ViacomCBS Shares Get a Big Spike from Paramount+
Bloomberg: ViacomCBS shares hit an all-time high Thursday morning after the launch of its rebranded flagship streaming service Paramount+, the company's relatively late attempt to prove it can compete with more-established players. The shares were up as much as 2.4%...
AT&T WarnerMedia CEO Sorry for Pandemic Remark
Mediaite: Jason Kilar told attendees at a virtual tech conference that the coronavirus pandemic is "really good" for ratings at CNN. "It turns out the pandemic is a pretty big part of the news cycle and that's not going away any time soon." Kilar later apologized for...
Fox Corp CEO Says News Channel Will Oppose Biden
NBC News: Lachlan Murdoch said it is the job of Fox News to serve as the opposition to the Biden administration, stating clearly the political biases of a network that until 2017 billed itself as "fair and balanced." Murdoch said Fox News stood to benefit from Biden's...
Comcast Hit with Claims of Sexism at Golf Channel
Washington Post: Lisa Cornwell, a former anchor and reporter for the NBC-owned Golf Channel, has alleged publicly being unfairly berated by male bosses, sidelined for standing up for colleagues and forced out for speaking up about her treatment. Her comments have...
ViacomCBS Readies Export of Oprah-Harry-Meghan
World Screen: ViacomCBS has lined up a slew of broadcasters around the world for its highly anticipated interview special featuring Oprah Winfrey in conversation with Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry. The special is produced by Harpo Productions. The...
Square Deal with Jay-Z’s Tidal to Boost Blockchain?
Reuters: Payments firm Square agreed on Thursday to buy a majority stake in rapper Jay-Z's Tidal music streaming service for $297 million in a deal that could popularize blockchain or other new approaches to storing and buying online media. The tie-up "comes down to...
Clubhouse Inspires Formation of Group for Creators
New York Times: A new company called Audio Collective has launched to help build businesses on Clubhouse as brands rush to leverage the platform. Audio Collective, which announced its formation on Thursday, will offer event planning, brand consulting, and support and...
Gannett Inks Local Business Ad Pact with Snapchat
USA Today: Gannett said it has reached a deal with the owner of Snapchat to sell advertisements on the social messaging app. Gannett, which owns USA Today and more than 250 other daily publications as well as hundreds of weeklies, reached the deal with Snapchat parent...
Bloomberg Media Tests Paid Tiers for Virtual Events
Digiday: Bloomberg Media began testing paid event tiers with its annual "The Year Ahead" event in January. The company gave attendees three options: register for free to access live main stage sessions and Q&As, or sign up for one of two paid offerings. The $125...
News Corp CEO: We’re Still Haggling with Facebook
Deadline: News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said "the terms of trade for content are changing fundamentally," citing a global news sharing deal the company signed last week with Google. Thomson said News Corp "continues to haggle" with Facebook. He called the payments...
Conde Nast CEO ‘Not Much Interested’ in Magazines
WWD: Conde Nast CEO Roger Lynch has made no secret of his view that video is the way forward. He's also thought by many at Conde Nast to not be much interested in magazine media in general, seen as more of a "dispassionate" executive, albeit one who has managed to...
Meredith, Conde Fashion Magazines Make Changes
New York Times: Five out of nine Vogue covers since September have featured Black models, three of them shot by Black photographers, as have four out of six Elle UK covers and three out of six Vogue UK. InStyle used Black models and Black photographers for four out of...
New York Times Bashed for Tone-Deaf Job Posting
New York Post: The New York Times is catching heat over a new job posting that seeks an opinion editor with a "spine of steel" — fresh on the heels of the paper losing three staffers who published controversial columns. The Gray Lady posted a job ad for a deputy...
News Corp Irks Staffers with Digital Revamp at WSJ
Insider: The Wall Street Journal has placed a number of service-minded, search-engine-optimized stories in front of its paywall over the past few months, including a state-by-state Covid-19 vaccination guide and a piece outlining what to know before investing in...
Conde Nast Releases Its First-Ever Diversity Report
WWD: Conde Nast has just published the full-year findings of its first diversity and inclusion report, revealing that much needs to be done to improve representation among its workforce. In 2020, 68 percent of staffers based in the US identified as white, 10 percent...
Patreon Column ‘Empowers’ Veteran of Conde Nast
WWD: Cat Marnell, a former magazine editor and author, launched a column, BeautyShambles, on Patreon in November. Patreon has "changed my life," she said. "It empowered me. I like Patreon, it's much more visual. Because I have my magazine background, I like the...
Google Stops Selling Ads Based on Web Browsing
Wall Street Journal: Google plans to stop selling ads based on individuals' browsing across multiple websites, a change that could hasten upheaval in the digital advertising industry. The company said that it plans next year to stop using or investing in tracking...
Amazon in Talks for NFL Rights Deal at Prime Video
Wall Street Journal: The NFL is on the verge of signing new rights deals with media partners that could see Amazon carry many games exclusively and TV networks pay as much as double their current rate. New agreements could be in place as early as next week. The...
Netflix Launches Video Feature Resembling TikTok
Bloomberg: Netflix is pushing deeper into short video clips that viewers watch on their phones, putting the streaming giant in closer competition with the likes of TikTok. The company is rolling out a feature called "Fast Laughs" that provides a feed of comedic clips...
Disney to Shutter Stores Amid Shift to E-Commerce
CNBC: Disney said that it will close 20% of its brick-and-mortar Disney Store locations before the end of the year as part of a bigger focus on its e-commerce business. At least 60 of its North American locations will close, the company said, citing changing consumer...
ViacomCBS Unveils Streaming Service Paramount+
Barron's: Paramount+ launches on Thursday as the conversation on Wall Street over the future of ViacomCBS in a streaming-dominated world continues. ViacomCBS is calling Paramount+ a brand-new service, but it's more of an expansion and rename of its CBS All Access...
Comcast CEO Sees Big Opportunity in Exiting Hulu
Deadline: Brian Roberts has opened up on Comcast's ability to monetize its stake in Hulu and take back content from the service that is now controlled by Disney. "We have an exit opportunity in a couple of years and that is creating real value for shareholders that...
Fox Corp Looks to Increase Investment in FanDuel
Telegraph: Rupert Murdoch is poised to take advantage of the boom in US sports gambling by deepening ties with FanDuel. The media mogul is positioned to increase his stake in the US fantasy sports and betting website by nearly a fifth later this year. Murdoch's Fox...
Sinclair to Cut Nearly 600 Jobs Across Broadcaster
Baltimore Sun: Sinclair Broadcast Group said that it plans to cut nearly 600 jobs companywide, including at its headquarters, because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The layoffs represent 5% of Sinclair's workforce. "The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic...
DAZN Taps Disney, TikTok Veteran for New Chief
Wall Street Journal: Kevin Mayer, a former senior executive of Disney and architect of its Disney+ streaming service, has been named chairman of DAZN, a sports-streaming platform. Mayer succeeds former colleague John Skipper, a one-time head of Disney's ESPN who had...
Chernin’s Barstool Sports Leader Touts New Fund
CNET: Dave Portnoy is introducing his own exchange-traded fund, which uses artificial intelligence to determine what stocks to trade based on positive online posts. The VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment ETF is set to launch March 4. It will hold stock in 75 companies,...
Female Athletes Team Up to Launch Media Venture
New York Times: Alex Morgan, Sue Bird, Simone Manuel and Chloe Kim have teamed up to create TOGETHXR, a media and commerce company designed to elevate women's voices. The startup is backed financially with a "mid-seven figure investment" by Magnet Companies, a private...
Conde Nast Veteran Gets a GoFundMe to Pay Rent
New York Post: A GoFundMe page has been set up for Andre Leon Talley, seeking to help raise $500,000 for a messy legal battle with former Manolo Blahnik CEO George Malkemus over a $1 million home in White Plains. The former Vogue editor-at-large claims Malkemus is...
Gannett Reporter Covering Protests Heads to Trial
USA Today: The trial of a Des Moines Register reporter who was arrested covering racial justice protests last summer is slated to begin next week in what experts said is a rare criminal prosecution of a journalist on assignment in the US. Andrea Sahouri faces charges...
New York Times Columnist Has Ties to Facebook
BuzzFeed News: New York Times columnist David Brooks is drawing a second salary for his work on an Aspen Institute project funded by Facebook and other large donors — a fact he has not disclosed in his columns. A Times spokesperson refused to reveal whether the paper...