Schneps Media Acquires Free Daily Tabloid Metro New York
New York Post: Free daily newspaper Metro New York is being sold to Schneps Media — making it the second freebie paper to be sold in two months. The sale, which is also expected to include Metro Philadelphia, is slated to be finalized by the end of the...
Hearst Plans New Magazine Offices in Former Bowling Alley
Lehigh Valley Live: The first vertical steel beams which will help form the top floor of the Heritage Riverview project in Easton, Pennsylvania have risen in recent days. Hearst initially expected to have 175 employees in over the...
Vox Media Looks to Lure Advertisers with New Data Platform
CNBC: Vox Media’s new first-party data platform, Forte, intends to help advertisers drill into consumer interests and actions, and figure out which kind of ad creative would work best for that consumer...
Vice Media, Dotdash Execs Offer Media Predictions for 2020
Adweek: So, what's next for the media industry? "The disruption will continue in the next decade," predicts Vice Media chief digital officer Cory Haik, "as the models and mechanisms that support media production and consumption continue to...
Report: Tech Advances in Next Decade Will Devastate Media
Vanity Fair: A decade from now, we’ll look back at today in astonishment at how primitive life was in 2019. One massive problem we all know is coming: the endemic job loss that will pervade society. Journalists will be easily replaced by a bit of machine...
Apple to Buy Netflix? Industry Players Predict Deals in 2020
Hollywood Reporter: It's impossible to know what, exactly, the future holds, particularly in an era of transformation — but that's never stopped smart people from prognosticating. More than 40 industry figures have weighed in with their...
Viacom Accused of Selling Out Investors for Deal with CBS
Bloomberg: Shari Redstone and other Viacom directors have been accused by a pension fund of selling out the media giant’s shareholders by ramming through the merger with CBS. Redstone and her colleagues “expropriated potentially billions of...
Netflix Saga Eclipses Disney’s ‘Star Wars,’ Comcast’s ‘Cats’
Independent: The hot new thing is Netflix’s adaptation of "The Witcher" fantasy saga. Starring Henry Cavill as a mercenary with a manbun, the show has lit up the internet since its December 20 debut -- and a reminder that fandom is an idiosyncratic...
Comcast in Talks to Acquire Video Streaming Service Xumo
MarketWatch: Comcast is in advanced talks to acquire video-streaming company Xumo, as the cable giant prepares to launch its own streaming service. Xumo is one of a handful of companies that offer a free, ad-supported video-streaming...
AT&T New Streaming Chief Reveals HBO ‘Has Hit a Ceiling’
Hollywood Reporter: "The dirty little secret is that HBO has hit a ceiling. It can't grow. In a world where there's Netflix and Amazon, the only way to grow, I guarantee you, is to bundle it with something else that's going to lift...
Fox is ‘Strong-Arming’ Small Cable Operators in New Deals
Cord Cutters News: Viewers may soon lose Fox News, FS1, FS2, and more as small cable TV company contracts with Fox are coming to an end on December 31, 2019. According to some providers, Fox is asking for a 10x jump in what they are paying...
Liberty Media Faces Possible US Block of Sirius-iHeartRadio
New York Post: Department of Justice officials have raised an eyebrow over plans by John Malone’s Liberty Media to acquire iHeartRadio, the nation’s largest owner of radio airwaves. iHeart emerged from bankruptcy six months...
Spotify to Suspend Political Ads in 2020 Over Review Issues
Ad Age: Spotify said in a statement that it will pause political advertising in early 2020 across its ad-supported tier — which boosts 141 million users — as well as the streaming giant’s original and exclusive...
Radio Legend Don Imus Dies – But Not Everyone is Grieving
NJ.com: On Friday, radio legend Don Imus died at the age of 79, after being in declining health for a number of years. Yet the reaction hasn’t necessarily fallen in line with what usually happens when a famed entertainer...
Gannett, McClatchy, Tribune CEOs Talk of Plans for Survival
Washington Post: The CEOs of Gannett, McClatchy and Tribune agreed to interviews to share their thoughts on the future of their companies and of local news. “I think there’s an interesting new business model available,” says new Gannett CEO Paul...
Alden Global, Fortress, Chatham Control Fate of Newspapers
Business Insider: Hedge funds and private equity firms have scooped up hundreds of local news sources over the years, with three firms — Alden Global, Fortress, and Chatham Asset Management — now pulling the strings behind the biggest media...
New York Times Adds Note to Op-Ed About ‘Jewish Genius’
Mediaite: The New York Times did some damage control on Sunday after columnist Bret Stephens came under heavy criticism for a piece that dabbles in eugenics in order to say Jews are smarter than other people. Stephens and the Times were widely trashed...
Bloomberg News Faces Hefty Fine for Reporting Fake News
The Hill: French markets watchdog AMF fined Bloomberg News about $7.6 million for its reporting on a fake news release in 2016 that led to a plunge in stock prices in France. The AMF said that the news group should have known the information was...
Hearst Heiress Escapes Uninjured as Fire Ravages Mansion
East Hampton Star: A large house owned by Anne Hearst suffered major damage in a fire on Saturday, though the publishing heiress and various family members escaped uninjured. Firefighters were able to rescue two cats and a substantial amount of...
Conde Nast Shakes Up International Board Amid Headwinds
New York Post: Magazine powerhouse Conde Nast is shaking up the board of directors of its money-losing International subsidiary as it forges ahead with the combination of its US and overseas operations. Jonathan Newhouse is now giving up his...
Maven Raises Doubts with New Vision for Sports Illustrated
Washington Post: The gap between Maven’s bold vision for Sports Illustrated and the grim reality in the newsroom has only grown, according to interviews with 10 current employees and eight more who recently left the...
US Magazine Trade Group to Unveil New Headquarters, CEO
New York Post: The MPA, or Association of Magazine Media, has tapped its former chief government affairs lobbyist as president and CEO as it prepares officially open its new headquarters in Washington, DC on Jan....
Media Upheaval is New Normal Amid Rise of Layoffs, Unions
WWD: Constant upheaval and “reinvention,” as executives like to put it, is the new normal. Look no further than media’s year in 2019. Yet another 12 months of thousands of editorial layoffs. So, what we have as of now is a very new type of media...
ViacomCBS Nears a Deal to Buy Minority Stake in Miramax
Variety: ViacomCBS is close to a deal to buy a minority stake in Miramax. The pact could be finalized as early as Friday. The media giant wants the library and the IP assets to help fuel its in-house streaming...
Comcast’s New NBC Boss Under Spotlight with Movie ‘Cats’
Washington Post: The stakes are high for "Cats." They include the fortunes of a studio that had some successes in 2019 but no massive blockbuster, and a studio exec, Jeff Shell, who has recently been given one of the most important jobs in...
Fox Bests Cable News Rivals During Hour of Impeachment
New York Times: As the House of Representatives cast the deciding votes to impeach President Trump, the number of people watching cable news was far greater than usual. Roughly 11 million people tuned into the big-three cable news channels on Wednesday...
ViacomCBS Publisher Readies Book by Fox News’s Hannity
CNN: Sean Hannity, the conservative radio personality and Fox News host who has been one of President Trump's most ardent supporters, is working on a book slated for release in 2020. The book will be published by Threshold...
Comcast’s NBC News Forms New Team for Election Security
Axios: NBC News has created a new editorial team to report on issues related to U.S. election security and voting called "Vote Watch." Most news organizations were caught off guard by the 2016 election manipulation...
Disney Trounces Apple (So Far) as Streaming Wars Kick Off
CNET: Last month ushered in Apple TV Plus versus Disney Plus. By all early measures, Disney trounced Apple. These battles will help determine who shapes the future of television as streaming video becomes the...
Apple Eyes James Bond, Live Sports for New Video Streamer
MarketWatch: Apple has held talks with reps of James Bond franchise owner MGM and the Pac-12 conference regarding content for its Apple TV+ service. The talks showed the tech giant's willingness to strike multibillion-dollar deals to support its...