Vice Media to Add Editorial Employees of Refinery29 to Union
New York Post: Refinery29, a non-union shop that was acquired by Vice Media in November, will now have its editorial workers covered by the collective bargaining agreement hammered out by Vice management and the Writers Guild of America,...
Viacom, CBS Reunite Amid Threats from New Era of Streaming
Los Angeles Times: Long known as the squabbling siblings of media, CBS and Viacom have finally reunited after 13 years apart. The much-anticipated corporate union, which will be called ViacomCBS, concluded Wednesday after the market closed. The Viacom name gets top...
AT&T Plans Another Round of Layoffs at WarnerMedia in 2020
Business Insider: AT&T's WarnerMedia Entertainment — which includes HBO, Turner, and Warner Bros. — plans to cut more than two dozen marketing and international sales jobs in New York next year. The company disclosed in filings that it would eliminate 12...
Comcast’s NBC to Unveil Streaming Strategy for New Peacock
CNET: With an April 2020 launch on the horizon for NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock, more details should be coming to light in January. NBCUniversal owner Comcast is scheduled to hold an investor meeting on Jan. 16 to "discuss NBCU's plans for its new...
Fox Turns to Amazon Services for Cable, Satellite Broadcasts
Bloomberg: Fox Corp. is turning to Amazon’s cloud to route video to the broadcaster’s cable and streaming customers, the latest Digital Age tie-up between the high-tech newcomer and big media companies. Under the multiyear deal, Amazon will transmit Fox sports, news...
Disney CEO’s ‘Right-Hand Man’ Still a Candidate for Successor
Bloomberg Businessweek: Kevin Mayer’s division will spend $1 billion next year on programing for Disney+. The service isn’t expected to be profitable until 2024, by which time Disney projects it will have 90 million subscribers. Mayer could have a new title by then:...
Apple Unveils Morning Email Newsletter of Aggregated News
9to5Mac: Apple News is expanding its mail notifications with a new "Good Morning" daily newsletter. Previously, users could opt in to receive email alerts from Apple News about select featured stories. The company appears to be formalizing that into a regular daily...
Facebook’s Instagram to Ask Ages for Youth Safety, More Ads
Reuters: Facebook’s Instagram said it will require birthdates from all new users, expanding the audience for ads for alcohol and other age-restricted products while offering new safety measures for younger users. Until now, Instagram except for limited circumstances...
Alphabet’s YouTube Warns of Declines in Subscriber Numbers
TechCrunch: YouTube is warning creators they may see their subscriber numbers decline this week as the result of a purge that will remove closed accounts from YouTube metrics. Closed accounts could refer to those that were willingly shut down by users or those that...
Plex Unveils Ad-Supported Streaming Service in 200 Countries
TechCrunch: Plex is launching its own ad-supported streaming service, a rival to the Roku Channel, Tubi, Crackle, Vudu’s Movies on Us and others that offer a way to stream movies and TV for free without a subscription. The service will feature several thousand movies...
IAC’s Diller to Take Control as CEO, CFO Step Down at Expedia
Reuters: Expedia’s CEO and CFO have resigned following a disagreement with the online travel company’s board over its business outlook, said chairman Barry Diller, who will help oversee the executive leadership team until the board finds a replacement. Diller also...
Trend: Media Investment Firms Snap Up Former Industry Execs
Variety: The shake-out in media and entertainment after a few years of mergers, cost-cutting initiatives and massive restructurings has thrust many experienced executives back onto the job market — but they’re not all landing at mainstream companies. A growing number...
Vice Media Announces First Major Hire Under New News Chief
Deadline: Paola Ramos is joining Vice News as a correspondent, starting this week, in the first notable new hire by Jesse Angelo since he joined the company as head of news and entertainment in June. Ramos has previously written for Vice.com and hosted "Latin-X," a...
Gannett CEO: Cost Cutting Allows Us to Save Newsroom Jobs
NPR: Mike Reed, CEO of the new Gannett, says he'll focus on eliminating duplication after the company's merger with GateHouse. "This combination affords us an opportunity to reduce costs in areas that allow us to save jobs in the newsroom. ... If we don't provide...
Hearst CEO Reveals When He Knew It Was Time to Step Aside
Vogue Business: Frank Bennack's near-three decades at the helm at Hearst saw it evolve from a print media publisher into a group that encompassed TV and data interests. He decided to step down after establishing a record he was satisfied with and grooming a successor...
Conde Nast Veteran Writes Memoir on Days as Youngest Editor
Business Insider: At 29, Elaine Welteroth became not just the youngest editor-in-chief in Conde Nast's 107-year-old history, but also only the second black person to ever hold an EIC title at the company. Welteroth makes it known in her 2019 memoir, "More than...
New York Times Among Newspapers Invading Audio, Podcasts
Radio Ink: Most national newspapers have caught on to the popularity of audio and podcasting and the potential for another lucrative revenue stream. The most listened-to news podcast in America is the Daily from the New York Times. The Book Review podcast from the...
Forbes ’30 Under 30’ Media Honorees to Shape Industry Future
Forbes: The honorees on Forbes’s 30 Under 30 Media list for 2020 are a mix of founders, journalists, executives and authors who represent the future of the industry. Most have achieved success by serving audiences and telling stories about communities that have often...
Conde Nast Breaks ‘Dumb Rules’ of Magazines with British Title
New York Times: Those who work in magazines read The World of Interiors with a mix of appreciation and envy. In an age when editors of monthlies must compete, seemingly impossibly, with the daily dopamine hits of ’grams and memes and TikToks, The World of Interiors...
Group Nine Media Chief Gives One-Word Answers in Interview
Campaign: Christa Carone, president of Group Nine Media, sits at the epicenter of the mobile generation. She has commanded a seat on all sides of the marketing table. What is the most troubling hurdle publishing platforms must overcome? "Complexity," she...
BuzzFeed Stirs Chatter of Financial Troubles Amid Filing Delay
City AM: BuzzFeed is under pressure from UK financial authorities for failing to produce its company accounts more than two months after the deadline. Government agency Companies House has lodged a proposal to strike BuzzFeed from the official register as its 2018...
Craigslist Clones Online Design in Classified Ad Site’s New App
TechCrunch: Fancy websites and services come and go, but Craigslist endures. And now one of its main shortcomings is fixed: there’s an official app. The new app provides a true Craigslist experience: useful, unfussy and...
Alphabet CEO Looks to Step Up as Google Founders Step Down
CNBC: Alphabet CEO Larry Page will step down from the role and Google CEO Sundar Pichai will take over, adding to his current responsibilities. Co-founder Sergey Brin will also step down as president of Alphabet and the role will be eliminated. Pichai's talent of...
Twitter CEO Plans Move to Africa Ahead of Presidential Election
Bloomberg: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has picked a questionable time to spend as much as half a year in Africa. Dorsey wrote in a tweet last week that he planned live on the continent for between three and six months in 2020. Investors quickly noted the Twitter chief’s...
Facebook CEO Offers Rare Look Inside Home in New Interview
CBS News: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, philanthropist Priscilla Chan, invited "CBS This Morning" into their home. They have never allowed a TV camera crew inside before. "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King was able to see first-hand who this couple...
Netflix’s ‘Irishman’ Named Best Pic by National Board of Review
Associated Press: Martin Scorsese’s crime epic “The Irishman” has been named best picture by the National Board of Review. The awards, announced Tuesday, handed Netflix its second major honor in Hollywood’s quickening awards season. On Monday evening, Noah Baumbach’s...
Apple Follows Spotify in Unveiling Plan for Own Music Awards
Engadget: Not long after Spotify announced its upcoming music awards show, Apple has done the same. The Apple Music Awards is a "celebration of the best and boldest musicians of 2019 and the enormous impact they have had on global culture this year." The event takes...
Disney Readies ‘Star Wars’ Game Show for Streaming Service
The Verge: Hot off the success of Baby Yoda, Disney has ordered a new "Star Wars" show for its Disney+ streaming service, but this one seemingly shares more in common with "American Ninja Warrior" than "The Mandalorian." "Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge" is...
Comcast’s Sky to Build New Studio for Global Streaming Wars
Bloomberg: Sky plans to build a major new studio in the U.K., as the global streaming war forces media companies to secure more space for upcoming productions. Comcast’s European pay-TV business will build 14 sound stages on a 32-acre site north of London, the...
ViacomCBS Preps Employee Town Hall as Merger Deal Closes
@CGasparino: Shari Redstone, Bob Bakish and Joe Ianiello are expected to address Viacom and CBS employees in the first post merger town hall as their mega merger deal is set to close. The new company will trade under VIAC. Employees are said to be bracing for the...