Your Media Morning: Time Inc Breaks into The Top ten, Quartz Entering Subscription Business, Hearst on The Side, Facebook Paid How Much For Oculus?

CBS OFFERS JUST UNDER $10 MILLION FOR SCOUT MEDIA Scout Media, the digital sports media site in Chapter 11 , said it has secured a $9.5 million “stalking horse” bid from CBS to take over its assets. An auction is set for Jan. 25. Scout runs team-specific sites for the NFL and major college teams. HEARST SITTING ON THE SIDELINES WAITING TO POUNCE ON SOME TIME INC BRANDS THAT MAY BREAK LOOSE Hearst is waiting to see if a private investor group like the one being lead by billionaire Edgar Bronfman Jr. will prevail which could possibly open up a second round sell off of titles the group may not want or to simply make back some of the money they spent. However, if that doesn't happen, like we said Hearst Magazines President David Carey is expected to lose no sleep at all. WILL APPLE, AMAZON, FACEBOOK OR GOOGLE WANT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT? The big contest between tech giants Amazon, Alphabet, Apple and Facebook is getting you to use only use their product; really a fool’s ambition. So short of having the better, cooler tech, the best way to keep people coming back (or locked in) is to offer exclusive things the other guys don’t have: Namely, media. So owning a content machine like Sony Pictures Entertainment — and its movies and TV shows — could help a tech company set itself apart. NEW YORK TIMES SETS ASIDE $5 MILLION TO COVER TRUMP In a report titled “Journalism That Stands Apart” by the 2020 group, which consists of seven Times journalists (David Leonhardt, Jon Galinsky, Jodi Rudoren, Karron Skog, Marc Lacey, Tom Giratikanon and Tyson Evans), the paper said it would invest $5 million toward coverage of President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. At the heart of the report is the need for the company to “reduce the dominant role that the print newspaper still plays,” while reinforcing the paper’s importance. CONDE NAST ENTERTAINMENT INSTALLS HEAD OF DIGITAL VIDEO PROGRAMMING Condé Nast Entertainment has hired Croi McNamara, who most recently was head of video for Upworthy Media, as senior VP of programming for digital video. In the role, McNamara will oversee the creative development of the company’s digital video in collaboration with the editorial staff of Condé Nast brands. She will be based in New York, reporting directly to Condé Nast Entertainment president Dawn Ostroff and working as a peer with Bruce Perlmutter, who recently joined as senior VP of production. READER'S DIGEST INSTALLS LEE ZELLWEGER AS PUBLISHER Trusted Media Brands (TMB), formerly known as Reader's Digest Association announced this morning, the promotion of its Reader's Digest's West Coast integrated sales director Lee Zellweger to Publisher. The promotion is part of an effort to expand TMB's digital presence and multiplatform growth. CNN IS NOT BEING SPUN OFF AFTER ALL AT&T  isn't concerned about its $85 billion merger with Time Warner being blocked by the Department of Justice (DOJ), CEO Randall Stephenson said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Tuesday morning. The interview was broadcast from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Some people are concerned about President-elect Donald Trump's claim on the campaign trail that he would not approve the deal. FACEBOOK PAID $3 BILLION FOR OCULUS Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed in court testimony Tuesday that the company actually paid $3 billion to buy Oculus. His testimony came in a Dallas courtroom, when game maker ZeniMax alleges that Oculus, bought by Facebook in 2014, stole the company's intellectual property. WALL STREET WAITING ON BIG RESULTS FROM NETFLIX Netflix stock shot up 27 percent over the last year, and Wall Street is expecting a huge quarter from the company. The streaming giant reports earnings after the bell Wednesday. Analysts are expecting $2.47 billion in revenue, a 35 percent year-over-year increase, and earnings per share of 13 cents, according to a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate. QUARTZ IS ABOUT TO ENTER THE SUBSCRIPTION BUSINESS Quartz, the business news site owned by Atlantic Media, gives away its global economics coverage to anyone who wants to click. It says it attracts about 20 million visitors a month. Now, Quartz is getting ready to charge money for some of its stuff: While the main site will remain free, Quartz is working on a subscription product, says editor in chief Kevin Delaney. TWITTER OFFICIALLY PULLS THE PLUG ON VINE Twitter just pulled the plug on its Vine video service: As previously announced, the company replaced Vine’s iOS and Android app with a new, pared-down Vine camera app Tuesday. Vine’s website will stay up and running for the time being. OH THIS WILL ONLY FUEL THE WHOLE "COSMO IS A PORN MAG" THING Joanna Coles explained why viewers should tune in to her new E! reality series “So Cosmo” during a panel at the Television Critics Association press tour on Tuesday. “When we put this show together, I was very mindful of the fact ‘The Office’ had gone off the air.” ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE GETS A FACELIFT AND SHEDS TWO ISSUES FROM ITS SCHEDULE Entrepreneur launched a redesign with its latest issue, and the business magazine is also cutting two print issues a year from its schedule. The magazine combined its January and February issues and will also be combining the July and August issues. -Good Morning SEND US NEWS TO INCLUDE IN THE NEXT ISSUE: [email protected] SUBSCRIBE HERE» MEDIAMORNING.TODAY