Disney in Shock as ‘Game of Thrones’ Duo Quits New ‘Star Wars’
Hollywood Reporter: "Game of Thrones" creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have exited their planned "Star Wars" series 18 months after Disney and Lucasfilm first announced they were joining. "There are only so many hours in the day, and we felt we could not do...
Fox Former News Workers Seek Release from Disclosure Deals
Vanity Fair: NBC News, attempting to do damage control, says it will release former employees from nondisclosure agreements if they want to speak up about sexual misconduct at the network. Now, at least six former Fox News staffers, including Gretchen Carlson, are...
Comcast to Expand Shoppable TV Venture Across NBCUniversal
TechCrunch: NBCUniversal has been testing a new ad unit that allows viewers to buy — directly from their phone — products featured on the show they’re watching. Now NBCU is officially taking the ad unit out of beta testing, and plans to start using it across its...
Apple’s First TV Shows Get Panned by Critics as Dull, Confusing
The Information: Apple is learning that television critics are much tougher to win over than iPhone reviewers. With Apple TV+ launching this week, reviews are out for its first batch of television shows, and they’re not exactly gushing. Multiple critics particularly...
Netflix Faces Filmmaker Backlash Over Test of Speed-Watching
Guardian: Netflix is facing a backlash from filmmakers over a new test feature that allows viewers to watch their content at different speeds. The streaming giant confirmed that it was trialing the feature, meaning downloaded films and shows could be watched at...
Facebook’s Staffers Oppose Letting Politicians Post False Ads
New York Times: The letter was aimed at Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. It decried the social network’s decision to let politicians post any claims they wanted — even false ones — in ads on the site. It asked Facebook’s leaders to rethink the stance. The message was...
Google Parent Seeks Wearable Devices with Bid to Buy Fitbit
Reuters: Google owner Alphabet has made an offer to acquire U.S. wearable device maker Fitbit, as it eyes a slice of the crowded market for fitness trackers and smartwatches. While Google has joined other major tech companies in developing smart phones, it has yet to...
TikTok Owner Mulls IPO in Hong Kong as Early as Spring 2020
Financial Times: ByteDance, the $75 billion Chinese start-up that owns the short-form video app TikTok, is said to be eyeing an initial public offering in Hong Kong as soon as the first quarter of next year. The seven-year-old company has chosen Hong Kong over New...
Spotify Chief Financial Officer to Exit Streaming Audio Company
Recode: Barry McCarthy, the pioneer behind a novel method to take companies public, is leaving his role as the chief financial officer at Spotify. It’s a major loss for the streaming audio company. McCarthy, 66, is expected to retire from the CFO role in January and...
IAC Seeks Sale of Digital Media Brands Including CollegeHumor
Bloomberg: Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActive Corp. is said to be exploring a sale of its CH Media business, the parent company of CollegeHumor and other digital brands. It is unclear what valuation IAC is seeking in a potential sale of the business. No final decision...
Recount Lures BuzzFeed, Vice Expats to Political-Video Startup
Vanity Fair: Over the summer, journalists John Heilemann and John Battelle teased out a new project they’d been cooking up: a video venture called The Recount that delivers bite-size “remixes” of the day’s biggest political stories. Now they’re ready for the official...
Gannett Eyes Sponsored Content in Website Redo of USA Today
USA Today: USA Today has announced a desktop update with a new look and feel, optimized web pages, and competitive page load-speed. The new design "will allow advertisers to enjoy new opportunities to create unique environments with custom colors" for branded and...
News Corp Faces Union Pressure to Increase Journalist Salaries
Talking Biz News: IAPE 1096, the union that represents business journalists at the Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch and Barron's, and is negotiating a new contract, sent a letter to Dow Jones CEO Will Lewis: "Our members have earned a...
Hearst Ousts Group Newspaper Editor After High-Profile Efforts
New Haven Independent: Hearst on Monday fired the top editor of its eight Connecticut daily newspapers, including the New Haven Register. The editor, Matt DeRienzo, had overseen high-profile efforts in recent months, including an editorial calling on President Trump...
Conde Nast Isn’t for Sale – But Some Brands Might Be Available
New York: The recent losses at Conde Nast won’t sink the Newhouse family owners, but rumors have persisted of a potential sale — to Hearst, Apple, Google. “Conde Nast has not been, is not, and will not be for sale,” says Advance chief Steven...
G/O Media’s New Auto-Play Video Ads Irritate Editorial Staffers
Daily Beast: In recent days, many G/O employees have publicly and privately criticized a new seven-figure advertising deal that has clogged the websites with irritating auto-play videos. Deadspin posted an article noting that the G/O editorial staff was...
Disney Unleashes Marketing ‘Blitz’ for New Streamer on Monday
New York Times: Disney is preparing a kingdom-wide advertising offensive for the launch of Disney Plus, described as “a synergy campaign of a magnitude that is unprecedented in the history of the Walt Disney Company.” Disney marketing execs refer to Monday as “blitz...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia to Unwrap HBO Max Streamer on Tuesday
CNBC: AT&T's WarnerMedia will unveil HBO Max on October 29 with its launch date and pricing, sources say. Disney, Comcast and AT&T each have a different streaming strategy based on how much or little each company has to lose if a consumer cancels cable...
Apple TV’s ‘Morning Show’ Highlights Streamer Debut on Friday
Associated Press: “The Morning Show” started life as a peek at a slice of network TV. Then revelations of sexual misconduct engulfed NBC’s “Today” and beyond, and the story changed. The drama series is part of the first wave of shows launching the Apple TV Plus...
Netflix Renews Legal Attack on Exec Employee Contracts at Fox
Hollywood Reporter: On Friday, Netflix took its best shot at ensuring unrestricted mobility for those who work in the entertainment industry. In a case that began after the streamer recruited Fox executives, Netflix told a judge that its rival's employment contracts...
Comcast’s NBC Frees Former Staffers to Tell Harassment Tales
NBC News: Former NBC News employees who signed nondisclosure agreements with the network and believe they experienced sexual harassment are free to tell their stories, NBCUniversal said in a statement Friday. The statement was first reported by MSNBC’s Rachel...
Facebook CEO Enters Media Business with Launch of News Tab
MarketWatch: Facebook is getting into the news business and paying publishers because it considers it imperative to support a democratic society. “Every internet platform has a responsibility to fund and form partnerships for news,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said...
Google CEO Says Company is ‘Struggling’ with Employee Trust
Washington Post: Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged the tech giant is struggling with how to deal with internal debate over controversial topics and the company defended hiring a former government official who backed the Trump administration’s travel...
Twitter CEO: I Limit Time I Spend on Twitter to Two Hours a Day
Business Insider: Jack Dorsey has revealed he restricts his time on Twitter, the platform he helped found 13 years ago, to only two hours a day. Dorsey limits his Twitter time using an Apple feature called Screen Time. The feature is meant to give users insight into...
DAZN to Pursue Youth with Help from Snapchat, YouTube Stars
Digiday: DAZN wants to make boxing mainstream again, so it’s turning to Snapchat and YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI. The Paul-KSI fight has the potential to increase DAZN’s subscriber base, given the YouTube stars’ popularity...
News Corp CEO’s Role in Facebook News Debut Stirs Questions
CJR: It would be nice to know the exact story that brought News Corp CEO Robert Thomson onto the stage with Mark Zuckerberg for the unveiling of Facebook's news tab. Serious questions hung, unasked, in the air: How much did it cost to get him to participate in a...
New York Times ‘Modern Love’ Gets Second Season on Amazon
World Screen: Amazon Prime Video has ordered a second season of the half-hour romantic anthology series "Modern Love," inspired by the popular New York Times column of the same name. "Modern Love" is co-produced by the New York Times....
Nikkei’s Financial Times Readies New Podcasts for Subscribers
Digiday: The Financial Times has expanded its audio strategy to include subscriber-only podcasts, a first for the publisher. The FT has hired its first global head of audio, Cheryl Brumley, who will beef up the team of dedicated audio...
Telegraph British Newspapers Put Up for Sale by Barclay Family
Times of London: The Daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers have been put up for sale as their owner, the Barclay family, reviews its multibillion-pound portfolio of British investments. Aidan, 63, and Howard Barclay, 59, are examining the ownership of the family’s...
Players’ Tribune Athlete Site from Jeter Explores Potential Sale
Bloomberg: The Players’ Tribune, a website started by baseball star Derek Jeter, is exploring a potential sale. The New York-based digital media company is working with a financial adviser and could be sold in the coming weeks. It’s not clear how much it is...