Maven Hires Hearst Veteran for Sports Illustrated
Variety: Maven Media, which runs the publishing businesses of Sports Illustrated and TheStreet, has tapped digital-media veteran Rob Barrett as president of media. Barrett reports to Maven CEO Ross Levinsohn. All of the company's media brands, including SI and...
Washington Post Names Interim Executive Editor
New York Post: The Washington Post has tapped Cameron Barr, one of four managing editors, to be its acting executive editor ahead of Marty Baron's exit on Feb. 28. "The search for the next executive editor is actively underway with a broad and diverse group of...
Slate to Suspend Podcaster After N-Word Debate
New York Times: Slate has suspended a well-known podcast host after he debated with colleagues over whether people who are not Black should be able to quote a racial slur in some contexts. Mike Pesca, the host of "The Gist," a podcast on news and culture, said that he...
Analysis: Why Are Media SPACs Hot Right Now?
Adweek: For the past six months, there's been a ballooning interest in media companies going public via special purpose acquisition companies. Why the sudden rush of interest by digital media companies like BuzzFeed, Vice, Group Nine, Bustle Digital, and Vox? Media...
Facebook Agrees to Reinstate News in Australia
Sydney Morning Herald: Facebook will reinstate news content on its platform in Australia after the government agreed to last-minute amendments to its proposed media bargaining code. The amendments include inserting a two-month mediation period into the code to give...
Microsoft to Seek Pay for News Media in Europe
Associated Press: Microsoft is teaming up with European publishers to push for a system to make big tech platforms pay for news, raising the stakes in the brewing battle led by Australia to get Google and Facebook to pay for journalism. The Seattle tech giant and four...
Google to End Pause on Political Ads After Riots
CNBC: Google is once again letting political ads run on its platform following a pause that began after the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol. "Starting on Wednesday, we will be lifting our Sensitive Events policy to again allow advertisers to run political ads," Google...
Netflix Inspires Hollywood to Conceal Box Office
Hollywood Reporter: More and more Hollywood studios are concealing their box office grosses amid the pandemic and ongoing theater closures, saying they don't want to be unfairly judged for numbers that, in "normal" times, would be considered anywhere from tepid to...
Disney Streamer Eyes Magic Kingdom Franchise
Hollywood Reporter: Disney is ready to bring the characters from its theme parks and classic films to life in a new way. The media giant is teaming with creator Ron Moore to develop a franchise for streamer Disney+ that is set in Disney's beloved Magic Kingdom. The...
Comcast, AT&T Face Pressure to Yank Fox News
Medaiite: A pair of House Democrats asked television providers including AT&T, Verizon and Comcast whether they would consider dropping Fox News, Newsmax and One America News from their cable offerings. "Misinformation on TV has led to our current polluted...
AT&T’s CNN Chief to Sell Home in New York City
New York Post: CNN honcho Jeff Zucker, who announced he will step down at year's end, and his ex-wife Caryn have just sold their digs at the Verona, 32 East 64th Street, for $15.35 million. The former couple bought the sprawling, third-floor home back in 2007 for...
New York City’s Movie Theaters Reopen in March
Deadline: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said movie theaters in New York City will be brought into line with the rest of New York state as of March 5, when they will be allowed to reopen at 25% capacity with no more than 50 people per screen, masks, social distancing and...
Discovery Nabs 11 Million Streaming Subscribers
Broadcasting & Cable: Discovery reported higher than expected subscriber numbers for its direct-to-consumer streaming services, but reported lower profits for the fourth quarter.Discovery said it currently has more than 11 million streaming customers, up from 5.2...
Spotify Unveils Audience Network for Audio Ads
Ad Age: Spotify has announced a new advertising marketplace that will allow brands to tap into the streaming giant's audience of audio consumers. The Spotify Audience Network will include podcasts, ad-supported music, and Spotify originals and exclusives with the goal...
Snap Hits $100 Million Value Amid Surge in Users
Bloomberg: Snap briefly hit $100 billion in market value for the first time after surging usage and a rebounding market for digital ads sent the social-media stock soaring this year. The Snapchat owner rose as much as 3% on Monday after Morgan Stanley turned bullish,...
Hearst Magazines Veteran Preps Major Spac Deal
Financial Times: Joanna Coles, the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, and Jonathan Ledecky, the co-owner of the New York Islanders ice hockey team, are preparing to launch an obscure securities clearing and custody firm on the New York Stock Exchange, using their...
Scripps OKs Spelling Bee as Mostly Virtual Event
Associated Press: The Scripps National Spelling Bee will return this year in a mostly virtual format, with the in-person competition limited to a dozen finalists who will gather on an ESPN campus at Walt Disney World in Florida. Last year's bee was canceled because of...
Conde Nast Taps Global Creative Head at Vogue
WWD: Vogue has named Juan Costa Paz new global creative director, taking over some of the responsibilities of Anna Wintour's longtime right hand Raúl Martinez, who departed in December. In his new role, Costa Paz will oversee the creative direction for the brand in...
Hearst to Unveil New Name for Oprah Magazine
WWD: As O, The Oprah Magazine transitions from monthly to quarterly, publisher Hearst said the next iteration of the brand will include a new name, reimagined website and a membership program offering unrestricted access to all-new digital content, a searchable...
Bustle Digital CEO is Ready to Make Acquisitions
Digiday: Brian Goldberg "has his credit card and his checkbook out and wants to go acquire things. In 2019, we made five or six acquisitions. We did one last year with the W. I think we’ll be back in the three to four acquisitions kind of neighborhood this year...
Outside Magazine Preps for Expansion After Sale
Santa Fe New Mexican: Lawrence Burke is letting go of Outside magazine and its parent company in a seismic shift of the outdoors journalism business. Pocket Outdoor Media announced Monday it acquired Outside Integrated Media for an undisclosed amount, after months of...
Sports Illustrated Article Set for New Docuseries
Hollywood Reporter: George Clooney's production firm is teaming with Sports Illustrated Studios to produce a docuseries about a decades-long abuse scandal in the athletic department at Ohio State University. The series, which hasn't found an outlet yet, is based on an...
Google, Facebook Brace for Clash with US Media
Reuters: Bipartisan members of Congress plan to introduce a bill in coming weeks to make it easier for smaller news organizations to negotiate with Big Tech platforms. The US bill would be introduced at a time when Australia is in a pitched battle with Facebook. While...
Facebook’s CEO Adjusts Rules for Right-Wingers
BuzzFeed News: Mark Zuckerberg personally intervened in Facebook's effort to ban Infowars founder Alex Jones, overruling his own internal experts. Zuckerberg didn't consider the Infowars founder to be a hate figure. So Facebook would permanently ban Jones and his...
Disney’s CEO, in First Year, is Full Stream Ahead
Wall Street Journal: A global pandemic hit just as Bob Chapek ascended to the top job at Disney a year ago this month. The spread of Covid-19 accelerated plans to make Disney+ a focal point of Disney's entertainment divisions. Chapek, in his first year on the job, has...
Lionsgate’s Starz Needs to Join Larger Streamer
Hollywood Reporter: Smaller-scale streaming services like Starz and AMC Networks might be better off folded into larger platforms, according to Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall. "Lionsgate's Starz OTT op margins in the mid-teens may not be sustainable given stiff...
Comcast’s NBC Gets Scrutiny for Golden Globes
Los Angeles Times: In the run-up to the Golden Globe Awards next Sunday, questions persist around the legitimacy of the insular Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the qualifications of its members and its ethics. Interviews and internal documents paint a picture of...
Disney Punts NFL Price Hike as Viewership Falls
CNBC: The NFL wants to charge its current network partners double what they've been paying to broadcast games — but Disney is pushing back, citing the high price tag. The NFL is in active discussions on renewal rates with all four of its existing network partners —...
Report: US Time Spent with Media Keeps Rising
Insider: The onset of the coronavirus pandemic caused digital media consumption to skyrocket across a multitude of platforms. From recording TikTok videos, to binge watching TV series, US adults spent hours consuming media per day throughout 2020 — and this trend will...
Data: Media Groups Still Fall Behind in Diversity
NBC News: Newly released data shows that beyond a few key hires, very little has changed when it comes to newsroom diversity. Hiring and employee data collected by Conde Nast, Hearst and Vice show that minorities remain underrepresented at nearly every level of these...