Pinterest Reports Growth Fueled by Global Audience
CNBC: Pinterest's strong user growth was fueled by the adoption of international users. Advertiser demand was broad during the third quarter as businesses have adopted to the post-Covid environment. Also, Pinterest saw an increase in spending from advertisers that...
Spotify Defends Joe Rogan Podcast with Conspiracy
BuzzFeed News: In public, Spotify is staying quiet about an appearance by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on its flagship podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience," despite banning Jones's own podcast last year. But in an internal email from a top executive, the company...
New York Times Tries Immersive Effort on Snapchat
Mobile Marketer: The New York Times created its first augmented reality lens on Snapchat to give users an immersive view of news topics as Election Day nears. The newspaper's lens shows a 360-degree view of topics such as climate change, health care, equality,...
Meredith Enjoys Early Success with People TV Show
Deadline: Sony Pictures Television has partnered with Meredith for the nationwide distribution of the new daily half-hour newsmagazine program inspired by the People brand, which features a combination of celebrity, entertainment and human-interest...
Conde Nast Covers AOC as ‘Influencer’ at Vanity Fair
Showbiz411: Vanity Fair doubles down on diversity this month with Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, the Bronx congresswoman and lightning rod across the country. AOC is also an influencer: "Sharing her go-to red gloss — Stila’s Stay All Day Liquid in Beso — translated to a...
G/O Media Expats Nab $2 Million Revenue in Month
Business Insider: The sports blog Defector Media launched in September and has already generated more than $2 million in subscription revenue. So far, Defector has accrued 30,000 paying subscribers since its launch last...
Report: Covid Crisis Puts US Journalist Jobs at Risk
Press Gazette: Local newspaper newsroom employees in the US could “all but vanish in the next few years” if the rate of layoffs forced by the Covid-19 crisis so far continues, according to a Senate report. The pandemic has made an “already difficult situation nearly...
Survey: New York a Top Journalism Hub in Covid Era
Talking Biz News: A survey conducted by Prosek Partners, a leading independent public relations, financial communications and marketing firm, showed that New York City and London will remain core journalism centers in the post-pandemic...
Alphabet, Facebook, Twitter CEOs Set for US Hearing
CNBC: The CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter released prepared remarks that warn against repealing Section 230, the statute that protects social networks from liability for user posts. The remarks were released ahead of Wednesday's hearing with the Senate Commerce...
Facebook, Google in US Crosshairs Over Newspapers
Wall Street Journal: Some Senate Democrats are seeking to enable regulators to protect local news outlets, accusing tech giants of "unfair business practices," according to a new report by members of a key committee that will hear from the top industry executives this...
Amazon CEO Rumored to Pursue Acquisition of CNN
Fox Business: The investment banking world has begun buzzing that Jeff Bezos is sniffing around on a potential purchase of one of AT&T's most valued assets, CNN. A person close to Bezos says as of now there is no real interest. "There has been zero talk on...
Apple Nabs Jon Stewart to Host New Streaming Show
Bloomberg: Jon Stewart, the longtime star of "The Daily Show," has embarked on a new streaming career with a deal to host a current-affairs program on Apple's TV+ service. The multiyear accord comes with a first-look agreement for other potential Stewart content on...
Netflix Restructures, Lay Offs Employees in Global TV
Deadline: Bela Bajaria, Netflix's newly appointed head of global TV, has reorganized the streamer's US. TV operation with an increased focus on tentpole shows and getting the most from mega overall deals. The realignment also enhances the portfolios of some executives...
Disney Kicks Off Construction for New Headquarters
New York Yimby: Excavation has progressed for Disney's 1.2 million-square-foot headquarters at 137 Varick Street in lower Manhattan. Alternately addressed as Four Hudson Square, the site will give rise to a 22-story, 320-foot-tall building. Disney purchased the...
Discovery CEO Restores Mansion of Famed Producer
New York Post: Robert Evans's recently landmarked Beverly Hills estate has been undergoing a top-to-bottom restoration under new owner David Zaslav. The Discovery CEO plans to rebuild the famed pool house screening room that burned down over a decade...
Fox Corp’s News Channel Wins US Election Ad Spend
Ad Age: At the national TV level, no network has done better than Fox News when it comes to sopping up revenue from campaign ads. It’s perhaps no surprise the Trump campaign spent the most — $19.5 million — on placing ads on Fox News during the post-primary...
ViacomCBS Says Nickelodeon Poll Swamped by Bots
Hollywood Reporter: The ugliness of real world politics has trickled down to an informal presidential poll of kids sponsored by Nickelodeon. The ViacomCBS cable network says the online poll, part of its "Kids Pick the President" special that aired Tuesday night, was...
Disney Sees Top ESPN Digital Exec Jump to BetMGM
Sports Business Daily: BetMGM hired Ryan Spoon, SVP of social and digital content at ESPN, to be chief operating officer, a role which will see him report to CEO Adam Greenblatt. Spoon, who starts Nov. 16, will be tasked with growing BetMGM’s social and digital...
Fox Corp’s ‘Tucker Carlson’ Hits a Ratings Milestone
Deadline: Fox News says that "Tucker Carlson Tonight" averaged 5.36 million viewers in October. The network says that show’s monthly average viewership was the highest for any program in cable news history. The show also had just over 1 million viewers in the adults...
ViacomCBS Ups Security for Lesley Stahl After Threat
TMZ: CBS has begun providing "60 Minutes" journalist Lesley Stahl with around-the-clock security due to a death threat made to the home of one of her immediate family members. The threat came shortly after the news that President Trump had walked out of an interview...
Conde Nast: Former Longtime New Yorker Editor Dies
Associated Press: Daniel Menaker, an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction and a longtime editor at The New Yorker and Random House who worked with Alice Munro, Salman Rushdie, Colum McCann and many others, has died at age...
Penske Elevates Veteran Exec to President of Variety
Variety: Michelle Sobrino-Stearns has been promoted to president and group publisher of Variety. In her new role, Sobrino-Stearns assumes oversight of all editorial and business operations globally, including strategic planning and financial...
A360 Media Faces Lawsuit Over ‘All-Boy Club’ Culture
Law360: The publisher behind Us Weekly and other celebrity tabloids maintains a "sexist, all boy club culture," commerce writer Brittany Romano alleged in a new lawsuit accusing the company of firing her for filing a sex bias...
Group Nine Sees Staff Unionize at Video Site NowThis
New York Post: NowThis, a leading producer of video news for mobile use, says it has unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. The parent company, Ben Lerer’s Group Nine, agreed to recognize the union as the bargaining agent for the 90-person editorial...
Vox Media Staffs Up After Slashing Jobs at SB Nation
Awful Announcing: Vox Media sports property SB Nation has taken a rather interesting approach this year. In April, they were one of the Vox properties specifically targeted to bear the brunt of unpaid three-month furloughs as part of a “cost reduction” strategy around...
Salt Lake City’s Newspapers to End Daily Publication
Associated Press: Salt Lake City will go from two daily printed newspapers to none after both of its major publications cut print days to once a week in unusual moves for a large city that could portend more struggles for the country’s newspaper...
Alphabet Readies Opening of Googleplex in Manhattan
New York Yimby: Construction is nearing topping out at 550 Washington Street, Google's 1.3 million-square-foot office in Hudson Square. The facility will join two other nearby structures at 315 Hudson Street and 345 Hudson Street to form a 1.7 million-square-foot...
Twitter Plans ‘Pre-Bunks’ for Debunking Misinformation
NBC News: Twitter will begin placing messages at the top of user feeds to pre-emptively debunk false information about voting by mail and election results, an escalation of the tech company's battle against misinformation. Twitter is calling the messages a "pre-bunk,"...
Fox Corp’s Murdochs Avoid Scrutiny on Misinformation
The Intercept: The Murdoch family attracts far less attention than their hired hands, the journalists and shouting heads who have downplayed Covid-19 and created the content that helped catapult Donald Trump to the White House. "It's fair to regard the Murdochs as...
ViacomCBS Plots Division for Kids with Global Content
Kid Screen: ViacomCBS International Studios has launched a kids division and tapped Nickelodeon International SVP of production and development Nina Hahn to oversee the initiative. VIS Kids will aim to broaden its global kids content pipeline to include short and...