G/O Media’s Deadspin in Limbo After Employee Resignations
New York Post: Deadspin is really living up to the “dead” part of its name. The sports website owned by G/O Media has posted no new articles in over a month since the last of its editorial staffers stormed out on Oct. 31. “We have no plans to sell the...
ViacomCBS to Sell CBS ‘Black Rock’ Manhattan Headquarters
NBC News: Following the completion of its merger last week, ViacomCBS is selling CBS's historic midtown Manhattan headquarters, known as Black Rock, CEO Bob Bakish said. "It's a very material asset. It is not an asset we need to own." Viacom had considered a sale of...
Report: TV Suffers Steepest Drop in Ad Sales Since Recession
Bloomberg: Global TV advertising sales fell almost 4% in 2019, the steepest drop since the depths of the economic recession in 2009, in the latest sign that advertisers are following viewers to the internet. Traditional television has hemorrhaged viewers in recent...
Comcast-NBC Ignores Golden Globes Amid Nomination Snub
Showbiz 411: The Golden Globes are broadcast on NBC and yet the "Today" show Monday morning pretty much ignored the nominations announcement. Could NBC have known what was going to happen? The Globes didn’t give a single nomination to any broadcast network, including...
Netflix Leads in Golden Globes Nods, Broadcast TV is Shut Out
Associated Press: The Golden Globe TV nominations were most striking not for what they included, but what they didn’t: The traditional broadcast networks were completely shut out in all 55 nominations. It was a crowning moment for Netflix, and not just for the...
CBS TV, Digital to Join Advanced Audience Targeting Platform
MediaPost: CBS’s television and digital inventories are being added to the advanced audience targeting platform OpenAP Market. “Bringing our full portfolio of linear and digital inventory together on this platform enables us to deliver premium content and diverse...
Comcast Plans $2 Billion Spend on Peacock in First Two Years
Bloomberg: Comcast plans to spend $2 billion on its coming Peacock service in the streaming outlet’s first two years. “We will ramp quickly next year on spending on Peacock,” CFO Michael Cavanagh said at a UBS investor conference in New York. He said the company...
Fox CEO Holds Christmas Bash at Murdoch Home in Australia
The Age: From the glimpse down Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch's garden path at their eastern suburbs home Le Manoir at Thursday evening's Christmas drinks, it was clear this was not your average suburban Sydney soiree. The bulk of attendees were a roll call of rich...
AT&T-WarnerMedia Eyes Sports Gambling at Bleacher Report
Business Insider: On Thursday, Bleacher Report is premiering a weekly game show for sports gamblers that will be filmed live at its studio in Caesars Palace's sportsbook in Las Vegas. Players in the "B/R Betting Game Show" will try to predict the outcome of athletic...
Fox Taps Hemmer to Fill Smith’s Former Slot at News Channel
Mediaite: Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer is taking over Shepard Smith’s 3 p.m. slot at Fox News. Hemmer, who joined the network in 2005 after working as an anchor at CNN, currently co-hosts Fox News show "America’s Newsroom" with Sandra Smith, where he regularly scores...
Quibi Readies Short-Form Redo of Comedy Series ‘Reno 911!’
World Screen: The comedy series "Reno 911!" has been greenlit for a seventh season by Quibi, with creators and stars Robert Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney-Silver and Thomas Lennon all on board. "Reno 911!" ran for six seasons on Comedy Central. The series is produced by...
NPR Veteran Schiller to Plan Media Projects at Aspen Institute
Aspen Institute: Longtime media exec Vivian Schiller has been selected to fill a new role leading newly combined media and technology programs at the nonprofit Aspen Institute. She will join the program in early 2020. "Vivian has spent her career in leadership...
Verizon-Hearst’s Complex Opens Internet Store for Streetware
Digiday: Complex is opening an online store called Complex Shop. The store, which will be stocked with dozens of items from some 70 brands, will also feature exclusive collaborations produced just for Complex. The store will also feature articles and videos...
Meredith Preps More Magazine-Branded Products for Walmart
Home World Business: Meredith has extended its licensing agreement through mid-2024 for its line of Better Homes & Gardens-branded products at Walmart in the United States and Canada. Product categories include sheets, comforters and quilts; dinnerware and...
Conde Nast Joins Digital Media in Test of Instagram Shopping
Digiday: It used to be that Instagram Shopping, or the ability to sell wares on the social platform, was limited to influencers and retail brands. Now, a select number of publishers -- including Group Nine, Conde Nast and Highsnobiety -- is also being invited to test...
Hearst’s Marie Claire Editor Exits for Women’s Health Venture
New York Times: Anne Fulenwider is joining a handful of magazine women who have left their posts for new ventures. Fulenwider, the editor in chief of Marie Claire magazine, is stepping down to start a company focused on women’s health. Fulenwider has been the top...
Maven Hires Veteran of New York Magazine for Revenue Chief
New York Post: New York magazine’s publisher Avi Zimak has been named to a top post at Maven, the tech and publishing company that is overseeing Sports Illustrated. Zimak also served as chief revenue officer of parent company New York Media until its sale to Vox...
Gannett Preps Reimagined Form of Classifieds at Newspapers
Associated Press: "If you go back to think about what a local newspaper was, even 20 years ago, you were provided with news and information. But you also had connections to the local community through classifieds, which connected you with local...
Maven’s Sports Illustrated Reveals 2019 Sportsperson of Year
WRAL: Megan Rapinoe, co-captain of the US Women's National Team, will appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the 2019 Sportsperson of the Year. “She is a force of nature on and off the field, a trailblazing soccer player who also proves every day how large and...
Media Job Cuts Reach 7,700+ in 2019 Amid Seismic Changes
Business Insider: The media industry continued to make cuts in December, following rounds of layoffs earlier in the year from the likes of Disney, BuzzFeed, Verizon and Vice Media. The cuts represent a trend that has seen upstarts and old media alike shrinking and...
CBS ‘Toxic Culture’ Continues at Company-Owned TV Stations
Los Angeles Times: After a probe into former CEO Les Moonves’s conduct and the company’s workplace culture, law firms hired by CBS concluded that “harassment and retaliation are not pervasive at CBS.” But an investigation has uncovered claims of discrimination,...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Salutes Turner After Dropping His Name
WSB-TV: Ted Turner's name may have been taken off the building on Atlanta's Techwood campus, but his face has emerged. Earlier this year, WarnerMedia announced restructuring at the Atlanta-based media company, which eliminated the name "Turner...
Disney Nears $10 Billion Box-Office Haul Ahead of ‘Skywalker’
CNBC: With Sunday’s estimates, Disney is now a breath away from hauling in $10 billion globally from its 2019 box office titles. As “Frozen II” continues to dominate the box office, both domestically and internationally, Disney’s tally for the year hovers around $9.9...
Apple Oscar-Contender ‘The Banker’ in Limbo After Allegation
New York Times: One of Apple’s first films, “The Banker,” starring Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie, is in limbo after the company pulled it from a theatrical run that was scheduled to start Friday. A daughter of one of the film’s protagonists raised allegations...
Netflix Finds Few Viewers Make It to the End of ‘The Irishman’
Bloomberg: “The Irishman,” the 3 1/2-hour gangster epic on Netflix, was seen by 13.2 million U.S. viewers over its first five days of release, a solid showing for a film on the streaming service. Only 18% of viewers made it all the way through in one sitting on its...
Amazon Plots Big Move to Manhattan After Second HQ Pullout
Wall Street Journal: Amazon and Facebook are loading up on new office space in New York City, helping fuel an expansion of tech companies that is remaking a swath of Manhattan less than a year after Amazon dropped plans to build its second headquarters in the...
Chernin: Hulu, Not Netflix, Should’ve Been Dominant Streamer
Variety: Chernin Group head and former News Corp. exec Peter Chernin believes that Hulu, not Netflix, should’ve been the dominant streaming platform of the modern era, blaming Fox and NBC for diminishing the service. It's "one of the bigger mistakes that’s been made...
Quibi Nabs Online Influencers for Short-Form Daily Essentials
New York Times: Quibi has handed some of the $1 billion it raised to online influencers, including Willam Belli, who will be the host of a fashion show called “Fashion’s a Drag.” Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings will create a version of their popular podcast, “The...
Vice Media Looks to Take On ‘Corrupt System’ of Cable News
Hollywood Reporter: After more than 20 years at the New York Post, Jesse Angelo crossed the East River in June, joining Vice Media as the Brooklyn-based company's president of global news and entertainment. "We dispel the myth that the youth aren't interested in...
iHeartMedia Expands in Podcast Publishing with 327 Shows
RBR: The November 2019 Podrac Podcast Industry Ranking report is out, and iHeartMedia has an even bigger position in the hot audio space than in October. Just how many podcasts does iHeart offer? The number is now 327, rising from 299 in...