Verizon’s HuffPost to Get ‘Personal’ with Homepage Redesign
HuffPost: "At HuffPost, we put people first. And we've redesigned our homepage for you. As always, you'll find the latest news. But you'll also find a lot more stories about what's happening at your house: raising good kids, finding a therapist you can afford,...
Ozy Media Raises $35 Million Amid Shift to TV, Podcasts, Events
Axios: Ozy Media, a media and entertainment company led by Carlos Watson, said Friday that it's raised $35 million in new venture capital funding. Ozy launched as a digital magazine for the "change generation," but has moved its focus toward TV production, podcasts...
G/O Media in Talks to Sell ClickHole as Deadspin Staff Departs
Wall Street Journal: G/O Media’s sports website Deadspin lost all of its editorial staff last week. G/O is currently in advanced talks to sell ClickHole, a website that parodies digital media outlets, to the game company Cards Against Humanity, for less than $1...
Gawker’s Denton, Mum About Deadspin, Plans Messaging Tool
Vanity Fair: Nick Denton has been “totally silent” on the current affairs of his former website Deadspin. The Gawker Media founder is still said to be gearing up to launch the chat-messaging tool that he described after bowing out of his digital media company -- “a...
Apple TV Launches as ‘Pedigreed Underdog’ in Streaming Wars
Associated Press: While Apple TV Plus counts Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg among its first wave of talent, the venture launches Friday with just a handful of original programs. It also lacks a warehouse of old shows and franchise films that can reliably draw...
Disney’s Hulu is Ranked Best of All the Top Streaming Services
USA Today: Hulu comes in at No. 1 on USA Today's list of streaming services because it's "broadly appealing and offers plenty of genres and styles without scraping the bottom of the barrel for new content. The ability to watch current broadcast shows in-season is a...
Fox’s Murdochs Turn Up at New York Dinner Honoring Pompeo
Politico: Spotted at the Hudson Institute’s annual Herman Kahn Award Dinner honoring US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Wednesday night: Rupert Murdoch, Jerry Hall, Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, Chris Wallace, Stuart Varney, Ed Henry, Brian Kilmeade,...
Comcast’s CEO is F—king Up, Needs to Chill Out, 50 Cent Says
XXL: 50 Cent has let loose on Comcast CEO Brian Roberts amid reports that the company is planning to drop Starz network by Dec. 10. 50's hit show "Power" airs on the Starz network. "This is the guy fucking up (Power)over at @Comcast for no reason Brian Roberts," 50...
Fox News Reporter Herridge Jumps to CBS ‘Where Facts Matter’
CBS News: Veteran national security journalist Catherine Herridge is joining CBS News and leaving Fox News after 23 years. Herridge will be a CBS News senior investigative correspondent based in Washington, D.C." I feel privileged to join a team where facts and...
CBS News, ESPN, Weather Channel Staffing Up Teams for Quibi
Business Insider: CBS News, ESPN, and The Weather Channel are staffing up as they ramp up production for the Hollywood veteran Jeffrey Katzenberg's planned video-streaming service Quibi. The three publishers have Quibi-specific producer job listings on...
Fox TV Broadcast of 2019 World Series Scores a Big Ad Payday
Ad Age: Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday night averaged 23 million viewers, making it the 20th most-watched broadcast of 2019. The ratings brought the full series average to 13.9 million linear TV viewers, while generating north of $400 million in total ad...
Report: Local TV Hopes to Nab Political Ads Rejected by Twitter
MarketWatch: In the face-off over political ads, Facebook and Twitter took different stances and probably altered the landscape for such advertising on media. The fallout could benefit legacy TV. “Local TV station managers are rubbing their hands in anticipation of...
Netflix Enters Podcasting with Debut of ‘The Only Podcast Left’
Variety: Netflix is set to launch its first original scripted podcast. Titled “The Only Podcast Left,” the podcast is set in the world of the streamer’s post-apocalyptic series “Daybreak,” and has showrunner and head writer Aron Coleite on board as an executive...
Apple Lays Groundwork for Adding Subscriptions to the iPhone
CNBC: Some investors want Apple to sell its iPhone on a subscription basis to shift more of the company’s revenue from transactional sales to recurring revenue. Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t shoot down the idea during a conference call this...
Pinterest Turns to Video Ads, Online Shopping as Growth Stalls
MarketWatch: Revenue growth that was cheered in Pinterest's previous earnings report has not continued. The company is looking to increase revenue through video advertisements and strengthening user ability to buy items directly from the online scrapbooks they create...
News Corp’s Ties to Probe Advisors Stirs Protest from Google
Bloomberg: Google says its confidential business information is at risk in the antitrust probe of the company because the Texas attorney general’s office, which is leading the investigation, hired consultants that have worked for Google adversaries Microsoft and News...
Gannett Acquirer New Media Sees Revenue Dip as Digital Rises
USA Today: New Media Investment Group, the company that is set to acquire USA Today owner Gannett, has reported a decline in overall third-quarter revenue and print advertising, offset partly by an increase in digital revenue, which was helped by a spike in...
Conde Nast Chatter of Wintour Exit Returns as Editor Turns 70
Daily Mail: Conde Nast's Anna Wintour marks her 70th birthday this Sunday. There are always the rumors of her time at Vogue drawing to an end. And yet leave she never does. Because she is too valuable: to Conde Nast; to the fashion industry; to a world which is still...
Future to Acquire Former Time Inc UK to ‘Develop New Models’
The Drum: Magazine powerhouse Future has bid £140 million to acquire rival Ti Media. Chiefly, the move will add three new verticals, lifestyle, women’s interest and sports with the addition of titles such as Decanter, Wallpaper, Country Life and Marie Claire...
Thomson Reuters Snubs Potential Suitors of Reuters News Wire
Financial Times: Thomson Reuters is said to have rebuffed takeover interest in its news wire. Several would-be buyers have approached the company in recent months. Germany's Axel Springer and a group including former Reuters editor-in-chief Mark Wood were among the...
Players’ Tribune ‘Hemorrhaging Money’ as Jeter Site Seeks Sale
New York Post: Derek Jeter’s digital-publishing career may be in its final inning, as his sports blog, Players’ Tribune, scrambles to find a new buyer after burning through close to $80 million since its launch five years ago. “It’s hemorrhaging money,” and the...
G/O Media’s Deadspin Debacle a Harbinger of Worse to Come?
New Republic: Deadspin’s absurd decline -- which could not better contrast the integrity and talent of its staffers on one side and the craven shit-eating of their corporate masters on the other -- should serve as a wake-up call to the powers that be. It’s almost...
Viacom, CBS Appoint Senior Exec Leadership for Mega Merger
World Screen: CBS and Viacom have revealed the senior leadership appointments across ViacomCBS’s revenue lines, with Armando Nuñez to serve as chairman of global distribution and chief content licensing officer and David Lynn to oversee international media...
Comcast’s NBCUniversal Global Chief to Exit in Tie-Up with US
World Screen: After nearly two decades with the company, Kevin MacLellan is exiting NBCUniversal, which will now bring its domestic and international operations together. “With the rapidly evolving global media landscape, we have decided to more closely align our...
Disney Explores Employee Lives in New Book, Streaming Series
Hollywood Reporter: For those wondering what it means to work for Disney, a new book — and accompanying Disney+ documentary series — will answer that question, lifting the veil on what one day at the company was like for employees at Disney locations around the...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia CEO Says New Streamer is Worth the Price
CNBC: AT&T’s WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey said Wednesday that even though the company’s streaming service HBO Max is more expensive than rival streaming services, its content will entice people to sign up. HBO Max will cost $14.99 per month, which is about the...
Netflix Investors Downplay Threat from AT&T’s Pricier HBO Max
Bloomberg: Netflix investors are downplaying the threat from the just-unveiled HBO Max, an AT&T service with a higher price. Following an AT&T event on Tuesday showcasing HBO Max, Netflix shares surged. The rally suggests investors think Netflix will be able...
Apple TV Seen as ‘Terrible Deal’ Compared to Streaming Rivals
Business Insider: Apple TV Plus launches on Friday for $4.99 a month with only four original shows and no library of licensed content. Its two biggest shows, "The Morning Show" and "See," have been torn apart by critics. With so little content compared to its rivals,...
WalMart Considers Sale of Its On-Demand Video Service Vudu
The Information: Walmart is considering selling its Vudu on-demand video service, a sign of how the digital video business has evolved from on-demand rentals and purchases to streaming. Word of Walmart’s desire to sell Vudu comes days before Disney and Apple each...
Disney’s Hulu Names Ad Age Veteran Editor as Creative Chief
Ad Age: Hulu has named advertising veteran Scott Donaton as its new head of creative. In the newly-created role, Donaton will be responsible for building out the company’s in-house creative practice. Donaton served for a decade as editor of Ad Age before becoming its...