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...
Survey: Journalists Face Late Pay Amid Pandemic
Journalism.co.uk: One issue that has been made even worse by the pandemic is late payments from media companies, which only exacerbated the financial pressure on freelance journalists. The most popular strategy seems to be spreading the risks and work with a variety...
Apple Breaks Record with Movie Buy at Sundance
Showbiz411: Apple acquired the film "CODA" at the Sundance Film Festival for a record-breaking $25 million. The tech giant broke last year's record of $22.5 million for "Palm Springs," bought by Neon and Hulu. Apple, Amazon, and Netflix "have changed the way deals are...
Google, Facebook in Legal Fight with Newspapers
Associated Press: West Virginia news publisher HD Media has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google and Facebook, who together receive roughly half of all digital ad dollars in the US and are facing antitrust charges from federal and state authorities. HD Media,...
Verizon is Ready to Get More Personal with Yahoo
Business Insider: Verizon Media is preparing a "mega" product launch in the coming weeks that hopes to tie together its tools and websites and serve up more personalized content, said CEO Guru Gowrappan. A person landing on the Yahoo homepage might be served up a...
AT&T Bests Disney Streaming Views After Protest
NextTV: Apparently someone at WarnerMedia threw a fit and convinced Nielsen to update estimates for the viewing of "Wonder Woman 1984" during the week of December 21 to 27. The updated list, which originally had Disney-Pixar's "Soul" at the No. 1 spot, now boasts...
Comcast Claims Win Over Netflix with ‘The Office’
Bloomberg: More people are watching "The Office" on Peacock than when the hit comedy was on Netflix, according to NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell. He didn't provide viewership metrics. Shell said a more important point was that "Office" viewers are also watching other...
ViacomCBS Major Advertisers to Punt Super Bowl
Financial Times: The pandemic is shifting attitudes among major brands about their potential return on investment for an in-game Super Bowl commercial, which remains the priciest advertising real estate in US media. The price for a 30-second slot is expected to reach...
Vivendi to Race Planned Listing of Universal Music
Financial Times: Universal Music, the world's largest record label that is home to acts like Lady Gaga and The Beatles, is looking to expedite its planned listing to capitalize on a frothy stock market. Vivendi, the French media conglomerate that owns Universal, said...
Time Warner’s Former CEO Jumps Line for Vaccine
Daily Mail: Hollywood power-players are using private jets to fly hundreds of miles to get their hands on the coronavirus vaccine. Richard Parsons, former boss of Time Warner, is one of the few "Covid tourists" who admitted jumping on a private jet to get a vaccine in...
Vice Debuts Online Festival for Documentary Films
Deadline: Vice is launching its own online documentary film festival with 11 feature-docs curated by company co-founder Suroosh Alvi. The youth-skewing media company is launching a site to house the films, which includes a number of Oscar contenders, with each film...
iHeartMedia Radio Host to Unveil Podcast Network
Bloomberg: Colin Cowherd is creating a new podcast network called the Volume, where he's the owner and biggest star. Cowherd will host a new podcast, which will anchor a network featuring more than half a dozen shows in total. It's a sign of the growing power of...
Reddit Predicts Ad Surge Amid Rise of ‘Sh*theads’
CNBC: Reddit's popularity from the past week may lead to a surge in users — and possibly advertising dollars. Still, public investors would have to get comfortable with a company that houses communities with enough "Daily Active S---heads" that the CEO has a name for...
Conde Nast Seeks New Revenue from Vogue Café
FIPP: When diners enter Conde Nast's latest brand extension, Vogue Café Bejing, they are reminded of the iconic title that inspired the restaurant. The reception desk is built from 700 Vogues. Brand extensions will play a big role as publishers negotiate a post-Covid...
Hearst to Move Staffers Into Former Bowling Alley
lehighvalleylive: Hearst has begun using a renovated building in Easton, Pa., but due to company policies surrounding Covid-19, most employees are working from home. The company wants eventually to have as many as 175 people from the reporting staffs of Bicycling,...
Tribune’s ‘Devastating Cuts’ Stir Attorney General
Hartford Courant: The attorney general of Connecticut is seeking more information from the hedge fund that is the largest shareholder in Tribune Publishing, the parent of the Hartford Courant, and its offer to acquire the entire company, saying that the Courant has...
New York Times Polls Americans on Social Media
New York Times: New York Times media columnist Ben Smith tasked a polling firm with surveying Americans on, more or less, the question of whether we should all shut up on social media. The findings were mixed. Asked directly whether "journalists have a responsibility...
Gannett Local Reporters Offer Readers Covid Help
Associated Press: People across the country are reaching out directly to journalists at local newspapers and TV stations for help during the coronavirus pandemic, and many are responding. CC Davidson-Hiers, a reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat in Florida, has lost...
News Corp Loses Ruling on Digital Newspaper Tax
Bloomberg: A News Corp unit won't be able to claw back six years of taxes on its digital news operations, according to a ruling by a London court. The Court of Appeal said in a decision that it would be "impermissible" to extend tax relief for newspapers to their...
Craigslist Dominance Dips as Traffic, Revenue Fall
AIM Group: For the first time in its long history, Craigslist appears to be on the wane. Falling revenue and traffic indicate that the site is no longer as dominate as it once was. But the obvious question is: Where are the users and revenues going? If Craigslist is...
Apple Braces for Antitrust Lawsuit from Facebook
The Information: A long-simmering public dispute between Facebook and Apple has neared a boiling point. Facebook has been preparing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple that would allege the iPhone-maker abused its power in the smartphone market by forcing app...