Disney Pays $75 Million for Movie of Broadway’s ‘Hamilton’
Deadline: When Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted the news Monday that the movie adaptation of his Broadway show "Hamilton" was set for release by Disney in fall 2021, he omitted the most breathtaking parts of the deal. Disney beat out other suitors and paid $75 million for...
Facebook’s COO Updates Relationship Status to Engaged
People: Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg is set to tie the knot with boyfriend Tom Bernthal. The couple — who were set up by Sandberg's former brother-in-law Rob Goldberg — were engaged after a mountain hike and picnic lunch at Vermejo Park Ranch on...
iHeartMedia Star Limbaugh Reveals Lung Cancer Diagnosis
Associated Press: Conservative radio host and Republican kingmaker Rush Limbaugh said he’s been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Addressing listeners on his program Monday, Limbaugh said he will take some days off for further medical tests and to determine...
Tribune CEO Exits Ahead of Potential Hedge-Fund Takeover
Chicago Sun-Times: The owner of the Chicago Tribune said Monday that Timothy Knight, its president and chief executive officer, is leaving the company, which faces a possible takeover by a hedge fund known for cost-cutting at other news...
McClatchy to Sell Super Bowl Merchandise in Kansas City
Kansas City Star: Nothing says "history" like the front page of the newspaper — and fans can get more copies of the Kansas City Star commemorating the Kansas City Chiefs' big Super Bowl win at the newspaper's store...
Gannett Staffers in Missouri Town Vote to Establish Union
Springfield Business Journal: The bulk of the Springfield News-Leader’s editorial staff voted unanimously on Friday to unionize. The 13-0 vote establishes the Springfield News Guild. "We look forward to finally having a voice at the table on how we are treated by our...
News Corp, McClatchy Hunt for New Readers at Starbucks
Digiday: These days newspapers are scrupulously focusing on eliminating the ways that people can circumvent their paywalls. But some news publishers are finding that a Starbucks pilot program that launched late last year appears to be a worthwhile exception to that...
New York Times Offers ‘Election Needle’ for Iowa Caucus
Mediaite: The New York Times rolled out its signature election needle Monday, in time for the Iowa Caucus. The needle provides a visual representation of the Times‘s election forecasts, showing the likelihood of a candidate winning through an easy-to-read...
Washington Post Staffers Call Out Sexism at Bezos Paper
HuffPost: The Washington Post doesn't value women and men in the same way, according to current and former employees. This appears literally true when it comes to pay: Women in the newsroom are paid less than men, according to a union report published last...
AMI-National Enquirer Expat Reboots Career in Hollywood
Hollywood Reporter: Former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard is in the midst of repositioning himself as a Hollywood player, developing multiple projects in the white-hot true-crime arena. And, intriguingly, he is doing so with the support of a group of industry...
Maven Media Reports Audience Spike at Sports Illustrated
MediaPost: Sports Illustrated is reporting steep increases in audience numbers and more over the past few months, a trend that has gained steam since Maven took over operations of the brand in October 2019. Unique users across its website increased by 36% last...
Conde Nast Taps Teen Fan to Design Vogue Digital Cover
Vogue: When Vogue reached out to Nastya Kovtun, 16, of Chaykovsky, Russia, and Kaylee Yang, 20, from Canton, Michigan, to commission portraits of Billie Eilish for the March issue, both thought they were being duped. "At first I thought the email was a...
BuzzFeed Hires Teens to Create TikTok, Instagram Videos
Nieman Lab: BuzzFeed News is recruiting a brand new type of employee — dubbed "Teen Ambassadors" — who will create original weekly videos for TikTok and Instagram as part of the website’s coverage of the 2020...
G/O Media Sells Parody Site ClickHole to Card-Game Firm
BuzzFeed News: Cards Against Humanity, the card game company, purchased ClickHole.com from its owners at G/O Media on Monday for an undisclosed amount in an all-cash deal. ClickHole’s employees will become the majority owners of the...
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Fox’s Super Bowl in Spotlight as Streamers Eye TV Rights
Bloomberg: Sunday's Super Bowl was Rupert Murdoch's chance to prove his smaller, leaner TV company was still big enough for the NFL. The league will soon begin negotiations on new broadcast contracts that start with the 2023 season. Those will be critical talks for...
Disney’s Hulu CEO Exits as Conglom Integrates Streamer
CNBC: Hulu announced on Friday that Randy Freer will step down as CEO of the company. Hulu said that Disney plans to "more closely integrate Hulu" into its business operations and that Hulu's execs would report to Disney's direct-to-consumer and international...
AT&T to Join Millions of Subscribers Giving Up DirecTV?
Los Angeles Times: Five years after AT&T spent $49 billion to buy DirecTV, the future is cloudy for satellite TV. Rapid changes in consumer behavior, along with rising competition and management missteps, have led to staggering customer...
ViacomCBS Begins Layoffs Amid Arrival of New CBS CEO
Los Angeles Times: ViacomCBS has begun a round of layoffs. The company is expected to cut hundreds of jobs in Los Angeles and New York in order to extract $500 million in cost savings — a promise made to Wall Street. Six senior ad execs left the company this...
iHeartMedia CEO Under Fire for Blaming Layoffs on Tech
Washington Post: iHeartMedia has called artificial intelligence the muscle it needs to emerge from bankruptcy. But there's no clear indication that AI will solve a financial challenge of the US radio giant's own making. CEO Bob Pittman could "sell ice to an...
Vice Media Veteran in Talks to Join New Producer at Apple
Wall Street Journal: Former HBO boss Richard Plepler is seeking to recruit Vice Media veteran Josh Tyrangiel to his new production company, Eden Productions, a move that would add an exec with news experience as his outfit prepares to make shows for...
Quibi Aims to Enter Pop Culture from TV Ad at Super Bowl
The Verge: Quibi understands that most people are probably still unaware of what Quibi is, but the streaming service run by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman is hoping a new Super Bowl commercial will help to clear things...
Netflix’s Early End of ‘The Crown’ Stirs Up Palace Intrigue
Showbiz411: "The Crown" on Netflix will come to an end with season 5, changing course from the original plan of six seasons. It must have dawned on the Palace that the series would eventually leave the realm of nostalgia and arrive at more contemporary prickly...
Amazon’s Bezos Hit with Lawsuit from Girlfriend’s Brother
TMZ: The brother of the woman who's dating the richest man in the world is suing him. Welcome to the life of Jeff Bezos. Michael Sanchez, the brother of Jeff's girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, claims Bezos defamed him by falsely claiming Michael was the source of graphic...
Facebook Hits Back at Soros After Criticism of Zuckerberg
Fox Business: Facebook is pushing back against allegations made by billionaire financier George Soros who, in a New York Times opinion piece, accused Mark Zuckerberg of not running the social networking giant through an independent lens when it comes to political...
Disney Heiress Goes on 24-Tweet Rant About Kobe Bryant
Daily Mail: Abigail Disney spoke out in a lengthy Twitter thread about the late Kobe Bryant's 2003 rape allegations and said the championship basketball player "was not a god." On Saturday, Disney shared 24 tweets where she doubled down on her...
Hearst Advice Columnist Seeks Trump DNA in Rape Probe
Associated Press: Lawyers for advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who is accusing President Trump of raping her in the 1990s, are asking for a DNA sample, seeking to determine whether his genetic material is on a dress she says she wore during the...
Conde Nast Fashion Mags Offer Style Tips for Coronavirus
NBC News: How to remain safe and stylish in the midst of the rapidly widening coronavirus epidemic? Fashion magazines and influencers say they have you covered. Britain's Tatler posted a story with the startling headline: "How to style an...
Meredith Helps Prep New Content Platform for US Farmers
MediaPost: U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance is joining with Meredith to launch a content platform intended to deliver real-time trends and topics focused on the food and agriculture ecosystem. The platform will focus on topics like sustainability and...
Maven Media Unveils New Sports Illustrated at Super Bowl
New York Post: Sports Illustrated's magazine redesign debuted at a Super Bowl party on Saturday that in and of itself was a sign of changing times at the 66-year-old sports publication. The companies behind it threw a public Super Bowl party at Miami’s...