the delay, the company says it still hopes to sell the office building in 2020. "The company has received...
Disney Looks to Sell Former Fox Ad-Tech Company TrueX
Wall Street Journal: Disney is looking to sell TrueX, an advertising-technology company it absorbed as part of its $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets last year. TrueX is perhaps best known for offering technology that asks users to interact with an...
Cannes Lions Postpones Ad Festival Until Fall Citing Virus
CNBC: The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the ad industry’s major awards festival and conference held in France each summer, is postponing its June gathering due to the coronavirus. The festival, originally scheduled for June 22 through 26, is now...
News Corp Alum’s Start-Up to Get Backing from Murdoch
Variety: Sister has invested in AWA (Artists, Writers & Artisans) Studios, a new comic book and digital media publisher. The company was founded by Marvel alumni Bill Jemas and Axel Alonso, along with Jon Miller, the former CEO of News Corp's Digital Media...
AT&T’s ‘Friends’ Reunion Stream Joins Shutdown Victims
Reuters: The planned “Friends” reunion has been delayed due to disruptions in Hollywood caused by the coronavirus. The one-off special was due to have been filmed next week on the original sound stage in Burbank, California, and broadcast in May on the upcoming HBO...
Facebook’s Instagram Readies Video Ads to Rival YouTube
Bloomberg: Instagram plans to sell advertisements in IGTV, its home for longer videos, a bid to compete with YouTube for a larger share of the booming market for online video. Instagram started reaching out to its top video creators on Friday, asking them to partner...
Quibi Eyes TikTok, YouTube as Farm Team for New Talent
Vanity Fair: Quibi boss Meg Whitman said that with 18- to 44-year-olds spending roughly six hours a day on their phones, there was plenty of time for them to "carve out a couple of Quibis for us." Ideally, TikTok and YouTube could turn into a farm team for talent...
Oprah Debunks Internet Buzz of Arrest for Sex Trafficking
Washington Post: Oprah Winfrey's name began trending on Twitter late Tuesday night. An unhinged conspiracy theory had taken root, claiming that she was arrested for her role in a global sex trafficking ring. It reached a point where Winfrey felt compelled to address...
Snap in ‘Best Position’ to Avoid Pandemic Misinformation
Adweek: In times of crisis, Snapchat is quite happy to be Snapchat. The platform's disappearing messages make it optimized for private conversations, and there's no central news feed of content generated by users outside of one's personal...
Reddit’s Coronavirus Forum Explodes as People Seek Info
NBC News: The Reddit message board /r/coronavirus has grown to more than 1.2 million members — almost a million of whom signed up in the last two weeks. A team of 60 volunteer content moderators spend hours policing the more than 50,000 daily comments posted by the...
Tribune Publishing Whitelists Articles About Coronavirus
Digiday: Some publishers are creating coronavirus exceptions for their paywalls. At Tribune Publishing, coronavirus stories are whitelisted at editors' discretion, and they count toward readers' monthly article limits, though readers who have reached their monthly...
New York Times Rethinks Ad Sales Amid Social Distancing
Adweek: Media is a people business built on relationships. The relationship between buyer and seller starts and ends with face-to-face communication. "It's definitely not business as usual," said New York Times advertising exec Guy Griggs. Softer sells "wouldn't come...
Playboy Suspends Magazine After 66 Years Over Pandemic
USA Today: Playboy magazine is the latest victim of the coronavirus. The iconic magazine founded by Hugh Hefner in 1953 is suspending production of its print edition amid the global pandemic, CEO Ben Kohn said in an open letter posted on Medium on...