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☆ Nielsen Regains Key Media Accreditation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Megan Graham | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nielsen’s TV ratings provide audience estimates that networks use to sell commercial time and reassure advertisers they got what they paid. The media industry’s measurement watchdog, the Media Rating Council, said it voted to restore accreditation for Nielsen Holdings PLC’s national TV ratings service, which had been suspended since 2021. Nielsen has long been known for its U.S. TV ratings, which provide audience estimates that networks use to sell commercial time and reassure advertisers they got what they paid for, using a panel of households that let the company track what they watch. The MRC audits media-measurement products to instill confidence in their results, but pulled its accreditation of Nielsen’s national ratings after issues including pandemic-related undercounting of viewers.

☆ In renaming 'HBO Max,' Warner Bros. Discovery hedges its bets in streaming
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled its new streaming service Wednesday, featuring a combination of programming from HBO Max and Discovery+. Discovery logo is displayed on a smartphone screen and in the background, the HBO Max and Discovery Plus logos. Those who want HBO already know where to find it, and HBO Max will simply morph into Max on most platforms. Warner Bros.

☆ Generative A.I. can disrupt the news media landscape, says Penske Media's Jay Penske
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailGenerative A.I. can disrupt the news media landscape, says Penske Media's Jay PenskeCNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin joins 'The Exchange' from Kiawah Island with George Pyne of Bruin Capital, and Jay Penske of Penske Media, to discuss sports team valuations, ChatGPT's influence on the media industry, and commoditizing intellectual property.

☆ Arkansas governor signs sweeping bill imposing a minimum age limit for social media usage
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed a sweeping bill imposing a minimum age limit for social media usage, in the latest example of states taking more aggressive steps intended to protect teens online. The legislation, known as the Social Media Safety Act and taking effect in September, is aimed at giving parents more control over their kids’ social media usage, according to lawmakers. It defines social media companies as any online forum that lets users create public profiles and interact with each other through digital content. The confusion over YouTube appears to stem from the carveout for businesses that offer cloud storage and that make less than 25% of their revenue from social media. “The purpose of this bill was to empower parents and protect kids from social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat,” Dees said in a statement.

☆ Hollywood writers hold strike vote Tuesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —The Writers Guild of America is set to hold a strike authorization vote on Tuesday. “The studios need to respond to the crisis writers face,” WGA leadership said in a message to members ahead of the vote. The last writers’ strike was in 2007 and lasted 100 days, bringing Hollywood production to a screeching halt. The WGA-AMPTP negotiation is the first of three contract negotiations with entertainment unions. The Screen Actors Guild contract also expires June 30.

☆ Harvard expert 'takes issue' with Mark Zuckerberg's Meta layoffs: Cutting jobs over email is 'absolutely horrific'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

As Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to let go of 10,000 more workers in his company's latest round of layoffs, a Harvard University expert says she "takes issue" with the way some of them are being conducted — namely, over email. A bevy of ex-Meta employees have spoken with media outlets or posted on social media about getting laid off via email in recent weeks. Jennifer Haynes, a former Meta technical recruiter, filmed herself checking her email and learning that she'd been laid off in real time. On March 13, one day before Zuckerberg's layoffs announcement, a share of Meta stock was worth $180.90. This story has been updated to reflect that similar reports of recent layoffs though email have emerged from Amazon and Twitter.

☆ The digital media rollup dream is dead for the moment — now it's all about core brand strength
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

What's happening in the digital media space echoes trends from the biggest media companies, including Netflix , Disney and Warner Bros. The rollup dream's rise and fallFrom late 2018 to early 2022, the digital media industry had a shared goal. First, digital media companies needed more scale to compete with Facebook and Google for digital advertising dollars. Large legacy media companies such as Disney and Comcast 's NBCUniversal invested hundreds of millions in digital media in the early and mid-2010s. "The digital media rollup has proven successful only when assets are thoughtfully combined with an eye toward consumers," Goldberg said.

☆ Gap has quietly dissolved its advertising business. It shows the challenges companies have competing for the $45 billion retail media industry.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Gap was hoping to tap into a lucrative new revenue stream called retail media, projected to be worth $45 billion in 2023, according to Insider Intelligence, Insider's sister company. Instead of GPS Media, Gap is devoting resources to support GPS Platform, which handles logistics and fulfillment services for other retailers including next-day and two-day shipping. Gap has also started GPS Apparel, which customizes apparel for companies. Lipsman said that Gap also had a disadvantage in retail media because it only sold its own brands. Are you a Gap employee or do you have insight about retail media to share?

☆ Rupert Murdoch is engaged to Ann Lesley Smith
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Toyin Owoseje | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch is preparing to walk down the aisle for the fifth time. The 92-year-old tycoon revealed he’s engaged to marry Ann Lesley Smith in an article published Monday in the New York Post, one of his own publications. Smith was previously married to Chester Smith, a country singer and radio and TV executive, who died in 2008. Murdoch was previously married to former flight attendant Patricia Booker, journalist Anna Murdoch and entrepreneur Wendi Deng. CNN has reached out to representatives of Murdoch and Smith for further comment.

☆ Meta to end news access for Canadians if Online News Act becomes law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 11 (Reuters) - Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) said on Saturday that it would end availability of news content for Canadians on its platforms if the country's Online News Act passes in its current form. The "Online News Act," or House of Commons bill C-18, introduced in April last year laid out rules to force platforms like Meta and Alphabet Inc.'s Google (GOOGL.O) to negotiate commercial deals and pay news publishers for their content. Meta's move comes after Google last month started testing limited news censorship as a potential response to the bill. The Department of Canadian Heritage did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment on Meta's move to end news access in the country. Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh and Lavanya Ahire in Bengaluru; editing by Diane CraftOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Last month, Google started testing limited news censorship as a potential response to a Canadian government bill that aims to compel online platforms to pay publishers in Canada for news content. Google has claimed that the test is like thousands of other product tests the company conducts on a regular basis. The tests, which the company says affected less than 4% of Canadian users, began on Feb. 9 and were scheduled to run for five weeks. Speaking to a parliamentary committee investigating the tests, Google's public policy manager Jason Kee confirmed that the tests would end next week. During the panel, questions were raised about local journalism outlets, like the 13-14 local, weekly papers that MP Martin Shields has in his riding.

☆ Google to launch fund to support Taiwan's media outlets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Google has come under pressure in some countries to negotiate commercial deals and pay news publishers for their content, though not in Taiwan. Google said it will pay local publishers through what it calls a "Taiwan News Digital Co-prosperity Fund" to strengthen their digital publishing capability. The fund will help Taiwan local media "hone digital skills, gain expertise and support the sustainable development of Taiwan's news industry", the company said. "Even while Google faces many challenges in the overall international environment, Taiwan remains a crucial global stronghold," Tina Lin, managing director of sales and operations at Google Taiwan, told reporters in Taipei. Google said Taiwan's media industry has been facing major competitive challenges in adapting to the digital age, pointing out that advertising revenues for traditional media outlets have dropped 70% from 2003 to 2020.

☆ Biden pick for FCC withdraws, says agency will 'remain sidelined'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Sohn had been a senior aide to Tom Wheeler when he was the FCC chair under President Barack Obama. The open internet laws seek to bar internet service providers from blocking or slowing traffic or offering paid fast lanes. "The FCC deadlock, now over two years long, will remain so for a long time," Sohn said in a statement. Many Democrats said Republicans were doing the bidding of powerful telecom companies that did not want to face regulation from the FCC. In July 2021, Biden signed an executive order encouraging the FCC to reinstate the open internet net neutrality rules.

Gigi Sohn testifies during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee confirmation hearing, examining her nomination to be appointed Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C., February 9, 2022. Gigi Sohn, who was chosen by President Joe Biden to serve as telecommunications regulator to the Federal Communications Commission, said on Tuesday that she's withdrawing her nomination. After multiple hearings in the Senate Commerce Committee, it was still unclear if Sohn would have the votes for her nomination to pass the full Senate. During a 16-month battle with cable and media industry lobbyists, Sohn said she's been subject to "unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks" that have taken "an enormous toll" on her family. "And with the help of their friends in the Senate, the powerful cable and media companies have done just that."

☆ TikTok is by far the best platform for brand engagement, new data shows. Here were 3 other key takeaways from the 136-page report.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Nhari Djan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A new report from analytics firm Rival IQ breaks down social-media engagement in 2022 by industry. Here are three key takeaways for brands across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Brands are getting higher engagement on TikTok than on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, according to a new report by social-media analytics company Rival IQ. The brands studied had at least 5,000 followers apiece on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, and 25,000 to 1 million followers on Facebook. Sports teams scored the second-highest engagement on Instagram and TikTok, while also having the highest engagement rates across Twitter and Facebook.

☆ Former Facebook Execs Launch Startup, Adding to Efforts to Improve Ad Measurement
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Salvador Rodriguez | Patience Haggin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Two former executives of Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. are seeking to solve one of the social-media industry’s biggest challenges in recent years: allowing marketers to measure the effectiveness of their ads while maintaining user privacy. Graham Mudd and Brad Smallwood each spent more than a decade building Meta’s advertising system, which allowed the company to offer granular data about how ad campaigns worked with individual users, often by tracking their web and mobile activity. Apple Inc. took steps in 2021 to allow users to limit most tracking, making it far more difficult to gauge the success of online advertising and upending the way social-media companies made money.

☆ How the Supreme Court could re-shape the internet as you know it
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Nearly 30 years of protectionsA view of the U.S. Supreme Court on February 21, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court isn't the only one reviewing Section 230; Congress and the White House have also proposed changes to the law, though legislation to update Section 230 has consistently stalled. For skeptics of the tech industry, and critics of social media platforms, more lawsuits would imply more opportunities to hold tech companies accountable. Allowing the courts to scrutinize the tech industry more would bring it in line with other industries, some have argued. Even a 'like' could trigger a lawsuitLiability could also extend to individual internet users.

Nancy Dubuc notified Vice Media staffers on Friday that she's stepping down from her post as CEO after five years at the company. Dubuc joined Vice in 2018 after leaving her post as CEO of A+E Networks, where she had worked for 20 years. "We thank Nancy for her many contributions and will soon announce new leadership to guide VICE forward into its next stage of growth and transformation." Dubuc's departure comes as Vice, like its digital media peers, facing ongoing challenges with shrinking audience numbers and advertising. Still, Vice ended 2022 with a slight gain in revenue, although the business deteriorated among the macroeconomic headwinds, CNBC previously reported.

☆ People magazine offered voluntary resignation packages alongside January layoffs, and now insiders say rumors are swirling of more staff cuts ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The resignations, in exchange for severance packages, were offered the same day Dotdash Meredith laid off 7% of staff. In January, Dotdash Meredith cut 7% of its headcount during a difficult squeeze for the media industry, as ad spending has tumbled amid an uncertain economy. Dan Wakeford, a 7-year veteran of the publication who had served as editor-in-chief since 2019, departed last year after the formation of Dotdash Meredith under IAC. Severance pay will be paid in installments on the regular biweekly payroll schedule. KandisDo you work at People magazine or Dotdash Meredith and have insight to share?

☆ Google tests blocking news content for some Canadians
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google is rolling out tests that block access to news content for some Canadian users, the company confirmed on Wednesday, in what it says is a test run of a potential response to the government's online news bill. "We're briefly testing potential product responses to Bill C-18 that impact a very small percentage of Canadian users. We run thousands of tests each year to assess any potential changes to Search," a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters. A spokeswoman for Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said Canadians will not be intimidated and called it disappointing that Google is borrowing from Meta's playbook. Tech giants need to be more transparent and accountable to Canadians," the spokeswoman said.

☆ Warner Bros Discovery revenue misses as media giant posts big loss
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Pedestrians walk past a street commercial advertisement billboard from Warner Bros and DC comics character, The Batman, movie in Madrid. Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Warner Bros.

☆ These 26 words ‘created the internet.’ Now the Supreme Court may be coming for them
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

This week, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on two pivotal cases dealing with online speech and content moderation. A set of rulings against the tech industry could significantly narrow Section 230 and its legal protections for websites and social media companies. If that happens, the Court’s decisions could expose online platforms to an array of new lawsuits over how they present content to users. Such a result would represent the most consequential limitations ever placed on a legal shield that predates today’s biggest social media platforms and has allowed them to nip many content-related lawsuits in the bud. “The massive social media industry has grown up largely shielded from the courts and the normal development of a body of law.

☆ AMC Networks names media industry veteran Kristin Dolan as CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 15 (Reuters) - AMC Networks Inc (AMCX.O) on Wednesday named media industry veteran and long-time board member Kristin Dolan as its chief executive officer, filling a position that had been empty since Christina Spade's abrupt departure in November. Kristin will take the reins of the company behind shows such as "Mad Men" and "The Walking Dead" on Feb. 27. She will receive a base salary of at least $2 million, AMC Networks said. Shares of the company, which is controlled by the Dolan family, rose more than 3% in extended trading. Cord cutting and a gloomy advertising market have weighed on AMC Networks' business, but its streaming unit has emerged as a bright spot.

☆ AMC Networks names a new CEO: Kristin Dolan, spouse of chairman James Dolan
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

AMC Networks , the company that owns TV channels like AMC and IFC, named Kristin Dolan its new CEO on Wednesday. She's an industry veteran, and most recently served as CEO of 605, a data analytics firm that measures audience numbers for TV networks. She is also the spouse, albeit separated, of James Dolan, the AMC Networks interim executive chairman James Dolan. The Dolan family has been considering the best way to move AMC Networks forward as it deals with cord-cutting and a tight ad market. For some time now, AMC Networks has been considered an acquisition target for larger media companies looking to bulk up their libraries.

☆ From state media to a Shaolin temple, Baidu's ChatGPT-style bot sees partner rush
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Chinese organisations, from state media to a Shaolin temple, said on Tuesday they have signed partnerships with Baidu's ChatGPT-style project, ahead of an expected launch next month. The Chinese search engine giant (9888.HK) last week announced that it would complete internal testing of its “Ernie Bot" in March. China's Shaolin Temple, the cradle of Chinese kung fu, said in a statement it would work with Baidu to integrate Ernie into its operations with the purpose of creating an AI-driven content environment. Over a dozen Chinese media outlets also said they had entered tie-ups with Baidu, including the state-owned Shanghai Securities Journal. Baidu's banking joint venture with CITIC (601998.SS), as well as its electric vehicle arm Jidu Auto, also said on Tuesday they would integrate Ernie into their operations.

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