Forecast: Gaming to Emerge as Next Big Tech Platform
Wall Street Journal: Gaming is set to emerge as the next dominant technology platform much the way search engines, mobile phones and social networks redefined industries in previous decades, says Michael Wolf, co-founder and CEO of consulting firm Activate. The...
Conde Nast’s Wintour Splits with Partner After 20 Years
New York Post: Anna Wintour and telecom millionaire Shelby Bryan have finally split after more than 20 years together. Things had cooled off between the powerful pair and they hadn’t been seen in public together for some time. It’s not yet clear what caused the...
Axel Springer Ups Media Reporting at Business Insider
Talking Biz News: Business Insider has hired Claire Atkinson as its senior media correspondent, starting in November. She has been at NBC News for the past three years as senior media editor. Atkinson previously was at the New York Post, where she covered media...
News Corp Takes Tabloid’s Story to Wall Street Journal
@BGrueskin: The Wall Street Journal editorial page has published two op-eds about the disputed Hunter Biden laptop story, accusing Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden of not keeping his son a tight leash and claiming that the New York Post, a News Corp sibling...
Hearst Bypasses Usual Models for New Harper’s Bazaar
Daily Front Row: New editor Samira Nasr skipped the usual cover model suspects for her first official issue at Harper's Bazaar. Instead, she gave November cover honors to model-entrepreneur Liya Kebede. "I'm thrilled that my first issue as editor in chief is also...
Conde Nast Gets Heated Response from Melania Trump
NBC News: "I don't give a f--- about Vogue," says first lady Melania Trump, turning down an opportunity to be profiled in the magazine, according to a secretly recorded conversation by her then-friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff. Trump says she would never be selected...
Vox Media Releases Hardcover New York Encyclopedia
The Strategist: "The Encyclopedia of New York," assembled by the editors of New York magazine, is part deep dive into hidden histories and part city field guide covering most anything one might want to know about the origins of things invented in New York City —...
BuzzFeed Plans Video Channel Covering Black Culture
TubeFilter: BuzzFeed is launching at month's end a new YouTube channel for its five-year-old Black culture entertainment vertical, Cocoa Butter. The vertical was founded in 2015 by editors Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton to showcase authenticity within Black culture,...
Quibi to Shutter in Stunning End to Ambitious Venture
The Information: Jeffrey Katzenberg’s video streaming service Quibi is shutting down, bringing down the curtain on the short-form video streaming service just six months after it launched. The closure is a stunning end to Katzenberg’s hopes of creating a new category...
Alphabet Faces Antitrust Case at ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Google
Associated Press: The Justice Department on Tuesday sued Google for abusing its dominance in online search and advertising. AP: The internet behemoth's "Don't Be Evil" pledge is now a distant memory. "They are definitely not a cuddly company any...
Apple Nabs ‘Peanuts’ Specials Away from Broadcast TV
WANE: You won’t find the classic Charlie Brown holiday specials on broadcast television this year. The Peanuts animated classics, including "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," will stream on AppleTV+ through a deal with WildBrain, Peanuts Worldwide and Lee...
Netflix’s Pandemic Subscriber Growth Begins to Decline
New York Post: The healthy growth spurt that Netflix has enjoyed this year because of the coronavirus is finally coming to an end. The video-streaming giant on Tuesday posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings and slowing subscriber growth, sending its shares...
ViacomCBS Names Pluto TV CEO as Head of Streaming
Variety: ViacomCBS has restructured its streaming operations with a global lens: Tom Ryan, currently CEO of Pluto TV, will assume the role of president and CEO of the newly created ViacomCBS Streaming, overseeing CBS All Access, which will relaunch as Paramount Plus...
Vivendi Readies IPO for Universal Music Group in 2022
Reuters: Vivendi plans to list its most-prized asset, Universal Music Group, in 2022, after strong results by the world's biggest music label. The plan to list Universal represents the next milestone in a two-year process launched by Vivendi investor Vincent Bollore...
AT&T’s WarnerMedia Eyes Successors for Head of CNN
The Information: As CEO Jason Kilar overhauls WarnerMedia to make it more digitally savvy and consumer focused, he is expected to zero in on its news and sports business, particularly CNN, for a shakeup. What could trigger a restructuring of the business is the...
ViacomCBS Gets Trump Threat to Post Interview Early
CBS News: President Trump cut short an interview with "60 Minutes" on Tuesday. The interview, which was taped at the White House, is slated to run on Sunday. Later Tuesday, Trump called the interview "biased" and threatened to release the interview before it...
Quibi Nearing Shutdown as Founder’s Options Run Out
The Information: Jeffrey Katzenberg may be nearing the end of the road with his mobile video streaming service Quibi. He recently tried to sell its catalog of programming to NBCUniversal and Facebook, but both passed. Meanwhile, Katzenberg says he may have to shut...
Snap Reports Unexpected Profit with Gains in Revenue
CNBC: Snap's stock price soared more than 22% after hours on Tuesday as the company posted an unexpected, adjusted profit along with positive user and revenue growth in its third-quarter earnings. Snap reported 249 million daily active users, up nearly 4% from...
Sinclair Sports Networks Eye Possible Debt Restructure
Wall Street Journal: Sinclair Broadcast Group's regional sports business and its creditors are preparing for a possible restructuring of its roughly $8 billion debt load, a sign of the pressure on the sports industry from Covid-19. The Sinclair subsidiary is dealing...
Bloomberg Mulls Selling Stake to Take Company Public
New York Post: Michael Bloomberg has been in talks to take his media empire public through an entity controlled by billionaire Bill Ackman. If the two reach a deal, Bloomberg’s stock would trade on the New York Stock Exchange in place of Ackman's Pershing Square...
Tribune to Outsource Printing of Oldest US Newspaper
Hartford Courant: The Hartford Courant announced Monday that the newspaper will now be printed in Springfield, Mass., ending more than 250 years of publication in Connecticut's capital city. The outsourcing will eliminate 151 jobs at the Courant's plant, effective...
Hearst Offers Buyout Plan to Staffers in San Francisco
San Francisco Chronicle: Hearst, the owner of the San Francisco Chronicle, offered employees voluntary buyouts Tuesday in an effort to cut its expenses as the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the outlook for many businesses remained unclear. "Some...
Gannett Breaks Tradition with Biden Pick at USA Today
Axios: USA Today, one of the largest newspapers by circulation in America, gave Joe Biden its first-ever presidential endorsement on Tuesday. "This is not something we do lightly or do eagerly," says Bill Sternberg, head of USA Today's editorial...
Conde Nast to Export US Elections Issue of Vanity Fair
WWD: Vanity Fair Italia has joined forces with the publication's American edition to develop a special issue focusing on the US presidential elections. "America Year Zero" will feature Jane Fonda as the cover star and include contents curated by the Vanity Fair US...
Hearst Ups Staffer to Editor of British Harper’s Bazaar
WWD: Hearst UK has promoted Lydia Slater to editor in chief of the British edition of Harper's Bazaar and charged her with overseeing its print, digital and "experiential offering." Slater was named acting editor in chief after Justine Picardie left the title in...
Penske Brings Back Top Editor After Leave from Variety
TheWrap: Variety editor in chief Claudia Eller will resume her role on Oct. 26 following an almost five-month leave, as part of a restructuring at the media company. Insiders say "most of the staff is unhappy about the return,” with some being “horrified” by the...
Slate Veteran Readies Network of Local News Podcasts
Medium: Launching this winter in a handful of cities, David Plotz's City Cast will be a national network of daily local podcasts. It will "combine essential local news with smart, delightful perspective about your community. It will be the passionate, curious,...
Apple Launches MTV-Style Live Music Video Streamer
Variety: Apple has launched Apple Music TV, a free 24-hour curated livestream of popular music videos that will also include "exclusive new music videos and premiers, special curated music video blocks, and live shows and events as well as chart countdowns and...
Netflix Forecast for a Rough 2021 Amid New Rivalries
CNN: Netflix subscriber growth is going to be slowing substantially in 2021, analysts say. "We think that the outlook for '21 will be more challenging for Netflix. The easy days of no competition are over for it. The bright side is that streaming usage has...
Facebook, Google Face Shift to Favor News Publishers
The Information: Rep. David Cicilline, the Rhode Island Democrat who chairs the House Antitrust Subcommittee, says he plans to move ahead with bipartisan legislation that would boost publishers' bargaining power in negotiations with tech companies. "This isn’t going...