Vice Media to Ditch Dumbo Office in Belt-Tightening Effort
Business Insider: Youth-focused Vice Media is consolidating its offices to two from three as it aims for profitability, moving its agency Virtue Worldwide from its longtime home in Dumbo to Williamsburg in Brooklyn. The move will help the still-unprofitable media...
News Corp’s Knewz Aggregator ‘Makes Readers’ Eyes Bleed’
Guardian: The name Knewz – widely mocked since it was announced last August – is not even the worst thing about the new website. It’s almost certainly the ugliest site to go live in decades, immediately eliciting cries of “It’s making my eyes bleed” on social...
Amazon CEO Touts 150 Million Paying Members for Prime
Recode: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that the company’s Amazon Prime membership program now boasts more than 150 million paying customers across the globe. Amazon’s stock price jumped more than 10 percent on the news and the company’s broader earnings...
Quibi Preps ‘Rolling Thunder’ Marketing Plan Before Debut
Variety: Quibi CEO Meg Whitman, who is 67 days away from the launch of the company’s new streaming service, claimed that the company doesn’t really see the likes of Netflix, Hulu or Disney Plus as rivals. Quibi will be ramping up a “rolling thunder” marketing plan to...
Snap Launches Snapchat ‘TV Show’ Featuring User Bitmoji
USA Today: Snapchat has launched Bitmoji TV, marking a new addition to the platform's ever-expanding Discovery menu. The series, which was developed in-house, further differentiates the teen-focused app from other social networking platforms like...
Gawker Nemesis Readies Social Network for Rich, Powerful
MIT Technology Review: A proposed new social network is hoping to entice millions of people to pay to get close to superstars of tech, business and academia. The nascent site, called Column, already has connections, including the man who created the legal strategy...
Washington Post Editor Seeks Advice About Social Media
CNN: The Washington Post's top editor sent a memo to staffers addressing the newspaper's social media policy, days after the brief suspension of a reporter over tweets posted in the wake of Kobe Bryant's death drew widespread...
Tribune Employees ‘Should Sing Hallelujah’ About Buyouts
New York Post: A Tribune exec has staffers up in arms after saying journalists should be “singing ‘Glory Hallelujah’ ” about the buyouts being offered at the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News and other papers. Buyouts will allow people to “end their careers in...
Hearst in Struggle to Find a New Editor for Harper’s Bazaar
New York Post: Hearst looks like it is having some trouble filling Glenda Bailey’s old role at Harper’s Bazaar and is now scrambling to name a replacement editor-in-chief before Fashion Week begins in March. “It’s odd that we haven’t heard anything from...
Forbes to Name Businessweek Veteran as Revenue Officer
TalkingBizNews: Forbes has announced the appointment of Jessica Sibley to the position of chief revenue officer. Sibley, who has served as the company’s chief sales officer, will oversee revenue operations, including Forbes’s BrandVoice, Insights and ForbesLive...
Meredith Updates Print Magazine, Logo for Travel + Leisure
MediaPost: Travel + Leisure is updating its print magazine. The monthly will have a tweaked logo (wider and bolder), upgraded paper stock and larger trim size, starting with the March 2020 issue, on newsstands February...
Hearst Taps Editorial Director for New Auto Magazine R&T
WWD: Hearst just named Mike Guy as editorial director of luxury print magazine R&T, a companion to Road & Track that is dedicated to the auto-enthusiast lifestyle, covering travel, food, wine and luxury goods. Guy is the founder and former editor in chief of...
Vox Media’s The Cut Yanks Instagram Post on Kobe Bryant
Daily Beast: While coverage of basketball icon Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash on Sunday has since engulfed media outlets, New York Magazine’s women-centric politics, fashion, and culture site The Cut has taken a decidedly different approach....
G/O Media’s Expat Deadspin Writers Start Super Bowl Blog
Daily Beast: Deadspin may not be active for the Super Bowl this weekend, but some of the site’s more prominent ex-staffers are launching a temporary publication to blog about the big game. Several of Deadspin’s most well-known writers will reunite this weekend to...
Media Star Asks Readers to Help Support Industry Service
Media Star needs your support to continue to thrive. This one-person operated service is read daily by media professionals across New York, Hollywood and Silicon Valley. ... Does Media Star help you with your work? Then please help support Media Star. Thank...
AT&T Takes $1.2 Billion Hit on Buildup for Streaming Wars
Financial Times: The streaming wars are expensive and weighing on AT&T's latest financial results, as its WarnerMedia business revealed on Wednesday that it took a $1.2 billion hit due to costly investments in its upcoming streaming service to rival...
Disney’s ABC Suspends Journalist Over Kobe Bryant Error
Los Angeles Times: ABC News has suspended Matt Gutman, its chief national correspondent, who speculated on-air that all four of Kobe Bryant's daughters were on board the helicopter that crashed and killed the NBA icon and eight others on...
Comcast Execs Make Large Campaign Donations to Biden
Sludge: A review of Federal Election Commission records shows Joe Biden is the preferred candidate of MSNBC owner Comcast. Biden has received 17 large campaign contributions from execs and VPs at Comcast, including eight for the legal maximum of...
Fox’s Murdoch Daughter-in-Law Invests in Reform Politics
Politico: Kathryn Murdoch has opened up about her Fox News-owning in-laws, the threat of climate change, why politics is so broken — and why she's spending $100 million to fix it. "The decisions we make in the next few years are going to have an impact on coming...
News Corp Protesters Dump Manure Outside Aussie Office
Eco-Business: A climate activist group unloaded a truckful of manure outside the Queensland office of News Corp. to protest against the media giant’s coverage of climate change. A banner next to the dung heap read: "Billionaire liars. Media monopoly. Climate denial....
BBC to Slash 450 News Jobs in Revamp for Digital Future
BBC News: Around 450 jobs will be cut from BBC News under plans to complete its savings targets by 2022. BBC News boss Fran Unsworth said there had to be a move away from traditional broadcasting and towards digital. Staff will be "under even more pressure to...
Luminary Media Nabs Investment from Former HBO Chief
Variety: Richard Plepler has hopped on the podcast train. The former HBO chief executive has invested in Luminary Media, a podcast-subscription service, and taken a seat on its board. Luminary has raised over $100 million to date from...
Apple Signs Deal with Exiting Programming Chief at Starz
Variety: Carmi Zlotnik has signed an exclusive producer deal at Apple TV Plus. The news comes days after it was announced that he would be stepping down president of programming at Starz. Zlotnik’s deal with Apple will begin next...
Facebook Cuts Back on Spending for Video Programming
The Information: Facebook is refining the programming strategy for its Facebook Watch video service, pulling back on expensive original shows and sports rights. Facebook is spending more on talk shows and licensing clips from TV networks and sports...
Google Highlights Staffer’s Grandfather in Super Bowl Ad
Today: When millions of people tune into the Super Bowl on Sunday, many of them will be watching for the ads. And this year, Google has decided to tell the touchingly simple love story of an older man trying to keep the memory of his late wife...
Amazon CEO Dines with Vogue’s Wintour in New York City
Daily Mail: Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez enjoyed lunch with Vogue editor Anna Wintour this week. The billionaire owner of the Washington Post was spotted leaving Sant Ambroeus in the West Village with former news host Lauren. Wintour left the...
Conde Nast Plans Shopping Vertical for US Vogue Website
WWD: Conde Nast is not giving up on its e-commerce dreams, especially at a time of plunging advertising revenues across the entire media industry. After the failure of its short-lived effort to turn Style.com into a shopping site, the publishing giant is making...
Vox Media to Boost Film Projects with New York Magazine
Variety: One benefit of the Vox Media-New York magazine union is that "Vox had really focused on building a studio business," said former New York Media CEO Pam Wasserstein. "We are already active in leveraging the production capabilities of Vox Media...
Conde Nast Turns Bon Appétit Editors Into YouTube Stars
Business Insider: The Bon Appétit YouTube channel has over 5 million subscribers, a merchandise line with branded apparel, and the shows have spawned memes, fan groups, and communities off of viewers' love for the characters. YouTube has allowed the brand to reach a...
Lee Acquires BH Media as Buffett Abandons Newspapers
MarketWatch: Warren Buffett is throwing in the towel on his newspaper business, in the latest sign of the pressure on print media in a rapidly changing landscape. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is selling the entire portfolio in the BH Media to Lee...