AT&T Plans to Ditch Time Warner Name as Mega Deal Closes
Deadline: AT&T has finalized its $85 billion deal to acquire Time Warner, two days after a federal judge cleared the way and ruled in favor of the merger over objections from the Justice Department. Jeff Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner, has agreed to remain as a senior...
Apple, Amazon Seen Unlikely to Join Hunt for Big Media Deals
Bloomberg: This week's AT&T-Time Warner court ruling was the starter pistol for the sale of anything and everything in the entertainment industry. But will Silicon Valley do any buying? And should it? "Tech companies should stay on the sidelines of this desperate...
Liberty’s John Malone Highly Skeptical of Vertical Integration
MarketWatch: Comcast and AT&T have made audacious moves to become media distribution and content conglomerates, but one of the industry’s most powerful players is skeptical of that approach and doesn’t plan to follow suit: cable tycoon John Malone. “Why would I...
Comcast Prepared to Shed Fox’s Hulu Stake to Win Approval
Deadline: Comcast is prepared to make concessions, including shedding Fox’s stake in the online streaming service Hulu, in order to win regulatory approval for its $65 billion offer to acquire most of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets, according to...
Netflix Poised to Become Big Winner in Bidding War for Fox
Quartz: The more Comcast’s Brian Roberts and Disney’s Bob Iger duel over Rupert Murdoch’s Fox media empire, the better it could be for Netflix’s Reed Hastings. The best outcome for Netflix would be some sort of split of Fox’s assets that sees its TV and film...
Apple Near Deal for Feature Film in Next Push Into Hollywood
Bloomberg: Apple has decided on its next Hollywood act: making feature films. A deal is near for the rights to an animated movie as part of its upcoming slate of original video offerings. Apple is in talks with Cartoon Saloon, an Ireland-based, Oscar-nominated...
Fox, Comcast’s Telemundo Near Ad Sales Goal for World Cup
Broadcasting & Cable: With their first men’s World Cup kicking off, Fox and Telemundo say they’re near their ad sales goals. This year’s tournament presented some challenges for the networks. The U.S. team was surprisingly eliminated from the event, erasing what...
Discovery Selects Park Avenue for New Global Headquarters
Multichannel News: Discovery said it is has selected a site in New York’s Flatiron District for its new global headquarters. The company will consolidate several of its current New York office locations into the new space at 230 Park Avenue South. Staffers will begin...
Sinclair-Tribune Merger Deal Ready for Help from Vote by FCC
Bloomberg: The Federal Communications Commission’s chairman is said to be planning a vote next month on limits to how many TV stations a company can own, rules he has said are too restrictive and that could factor into Sinclair Broadcast Group’s planned purchase of...
Meredith’s Former Time Inc Magazines Lure Big-Name Suitors
New York Post: Ari Emanuel’s William Morris Endeavor is said to be in the game to buy Sports Illustrated, one of four former Time Inc. titles that the current owner Meredith is auctioning off. Meanwhile investment banker Michael Loeb is said to be eyeing Fortune and...
Conde Nast: We Have More Consumer Influence Than Google
MediaPost: Conde Nast has released the findings of a study conducted in partnership with Tapestry that identified the significance of brand recognition and trust as consumers make purchasing decisions. Among the findings: Conde Nast brands have three times more...
Tronc’s Daily News in New York is Now Designed in Chicago
New York Post: The Daily News, New York’s so-called “hometown paper,” is now doing all its design and layout work in Chicago. The change began Wednesday and sources say the journalists and editors who still work out of offices in downtown Manhattan are upset over the...
The Hill Debuts Online TV Show from Political News Publisher
MediaPost: After a year of building out its video team, The Hill has launched an online political television network, Hill.TV went live with the debut of "Rising," a morning show cohosted by former MSNBC anchor Krystal Ball and conservative radio show host and former...
Block’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Dumps Anti-Trump Cartoonist
Washington Post: In recent weeks, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette spiked numerous cartoons by Rob Rogers that were critical of President Trump. On Thursday, Post-Gazette management resolved the matter by firing Rogers, who had been the paper’s political cartoonist for a...
Hearst Names Cox Alum Publisher of San Francisco Chronicle
San Fransisco Chronicle: Bill Nagel, a media exec who worked at Tribune Publishing and the Los Angeles Times, was named publisher and CEO of the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday. Nagel replaces Jeff Johnson, who in February was promoted to president of Hearst's...
New York Times, New Yorker Share Honor for Media Reporting
Associated Press: A journalism prize panel has once again paired the work of the New York Times and the New Yorker magazine on sexual harassment and abuse. Syracuse University’s Mirror Awards, which honors reporting on the media, agreed that the two organizations...
Reuters: We Were First to Report Ruling on AT&T-Time Warner
Reuters: A federal judge in Washington had sole power to decide whether AT&T could buy Time Warner. Reuters reporters Diane Bartz and David Shepardson stood in line from 7 a.m. that morning to secure two of the 27 seats reserved for reporters. Reuters had another...
‘S–tty Media Men’ List Writer Shops Book About ‘S—tty Media’
New York Post: Moira Donegan, he journalist who created the “S - - tty Media Men” list, is shopping a “S - - tty Media Men” book. The project is being repped by agent Monika Woods at Curtis Brown. The nonfiction book would likely be a critique of sexism in media....
Report: Traditional Media Resilient Despite New Digital Rivals
Inside Radio: Despite an onslaught of new media platforms and devices, established forms of media remain resilient, according to new study from Kantar Media. Nearly every consumer surveyed for the research firm, across the U.S. and four other global markets, continues...
Netflix Throws Cold Water on Streaming Plans from Big Media
CNBC: Legacy media giants are beginning to contemplate how to beat Netflix at its own game. Discovery is pondering its own OTT service. Disney is debuting its streaming service next year. Netflix CFO David Wells is skeptical about this approach. "The consumer doesn't...
Comcast Outbids Disney with $65 Billion Offer for Fox Assets
MarketWatch: Comcast on Wednesday offered to buy a big chunk of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment and international assets for $65 billion, kicking off a potential bidding war with Disney as the two media titans vie for supremacy in a business dealing with tumultuous...
Lions Gate, Discovery, CBS Seen as Targets for Media Deals
Bloomberg: After AT&T got clearance to buy Time Warner late Tuesday, investors were quick to bet that a broader wave of mergers is coming. Takeover speculation sent shares of Lions Gate up the most in almost five months on Wednesday, while Discovery -- another...
Disney to Sell Off ABC News Office Complex in New York City
Fox News: Disney is selling the New York City buildings that currently house ABC News HQ to a developer who’s expected to demolish them and build luxury condos. The sale is raising new questions about the future of Disney’s troubled news...
Time Warner Says CNN’s Jeff Zucker Renewed Through 2020
Vanity Fair: A day after a federal judge guves the green light for the AT&T-Time Warner deal to move forward, at least one high-profile Time Warner figure isn’t going anywhere: CNN boss Jeff Zucker. The veteran broadcast executive, who has served as president of...
Fox Faces Lawsuit After News Host Bashes Bystander with Ax
Daily News: He’s not willing to bury the hatchet after getting whacked by an ax on “Fox & Friends.” Jeff Prosperie filed a negligence lawsuit in Manhattan Tuesday after he was injured during the blade tossing TV stunt back on June 14,...
CBS Acquires Online Boxing News Destination BoxingScene
WorldScreen: CBS Sports Digital has acquired BoxingScene, an online destination for boxing news and information. BoxingScene will become part of CBS Sports Digital’s multiplatform offerings, which include CBS Sports HQ, CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports apps for mobile...
Verizon: Oath’s Tim Armstrong Looks to Pursue Mobile Users
Strategy + Business: Oath CEO Tim Armstrong: "It is the first time consumers have one device and one connection to almost 100 percent of their intake. So the entire swimming pool of telco, content, movie theaters, and newspapers can be put on one connection, one...
Netflix to Team with Videogame Maker for Interactive Series
MarketWatch: Netflix is working with independent videogame developer Telltale Games to create an “interactive narrative series” that will be released on its streaming platform this fall, the company confirmed Wednesday while denying any plans to stream actual...
World Cup Millennial Viewers to Disrupt Epic Sporting Event
Financial Times: This summer's tournament in Russia will probably attract more viewers than any previous World Cup, or indeed any other single event in human history. Even young people will watch it on television. Yet millennials in particular will also consume it in...
Facebook is Used Less for News as Kids Turn to Messaging
Reuters: The use of social media networks such as Facebook to consume news has started to fall in the United States as many young people turn toward messaging apps such as Facebook-owned WhatsApp to discuss events, the Reuters Institute found. "The use of social media...