ViacomCBS: US Audiences Want Pay Streamers
CNBC: The most important slide in ViacomCBS's Paramount+ presentation was one that suggested it won't be long before US households subscribe to five or more streaming services. But there's no certainty households are actually going to sign up for five or more...
Comcast’s NBC Ready for Hybrid Golden Globes
USA Today: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will return to host the Golden Globes, hosting for the fourth time, which strikes a return-to-normal feeling. But even their appearances will be on separate stages – in Los Angeles and New York – for the hybrid format in which most...
Vice Media, BuzzFeed Models Slammed by Rival
Press Gazette: Companies like BuzzFeed and Vice "have much bigger ambition," said Insider CEO Henry Blodget, a former financial analyst. "BuzzFeed was modeling itself as an entertainment company with a news division. Whereas we want to be a journalism company. We're...
iHeartMedia Revamp Splits Up Radio, Podcasts
Radio Ink: iHeartMedia has announced a new operating structure under which its digital audio business, which includes its iHeartRadio digital service as well as its podcasting business, will publicly report its financials separately from its multiplatform business,...
Spotify Pauses Podcast Citing a ‘Toxic Dynamic’
Associated Press: The popular "Reply All" podcast has been put on hiatus and is canceling two remaining episodes of a series that explored allegations of structural racism and a problematic work culture at food magazine Bon Appetit. The reason? Former employees at...
Twitter to Test New ‘Super Follow’ Subscriptions
CNBC: Twitter has announced a number of new test features, including Super Follow subscriptions, which will let users pay to see tweets from their favorite accounts. A screenshot of the feature shows that Super Follows could provide subscribers with exclusive content,...
Facebook Offers Tour of Offices in New York City
Wall Street Journal: Despite the tech industry’s broad shift to remote work, Facebook is doubling down on physical office space in New York. It signed a major deal during the pandemic making it one of the city’s largest corporate tenants. The Wall Street Journal has...
Lupa, from Murdoch, to Invest in Video Learning
TechCrunch: Doubtnut, an Indian startup that helps students learn using short videos, has raised $31 million in a new financing round. The three-year-old startup said SIG and James Murdoch's Lupa Systems led the Series B funding round. Existing investors Sequoia...
News Corp Gets a Video Send-Up from Australia
The Wrap: Australia's new media law appears to exist primarily to protect large scale media companies like Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, according to a humorous new video from the political comedy outfit The Juice Media. "Instead of trying to fix what people don't like...
Tribune to Lure Bidder for New York Daily News?
New York Post: Panicked supporters of the New York Daily News are desperately searching for a billionaire to save the 101-year-old tabloid from the clutches of Alden Global Capital. Supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis, the owner of the Gristedes supermarkets, seemed...
Gannett: Digital Subscription Push is Paying Off
USA Today: Gannett has been grappling with a decline in print newspaper revenue for years but has recently enjoyed success with an increased focus on paid digital subscriptions, which are viewed as crucial to the success of media companies as newspaper dollars...
Washington Post Editor Gets Big-Name Farewell
Vanity Fair: Jeff Bezos and Steven Spielberg appeared in a tribute video to Marty Baron, whose last day as the Washington Post's executive editor is Sunday. On Thursday afternoon, hundreds of Post employees logged on to a video call for a pandemic-safe virtual...
Los Angeles Times is Losing Candidates for Editor
New York Post: Anne Kornblut, a former Washington Post Pulitzer Prize winner who now works for Facebook, is the latest candidate to pull out of the race for the top job at the Los Angeles Times. Kornblut withdrew her name from the running following a Feb. 19 report in...
New York Times Names New Editor for ‘The Daily’
WWD: The New York Times has made another change to its audio team. Deputy managing editor Cliff Levy, who was parachuted in to overhaul the division after the "Caliphate" podcast fallout, has named Lisa Chow, a veteran audio journalist, editor of the popular "The...
Axel Springer’s Insider Raises Minimum Salaries
Axios: Insider will boost its minimum salary to $60,000 annually for US employees, while increasing its minimum severance package to eight weeks, according to a memo from company executives. Insider has been able to dodge many of the financial headwinds from the...
Conde Nast’s Showbiz Clout Fades at Vanity Fair
Showbiz411: Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue used to be a big deal. Who's on the cover? It was the insider's cool almanac of the year. But that was back in the era of Graydon Carter. Now we have the PC era of Vanity Fair, a ho hum affair. It's also the era of Vanity Fair...
Google, News Corp Stir Fears of ‘Unholy Alliance’
Press Gazette: Lord Rothermere, the chairman of publishing giant DMGT, has accused Google and Facebook of "blackmail" in Australia. In a letter to the Financial Times, Rothermere also suggested News Corp has entered into an “unholy alliance” with Google after the...
Facebook to Pay $1 Billion to Help News Industry
Associated Press: Facebook said it plans to invest $1 billion to “support the news industry” over the next three years. The social networking giant has been tussling with Australia over a law that would make social platforms pay news organizations. Google said in...
Netflix Readies $500 Million Budget to Crack Asia
Bloomberg: Netflix plans to spend $500 million on original movies and TV shows in South Korea this year, boosting investment in content that's been key to the streaming giant's success in one of its fastest-growing markets. Since entering the country in 2016, the US...
ViacomCBS Holds Mega Unveiling for Paramount+
Los Angeles Times: During a three-hour presentation at the Paramount Pictures studio lot, ViacomCBS laid out its case for how it will compete in the streaming wars by leveraging legacy brands including MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Paramount and CBS. Paramount+, launching...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Links HBO, Streaming Teams
Variety: WarnerMedia is merging the executive teams for production and business affairs at HBO and HBO Max, in a bid to further streamline its internal operations. HBO veterans Janet Graham Borba and Susanna Felleman will expand their duties, with Borba becoming...
Comcast Finds ‘The Office’ is Big Draw at Peacock
MediaPost: "The Office" is proving to be the biggest driver of paid sign-ups for NBCUniversal's Peacock streamer, which rolled out nationwide last July. Peacock drew more paid sign-ups around the Jan. 1 introduction of "The Office" than during its nationwide launch in...
Disney Plans a ‘Touch of’ Experience in California
KABC: "A Touch of Disney," a limited-capacity ticketed experience, will debut at Disney California Adventure Park in March. The event, offering food and drinks from around the Disneyland Resort, starts at $75 and includes admission and parking. Close to 1,000 cast...
Discovery in Spotlight After Tiger Woods Accident
Los Angeles Times: Tiger Woods's catastrophic crash in Los Angeles has cast a spotlight on a low-budget documentary series that featured the biggest star in golf. Woods was on his way to Rolling Hills Country Club Tuesday for an 8 am shoot for a TV series destined for...
Hearst TV Host Calls Out ‘Liars’ in Media Industry
Multichannel News: Soledad O'Brien paints a damning portrait of the current media landscape in prepared testimony for a hearing in the House Energy & Commerce Committee Communications Subcommittee on the role of traditional media in promoting disinformation and...
Report: Pandemic Wallops Arts in New York City
Bloomberg: Jobs in New York City arts, entertainment and recreation fell by 66% in 2020 from a year ago, the largest decline among the city's economic sectors, erasing a decade of gains in what was one of New York's most vibrant industries, according to a report from...
Gannett Finds New Offices in Midtown Manhattan
New York Business Journal: Gannett plans to relocate its New York City offices to 1675 Broadway, between 52nd and 53rd streets, in March. The largest US newspaper publisher plans to relocate its corporate offices to the entire 23rd floor of the tower from its current...
Tribune Guild Hopeful for New Buyer to Swoop In
Public News Service: A hedge fund's purchase of the Chicago Tribune is in the works, but members of the Chicago Tribune Guild are hoping local, civic-minded owners will step in. "People are concerned that with Alden fully in command, that headcount of the newsroom...
News Corp Veterans to Launch Journalism Studio
Variety: Wall Street Journal reporters Tom Wright and Bradley Hope have teamed for Project Brazen, a multi-platform journalism studio that will uncover global true stories from the worlds of entertainment, business, crime and international politics via podcasts,...
Hearst Donates $1.2 Million to Help Out in Texas
Houston Chronicle: Hearst is donating $1.2 million to multiple Texas relief organizations in the wake of last week's crippling winter storm that left millions without electricity, heat or access to safe water. The global media company has a major presence in the state...