Hearst Asks Celebs to ‘Go to Bed’ with Digital Video
Digiday: Nikki Ogunnaike, digital director of Harper's Bazaar: "Video is still incredibly important to us in social media. So you have something like, "Go To Bed With Me," which is a key video franchise that we have on YouTube, and we've had celebrities now shoot...
New York Times Ends Dispute with Time Magazine
WWD: The New York Times is moving on from a legal challenge to Time over its Time 100 Talks events. The major news outlet last week agreed to dismiss a lawsuit it launched in November, challenging Time's legal right to the name of its new event series. The two sides...
Flipboard Grows Local Coverage to 1,000 Markets
TechCrunch: News aggregator Flipboard's local coverage is making what product lead Brian Gottesman described as a "quantum leap," expanding from 60 topics (a.k.a. cities, towns and communities that you can follow) to more than 1,000. While Flipboard has allowed users...
Apple Reopens US Stores with Covid Protocols
USA Today: Apple has reopened all 270 of its stores across the US as the effort to vaccinate more Americans against COVID-19 accelerates. The tech giant confirmed that stores may have different requirements for operation, including face masks, temperature checks,...
Google CEO Tops List of ‘Overpaid’ Chief Execs
Daily Mail: Google's Sundar Pichai topped a list of the 100 "most overpaid" CEOs with package worth $281 million, after a new study by the nonprofit group As You Sow compared salaries to shareholder return. The report also argued that many companies were "repeat...
Facebook Opens ‘Rooms’ for Video on Instagram
CNET: Instagram said it's rolling out a new tool that will allow users to livestream video with more people. Called Live Rooms, the feature lets users broadcast a live video on Instagram with up to three other people. Previously, Instagram users could only livestream...
Disney Streamer a Hit in Non-Family Households
Reuters: Surprisingly strong interest from adults who do not have kids at home has helped increase subscriptions to Disney+ streaming service beyond initial projections, said Disney CEO Bob Chapek. As of Jan. 2, Disney+ had signed up 94.9 million customers worldwide....
Comcast: Golden Globes Ratings Tumble at NBC
Los Angeles Times: Plagued by scheduling issues, social distancing limitations of the pandemic and internal controversies, NBC’s telecast of the 78th Golden Globe Awards attracted the smallest audience since the event moved to the network in 1996. According to...
Altice USA Chief Forecasts the Death of Cable TV
CNBC: Dexter Goei, CEO of Altice USA envisions a day where cable TV, as we know it, simply no longer exists. "Name me one person under 30 years old who has a cable video connection. So it's just a question of time. ... As technology and integration technology...
Roku in Deal to Buy Nielsen’s Video Ad Business
Protocol: Roku, the streaming device maker, is acquiring Nielsen's Advanced Video Advertising business, which includes video ad insertion and content recognition, or ACR, technologies. As part of the acquisition, the two companies will also partner more closely on ad...
Fox Corp’s Murdoch Joins in Memorial on Zoom
Hollywood Reporter: Rupert Murdoch and Michael Ovitz were among the nearly 500 people who joined a recent virtual service for the late Howard J. Rubenstein, the giant of New York City public relations, who died Dec. 29 at age 88. Others spotted in the Zoom tribute...
Disney-ABC News Stars Spar Over ‘Chief Anchor’
CNN: Earlier this year tensions between ABC News anchors George Stephanopoulos and David Muir boiled over to the point that Stephanopoulos threatened to walk to a rival network. In an unusual intervention, Disney executive chairman Bob Iger flew across the country to...
Oprah Gets New Book Club Rival in Witherspoon
Wall Street Journal: Hello Sunshine, the media company founded by actress and entrepreneur Reese Witherspoon, has introduced a free app for its book club. Reese's Book Club has operated since 2017 on Instagram, where it accumulated 1.9 million followers. Executives...
DraftKings in M&A Talks with Media, Sports Firms
Insider: The sports-betting industry is abuzz with speculation that DraftKings could be about to make a major acquisition as it looks to shore up its early-mover advantage in the growing US market. The company is exploring a variety of acquisitions, and four industry...
Axel Springer Snubs Facebook News in Germany
Reuters: Facebook has signed up a string of German media partners to provide content for a local news product, but the publisher of the country's best-selling newspaper said it would not take part on terms it dismissed as derisory. Axel Springer, the publisher that...
McClatchy Retirees Upset Over Missing Bonuses
Poynter: McClatchy started the year by abruptly revoking supplemental executive pension bonuses it had been paying top-level retirees. Naturally, the affected former executives were not happy. They hired lawyers and fought back. They got a seat on the creditors'...
New York Times Faces Ire from Ousted Reporter
National Review: After asking reporter Donald McNeil for his resignation, New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet repeatedly cast the decision as an effort to address the hurt feelings of rank-and-file employees, rather than justifying the ouster on the merits of...
Hearst Alum Tests Micro-Magazine on Instagram
WWD: Former Elle UK editor in chief Anne-Marie Curtis is fusing glossy magazine experience with a keen interest in sustainability and launching The Calendar Magazine on Instagram. The Calendar is a micro-magazine that takes its editorial cues from glossy titles, with...
Penske Brings Rolling Stone Magazine to Twitch
Forbes: Rolling Stone magazine has launched its first Twitch channel with original live content.. Twitch has tens of thousands of partner channels covering far more than gaming, for which it is well known. Music is a growing area on Twitch which is complimentary with...
Vox Media Boosts Merch for New York Magazine
New York: Coinciding with its cover story on the popularity of NYC merchandise, New York magazine has created a new line of merch in the form of a limited-edition Sweatshirt Edit. There are three sweatshirts, including a New York hoodie for $64.99 with a puffy logo...
Analysis: Many Digital Subscribers Are ‘Zombies’
Local News Initiative: Nearly half of local news outlets' digital subscribers are "zombie" readers who visit the website less than once a month, according to a data analysis in 45 markets by Northwestern University's Medill Spiegel Research Center. Spiegel found that...
Netflix, Disney Win Big at Golden Globe Awards
Bloomberg: Netflix and Disney emerged as the big winners at the Golden Globe awards, taking home most of the evening's prizes for their films and television shows, in an awards show tailor-made for the pandemic-affected times. Disney grabbed the top award, best...
Amazon Fires Studios Exec for Not Flying Coach
Law360: A former Amazon Studios executive has sued the tech behemoth in California state court, arguing it fired him in retaliation for upgrading his seat on the company's dime due to a back disability that deters him from flying coach on longer flights. After he was...
Google Yet to Approach US Publishers on Deals
Digiday: Google said its news showcase discussions with US publishers can be expected to take place "over the next couple of quarters at least." And launching the program in the US will require signing deals with multiple publishers. "Showcase is not something we...
Fox Corp Under Spotlight as Murdoch Nears 90
Financial Times: Is Fox Corp poised for a "burst of dealmaking"? Will CEO Lachlan Murdoch continue in his role? Will Fox Corp-News Corp plan a re-merger? Will James Murdoch enlist his sisters to "reset the priorities" for Fox News? The most dramatic move would involve...
Disney, NFL Agree on New Media Deal for ESPN
Sports Business Journal: The NFL has denied a report saying it has reached a broad media rights agreement with Disney that will see ESPN renew "MNF" and ABC return to the Super Bowl rotation for the first time since 2006. Contracts still have not been signed, but the...
AT&T’s Warner Bros Ready for ‘Black Superman’
Hollywood Reporter: Warner Bros. plans to reboot Superman with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and producer JJ Abrams. This new Superman project is aiming to star a Black Superman. It's possible that this will be another version of Clark Kent, but more intriguing is the...
Discovery Emerges as New Star in Content Wars
New York Times: Discovery's new app has taken off largely because viewers love watching people fix houses, tour diners and bicker about their relationships. Discovery says it has 12 million paid subscriptions around the world, a more than respectable start that has...
Comcast Misses Billions After Giving Up on Snap
The Information: Snap crossed $100 billion in market value last week. Its shares are up 320% since late 2019. But one former shareholder likely isn't so pleased: NBCUniversal. The Comcast-owned company sold out of Snap at the end of 2019, barely breaking even on its...
Clubhouse Starts Luring Brands to Hot New App
Adweek: Brands now want in on Clubhouse, where audience growth has skyrocketed to 10 million users despite the invite-only structure and, for now, its exclusivity to iPhones. Still, the lack of a playbook and the ephemeral nature of the app haven’t stopped a few...