Cox Local TV Stations Go Dark in Flap with AT&T
Bloomberg: Cox Media Group and AT&T have failed to reach an agreement over a new carriage contract, leaving local-TV customers in 20 cities without some channels. Cox is telling customers in cities including Atlanta, Boston, Pittsburgh and Seattle to call AT&T...
Hearst Issues First Report on Diversity, Inclusion
San Francisco Chronicle: "Clearly, we have work to do," said Hearst CEO Steve Swartz, as the company released its first diversity and inclusion report. The report found that as of December 73% of Hearst's full-time and part-time US employees were white while 8% were...
Gannett Looks to Sell More Newspaper Buildings
Courier-Tribune: The building and parking lot of the Courier-Tribune, one of the oldest newspapers in North Carolina, is going on the market. Owner Gannett said that the media operations will continue at a different location, still to be determined. The...
Conde Nast to Debut New Season of Vogue Show
Fashion Week Daily: Vogue's fashion news show, "Good Morning Vogue," is officially back for season two. From February 22 to March 8, viewers can tune in every Monday and watch the series' three new weekly episodes, according to Vogue. The second season will delve into...
Axel Springer to Change Name of Business Insider
Axios: Business Insider's logo will no longer appear on the Insider website, per CEO and founder Henry Blodget. The change signals Blodget's ambition to grow the publication significantly to reach a broader population, and that includes investing in verticals outside...
Maven Sets Metered Paywall for Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated: "Sports Illustrated's website in January drew its largest monthly audience ever. So, why a paywall now? Because the internet has changed, and savvy media consumers know that quality digital content that's worth your time is also worth your support....
Vox Preps Amazon Series from New York Magazine
Deadline: Amazon Studios is developing a TV series adaptation of Reeves Wiedeman's New York Magazine article "Who Killed Tulum?" The project hails from Annapurna, New York Magazine, and Vox Media Studios. "Who Killed Tulum?" is about a spoiled Mexican party-boy and a...
Politico CEO to Step Down Amid High-Profile Moves
New York Times: Patrick Steel, the chief executive of Politico since 2017, said that he will leave the company this summer. In an email to the staff, Steel, a former investment banker who was a special assistant to President Bill Clinton, said he had decided it was...
Bustle Taps Conde Nast Veteran as Editor in Chief
Talking Biz News: Charlotte Owen has been named editor in chief at Bustle. Previously, she held the post of editorial director at the publication. She joined the company in 2018 as executive editor, Bustle UK. She has also worked at Vanity Fair for more than six...
Group Nine Inks Deal to Produce Videos for TikTok
Digiday: TikTok is paying Group Nine Media science brand Seeker to create original videos for young people stuck at home, as the platform's Gen Z audience continues to bloom. TikTok's deal with Seeker is part of the platform's Creative Learning Fund, a $50 million...
G/O Media Staffer Promises to Fight ‘Unjust’ Firing
TheWrap: Gizmodo senior consumer tech editor Alex Cranz said she was fired from the company for her involvement in a union letter about an "internal tech product" sent to management, and that her termination came after members of management approached her with "false...
Quartz Signs Content Pact for Bloomberg Terminal
Talking Biz News: Financial news site Quartz announced that its content will now be available to Bloomberg terminal subscribers. The move comes less than one month after Quartz promoted Natalie Diamond to the role of chief revenue officer. Quartz’s management bought...
Amazon: Jeff Bezos to Step Down as CEO in 2021
CNBC: Amazon announced on Tuesday that AWS CEO Andy Jassy will replace Jeff Bezos as CEO during the third quarter of this year. Bezos will transition to executive chair of Amazon's board. Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 and since then has morphed it from an online...
Facebook Strikes Back Against Changes by Apple
CNBC: Facebook will begin urging some iPhone and iPad users to let the company track their activity so the social media giant can show them more personalized ads. The move comes alongside Apple's planned privacy update to iOS 14, which will inform users about this...
Google to Shutter Internal Game Production Studio
Reuters: Google said it would stop internal development of games for Stadia, making the cloud-based game-streaming service entirely dependent on titles from other game developers and publishers. Stadia was launched in 2019 along with an internal game development unit...
Verizon to Kick Off Virtual Fortnite for Super Bowl
CNBC: Verizon will appear around the biggest marketing day of the year in a variety of ways, building on its Super Bowl commercial with elements like a Verizon stadium in Fortnite and a Super Bowl game night concert to support small businesses, featuring artists like...
Netflix, MGM Race to Make Films About GameStop
Wall Street Journal: The ending hasn't been written yet, but Hollywood is moving quickly to bring the story of the GameStop investment saga to the screen. Separate projects at Netflix and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer are already in development about the past week on Wall...
Disney Enters Deal with Director of ‘Black Panther’
Los Angeles Times: "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler is developing a series for Disney+ set in the world of Wakanda. The series is part of a broader deal for Coogler's production company Proximity Media to make TV shows for the entertainment giant. Disney said in...
ViacomCBS Eyes ‘Frasier’ Reboot for Paramount+
TV Line: The long-gestating "Frasier" revival may finally be on the verge of hatching. Paramount+ — the streamer soon to be formerly known as CBS All Access — is circling the years-in-the-making project, which would find Kelsey Grammer reprising his iconic role of Dr....
Sony Music to Buy Kobalt Assets for $430 Million
Bloomberg: Sony Music agreed to buy AWAL, which distributes music for artists online without taking ownership of their copyrights. It's also acquiring a Kobalt business that collects royalties for performers. Kobalt previously touted AWAL, an acronym for A World...
Vice Founder Looks to Sell Estate in Santa Monica
Mansion Global: When Vice co-founder Shane Smith first moved from New York City to Los Angeles, he and his wife, Tamyka, had visions of 1930s Hollywood grandeur. They ended up having it in spades in their Santa Monica compound, which is hitting the market Tuesday for...
WPP Inks Global Agency Partnership with TikTok
MediaPost: TikTok has entered a partnership with media holding company WPP that will give its media clients early access to emerging services built by the social platform. The partnership with TikTok gives WPP's advertisers early access to the social media's...
Gray in $925 Million Deal to Buy More TV Stations
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Gray Television of Atlanta has entered into an agreement to acquire nine TV stations from Quincy Media for $925 million in cash.The stations would give Gray a presence in a total of 102 markets representing of 25.4% of US households....
Univision Acquires Streamer to Power PrendeTV
Deadline: Univision has acquired Spanish-language streaming service Vix as it gears up to launch ad-supported domestic streaming outlet PrendeTV. Vix is available in the US and throughout Latin America. Backed by Discovery and Harbourvest Capital, it acquired Latino...
Playboy to Buy Retailer in Move Away from Media
Reuters: Playboy has agreed to acquire the parent company of sexual wellness chain Lovers, the latest step by the company to shift away from its legacy media business following the shuttering of its magazine last year, and towards leveraging its famous rabbit...
Conde Nast Unites Vogue Worldwide for Creativity
Daily Front Row: After the success of its hope-themed global issue last September, Vogue will tap into a shared theme once again. The forthcoming March edition, across the magazine's 27 international editions, will celebrate artistic spirit as the "Creativity" issue....
Gannett Refinances $1 Billion in Debt from Merger
USA Today: Gannett said it has refinanced about $1 billion in debt in a move that will lower the company's interest payments and save tens of millions of dollars a year. The deal will lower the interest rate on the $1.045 billion in debt to 7.75% from 11.5%, saving...
New York Times Former CEO Acquires Euro Paper
Financial Times: A group of investors including Mark Thompson and Lionel Barber has acquired the New European, a weekly publication owned by Archant that has been a focal point for Brexit resistance. The New European has a combined weekly print and online circulation...
Washington Post Taps First-Ever Instagram Editor
Digiday: In a sign of the times, "Instagram editor" is now an official title at the Washington Post and a key cog in the newspaper publisher's subscription business. The Washington Post promoted Travis Lyles to the new role to oversee its main Instagram account...
Daily Mail Publisher Agrees to Apologize to Prince
BBC News: The Duke of Sussex has accepted an apology and "substantial damages" from the publishers of the Mail on Sunday and Mail Online over claims he "turned his back" on the Royal Marines. Two articles alleged Prince Harry had not been in touch with the Marines...