DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

When the media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. submitted his last-ditch bid on Monday to take control of Paramount, his approach was greeted with surprise and skepticism. Who would take his unconventional coalition of investors seriously, especially when an $8 billion deal with Skydance was on the table? The bid has transformed Paramount’s sale into a battle of family dynasties. But the deal is now threatened by the bid from Bronfman — a grandson of the Seagram mogul Samuel Bronfman — whose early foray steering the family business into media several decades ago has left a cloud over his career. The son of one billionaire is now pitted against the son of another.

Persons: Edgar Bronfman Jr, Skydance, David Ellison, Larry Ellison, Shari Redstone, Bronfman, Samuel Bronfman —, “, ” Terry Kawaja Organizations: Paramount, Oracle, Seagram, Luma Partners

Donors weigh in on the D.N.C. “I will bring together labor and workers and small-business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs,” she told the Democratic National Convention last night. The nod to corporate America comes as Democrats try to firm up relations with big business. DealBook has been hitting the phones all week to hear what donors thought of the four-day convention. A flood of donors decided to go only after Harris became the presumptive nominee.

Persons: Kamala Harris’s, ”, DealBook, Harris, Brad Karp, Paul, Weiss, Raymond McGuire, Lazard, Blair Effron, John Rogers Jr Organizations: Democratic, Convention, Chicago, Centerview Partners, Ariel Investments Locations: America

☆ Paramount Lays Off 15 Percent of U.S. Employees
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | More About Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Paramount, the parent company of CBS, Nickelodeon and MTV, told its employees on Tuesday it was beginning a series of long-scheduled job cuts that would winnow its staff by roughly 15 percent in the United States. The company’s three co-chief executives said in an internal note that the cuts — which would be “incredibly hard” — were necessitated by shifts in the entertainment industry. The layoffs, which will affect thousands of employees, are the latest in a series of cutbacks by major media players. Discovery, the parent of CNN, TNT and HBO, has slashed its staff routinely in recent years as it pays down billions in debt. Disney laid off more than 100 employees in its TV division last month.

Persons: ”, Brian Robbins, George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy Organizations: Paramount, CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, Paramount Pictures, Showtime, MTV Entertainment Studios, Warner Bros, CNN, TNT, HBO, Disney Locations: United States

☆ CNET Sold to Ziff Davis in Sign of Possible Media Deals to Come
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-06 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | More About Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Shah led a buyout of Ziff Davis, a century-old magazine publisher whose titles chronicled the early tech boom, in 2010. The company was then acquired by J2 Global, which Mr. Shah eventually split into two pieces. One company, Ziff Davis, kept well-known publishing brands like Mashable, and the other kept a fax provider called eFax. But Mr. Shah said that he believed additional deals like the one for CNET would increase its profits. Mr. Shah said he decided to acquire CNET partly because it is well-known industry brand, and its sizable audience will give Ziff Davis greater clout with advertisers looking to reach tech consumers.

Persons: Shah, Ziff Davis, Ziff Davis’s Organizations: J2 Global, Mashable, CNET, CBS, Red Ventures

In late 2020, a news start-up began pitching investors on a bold vision: By creating content native to social media for Gen Z audiences — and later acquiring brands like The Daily Mail — the company would begin to create “the Amazon of News” within five years. “We must create a movement,” read a pitch deck for the company viewed by The New York Times. “A movement hungry for the facts and thirsty for the truth.”That company, which eventually became known as The News Movement, was co-founded by Will Lewis, a media executive who was named chief executive of The Washington Post last year. In early June, Mr. Lewis announced a new division in the newsroom that would focus in part on “social media journalism” to help turn around its ailing finances. The announcement, made alongside the news that the paper’s executive editor was leaving, ultimately led to internal strife and questions about Mr. Lewis’s leadership and ethics.

Persons: “, ”, Will Lewis, Lewis Organizations: Daily Mail, The New York Times, News, The Washington Post

☆ Scotland Yard Will Review Email Deletions in News Corp Hacking Scandal
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Jo Becker | Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Scotland Yard has opened a preliminary inquiry into the deletion of tens of millions of emails during the British phone-hacking scandal that rocked Rupert Murdoch’s news media empire more than a dozen years ago. The development could entangle current and former News Corp executives, including the chief executive of The Washington Post, in an inquiry into whether the deletions were aimed at obstructing justice. The inquiry threatens to reopen a tumultuous chapter in British news media and political history. The scandal toppled Mr. Murdoch’s best-selling tabloid newspaper, News of the World, and led to criminal charges and years of civil lawsuits. Many hacking victims have argued for years that Mr. Murdoch’s British company, News UK, improperly purged emails to limit the fallout.

Persons: Rupert Murdoch’s, Murdoch’s Organizations: News Corp, The Washington Post, News UK Locations: Murdoch’s British

Mr. Holt’s coverage ran on MSNBC immediately after the shooting on Saturday and he was scheduled to interview Mr. Biden on Monday. The person said staff members were surprised on Monday when MSNBC ran programming from its digital news service, NBC News Now, instead of the main NBC News show, “Today,” which was not pre-empted. A spokesman for MSNBC denied that NBC had made the programming change because of political considerations. In a statement, the network said: “Given the gravity and complexity of this unfolding story, NBC News, NBC News NOW and MSNBC have remained in rolling breaking news coverage since Saturday evening. MSNBC made other programming changes after the shooting on Saturday.

Persons: Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie, Kristen Welker, Mr, Biden, ”, Joe ”, Ali Velshi Organizations: NBC, MSNBC, NBC News, NBCUniversal News, Republican Locations: Savannah, Milwaukee

Wall Street’s game theoryAs more leading Democrats say privately that President Biden should withdraw from the presidential race, some of the party’s most prominent backers on Wall Street spent the holiday weekend debating what to do next. If they favor calling for him to step back, they discussed what their next moves should be. Wall Street is taking a different approach than Hollywood. (Many are also reportedly irate at Jeffrey Katzenberg, Biden’s campaign co-chair.) And many donors want to maintain their influence within the Democratic Party.

Persons: Biden, Larry Fink, BlackRock, Robert Rubin, Jon Gray, Blackstone, Peter Orszag, Lazard, Blair Effron, Robert Wolf, Barack Obama —, DealBook, Reed Hastings, Barry Diller, Rob Reiner, Abigail Disney, Jeffrey Katzenberg Organizations: Wall, Treasury, Centerview Partners, UBS, Hollywood, Netflix, IAC, Democratic Party

☆ Paramount Agrees to Merge With Skydance
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-07 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Lauren Hirsch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Paramount’s board on Sunday signed off on a deal to merge with Skydance, according to two people familiar with the negotiations, ushering in a new era for CBS, Nickelodeon and the film studio behind the “Top Gun” and “Mission: Impossible” franchises. Ms. Redstone, Paramount’s board chair, is cashing in much of her ownership in the company she fought to preserve and control. David Ellison, the tech scion behind Skydance, will become the top power broker at Paramount. The Ellisons’ considerable resources was a major selling point for the Redstones, who were seeking to fortify Paramount for the long-term. Paramount has tried to replace its fading cable TV enterprise with streaming businesses like Paramount+, but those efforts are still nowhere near as profitable as traditional TV operations.

Persons: David Ellison, Ellison, Larry Ellison Organizations: Sunday, CBS, Nickelodeon, Paramount, Oracle, Netflix Locations: Hollywood

☆ Meet David Ellison, Paramount’s Future Boss and Hollywood’s Newest Mogul
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-07 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

David Ellison’s Hollywood career has been defined by high-octane blockbusters filled with suspense, stunts and improbable plot twists. If the deal closes, he will be in charge of a sprawling media empire that includes CBS, MTV and the Paramount movie studio. Though Mr. Ellison, 41, joined the cast of Hollywood’s power players more than a decade ago, he hasn’t taken center stage until now. Who is David Ellison, and what is his company, Skydance? It wasn’t until he became a producer that his star in Hollywood began to rise.

Persons: David Ellison’s, Shari Redstone, Ellison, David Ellison, ” Organizations: David Ellison’s Hollywood, Paramount, CBS, MTV, Hollywood

Plan B talks get louderThe Biden campaign’s attempts to soothe panicked Democrats and donors after the president’s calamitous debate appear to have cratered. One Democratic lawmaker has openly called on President Biden to withdraw from the race, while others are sharply criticizing his campaign’s response. And many party backers remain as nervous about sticking with him as they were last week — but also worry about the alternatives. The latest: Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first sitting Democrat to demand that Biden step aside. Democrats and foreign allies worry that Biden has increasingly seemed confused or listless, The Times reports.

Persons: Biden, Lloyd Doggett, Jim Clyburn, “, ” Barack Obama Organizations: Biden, Democratic, South Carolina, The Washington Post, Times Locations: Texas, South, NewsNation

☆ Paramount and Skydance Near Merger Deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-02 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Lauren Hirsch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For months, Paramount’s controlling shareholder and Skydance sought to seal a merger that would transform the media industry, before those talks ground to a sudden halt in June. Now, just weeks later, the two sides have reached a preliminary deal to merge, four people familiar with the negotiations said. If they win that approval, the deal will combine Paramount — the parent company of CBS, MTV and Nickelodeon — and Skydance, the up-and-coming movie studio that helped produce “Top Gun: Maverick,” into a new giant in Hollywood. Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount through her stake in its parent company, National Amusements, is part of the family that has run the media conglomerate for decades. The new company would be backed instead by big-ticket investors like the private-equity firm RedBird and David Ellison, son of the Oracle founder Larry Ellison.

Persons: Skydance, Shari Redstone, David Ellison, Larry Ellison Organizations: Paramount, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, National, Oracle Locations: Hollywood

It’s unclear how far along the talks between IAC and National Amusements are. A bid to take control of Paramount would be a coda of sorts for Mr. Diller, 82, who tried to acquire Paramount Pictures in the early ’90s. Mr. Diller was named head of Paramount Pictures in 1974 at the age of 32. After Mr. Redstone outbid him for the company, Mr. Diller set his sights on continuing to build his new media empire, striking a series of audacious deals to expand IAC. “They won,” Mr. Diller said in a statement after losing out to Mr. Redstone.

Persons: Edgar Bronfman Jr, Steven Paul, Diller, Sumner Redstone, Shari, rejuvenating, Michael Eisner, wunderkind Jeffrey Katzenberg, ” Mr, Shari Redstone Organizations: IAC, National, Hollywood, Paramount, Paramount Pictures, Disney, “, Amusements, Skydance, National Amusements

☆ The Future of Streaming (According to the Moguls Figuring It Out)
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-22 | by ( James B. Stewart | Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The same could not be said for their sprawling entertainment businesses. The three men meet occasionally to discuss the state of the industry, and lively disagreements have a been a staple of their discussions. But by the time they met on the yacht, they had all agreed that the money-losing status quo in the streaming business was unsustainable. “There was peace in the valley for a period of time,” Mr. Malone mused in a rare recent interview, recalling the days before video-streaming upended the lucrative cable business. Disney laid off thousands of workers and pushed out its chief executive as streaming losses mounted, and had to fend off a proxy contest from the activist investor Nelson Peltz.

Persons: Brian Roberts, John Malone, Barry Diller, Diller’s, ” Mr, Malone, Nelson Peltz Organizations: Mr, Arriva, Paramount, CBS, Warner Bros, Disney Locations: Jupiter, Fla

☆ Editor Tapped to Lead Washington Post Won’t Take the Job
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Katie Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Robert Winnett, the editor selected to run The Washington Post, will not take up that position, after reports raised questions about his ties to unethical news gathering practices in Britain. Mr. Winnett will stay at The Daily Telegraph, where he is the deputy editor, according to emails sent on Friday to employees of the London-based newspaper and to staff at The Post. “I’m pleased to report that Rob Winnett has decided to stay with us,” read a message to Telegraph employees from the newspaper’s top editor, Chris Evans. “It is with regret that I share with you that Robert Winnett has withdrawn from the position of editor at The Washington Post,” Mr. Lewis wrote. “Rob has my greatest respect and is an incredibly talented editor and journalist.” He said that The Post would run a search to fill that role.

Persons: Robert Winnett, Winnett, “ I’m, Rob Winnett, ”, Chris Evans, “, ” Will Lewis, ” Mr, Lewis, “ Rob Organizations: Washington Post, Daily Telegraph, The, The Washington Post Locations: Britain, London

☆ How Jeff Bezos Is Trying to Fix The Washington Post
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Katie Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When The Washington Post staff gathered in the newsroom in early May to celebrate winning three Pulitzer Prizes, one person was conspicuously absent: Will Lewis, the company’s publisher and chief executive. That’s because Mr. Lewis was in New York meeting with Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon and owner of The Post, who was in the city to attend the Met Gala, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting. The pair had been discussing a reorganization aimed at helping The Post turn around its business. That included creating a “third newsroom” inside The Post to focus on new editorial products, an idea blessed by Mr. Bezos, according to one of those people and another familiar with the talks. Mr. Lewis’s decision this month to go ahead with that plan has shaken The Post.

Persons: Will Lewis, Lewis, Jeff Bezos, Bezos, Sally Buzbee Organizations: Washington Post, Amazon, Post Locations: New York

The markets and Fed diverge againThe bull market rally is continuing to run on Thursday. The S&P 500 is poised to set yet another record, as investors see inflation in retreat — even if Fed policymakers don’t quite see it that way. The gulf between investors and the central bank is widening again. That makes the Fed more hawkish than other central banks, especially those in Europe, that are expected to trim borrowing costs several times this year. He reiterated that inflation remained above the central bank’s 2 percent target and that U.S. households’ spending power had diminished over the past two years.

Persons: Jay Powell, ” Organizations: Fed Locations: Europe

Skydance’s merger talks with Paramount were called off Tuesday after the two sides failed to agree on terms, according to two people with knowledge of the talks, scuttling a deal that has captivated Hollywood for months. Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, wanted Skydance to agree to provide some legal protection for the deal in case investors filed a lawsuit. A committee of Paramount’s board members evaluating the plan also fired a public relations firm that it had been using. One sign of the tension emanating from both sides of the deal was the sheer length of negotiations. The talks — with National Amusements, Paramount and National Amusements again — stretched from late last year until this week, and were also rife with leaks, never a sign of harmonious negotiations.

Persons: Shari Redstone, Skydance Organizations: Paramount, Hollywood, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Skydance, National Amusements, National

☆ Washington Post C.E.O. Promised Interview for Ignoring Scandal, NPR Reporter Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Katie Robertson | Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Will Lewis, the chief executive of The Washington Post, repeatedly offered an exclusive interview to an NPR reporter if the reporter agreed not to write about allegations against Mr. Lewis in a phone-hacking scandal in Britain, according to an account by that reporter published on Thursday. David Folkenflik, a veteran media reporter for NPR, wrote that a spokesperson for Mr. Lewis confirmed the offer in December. That spokesperson declined to comment when approached again Thursday, according to NPR. “In several conversations, Lewis repeatedly — and heatedly — offered to give me an exclusive interview about the Post’s future, as long as I dropped the story about the allegations,” Mr. Folkenflik wrote. A spokeswoman for Mr. Lewis said that “when he was a private citizen ahead of joining The Washington Post, he had off the record conversations with an employee of NPR about a story the employee then published.” The spokeswoman said any interview requests with Mr. Lewis after he joined The Post were “processed through the normal corporate communication channels.”

Persons: Will Lewis, Lewis, David Folkenflik, —, heatedly —, ” Mr, Folkenflik, ” Organizations: The Washington Post, NPR, “, Post Locations: Britain

☆ Clash Over Phone Hacking Article Preceded Exit of Washington Post Editor
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Katie Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Weeks before the embattled executive editor of The Washington Post abruptly resigned on Sunday, her relationship with the company’s chief executive became increasingly tense. In mid-May, the two clashed over whether to publish an article about a British hacking scandal with some ties to The Post’s chief executive, Will Lewis, according to two people with knowledge of their interactions. Sally Buzbee, the editor, informed Mr. Lewis that the newsroom planned to cover a judge’s scheduled ruling in a long-running British legal case brought by Prince Harry and others against some of Rupert Murdoch’s tabloids, the people said. As part of the ruling, the judge was expected to say whether the plaintiffs could add Mr. Lewis’s name to a list of executives who they argued were involved in a plan to conceal evidence of hacking at the newspapers. Mr. Lewis told Ms. Buzbee the case involving him did not merit coverage, the people said.

Persons: Weeks, Will Lewis, Sally Buzbee, Lewis, Prince Harry, Rupert Murdoch’s Organizations: The Washington Post

☆ Washington Post Newsroom Reels From Sudden Editor Exit
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Katie Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Sunday night, minutes after Will Lewis, the chief executive of The Washington Post, informed employees that the newspaper’s executive editor, Sally Buzbee, was being replaced, managers gathered on a conference call to hear from their boss one last time. Ms. Buzbee told them that a new organizational structure created by Mr. Lewis — effectively splitting the Washington Post newsroom and opinion section into three smaller divisions — didn’t work for her. She added that Mr. Lewis was pushing for aggressive moves to turn around The Post, and asked editors to reserve judgment for now. “I would have preferred to stay to help us get through this period, but it just got to the point where it wasn’t possible,” Ms. Buzbee said, according to a person familiar with the matter. The stunning call — which some attendees described as funereal — added to the growing tension between the newsroom and Mr. Lewis, who has set about remaking The Post since he started in January.

Persons: Will Lewis, Sally Buzbee, Buzbee, Lewis —, Lewis, “, Ms, — Organizations: The Washington Post, Washington Post

☆ Washington Post Editor Sally Buzbee to Step Down
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-02 | by ( Katie Robertson | Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The executive editor of The Washington Post, Sally Buzbee, will step down from her role, according to a person with knowledge of the company’s plans, a major and sudden change at one of the nation’s pre-eminent news organizations. Matt Murray, the former editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, will take her place, the person said. Ms. Buzbee, 58, steered the newspaper for the last three years, a turbulent period that resulted in award-winning journalism as well as a drop in audience and an exodus of some top talent from the newsroom. A spokeswoman for The Post did not respond to requests for comment. Ms. Buzbee and Mr. Murray also didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Persons: Sally Buzbee, Matt Murray, Buzbee, Murray, didn’t Organizations: The Washington Post, Street

☆ A Sticking Point in Paramount and Skydance Talks: Who Pays For a Lawsuit?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-02 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | Lauren Hirsch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Paramount and Skydance have haggled for months over an ambitious merger that would usher in a new ruler of a sprawling media kingdom that includes CBS, MTV and the film studio behind “Top Gun.”The talks reached an even greater intensity in the past week, but at least one major sticking point has emerged between Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, and Skydance. In the event that Paramount’s investors sue over the merger, which party is on the hook to defend the deal in court? National Amusements, the parent company of Paramount, wants Skydance to provide legal protection in the event of a lawsuit, warding off shareholders that may file objections to the merger, according to three people familiar with the matter. Skydance has not yet signed off on that deal term. Legal protection — also known as indemnification — is among the crucial outstanding terms in this deal, which has already been condemned by some Paramount shareholders who protested that it would enrich Ms. Redstone at the expense of other investors.

Persons: Shari Redstone, Skydance, — Organizations: Paramount, CBS, MTV

☆ Sally Buzbee, Washington Post Editor, to Leave Role
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-02 | by ( Katie Robertson | Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The executive editor of The Washington Post, Sally Buzbee, will leave her role, a major and sudden change at one of the nation’s pre-eminent news organizations. Matt Murray, the former editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, will take her place through the presidential election, the company said on Sunday night. Robert Winnett, a deputy editor of the Telegraph Media Group in Britain, will take over after the election. Mr. Murray will then transition to a new role, the company said in a news release, building a new division of The Washington Post focused on service and social media journalism. At that point, Mr. Winnett, Mr. Murray and David Shipley, who oversees the opinion section at The Post, will each report independently to Will Lewis, the chief executive and publisher.

Persons: Sally Buzbee, Matt Murray, Robert Winnett, Murray, Winnett, David Shipley, Will Lewis Organizations: The Washington Post, Street, Telegraph Media Group Locations: Britain

The Daily Beast’s new leaders will do a round of voluntary buyouts intended to cut costs by $1.5 million, in one of their first major moves to try to revitalize the flagging digital tabloid. The new leaders, Joanna Coles and Ben Sherwood, both media veterans, joined the company in April in exchange for an equity stake in the business. Barry Diller’s company, IAC, maintains control of the publication. The Daily Beast’s union told its members in a memo this week that workers would have until June 14 to apply for a buyout, after which the publication would accept applications “in reverse seniority order until they meet their $1.5 million threshold.”Decisions on additional applications beyond that threshold would be up to the company, and there would be “a moratorium” on further layoffs until the end of the year, according to the union’s memo. The cuts are not targeting any particular coverage area.

Persons: Joanna Coles, Ben Sherwood, Barry Diller’s Organizations: IAC, Daily

Search resuls for: "Benjamin Mullin"

25 mentions found