AT&T’s WarnerMedia Reveals New Streamer Will Be ‘Swipey’
Deadline: In an appearance at CES, top WarnerMedia execs offered a few new insights into HBO Max, the company’s subscription streaming offering set to debut in May. The new platform aims to target mobile devices with an interface that is more “swipey” and less...
ViacomCBS, Comcast Renew Carriage Deal for CBS Channels
Reuters: ViacomCBS and Comcast renewed their content carriage deal on Wednesday, which would allow Comcast to continue retransmission of 23 CBS-owned television channels. The deal will also include distribution of Showtime and CBS Sports Network to users of Comcast’s...
CBS News Veteran Charlie Rose Admits to Workplace Flirting
NBC News: Charlie Rose, the former "CBS This Morning” anchor, admitted he flirted with his female co-anchors and had workplace relationships, according to court documents. Rose acknowledged during a deposition that he flirted with his Gayle King, Norah O’Donnell and...
Disney-ABC to Integrate Election Coverage in Live ‘Conners’
Wall Street Journal: In an unusual tie-up between ABC’s entertainment and news divisions, the Feb. 11 episode of the family comedy “The Conners” will be performed live for the East and West Coasts and integrate network coverage of the New Hampshire presidential...
MGM Shakes Up Leadership Amid Talk of Possible Takeover
Hollywood Reporter: On March 1, veteran producer Michael De Luca will take the reins of MGM's motion picture group as the studio attempts to define its future at a time when mid-budget films have largely fallen by the wayside and merger mania reigns in...
Netflix Snubs Super Bowl After Running Ads for Three Years
Ad Age: As the streaming wars heat up, the Super Bowl has become a favorite outlet for these services to promote their platforms and original content. But Netflix, which has been a Super Bowl regular over the past few years, will sit out of the Big Game in...
Quibi Raises $400 Million Ahead of Startup’s Launch in April
Los Angeles Times: Video start-up Quibi, which launches in April, on Wednesday revealed it had raised $400 million from investors. Quibi, which is short for “quick bites” of video, aims to sell subscriptions to millennials and tell stories in bite-size chapters of 10...
Spotify Unveils Tech Aiming to Help Advertisers of Podcasts
Wall Street Journal: Spotify has launched a new digital tool that for the first time will let advertisers know how many people heard a given ad in a podcast, as the streaming giant continues its push into a rapidly growing business that has struggled to produce...
Verizon to Expand Sports-Betting Venture to Five More States
Bloomberg: Verizon got its Yahoo Sports betting venture out of the gate in New Jersey in November, and now plans to expand its online gambling partnership with MGM Resorts International to at least five more states this year. Several states have now legalized sports...
IAC Sells College Humor to Creative Chief, Lays Off 100 Staff
Bloomberg: Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActive Corp plans to sell CH Media, the parent of CollegeHumor and other digital brands, to the unit’s chief creative officer, in a move that will cause most employees to lose their jobs. Terms of the sale to longtime CH Media exec...
Hearst Magazines Union Battle Heats Up as Major Vote Nears
WWD: The fight between Hearst Magazines and hundreds of staffers attempting to unionize is becoming messier. In the latest twist, Hearst execs have accused a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, a federal body, of subverting the board’s own...
Conde Nast Gets Flak as Teen Vogue Pulls Facebook Article
New York Times: On Wednesday, Teen Vogue published a glowing article on Facebook’s efforts to safeguard political speech. Not long after it was posted, a line appeared at the top of the story to signal that it was a paid advertisement. Soon after, the label...
Meredith Unveils Debut Issue of Magazine with HGTV Hosts
Daily Mail: They're already the brains behind a hit HGTV series, four spinoffs, furniture lines, books, and an app. And now Property Brothers Jonathan and Drew Scott are venturing into magazines with the release of their new lifestyle quarterly Reveal, hitting...
Benioffs’ Time Magazine to Become ‘Billion-Dollar Business’
Business Insider: Execs at Marc Benioff's Time magazine have revealed their strategy for the iconic title. Time's president said Time would be profitable as early as this year and ultimately be a billion-dollar business. Its CEO plans to expand the title to verticals...
Axel Springer’s Business Insider Unveils Show on Facebook
Digiday: On Jan. 3, Business Insider premiered “Business Insider Weekly,” a news show funded by Facebook. The show is designed to complement “Business Insider Today.” The latter, a daily show, premiered in September 2018 and also is financed by...
News Corp, Without Fanfare, Debuts US Website for The Sun
Digiday: UK newspaper The Sun quietly launched a free US website on Wednesday as News Corp. tries to take advantage of the tabloid’s existing audience across the pond. News U.K. has about a dozen editorial and audience-development employees working on the US...
Metro Boston Free Newspaper Shutters After Nearly 20 Years
Patch Boston: The free daily paper that greeted commuters in the Boston area for nearly two decades has published for the last time. The Boston Metro said in a note to readers that Wednesday morning was its final day of operation. "A difficult decision had to be...
AT&T to Broaden TV Ad Model as Xandr Pushes Pause Ads
The Drum: Since at least December 2018, AT&T’s advertising company Xandr has been developing pause ads. Now Xandr is ready to sell the new ad product, a step toward reshaping its approach to TV advertising. “Building out these capabilities really gives us more...
Comcast to Merge TV, Digital Ad Buying with One Platform
Wall Street Journal: Comcast's NBCUniversal is accelerating efforts to create a single ad technology and sales infrastructure for marketers to run media plans across its TV and digital properties. A version of One Platform will be ready by this year’s TV...
Fox, Comcast, AT&T Put Harder Sell on Hard News for 2020
Variety: Both NBCUniversal and Fox Corp. are talking to advertisers about research that demonstrates viewers don’t think negatively about the advertisers in news programs, no matter whether the host leans toward a particular political view or if the news itself is...
AT&T’s CNN Settles Lawsuit in Covington High School Flap
Fox News: CNN on Tuesday settled a defamation lawsuit filed by Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann over its coverage of a viral confrontation with a Native American elder that had portrayed the Kentucky teen as the...
Media Pros at CES Talk of ‘Time Folding,’ ‘Social Recession’
WWD: The annual Consumer Electronics Show has kicked off in Las Vegas, and media experts and execs hit the ground talking about everything from the future of influencers and ads to what 5G will mean for business. A number of interesting topics for media are coming...
Facebook Bans Deepfakes, But ‘Shallowfakes’ Still Allowed
Fast Company: Facebook has announced a new policy change that will see the ban of deepfake content from its platform. But the new policy does not ban the posting of so-called “shallowfakes” — authentic video that has simply been edited to rearrange the order of words...
Facebook’s Instagram Launches Series with Michelle Obama
Axios: Former First Lady Michelle Obama is partnering with the digital media company ATTN: to launch a video series on IGTV, Instagram's video platform. “A Year of Firsts” shows inspiring stories about students navigating their first year through...
Survey: Snapchat, Twitter Most Vulnerable for User Deletion
MediaPost: Snapchat is the most vulnerable digital media platform to being deleted by its users, according to UBS Evidence Lab research. Asked which app they were most likely to delete, 33% of respondents cited Snapchat, followed by Twitter (30%), Pinterest (27%) and...
Chernin’s Barstool Sports Among Possible Movers in 2020
The Information: The big sports media channels like ESPN have lost some of their dominance as the online upstarts grab more attention, particularly among younger audiences. All that adds up to the potential for some of the newer firms to get...
Lupa Systems, from Murdoch, to Invest in Online Education
Economic Times: James Murdoch-led Lupa Systems has made its first investment in India in the online learning company Harappa Education. The investment will give Lupa Systems a majority stake and secure Harappa’s growth plans for the next three...
Goop, from Paltrow, Unveils Big Deals with Sephora, Netflix
Fast Company: It’s been a great day for Goop. Both Netflix and Sephora announced they have inked deals with Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand. Netflix will be home to "Goop Lab," a six-part series co-hosted by Paltrow; beauty retailer Sephora will offer Goop...
Bloomberg, Trump Both Buying $10 Million Super Bowl Ads
New York Times: Michael Bloomberg has secured a 60-second advertising spot to air during next month’s Super Bowl, an ad buy that will most likely cost at least $10 million. President Trump also has reserved 60 seconds’ worth of advertising during the game for roughly...
News Corp Set for Windfall from Digital Edition Ruling in UK
Guardian: Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper group could be set for a substantial financial windfall after successfully arguing that the Times of London's digital edition is effectively a print newspaper because its website is rarely...