Allbritton’s Politico to Co-Host Democratic Debate in December
Politico: Politico is partnering with PBS NewsHour to host the sixth Democratic presidential primary debate, set to take place at the University of California, Los Angeles, on Dec. 19. The debate will air live on PBS and will be streamed online on Politico’s and PBS...
Breitbart’s Inclusion in Facebook News Section Brings Criticism
New York Times: On Friday, Facebook announced Facebook News — a curated section on the social network that will partner with news publishers. But any hope that the announcement means that “Facebook saves the news” was quashed by the inclusion of the far-right online...
Lookout, from Columnist, Seeks to Create Model for Local News
Nieman Lab: "I’m happy to begin introducing the new company that I’m heading, named Lookout," writes Ken Doctor. "It’s a wide-reaching new model for local news. After 15 years providing analysis of the global news industry, I felt compelled to meld together the best...
Michael’s, Fabled Media Eatery, Fades Amid Rise of ‘Influencers’
New York Post: Michael’s restaurant, Midtown’s fabled lunch spot for the media elite, celebrates its 30th anniversary on Nov. 6. It’s a grand, well-deserved milestone. But New York City’s “power lunch” scene that we once knew and loved is all but...
Disney is Favored as Winner in Streaming Wars as Cable Loses
Bloomberg Businessweek: Disney+ is the favorite among analysts and execs as the battle of the streaming services kicks off. At $6.99 a month, it costs about half as much as Netflix and offers movies and TV shows that appeal to every kid. “The loser is cable. The $90...
Comcast’s NBC Touts Streaming Edge by Making Service Free
Bloomberg: Comcast said its NBCUniversal division will have a leg up in the streaming wars by offering its upcoming service free to the cable giant’s internet customers and promoting it on the company’s Roku-like platform. NBC plans to jump into the crowded fight for...
Sony Explores Sale of PlayStation Vue in Shift Over Streaming
The Information: Sony is said to be exploring the sale of its PlayStation Vue service, which offers a slimmed-down version of cable TV delivered over the internet. Sony’s move is the latest sign that the four-year-old trend toward cheaper cable-like streaming...
DAZN Sports Streamer Seeks $500 Million for New Expansion
Bloomberg: DAZN, a sports streaming service owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik and led by former ESPN president John Skipper, is said to be seeking to raise at least $500 million. The funds will mostly likely be used to support DAZN’s expansion...
Forecast: Video Games to Become Next Streaming Battlefront
Barron's: Michael Wolf, founder and CEO of consulting firm Activate, has laid out his current thinking on the tech sector. Among his predictions: Videogaming is the next streaming battlefront. Every major gaming and tech company will create cloud-based gaming...
Luminary Media Taps HBO Veteran as CEO of Podcast Service
Variety: Simon Sutton has joined Luminary Media as CEO of the newly launched podcast subscription service. He joins the company after a stint as president and chief revenue officer of HBO. Luminary has made headlines by signing up top talent such as Conan O’Brien and...
Vice Media Develops Investigative Reporting Series for Hulu
Cord Cutters News: Vice is developing an investigative reporting series that will debut on Hulu on November 1. The Hulu Original will come from the producers and correspondents of Vice News. "Vice Investigates" will cover a wide range of topics in the 10 episode...
Twitter CEO Rips Facebook CEO Over Free Speech Argument
Bloomberg: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey called out his counterpart at Facebook, saying Mark Zuckerberg has a “major gap and flaw” in his argument for free speech on social media. “Reach and amplification was not represented in that...
TikTok Faces Senators’ Call for Probe of Chinese-Owned App
Reuters: U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Tom Cotton have asked intelligence officials to investigate whether the popular Chinese-owned app TikTok poses national security risks. The senators raised concerns about the video-sharing platform's...
AT&T’s CNN Chief Tears Into Fox News, Says He’d Hire Smith
Daily Beast: CNN chief Jeff Zucker on Thursday went off on Fox News, bashing the rival network as “conspiracy TV” and indicating that he’d be open to hiring former Fox anchor Shepard Smith. “I think Shep’s a great journalist,” Zucker said during an on-stage...
iHeartMedia Preps Impeachment News Podcast with BuzzFeed
Variety: BuzzFeed News has launched “Impeachment Today,” a new daily podcast covering the Trump impeachment process, co-produced with iHeartMedia and distributed across the iHeartPodcast...
BuzzFeed, Vice Media Add ‘Share to Snapchat’ Button to Sites
The Drum: Snapchat is now giving publishers the option to add a "share to Snapchat" button to their desktop and mobile websites in a bid to better integrate with media owners. In the US, BuzzFeed and Vice are among the first to test the...
Conde Nast Business Exec to Leave After Nearly Two Decades
WWD: Conde Nast is still evolving under new CEO Roger Lynch. In a memo to staffers, global chief revenue officer Pamela Drucker Mann said Chis Mitchell, chief business officer for culture-driven titles such as Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Wired, is leaving the...
McClatchy to Drop Saturday Print Editions of Two Newspapers
MediaPost: Two more McClatchy newspapers are cutting one of their print days. As of January 25, 2020, The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington) and its sister paper The Olympian, (Olympia, Washington) will cease publishing on Saturday. Both West Coast newspapers date...
News Corp CEO Shifts to Facebook Fan for Debut of News Tab
Recode: News Corp CEO Robert Thomson has spent the last few years attacking Mark Zuckerberg for using news publishers’ work without paying for it. On Friday, Thomson will be praising the Facebook CEO as the two men share a stage in New York City for the launch of...
New York Times, Washington Post Unwelcome at US Agencies
Wall Street Journal: The White House is planning to instruct federal agencies to not renew their subscriptions to the New York Times and the Washington Post, escalating President Trump’s attacks on the media outlets. "Not renewing subscriptions will be a significant...
Craigslist Founder Donates $1.5 Million to Nonprofit First Draft
Associated Press: A nonprofit that combats disinformation campaigns says it hopes to reach thousands of U.S. journalists for training in the next few months with the help of a $1.5 million donation from Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. The donation to First Draft...
Report: One-in-Five US Newsroom Staffers Live in Three Cities
Pew Research: New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., are the financial, entertainment and political capitals of the United States – and that may help explain why they are home to a disproportionately large share of the nation’s newsroom...
Apple’s Hollywood Partners Still Don’t Understand TV Service
Bloomberg Businessweek: CEO Tim Cook has staked Apple’s future growth on subscription services, including the new Apple TV+. In March, after the launch event for the new streaming service, the general feeling among the Hollywood types was one of resentment and...
Netflix Has ‘No Plans’ to Sell Amid Streaming Wars, Chief Says
Deadline: Ted Sarandos was bluntly pressed at a Vanity Fair summit if the top team at Netflix has considered getting out of the way as Disney, Apple and others bring their games to the streaming field. “We have no plans” to sell, the exec...
Fox’s Ex-CEO Unlikely to Return in Veer Away from Murdochs
Vanity Fair: James Murdoch, appearing at a Vanity Fair summit, spoke about his new company, his disinterest in being Bob Iger’s successor, his favorite candidate (Pete Buttigieg), and his freedom from the Fox family business. Would he ever go back to Fox? “I don’t...
Facebook CEO Grilled on Capitol Hill Over Fact-Checking Ads
Yahoo News: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg struggled to explain the social media company’s new policy on fact-checking political ads under questioning from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during a Wednesday hearing. The company recently announced that it would no longer...
Comcast’s NBC News Chief Under Fire for ‘Today’ Self-Dealing
Daily Beast: NBC News president Noah Oppenheim is facing complaints of self-dealing from his own news division staffers. It’s an unwelcome addition to the controversies he’s already confronting from both inside and outside NBC over his alleged quashing of stories...
Viacom Opens Nickelodeon Indoor Theme Park in New Jersey
CNN: All your favorite Nickelodeon characters are coming to New Jersey. Nickelodeon Universe, which at 8.5 acres will be the largest indoor theme park in North America, will open on Friday at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, New...
AT&T’s CNN Plans Digital News Service to Take On Facebook
The Information: Media companies are ramping up their efforts to take on Facebook and Apple with digital news services. Just a few months after News Corp. announced it was developing Knewz.com, a news aggregation service offering articles from a wide range of...
Facebook Taps News Corp CEO for Friday Debut of News Tab
Politico: Facebook will launch its new "News Tab" service for promoting news articles at an event in New York City on Friday. CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be joined by Robert Thomson, CEO of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., for the big...