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...
News Corp Vows No Bias with Debut of Knewz Aggregator
The Sun: News Corp's newly launched Knews "is a new resource for people who want news not tainted by fallacious filters and biased bubbles." The website and app draw on artificial intelligence, combined with curation, to provide a menu of stories from hundreds of...
Drudge Report Founder Hints of Fears for Personal Safety
CJR: Matt Drudge wasn't too happy with a reporter who had driven out to his house in remote southern Florida and knocked on his door requesting an interview. "That's not fair that you would come onto my property," Drudge told the journalist. "It's a volatile climate...
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...
Apple CEO Sees New Video Streamer as ‘Rousing Success’
Reuters: Apple on Tuesday reported sales and profits for the holiday shopping quarter above Wall Street expectations. CEO Tim Cook said the company’s Apple TV+ subscription streaming video service released last fall was a “rousing success” and that it is “very...
Disney’s Hulu Sets Sundance Record for Acquisition Deal
Associated Press: The “Groundhog Day”-esque comedy “Palm Springs,” by Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island, has set an acquisition record at the Sundance Film Festival by 69 cents. The indie distributor Neon and the streaming service Hulu bought “Palm Springs” for...
Netflix to Lay Off Staffers Amid Strategy Shift in Marketing
Hollywood Reporter: Netflix is overhauling its marketing strategy and laying off some employees in the process. Sources say the streaming giant, which has emphasized marketing individual shows and movies in recent years, will work to better sell the service as a...
Facebook Says Oversight Board Will Be Slow at Decisions
Recode: More than a year after CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially announced the idea of an oversight board, Facebook has released a series of proposed rules about how it will all work. That includes a process for users to submit appeals and an outline of how the board...
CBS Chief Eyed to Front Private-Equity Offer for Univision
Wall Street Journal: Private-equity firm Platinum Equity has sought to recruit CBS chief Joe Ianniello to front its bid to acquire Univision, a move that would bring an experienced media executive to the helm of the Spanish-language...
Comcast’s NBC News Considers Fifth Hour of ‘Today’ Show
Variety: NBC News has considered creating a fifth hour of “Today” on weekdays, the latest nod to the growing spotlight many broadcast networks are giving to news programming across their schedules as more consumers watch scripted programs at times of their own...
Fox News is Facing ‘Beginning of the End,’ Trump Predicts
Daily Beast: President Trump lashed out Tuesday morning at Fox News even as the network continued to defend him at every turn of the ongoing impeachment trial. "Really pathetic how @FoxNews is trying to be so politically correct by loading the airwaves with...
Chernin Inks $450 Million Deal in Sale of Barstool Sports
Recode: The owner of Barstool Sports has agreed to sell the popular and controversial digital sports publisher to Penn National Gaming, a regional gambling operator. The deal values Barstool, which has its roots as a rowdy Boston sports blog founded in 2003, at an...
New York Times Taps BuzzFeed Boss for Media Columnist
NBC News: Ben Smith, editor in chief of BuzzFeed News, who built a respected news organization alongside the website’s lighter content, will leave the company and join the New York Times as the newspaper's top media...
BuzzFeed in Hunt to Fill Jobs for President, Head of News
Recode: Ben Smith, BuzzFeed News’s editor-in-chief, will become the New York Times’s new media columnist in March. Smith’s departure leaves BuzzFeed with two major hires to make: In addition to a successor to Smith, the company is still looking to hire a...
Washington Post Reinstates Journalist Behind Kobe Tweet
Associated Press: Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez, who had been placed on administrative leave after she tweeted a link to a story about a 2003 rape allegation against Kobe Bryant, has been cleared to return to work, the paper said...
TMZ Chief Claims ‘Kobe’s People’ Gave OK to Crash Story
New York Post: Harvey Levin, the founder of TMZ, said the outlet had the OK from “Kobe’s people” to break news of the helicopter crash that killed the NBA legend, his 13-year-old daughter and seven other people. Law enforcement authorities had slammed the tabloid...
Quartz, CNBC, New York Post Veteran Journalist Dies at 55
CNBC: Xana Antunes, a veteran business journalist, died Monday night in New York after a struggle with pancreatic cancer. Antunes, who at a relatively young age also was editor of the New York Post, most recently was executive editor of the news site...
Penske’s Rolling Stone Magazine Rolls Out B2B Newsletter
Folio: Since being acquired by PMC Media in 2018, Rolling Stone has undergone a series of changes to transform its business. Its latest initiative is targeting music industry professionals with a new e-letter called RS Pro. The email will be distributed...