BuzzFeed Eyes Prominent Journos for New Editor in Chief
Vanity Fair: Ben Smith starts his new job as the New York Times's media columnist on Monday. Meanwhile, the search for his successor as editor in chief of BuzzFeed News is on. The process has only just gotten...
Media Star Asks Industry Pros to Support Their ‘Addiction’
Media Star is read daily by top media professionals across New York, Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Some readers even say they’re "addicted." Does Media Star help with your fix? Then please help Media Star with your one-time or monthly contribution. Thank...
Alphabet Begins Construction on Googleplex in Manhattan
New York YIMBY: Demolition is making steady progress at 550 Washington Street in Hudson Square, the site of Google's new 1.3-million-square-foot building. The new facility will join two other nearby buildings at to form a 1.7-million-square-foot...
Disney Starts Excavation on New Office Tower in New York
New York YIMBY: Demolition and excavation has begun for Disney's new 22-story headquarters at 137 Varick Street, aka Four Hudson Square, in lower Manhattan. The building will contain multiple film and production studios, office space and ground-floor...
Discovery: We’re Insured if Coronavirus Halts the Olympics
Associated Press: Discovery, one of the biggest rights holders of this summer's Tokyo Olympics, said it has insurance to protect itself from a loss of revenue if the Olympics don't proceed. "If the event doesn’t happen … it won't be an adverse impact on our...
Facebook Cancels Developer Conference Over Coronavirus
CNBC: Facebook announced its decision to cancel its annual F8 software developer conference due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. The conference was scheduled to take place on May 5 and 6 in in San Jose,...
Liberty Media’s SiriusXM Alarms Execs in Coronavirus Scare
New York Post: SiriusXM exec Sally McMahon held a meeting with her team — and it turned out that some of the attendees had recently traveled through Japan, which has been heavily struck by the coronavirus. SiriusXM instructed the group to...
Comcast Signs New Nine-Figure Deal with TV Producer Wolf
Bloomberg: Veteran producer Dick Wolf signed a new five-year agreement to keep making TV shows for Universal Television, extending a string of deals that total in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Wolf, 73, will get at least $150 million upfront in the...
iHeartMedia Inks Deal to Turn Podcasts Into TV Productions
Variety: Universal Content Productions has signed a multi-year first-look deal with iHeartMedia. UCP will have the first right at adapting iHeartRadio's original podcasts for television. The iHeartPodcast Network is home to more than 750 original...
Discovery Taps Hulu Content Acquisition Pro for Streaming
Deadline: Discovery has hired Hulu exec Lisa Holme to oversee its direct-to-consumer content strategy. Holme, who was VP, content acquisitions at the digital platform, will be responsible for the content strategy for Discovery’s DTC products in the U.S....
Fox News Streaming Pundit Reveals Brain Tumor Diagnosis
USA Today: Britt McHenry is opening up about a personal health issue. The Fox Nation commentator and ESPN personality took to Twitter on Thursday to reveal she has a brain tumor. "I was trying to keep this relatively private," McHenry,...
Comcast’s Peacock Adds Shows from Disney-Hearst’s A+E
TechCrunch: Peacock, NBCUniversal's upcoming streaming service, is expanding its unscripted lineup thanks to a new deal with A&E Networks. The licensing pact will allow NBCU to stream hundreds of hours of A&E and History's most popular...
Google’s YouTube TV in Fee Fight with Sinclair Sports Nets
USA Today: YouTube is positioned to dump major regional sports channels from Sinclair Broadcasting on its YouTube TV cable streaming alternative service. The culprit: "the rising cost of sports," per YouTube. This is a hefty blow to sports...
ByteDance’s TikTok Woos Advertisers with Billions of Views
Bloomberg: A recent Chipotle advertising campaign promoting burritos saw its hashtag generate some 3.9 billion views on TikTok. That's a surprising metric given that TikTok has been downloaded only about 145 million times in the U.S. "The numbers are...
Microsoft Tests Snapchat-Style Stories Feature at LinkedIn
The Verge: LinkedIn is a website that’s effectively a mixture between an interactive resume and a college job fair, but that hasn’t stopped it from aspiring to be a cooler, more social part of the internet. Its latest attempt? Snapchat-style...
Bloomberg Media Plans Business Push in Video Streaming
The Drum: In a two-pronged push, Bloomberg Media is looking to put business programming at the heart of the streaming revolution through its new Bloomberg TV+ digital service and QuickTake by Bloomberg, a digital channel focused at young business...
Hearst, Conde, Meredith Issue Policies About Coronavirus
WWD: Several U.S. publishers -- including Hearst, Dow Jones and Meredith -- are adopting a hard line to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Other outlets have stressed that they are monitoring the situation closely and will adjust policies if guidelines...
Meredith Names GE Veteran as New Chief Financial Officer
Des Moines Register: Meredith's new CFO Jason Frierott will make $675,000 a year, plus the potential for more than $2 million in bonuses over his first three years with the company. Frierott comes to Meredith after 21 years at GE. ...
Conde Nast Taps New York Timeser for Digital New Yorker
MediaPost: Conde Nast has named Ben French vice president, consumer product, working specifically for The New Yorker. He is charged with executing the magazine’s digital-growth strategy. Previously, French spent eight years at the New York...
Hearst to Relaunch Blog for Drummond’s Pioneer Woman
MediaPost: Hearst Magazines has finalized a deal with Ree Drummond to relaunch her blog ThePioneerWoman.com as part of the Hearst network. All of Drummond's digital content will be exclusively available on Hearst Magazines'...
Tribune Top Editors Exit in Chicago as Hedgie Makes Cuts
Chicago Sun-Times: The Chicago Tribune, with its parent company implementing a cost-cutting strategy, said its two top editors are departing. Editor-in-chief R. Bruce Dold is leaving at the end of April and managing editor Peter Kendall will be gone by...
Gannett Layoffs Get Underway After Deal with GateHouse
Poynter: Layoffs are continuing at Gannett, which recently merged with GateHouse to form the nation’s largest newspaper chain. A spreadsheet tracking the layoffs listed 15 newspapers affected, with 27 newsroom staffers laid...
Bustle Digital: Gawker Expat Sues Daily Beast Over Exposé
New York Post: A former Gawker editor has sued the Daily Beast over an explosive exposé last year that portrayed her as racist and homophobic, claiming it destroyed her career and was driven by a reporter’s “personal...
Netflix, Disney+ Forecast to Get a Boost from Coronavirus
Fox Business: Analysts are predicting large streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ may see an uptick in subscriber counts during the coronavirus outbreak as more people opt to remain indoors and forgo more public...
Apple CEO Isn’t Interested in Streaming ‘Friends’ Reunion
Los Angeles Times: Apple TV+ never wanted "Friends." At least that's what CEO Tim Cook conveyed to shareholders after one investor asked why the iPhone giant didn’t buy the streaming rights to popular TV series "Friends" and its reunion...
Disney’s New CEO Stirs Worries Over Skills in Media, Tech
Bloomberg: Wall Street isn’t letting Disney off the hook just yet, having pulled a switcheroo of Bob Iger for parks chairman Bob Chapek as the new CEO. Shares in the company reached a 10-month low Wednesday, declining as much as...
Comcast Opens Local TV Ads Business for Streaming NBC
Wall Street Journal: NBCUniversal is launching a new streaming advertising business for its local TV stations group as viewers and advertisers continue to shift to internet-connected programming. The new business is called NBC Spot...
Discovery CEO’s Streaming Strategy Focuses on Reality TV
Financial Times: Discovery CEO David Zaslav is looking to reality stars such as "Fixer Upper's" Joanna and Chip Gaines — and their tens of millions of social media followers — to help the pay-TV group compete as the streaming wars heat...
Google Names Staffer as New Creator Liaison for YouTube
CNBC: YouTube has hired a liaison to act as an in-between for the people who make content for the platform. Matt Kovalakides has been promoted as the company's new "head creator liaison" role at the company. Kovalakides first joined YouTube in...
Amazon Merchants Curtail Ad Spending Over Coronavirus
Bloomberg: Amazon merchants spent about 6% less on advertising over the past two weeks than they did a year ago, says Daniel Knijnik, who runs Quartile Digital, a firm that helps manage Amazon ads for 2,300 brands selling goods on the...