Viacom Eyes Fox News with Conservative Channel on Pluto TV
Hollywood Reporter: Shari Redstone has denied plans to launch a conservative-leaning TV channel to battle Fox News, but the mogul’s Viacom dipped its toe into the space Oct. 15. That day, the company’s Pluto TV free streaming service debuted a beta version of channel...
Comcast’s NBC News Digital Forms Union Amid Internal Strife
New York Times: Employees of NBC’s digital news division announced on Wednesday that they intend to form a union representing about 150 workers, saying it would allow them to fight for better job protections as well as publicly criticize NBC News execs without fear...
Liberty’s SiriusXM Heads to Google Assistant Smart Speakers
CNET: Beginning next week, SiriusXM radio will be available on Google Assistant-powered smart speakers and smart displays, Google announced Wednesday. Streaming radio from SiriusXM offers hundreds of stations for talk shows, sports and commercial-free music to its...
Twitter Bans Political Advertising in Apparent Jab at Facebook
Reuters: Twitter will ban political advertising on its platform next month, the company’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, said on Wednesday, a move that won praise from Democrats and scorn from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. "We believe political message reach should be...
Facebook’s Zuck Defends Political Ads Amid Growth in Quarter
Reuters: Facebook reported an uptick in users in lucrative markets and its third straight rise in quarterly sales growth on Wednesday, but the company’s controversial political ads stole the limelight when CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke to...
Conde Nast: Will the Publisher as We Know It Exist in a Decade?
New York: A big feature story on Conde Nast published this week painted a picture of a company that has declined in stature (and revenue) over the last few years, from its heyday of high-flying expense accounts and automatic prestige. Will Conde as we know it exist...
G/O Media Loses Million-Dollar Ad Deal Amid Employee Exodus
Daily Beast: Deadspin staff resigned en masse following a public clash with top leaders at new owner G/O Media after a mandate that the website no longer cover topics unrelated to sports. Farmers Insurance Group pulled its seven-figure advertising deal with G/O Media...
Brut Digital-Video Outfit Raises $40 Million for Expansion in US
New York Post: Brut, a Paris-based digital video producer that helped turn Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg into a worldwide sensation, has just scored a $40 million round of funding that will be used for its US expansion. Brut aims to create short videos...
Report: Teens View Journos on Social Media as ‘Cringe-Worthy’
CJR: At a conference hosted at the headquarters of Thomson Reuters by the National Association for Media Literacy Education, high school students met journalists, educators, and Facebook reps. At few students assessed news organizations’ attempts to reach...
Trend: Teens Use ‘OK Boomer’ to Fire Back at Older Generation
NBC News: The phrase “OK boomer” has become a common retort in the parts of the internet inhabited by teenage and young adult users. On Instagram, the phrase appears as a hashtag alongside memes and artwork mocking the older...
Disney Streaming Chief Emerges as Candidate to Succeed CEO
Bloomberg: Kevin Mayer, 57, is leading Disney’s charge into online TV, with the Nov. 12 launch of Disney+. If Mayer is successful, Disney could become a significant rival to streaming pioneer Netflix. It could also make him the prime candidate to succeed CEO Bob...
AT&T New Video Streaming Service to Cost More Than Rivals
Financial Times: AT&T’s WarnerMedia made its case to investors for a new video streaming service that will cost more than Disney’s and Apple’s upcoming products, as the telecom group fights to justify its bet on entertainment. The service, HBO Max, will launch in...
Viacom Sells ‘South Park’ Streaming Rights to WarnerMedia
Bloomberg: AT&T’s WarnerMedia acquired the exclusive U.S. streaming rights to the animated hit “South Park” for its new HBO Max service, the latest blockbuster content acquisition in a war to challenge Netflix. WarnerMedia is said to be paying roughly $500...
Sony to Shutter Online Cable TV Alternative PlayStation Vue
Associated Press: Sony is shutting down its pioneering online-cable alternative, PlayStation Vue, citing the high cost of content and the difficulty of reaching deals with networks. Sony launched Vue in early 2015 as a skinnier, cheaper version of cable or satellite...
Discovery Mulls Plans for New Ways of Measuring TV Viewers
Variety: Discovery has plans to “take some risks” and create different audience measures than might have been used in the past for some of its media properties. The company is considering “going to market with un-metered networks very, very...
Comcast’s NBC News Adds Digital Jobs, Lays Off Some Staffers
Axios: NBC News Digital is expanding its staff by 20% over the next year, an addition of roughly 70 jobs across multiple departments — focused on growing its digital streaming service. As a part of its revamp, the company will be sunsetting "NBC Left Field," the...
Netflix Plans to Open Big European Headquarters in Amsterdam
Hollywood Reporter: Netflix needs more room to grow. Alongside new digs in Berlin, Paris and London, the streaming giant has confirmed it will be leasing additional space in Amsterdam for a new, bigger HQ for its Europe, Middle East and Africa...
Survey: Number of US Children Watching Online Videos Doubles
Quartz: Since 2015, the share of young people watching online videos every day has doubled, surpassing every other shift in media habits, according to a new survey by Common Sense Media, a US nonprofit. These kids now spend about an hour watching online videos a...
Alphabet is Advised to Divest YouTube as $300 Billion Business
CNBC: As Alphabet shares fell after the Google-parent missed Wall Street’s third-quarter earnings expectations, one analyst proposed a solution: Divest YouTube, one of the tech giant’s most valuable assets. YouTube "would be worth $300 billion as...
Google-McClatchy News Test Leans on Mix of Revenue Streams
What's New in Publishing: McClatchy and Google hope that they can develop models that will scale, providing a template not only for their test in Youngstown, Ohio but for hundreds of US communities that have lost their only news source. The business model would be "a...
Verizon-Hearst’s Complex Networks Debuts Original Podcasts
Deadline: Complex Networks, the Verizon Hearst Media-backed youth-culture brand, is launching its first full slate of original podcasts – and, yes, it includes a show about sneakers. The company, which is behind digital series such as spicy chicken wing interview...
Gannett, New Media Announce Board of New Newspaper Giant
USA Today: Gannett and New Media Investment Group announced on Tuesday who is expected to sit on the combined company’s board of directors following the completion of a merger that would create the largest U.S. media company by print...
Meredith to Buy Mindfulness App Called Stop, Breathe & Think
Street Insider: Meredith has acquired Stop, Breathe & Think, a leading mobile mindfulness app with more than 17 million emotional check-ins to date. "We view this as an important addition to our well-established health and wellness expertise," says Meredith's Tom...
Hearst Magazine Editors Make a Play for New Revenue Streams
Adweek: At a NewFronts-esque presentation last week, Hearst magazine editors touted to potential clients new programming on the horizon, like a “Future of Beauty” award series from Elle Magazine and experiential events across brands like Cosmopolitan and Marie...
Conde Nast Takes a Cut from Employee Deals in Social Media
New York: Conde Nast employees were getting so many offers to post sponsored content on their Instagram pages that the company held a meeting in which it told staffers that it needed to broker such deals and would keep a cut. “It’s weird what we’re doing for money,”...
New York Times Among Media Creating Newfangled Job Titles
FIPP: Publishers are creating new roles -- coupled with a confusing array of newfangled job titles -- in their struggle to achieve results in a media landscape that continues to evolve and disrupt. The current state of play suggests that this whirligig won’t stop...
Group Nine Revamps Leadership Team After Buying PopSugar
Deadline: Group Nine has revealed its new leadership team, three weeks after the mobile-video publisher acquired female-skewing digital brand PopSugar. The revamped executive lineup includes PopSugar founder/CEO Brian Sugar as president of Group...
G/O Media in Open Revolt as Digital Staffers Disobey Orders
New York Post: An internal revolt is underway at news site Deadspin as staffers refuse to follow orders from their G/O Media bosses to file only sports stories. On Tuesday, rebellious staffers were filling the site with entirely non-sports...
Viacom, CBS Eye Early December to Close Mega Media Merger
Fox Business: Expect the Viacom-CBS merger to become final in "early December." after National Amusements late Monday voted to approve the deal. National Amusements is the Redstone family's holding company that controls a majority of CBS and Viacom...
AT&T is Expected to Announce New Chief Exec at WarnerMedia
Los Angeles Times: AT&T is expected to launch a search for a successor to CEO Randall Stephenson sometime next year. John Stankey, the current CEO of WarnerMedia, is a candidate to succeed him. A new CEO at WarnerMedia is expected to be named soon. Potential...