SONY ENTERTAINMENT BOSS QUITS TO HELP RUN SNAP INC
Michael Lynton is stepping down from his position as CEO of Sony
Entertainment, the film, television and music conglomerate, to serve
full-time as chairman of the board of social-media power Snapchat. The
move, announced Friday in an email by Lynton to Sony staff, will happen in six months.
TIME INC BOARD WILL ONLY SELL IF IT GETS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER OFFERS
Time Inc. will begin discussions with potential acquirers after holding a
board meeting earlier this week about the future of the iconic
publisher, according to people familiar with the matter. The board isn’t
under any pressure to sell the company and wouldn’t unless the initial
expressions of interest value Time significantly higher than previous
overtures, the people said.
TIME INC AND PBS BUDDY UP ON DOCUMENTARY
PBS President and CEO Paula A. Kerger announced today at the Television
Critics Association Winter Press Tour that BEYOND A YEAR IN SPACE, a
follow-up documentary to 2016's A YEAR IN SPACE special, is scheduled to
premiere on PBS in November 2017. . The two specials, adapted from
TIME's original digital video series about astronaut Scott Kelly's
12-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS), explore the
human limitations for space travel and what a mission to Mars will
require.
IS BUZZFEED ON GAWKER KILLER PETER THIEL'S RADAR NOW?
One of the lessons we learned last year is that what goes for "Jim"
likely also goes for Peter Thiel, who put Gawker out of business and is
one of President-elect Donald Trump's leading supporters. BuzzFeed,
which is well known for click baiting, decided to publish a
controversial dossier about Trump that includes some disgusting
material.
HEARST'S BIG 2016 WILL FUEL PRINT LAUNCHES
If you look across the magazine media industry, companies are shuttering
print titles at an alarming rate. While there have been some new
launches, many of those publications have since died. A print magazine
sounds and looks good until those production bills and lack of
advertiser interest starts to bring publishers into reality. Just in the
last quarter of last year, five print titles shut down opting to focus
on the websites instead. Complex
FORMER MAGAZINE INDUSTRY EXEC MARY BERNER MAKING A KILLING IN BROADCAST RADIO
Atlanta radio station operator Cumulus Media has awarded Chief Executive
Mary Berner a $1.1 million bonus. Berner received the one-time cash
payout “in recognition of, among other things, her exceptional efforts
and contributions during 2016,”
CONDE NAST INTERNATIONAL INSTALLS NEW LEADERSHIP
Condé Nast International’s president Nicholas Coleridge is stepping down
and will be replaced by the company's current digital officer Wolfgang
Blau, the company announced this morning. Albert Read will be promoted
from his current position as GM and deputy managing director of Condé
Nast Britain and take on Coleridge’s responsibilities as managing
director of Condé Nast Britain.Coleridge held the title for 26 years and
is one of the longest-serving managing directors of a British media
group.
AFTER JUST 12 ISSUES, 'RODALE'S ORGANIC LIFE' KILLS PRINT, MOVES TO ALL DIGITAL FORMAT
The suspension of print after only 12 issues of the bimonthly title is a
blow to Rodale Chief Executive Maria Rodale, who had taken one of the
family-owned company’s flagship titles, 70 year-old Organic Gardening,
and used its subscriber base to pump up the new title. The first issue
of Rodale’s Organic Life only hit shelves in April 2015 with a May/June
issue.
DISNEY BOSS BOB IGER'S COMPENSATION DROPS
Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive and Chairman Robert Iger’s total
compensation was $43.9 million during the company’s most recent fiscal
year, according to a Securities Exchange Commission
filing. His compensation during fiscal 2016, which ended Oct. 1, was down 2.3% from $44.9 million a year earlier.
DAVID PECKER'S TABLOIDS AND TRUMP
It would overstate the tabloids’ power by several magnitudes to say they
primed the country for Trump victory. But put them together with the
Drudge Report, which has hyped Enquirer stories; Sean Hannity’s program
on Fox News Channel, which touted an Enquirer story in the late days of
the campaign; and Breitbart, which toes the Trump line, and you’ve got
the makings of a new, all-American misinformation bloc.
THE SLIMMING DOWN AT CONDE NAST BEGINS
The long rumored changes at Conde Nast is beginning to happen under the
direction of newly installed Chief Business Officer Ed Norton. The
company has already eliminated some staff with even bigger cuts expected
in the coming weeks. Some departments are already being consolidated
and moved to a central location within Conde headquarters downtown.
FOX AND NEWS CORP WILL EXPAND THEIR MIDTOWN HEADQUARTERS
Twenty-First Century Fox and News Corp., the separate media giants
controlled by Rupert Murdoch, have locked in plans to keep and expand
their headquarters on Sixth Avenue’s famed “corporate row.” The two
companies, sources said, just signed extension and expansion leases
totaling more than 1.2 million square feet at 1211 Sixth Ave
CNN COULD BE SENT OFF ON ITS OWN
AT&T could spin off cable news channel CNN as part of concessions to
get Trump administration approval of its Time Warner acquisition,
speculates a Wells Fargo analyst. AT&T, through a spokesman,
declined to comment on any possible CNN spinoff.
VIACOM'S LATEST MOVIE 'MONSTER TRUCK' IS A DUD
The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend was a disappointment for
Viacom’s Paramount Pictures. Paramount’s “Monster Trucks,” a $125
million production that might have spawned a series, opened with weekend
sales of $10.5 million in North American theaters. Paramount’s “Monster
Trucks,” a $125 million production that might have spawned a series,
opened with weekend sales of $10.5 million in North American theaters,
researcher ComScore Inc. estimated in an e-mailed statement Sunday.
AOL'S NEW STUDIO SENDS BIG MESSAGE ABOUT ITS VIDEO STRATEGY
Verizon’s AOL is doubling down on video with a new studio in New York
City. The 13,412-square foot production facility, called Build Studio,
includes a street-level main stage area and four other film-ready areas
set up for livestreamed, multi-camera content. “We treat this like a
live broadcast entity.”
FACEBOOK BOSS EYEING WHITE HOUSE?
A number of influential people in Silicon Valley seem to think that Mark
Zuckerberg will likely run for president of the United States one day.
And some people believe that he could indeed win. “He wants to be
emperor” is a phrase that has become common among people who have known
him over the years.
HEARST WILL GO ON A SHOPPING SPREE THIS YEAR TO HELP CUT ITS RELIANCE ON TRADITIONAL MEDIA
Hearst will be an active buyer of companies in 2017 as part of an effort
to cut its reliance on traditional media businesses, president Steve
Swartz said. The closely held company, which owns newspapers, magazines
and TV stations, spent more than $2 billion in 2016 on acquisitions to
“significantly reshape our business mix.”
-Good Morning
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