Disney, AT&T to Join Fray as Risk Rises for Streaming Fatigue
Associated Press: As Walmart, AT&T and Disney join stalwarts such as Netflix in streaming video and creating original shows, a reality sets in: Not all will survive. Consumers have limited funds to spend. “Too many services (are) going after the same consumer and...
CBS, Fox, NBC Face Crowded Marketplace for Streaming News
Digiday: The shuttle connecting Times Square and Grand Central Terminal in New York City will be wrapped with branding from CBSN, the ad-supported streaming news channel from CBS News. The campaign comes as NBC News and Fox News prepare over-the-top streaming services...
AT&T CEO Said to Float CNN Sale to Win Deal for Time Warner
Bloomberg: AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson floated the idea of selling CNN when he met with U.S. antitrust officials last year in an attempt to head off a government lawsuit challenging the company’s proposed takeover of Time Warner, according to a...
Sony’s ‘Venom’ Puts Box-Office Bite on Comcast’s ‘First Man’
Bloomberg: “Venom,” a character from the comic-book world of “Spider-Man,” topped the box office for a second weekend, breathing life into Sony Pictures’ superhero movie plans. The surprise hit beat three new movies, including an Oscar favorite “First Man,” which...
Comcast Readies Move of TV Station to New Philly Skyscraper
Philadelphia Inquirer: The countdown has begun: NBC10 and Telemundo62, both owned by Comcast through NBCUniversal, are relocating to the 12th, 13th, and 14th floors of the $1.5 billion new Comcast tower, leaving their legacy studios. About 150 employees will work out...
Disney Donates $1 Million to Hurricane Michael Relief Efforts
ABC11: In response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Michael in Florida, Disney is donating $1 million toward relief efforts. The company will also match donations made by employees to eligible relief and recovery organizations helping in...
CBS Showtime Exec Poised for New Role Amid Restructuring
Deadline: As CBS undergoes a sweeping corporate restructuring, Showtime Networks CEO David Nevins appears poised for an expanded role at the media company. The Showtime exec is well-regarded within the company as someone who has launched a number of critically...
Viacom Signs 13-Year-Old YouTube Star to Development Deal
Broadcasting & Cable: Viacom has announced that Nickelodeon has signed 13-year old actress/singer Annie LeBlanc to a talent deal. She made her YouTube debut at age four and has 6.6 million Instagram followers. LeBlanc will be starring in linear and digital content...
Fox’s Sunday-Night TV Ad Experiment Attracts Verizon, Hulu
AdAge: Hulu and Verizon are sponsoring Fox's first experiment in reducing commercial loads on Sunday nights. Fox introduced its branded-content breaks and so-called jaz pods, which are one-minute commercial breaks, during its prime time lineup of animated...
Alphabet’s Google to Fight Demands Over ‘Sh—- Media Men’
Hollywood Reporter: When writer Stephen Elliott filed a lawsuit over the "Shitty Media Men" spreadsheet, he didn't just pick a fight with Moira Donegan, the creator, and the 30 anonymous women who contributed stories of being victims of sexual misconduct. Elliott also...
Verizon’s HuffPost on Hunt for New Editor in Chief in Britain
Press Gazette: HuffPost UK editor-in-chief Polly Curtis has left the news website suddenly after just over a year in charge. There was no formal announcement about her departure, although Wednesday was confirmed as Curtis’s last day at...
Bloomberg to Lay Off Nearly 50 Employees at Affiliate BNA
Talking Biz News: The Washington-Baltimore News Guild, the union that represents journalists at Bloomberg BNA, sent out the following email to its staffers: "Over the next 2 days, BBNA is laying off 46 bargaining unit members as part of a companywide...
New York Times Faces Employee Backlash Over Digital Push
New York Post: The New York Times is scrambling to quell a staff rebellion at its metro desk after the section’s editor, Cliff Levy, unleashed a blistering email to staffers last week, saying the section had “lost its footing” and was in need of “urgent”...
Meredith’s People, Allrecipes Rise as Readers Move to Mobile
MediaPost: Total magazine media audiences in August 2018 reached 1.8 billion, up 1.5% versus August 2017 for the 112 magazine brands included in the latest Magazine Media 360° Brand Audience Report from MPA – The Association of Magazine...
Conde Nast to Live Stream Wired’s 25th Anniversary Summit
Wired: "It’s Wired’s 25th anniversary, and we’re celebrating in Wired style! We’re taking over our corner of San Francisco with four full days of behind-the-scenes tours, the latest gadgets, and talks with the smartest, most interesting leaders in technology,...
Hearst Heir’s Self-Published Alta Magazine to Mark First Year
San Francisco Examiner: Publishing the debut issue of the Journal of Alta California in October 2017, William R. Hearst III opened California’s literary floodgates. One year after launch, Alta is an oversize quarterly print magazine, website and social media presence,...
Playboy: Hef Pajamas, Magazine Collection Hit Auction Block
Reuters: Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s trademark black silk pajamas and red smoking jacket are going up for sale as part of an auction of his belongings, including his complete set of Playboy magazines. Julien’s Auctions said the sale would also include Hefner’s white...
Modern Luxury’s SF Magazine Loses Most of Its Editorial Staff
San Francisco Chronicle: Most of San Francisco magazine’s small editorial staff gave notice or quit their jobs last week. The monthly publication is owned by Modern Luxury of Atlanta, which publishes more than 30 other city magazines. The company also publishes...
AT&T, Disney Ready Battle with Tech Giants for Future of TV
Axios: The race to own the future of TV is intensifying, with mobile and streaming video companies looking to build or expand video services by next year. There’s billions of dollars at stake for whichever company can win the attention of younger generations, who are...
Viacom-MTV Alumni Branch Out to Rule Digital Media Industry
The Information: MTV is trying to re-establish itself as the network for millennials. What would help is if it could hire back just a few of the many executives it has lost over the past decade to internet firms like Facebook, Spotify and...
CBS Names New Communications Head, Chief People Officer
NBC News: CBS acting CEO Joseph Ianniello is wasting no time putting his imprint on the company. Ianniello has appointed Laurie Rosenfield to the newly created position of chief people officer, O'Dwyer's: Dana McClintock will succeed the retiring Gil Schwarz as chief...
Fox Murdoch Pal Ellison is Rumored to Kill Fox News Movie
Variety: Oracle founder Larry Ellison is said to be engineering a major reorganization of his daughter Megan Ellison’s struggling Annapurna Pictures. Chatter among agents says that Larry Ellison, a Republican, was hesitant to back the Roger Ailes film because he is...
Viacom-CBS’s Elder Redstone Said to Be a ‘Mumbling Ghost’
TheWrap: Sumner Redstone’s granddaughter, Keryn Redstone, wrote in a 2016 email that the media titan had become a mumbling “ghost” — a man “incapable of understanding anything that is happening, or that has been happening around...
Walmart Invests $200 Million with Eko for Interactive TV Deal
Bloomberg: Walmart has formed a joint venture with a startup, Eko, to develop original, interactive programming, including cooking shows and toy catalogs, and will acquire an undisclosed stake in the company. Walmart also will invest more than $200 million with...
WndrCo’s Short-Video Service Quibi Raises Many Questions
Digiday: Jeffrey Katzenberg’s bet that people will pay for premium, short-form video is looking much safer. This week he announced that four Hollywood heavyweights will produce original shows for the forthcoming service. But what Quibi is trying to do, said one studio...
Viacom’s MTV Rebrands YouTube Channel for ‘Jersey Shore’
AdAge: As Viacom leans into digital content to reinvent MTV and Comedy Central for younger viewers, it's giving "Jersey Shore" its own YouTube channel. Viacom is rebranding its Awestruck YouTube channel, which caters to millennial moms, to a dedicated "Jersey Shore"...
iHeartMedia Seeks US Approval of Reorganization Structure
Inside Radio: The next door iHeartMedia is knocking on as part of its bankruptcy reorganization is in Washington, and it’s a signal the process is moving along on track. The company has filed routine paperwork seeking Federal Communications Commission approval of its...
New York Times, Economist to Pull Out of Saudi Conference
Reuters: Media companies are pulling out of a Saudi investment conference as outrage grows over the journalist who went missing inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey earlier this month. Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes will not...
Bloomberg Employees Protest Bannon Interview at Confab
CNN Business: A group of Bloomberg employees have expressed outrage over the news organization's invitation to an onstage interview with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. Bannon was criticized for "inflict[ing] harm to our communities — specifically...
McClatchy Asks Apollo to Help Support Takeover of Tribune
New York Post: Billionaire Leon Black is weighing yet another opportunity to invest in the newspaper business. McClatchy has approached Black’s buyout firm Apollo Management to shore up its bid for Tribune Publishing, the owner of the New York Daily News and the...