Time Magazine Extends ‘Person of the Year’ to Kids
USA Today: Time magazine has selected 15-year-old scientist and inventor Gitanjali Rao as its first-ever Kid of the Year. The magazine has named a Person of the Year for 92 years. This year, Time partnered with Nickelodeon in a search to find the most influential kid...
BuzzFeed Names Beyoncé Company Exec to Board
Variety: Janet Rollé, general manager of Beyoncé's Parkwood Entertainment, is joining BuzzFeed's board — the first woman and the first person of color to serve as a director on the digital media company's board. At Parkwood, Rollé leads the media and management...
Amazon in Talks to Acquire Podcast Firm Wondery
Wall Street Journal: Amazon is in exclusive talks to purchase podcast startup Wondery, as the tech giant pushes further into the growing audio sector. The talks value Wondery at over $300 million. Wondery's last funding round, in June 2019, valued the company at $100...
Google’s YouTube Tops Media in ‘Brand Intimacy’
PR Newswire: The media and entertainment industry ranks first out of the 10 industries featured in a new study of brands based on emotional connections during the pandemic. YouTube is the No. 1 category brand, followed by Amazon Prime, Disney, and Netflix,...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Names New Financial Officer
World Screen: Jennifer Biry has been named WarnerMedia's new chief financial officer, leading all financial operations for the company. Biry will report directly to WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar. She is replacing Pascal Desroches, who will be moving into the role of...
Discovery to Enter ‘Plus’ Wars with New Streamer
Broadcasting & Cable: Discovery has taken the veil off its new subscription streaming service, which goes by the now somewhat pedestrian moniker, Discovery Plus (or, discovery+ as the company stylistically prefers). Discovery Plus will debut in the US on Jan....
Disney Former CEO Says He’d Mull Job with Biden
Bloomberg: Bob Iger said he would consider a role in the administration of incoming US President Joe Biden, if the right position came along. "Giving back in some fashion -- serving our country in some fashion -- is certainly something that I would consider seriously....
Fox Corp’s News Channel ‘Protected’ from Trump
Bloomberg Opinion: President Trump and two fledging conservative news networks seem intent on taking down Rupert Murdoch's Fox News. But do they have a shot? One America News isn't even carried on packages offered by Charter, Comcast or Dish...
ViacomCBS Nearly Sold Out of Ads for Super Bowl
Ad Age: Despite Covid-19 ravaging the National Football League this week, CBS has still been able to offload a large part of its Super Bowl ad inventory. The network is about 75% to 80% sold out of commercial time in Super Bowl LV, with about eight to 10 spots left,...
AT&T Streamer Finds New Hits in ‘Undoing,’ ‘Flight’
Associated Press: "The Undoing" has generated more conversation on social media than any other new scripted television series this year, Nielsen said. Coupled with the streaming-only series "The Flight Attendant," HBO Max had its biggest week since the service was...
Verizon, Charter May Return Cash to Pay-TV Users
Bloomberg: More than $1 billion will soon start to flow back to US pay-TV subscribers in the form of refunds and credits, compensating them for the year’s many pandemic-related sports cancellations. Pay-TV providers kept collecting sports-programming fees even as...
Comcast Warns Home Users of New Cyber Threats
Advanced Television: Internet users in the US vastly underestimate how often their home networks are targeted by cyber threats. That's one of the key findings of the first-ever "Xfinity Cyber Health Report," which combines data from a new consumer survey with actual...
Meredith Names Digital Exec to Oversee Magazines
New York Post: For the first time in its 119-year history, Meredith has tapped a female executive to lead the nation's largest magazine division, with titles that include People, Better Homes & Gardens and Martha Stewart Living. Catherine Levene, 50, only joined...
Conde Nast’s Corporate Creative Director to Depart
WWD: Raúl Martinez, head creative director at Conde Nast, is joining lingerie giant Victoria's Secret as its new head creative director, starting in January. Martinez has served as Conde Nast's corporate creative director since 2015, working closely with Anna Wintour...
Gannett Retiree: I’m Optimistic About Newspapers
USA Today: "American newspapers strike me as finally having found a bottom. Most have gone to a digital subscription basis and are showing some impressive increases in paid readership, even amid a recession-driven collapse in advertising revenue. They are reaching...
Meredith Editor Exits After ‘Inappropriate’ Remarks
The Wrap: JD Heyman was ousted as the top editor at Meredith's Entertainment Weekly after multiple senior staffers filed complaints with the company's human resources department accusing Heyman of creating a hostile workplace by belittling staffers and making...
Conde Nast Sees Backlash Again Over Bon Appétit
Business Insider: The internet is after Bon Appétit again for a recipe of soup joumou, a traditional Haitian dish, that many say is inaccurate. The food magazine updated its recipe after hundreds of one-star reviews, along with critiques on Twitter and Instagram....
Penske Taps Conde Nast Veteran for Public Affairs
WWD: Penske Media, the publisher of Rolling Stone, Variety and WWD, among others, has tapped Brooke Jaffe, the former women's fashion director of Bloomingdale's, as head of public affairs and communications. Jaffe will direct corporate messaging, media communications...
BuzzFeed in Flap for Using Images from Instagram
Artnet News: A group of Black photographers is suing BuzzFeed for using images they took of the protests that swept the United States this summer without their consent. The complaint alleges that Buzzfeed's news arm illegally embedded these artists' Instagram...
Saturday Evening Post: Hey, We’re Still in Business
Mr Magazine: The Saturday Evening Post will celebrate 200 years in 2021. "The challenge that we face is the lack of awareness that the publication is out there. We have a story to tell and that is that we have an extraordinarily good magazine. For the price of a...
Media Giants Lose $13 Billion in Value After Covid
Business Insider: The coronavirus pandemic took a $13 billion-wrecking ball to big media, according to an analysis of earnings reports and transcripts. That $13 billion reflects data shared by AT&T, Comcast, Disney, ViacomCBS, Fox, AMC Networks, Discovery, and...
Tech Giants Gain as Covid Reshapes Ad Spending
Wall Street Journal: For the first time, more than half of US advertising spending is set to go to digital platforms such as Google and Facebook, the world's largest ad buyer said, a reflection of marketers' strategy shift as the coronavirus pandemic pummeled the...
Hollywood Hopes for ‘In-Person’ Academy Awards
Hollywood Reporter: Contrary to other reports that the 2021 Academy Awards ceremony will take place in person, neither the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nor its Oscars broadcast partner ABC has made any such decision, according to insiders. Plans remain...
Google’s No 1 2020 YouTube Video is from Netflix
USA Today: YouTube has released its list of the top 10 trending videos in the United States for 2020. Topping off the list is Dave Chappelle's Netflix special. The video, titled "8:46 - Dave Chappelle," has amassed more than 29 million views since it was published on...
Netflix Looks to Double Content Spending in Asia
Bloomberg: Netflix plans to double its spending on original content in Asia next year to help stay ahead in a crowded streaming market. Since its Asia launch in 2015, Netflix has released over 220 original titles. "Where we have been ahead of our competitors is being...
Disney Taps Hulu Exec to Lead ABC Entertainment
Bloomberg: Disney named a new executive to oversee programming at ABC and eliminated one of its three TV studios as part of a push to streamline and focus on online video. Craig Erwich, who has headed original productions at Hulu, will also be given the title of...
ViacomCBS to Offer Showtime Sample on Pluto TV
Variety: Showtime is unlocking a selection of original programming — for free, with ads — in a new channel on Pluto TV. It's a logical bit of corporate synergy between the two ViacomCBS-owned divisions, with Showtime ultimately looking to coax free viewers into...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Faces a ‘Veritas’ Hit on CNN
TheWrap: CNN said it is involving "law enforcement" after James O'Keefe, the founder of the right-wing group Project Veritas, crashed a morning editorial call with CNN president Jeff Zucker and said Project Veritas would be releasing tapes from previously recorded...
News Corp OK for Launch of UK TV News Channel
Guardian: Rupert Murdoch's forthcoming opinionated television news channel will be called News UK TV, with media regulator Ofcom giving the go-ahead for the outlet to start broadcasting as soon as it is ready. News UK TV is racing against the rival GB News to be first...
Discovery to Unveil Details for New Video Streamer
Adweek: On Wednesday, Discovery will hold an investors day to finally unveil plans for its global streaming service, which the company has been talking about publicly since last year. Execs have privately been referring to the platform as Discovery+, though that name...