Quartz Eyes $3 Million in 2021 Subscription Revenue
Adweek: Quartz now has 27,000 members paying $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year for its journalism, a sector that grew 71% over the last year. The company is on pace to generate around $2.2 million in subscription revenue by the end of the year, though CEO Zach...
Cameo, Substack Among ‘Most Innovative’ in Media
Fast Company: As the media industry was rocked by the pandemic in 2020, companies were forced to quickly come up with creative ways to make and distribute content, as well as keep audiences united during a socially divisive time. Ten companies led the way on those...
Report: Media Workers Cut in Covid-19 Vaccine Line
Los Angeles Times: Pasadena, Calif, officials canceled a Covid-19 vaccination clinic after hundreds of people who were not eligible for the shots signed up for appointments. People who did not yet qualify for the vaccine under state guidelines claimed about 900 of the...
Apple Signs Major TV, Film Pact with Nobel Laureate
Associated Press: Malala Yousafzai is a Nobel laureate known around the world for her activism, but she's also a cartoon fan, and is taking her love of television and film to Apple TV+. Yousafzai, 23, who graduated from Oxford last June, announced that she has...
Facebook Eyes Sharing Instagram Short Video Clips
Reuters: Facebook will test a feature on Instagram that allows some content creators in India to share short video clips, known as reels, on their Facebook accounts. In the test, some Indian users who create the 30-second long reels on Instagram will have the option...
Netflix’s ‘Queen’s Gambit’ to Become Stage Musical
Showbiz 411: Broadway producers have made their move, and it's checkmate. They've optioned "The Queen's Gambit" to be a musical. Level Forward, the story-driven entertainment company, has acquired the theatrical stage rights to Walter Tevis's "The Queen’s Gambit," and...
Disney Sees Streaming Rivals Ramp Up in Animation
New York Post: Everyone in Hollywood these days seems to be vying for Disney's crown as the king of animation. Tinseltown has gone animation crazy in the wake of the pandemic, which has stalled live action production and accelerated demand for family-friendly content...
AT&T Warner Bros Studio Bids Adieu to Pepe Le Pew
Deadline: Pepe Le Pew will likely become a thing of the past across all media. After cutting the character in the theatrical sequel "Space Jam 2," Warner Bros. has no current TV series featuring the skunk and there are no plans to have him appear on "Looney Toons,"...
ViacomCBS Rakes in $20 Million in Ads from Oprah
Insider: CBS is expected to rake in millions in ad dollars and international sales from Oprah Winfrey's interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. CBS aired 60 ad spots, featuring 56 commercials, including network promos, according to TV measurement firm iSpot.tv....
Discovery, AMC Join Latest Heavily Shorted Stocks
CNBC: It's not GameStop, but Discovery can thank the Reddit effect for an enormous surge in its stock price this year. Since launching Discovery+ on Jan. 4, Discovery shares are up a whopping 116%, closing Monday up another 4.7% at $67.25 — an all-time high. The...
AT&T’s HBO Max Leaks ‘Snyder Cut’ 10 Days Early
TMZ: HBO Max subscribers looking for some family fun were instead treated to an early look at Zack Snyder's "Justice League," with the streaming service leaking the film 10 days early. Folks who wanted to watch the PG-rated "Tom and Jerry" movie Monday on HBO Max...
Fox Corp to Team with Ad Group for ‘She’s a Hero’
Deadline: Fox Corp and the Association of National Advertisers' SeeHer initiative are teaming up on a partnership called "She's a Hero," to honor and celebrate female first responders. Timed to International Women's Day, the effort kicked off on the Fox drama "9-1-1."...
Tegna Board Nominee Slams ‘Insensitivity’ by CEO
Wall Street Journal: A candidate for broadcaster Tegna's board of directors has withdrawn his nomination, citing potential conflicts of interest and an incident that he says demonstrated cultural insensitivity by the company's chief executive. Adonis Hoffman, who is...
Conde Nast Taps Exec for Revamp in Entertainment
Deadline: Conde Nast Entertainment president Agnes Chu has tapped television industry veteran Helen Estabrook as head of development and production for features and scripted series. The new role is part of Chu's ongoing revamp of the organization, prioritizing a...
Tribune Publishing to Close Sale Deal by Late June
Poynter: Tribune Publishing released a report to investors offering as guidance that it expects to complete its tentative deal to sell to Alden Global Capital by the end of June. That would require filing proxy materials and scheduling a special meeting of...
News Corp Will Leave ‘Unkempt Gardens’ to Zillow
Inman: "Our aim is to be a genuine digital marketplace, not to have any vested interest that might complicate that," said News Corp CEO Robert Thomson. "As you know, with house flipping, Zillow is renovating homes." Zillow has disputed the notion that it's in the...
Gannett Journo Arrested After Pepper Spray Blasts
Associated Press: A police officer testified that he arrested a journalist at an unruly Black Lives Matter protest last year in Iowa after she did not leave when he repeatedly shot clouds of pepper spray to disperse the crowd. Des Moines officer Luke Wilson said he...
Conde Nast New Editor Under Fire for Racist Tweets
Daily Beast: Staffers at Teen Vogue publicly blasted their newly hired editor in chief Alexi McCammond, particularly taking aim at parent company Conde Nast's hiring process along with some of the new editor's past tweets that deployed harmful Asian stereotypes. "We...
BuzzFeed News Article to Become Streaming Series
Deadline: Peacock has landed for development "What She Said," an hour-long series from from Universal Television and BuzzFeed Studios. The project stems from BuzzFeed's first-look pact with Universal. "What She Said" is inspired by Bim Adewunmi's 2018 BuzzFeed News...
Substack Among Media Startups Poised to Take Off
Insider: Venture capitalists were asked to name the media startups they thought would surge this year as the economy recovers from the pandemic and investors try to assess its long-term effects. Some said they were betting on startups that mixed media with commerce,...
Amazon CEO’s Ex-Wife Remarries to School Teacher
Wall Street Journal: MacKenzie Scott, the philanthropist formerly married to Jeff Bezos, has married again following her 2019 divorce from the Amazon founder. Scott, one of the world's wealthiest women, has married Dan Jewett, a science teacher at a Seattle private...
Facebook Faces US Probe for ‘Systemic’ Racial Bias
Reuters: A US agency investigating Facebook for racial bias in hiring and promotions has designated the probe as "systemic." Such a probe means the agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, suspects company policies may be contributing to widespread...
Netflix Inks Record Global Deal at European Market
Deadline: Netflix's big spending at the virtual European Film Market is continuing with a mighty worldwide pre-buy of around $55 million for Christian Bale Gothic horror-thriller "The Pale Blue Eye," which will reunite the actor with director Scott Cooper. The deal...
Disney Gets OK to Reopen Theme Park in California
USA Today: Disneyland will be allowed to reopen at limited capacity on April 1, in accordance with new rules announced Friday as part of an update to California Gov. Gavin Newsom's "Blueprint for a Safer Economy." California divides its counties into four color-coded...
Comcast Cuts 130 NBCUniversal Staffers in Revamp
WWD: The shakeout at NBCUniversal is not yet done as it focuses increasingly on streaming entertainment and news. So far this year, the conglomerate has laid off 130 employees working in and around Los Angeles, according to filings with the state of California. The...
ViacomCBS Wins Applause for Oprah-Harry-Meghan
New York Times: For viewers to come together in this age and for television at an appointed time — interrupted by commercials even! — requires a high bar. The ratings aren't in, but many watchers were reminded of the skill, empathy and just all-around mastery of...
Fox Corp Braces for Upheaval as Murdoch Turns 90
The Economist: Lachlan Murdoch is said to have "stars in his eyes" and wants to build the family empire back up through acquisitions. But on Rupert Murdoch's death, control of the family trust will pass to his four eldest children. James, who now has little to do with...
AT&T’s CNN, New York Times Plan Murdoch Project
Bloomberg: CNN and the New York Times are collaborating on a multipart documentary series about Rupert Murdoch, turning a lens on one of the most influential media executives of the past half-century. Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg, who profiled the Murdoch media...
Nexstar Staffers Exit as Ratings Dip for ‘NewsNation’
New York Times: Six months after its debut, "NewsNation" has abysmal ratings and disaffected staff members who say it has not lived up to its billing. In recent weeks, the news director and managing editor have resigned. Six people at the network, who spoke on the...
Twitter CEO Nabs $2.5 Million Offer in Sale of Tweet
CNBC: Jack Dorsey appears to be offering to sell the very first tweet as a non-fungible token, or NFT. The Twitter CEO shared a link Friday afternoon to a platform called "Valuables," where his March 21, 2006 tweet "just setting up my twttr" was up for bidding. The...