| | | | Who's going to buy these websites? | | | Numerous digital media properties are up for sale, some quietly, some loudly. Now add all of these to the list: Gizmodo, The Onion, Deadspin, The Root, Splinter, AV Club, Jezebel, Lifehacker... | | Univision is making a U-turn in its digital media strategy, trying to sell most of the sites that it acquired in the past few years. That includes all of the titles I listed above... Plus others...
The potential sale was reported last week. Univision confirmed it on Tuesday, revealing it has enlisted Morgan Stanley to "explore the sale" of the assets.
Univision's new CEO Vince Sadusky said it is "important for Univision to exit a business which does not enhance our core mission, and instead refocus on our strengths," i.e. Spanish-language TV and radio... Here's my full story... | | "No one" is in "a buying mode" | | | So who will snap up the Gizmodo Media Group and The Onion? IAC? Penske? Ziff Davis? Two sources I asked... who have years of experience with the sites... think it's unlikely that a single buyer will pick up all of them. Vice, BuzzFeed and Vox all come to mind too... But "no one out there" is in "a buying mode," one of the sources said... | | The Allen & Co. conference at the Sun Valley Lodge officially began Tuesday evening... Dylan Byers' PACIFIC newsletter has a look at the likely topics of discussion.
>> Per Variety's Cynthia Littleton, Shari Redstone arrived on Tuesday afternoon... But she hasn't spotted Redstone's courtroom opponent Les Moonves yet...
>> Littleton's top tweet: "Brian Roberts came out and started to approach the press line baking in the Sun Valley sun, which was plentiful today... He had the look of a man who wanted to say something but changed his mind. Sigh..." | | -- Via A.J. Katz: "Nearly 26 million watched" President Trump nominate Brett Kavanaugh on Monday night. "That's down from the 33 million who watched him nominate Neil Gorsuch on Jan. 31, 2017..." (TVNewser)
-- Strange story: The WSJ reported that Michael Flynn was joining a newly formed consulting firm. Then Flynn's lawyers tapped the brakes and said Flynn "did not personally issue any public statement," even though there was a quote attributed to him. The headline in Wednesday's paper: "Flynn Lawyers Deny New Job..." (WSJ)
-- Quoting from NYT Mag's new profile of Michael Avenatti: "According to Avenatti, since early March he has been interviewed more than 200 times on network and cable TV. Recently he has cut down on the frequency of his appearances, if only slightly..." (NYT) | | HBO's future is a "must-watch narrative" in the wake of AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner, VF's Joy Press writes. AT&T "seems intent to enter more fully into the streaming wars."
The NYT ignited this conversation on Sunday night with a story about new WarnerMedia boss John Stankey's comments at a town hall with HBOers. Recode's Peter Kafka followed up by publishing long excerpts from the town hall.
This part stood out to me: "I think the goal in aggregate -- not just for HBO -- the goal in aggregate is I want to see more investment in product and platform... In order to keep pace for the next five years and be in the right position, we need to invest in product..." | | "Can HBO maintain the quality while dramatically increasing the quantity?" | | Brian Lowry emails: Both THR and Variety joined in the post-game analysis of what to take away from the NYT story about HBO's revised focus under AT&T, which seemingly asks the pay channel to pursue conflicting strategies – to broaden its appeal while still maintaining its niche qualities and prestige.
Variety's Andrew Wallenstein took a more glass-half-full approach, suggesting HBO would benefit from having additional resources at its disposal, while THR's Lesley Goldberg asked the key question: "Can HBO maintain the quality while dramatically increasing the quantity?" | | "We need hours a day. It's not hours a week, and it's not hours a month. We need hours a day. You are competing with devices that sit in people's hands that capture their attention every 15 minutes..."
--John Stankey in the aforementioned HBO town hall... | | | Sinclair "is planning to launch a streaming TV service this year that could create a new competitor for Fox News," BuzzFeed's Steven Perlberg reports. "The free streaming app, called 'STIRR,' would house a 24/7 TV channel featuring local news and national programming, according to sources familiar with the project and a trademark application. It would also offer a variety of other live and on-demand programming, from TV shows to movies to sports..." | | Will STIRR be Sinclair's challenger to Fox? | | -- CNN's Barbara Starr has an exclusive sit-down with NATO Secretary General H.E. Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday...
-- A+E Networks prez of global comms strategy Alyssa Mastromonaco "is exiting the company..." And heading back to the political sphere... (NYPost)
-- David Bossie's two-week suspension is over... He was back on Fox News on Tuesday, Maxwell Tani noted... (The Daily Beast) | | | Tuesday was the fifth and final memorial service for Capital Gazette shooting victims. John McNamara was eulogized at a service in Memorial Chapel at College Park... | | | The Capital's Joshua McKerrow tweeted: "We are like a traveling team in a grief league. You might think it gets easier. It gets harder. John was the greatest and my friend. They all were..." | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Hadas Gold's latest: The future of UK broadcaster Sky is on the line as Fox and Comcast firm up bids... (CNNMoney)
-- S.E. Cupp's prediction: "Trump's coming for #MeToo next..." (NY Daily News)
-- The latest edition of Nick Quah's Hot Pod newsletter examines the rollout of "Crooked Media's first audio documentary, The Wilderness..." (NiemanLab) | | BI deletes column about Scarlett Johansson | | What a mess. Why would any opinion column be deleted by a news website? Via Tom Kludt's story, here's a recap of what happened in five parts:
1. Scarlett Johansson is set to play a trans man in "Rub & Tug." The casting choice generated controversy...
2. Business Insider published a column by Daniella Greenbaum defending the casting choice and deriding the "social-justice warrior mob..."
3. Some BI staffers objected to the column. At some point, it was deleted. BI says that "upon further review, we decided it did not meet our editorial standards..."
4. BI's EIC Nicholas Carlson indicated that he objected to the piece's "partisan name-calling," saying "opinion and arguments should feel reported and researched, and not like quick reactions..."
5. Carlson says BI has a new policy for opinion pieces covering "culturally sensitive topics, such as marginalized communities, race, or LGTBQ+ issues." Details here... | | | For the record, part four | | | -- After the final members of the soccer team were rescued from the cave in northern Thailand on Tuesday, Clara Jeffery tweeted: "The good news of the rescue of the Thai boys, and the heroism of everyone involved, especially the Thai SEAL who gave his life doing it, is like a blessed rain after months of being parched..."
-- Brian Lowry emails: "20/20" aired a special edition about the Thai cave rescue on Tuesday, subtitled "Triumph in Thailand," while Discovery will air "Operation Thai Cave Rescue" on Friday, a one-hour special produced in association with ITN...
-- "At least one Hollywood producer is already in Thailand scouting the movie rights," the WSJ noted...
-- Counterpoint via the NYT's Brooks Barnes: "Remember when the Chilean miners were supposedly going to make a hit movie? Bombed. ('The 33.') The drama is in the moment..." | | France secures its spot in the World Cup final | | Tom Kludt emails: If you wanted one day in history to provide an example of soccer's unmatched global supremacy, its ability to command headlines on every continent, Tuesday might go down as the winner. The day began with confirmation that Cristiano Ronaldo, perhaps the most famous athlete on the planet, would move on from Real Madrid, perhaps the most famous team on the planet, to ply his trade for Italian juggernaut Juventus. The news led ESPN.com's U.S homepage and will almost certainly crack the front pages of European tabloids.
By day's end, we had our first World Cup finalist: France, which will be vying for its second title after dispatching Belgium in a tight, evenly played match. A friend passed along this photo from the streets of Paris, where they're partying the night through. But on Fox's halftime and postgame show, the commentators managed to take a break from the on-field analysis to talk about, arguably, the biggest news of the day: one of the greatest players of all time is embarking on another challenge... | | -- Croatia v. England kicks off Wednesday at 2pm ET on Fox...
-- Per Multichannel News: "After struggling from a ratings perspective in the early rounds without the USA team, Fox Sports has scored some big ratings numbers in the later rounds..."
-- CNN has a fun story on how "Three Lions" (aka "It's Coming Home"), a goofy, 22-year-old tune that channels English football anguish into a cheery anthem, has become THE meme of this year's World Cup...
-- Tom Kludt emails: I was beyond impressed with Russia while I was there last month; the country proved to be a near-perfect host. But the LA Times wisely asks: How long will the month-long "makeover" last? | | | For the record, part five | | | -- "A Russian internet company with links to the Kremlin was among the firms to which Facebook gave an extension which allowed them to collect data on unknowing users of the social network after a policy change supposedly stopped such collection..." (CNN)
-- Will Oremus asks: "Is Twitter turning the tide on fake accounts with its latest campaign? Or is it fighting an unwinnable battle? Actually, it might be both..." (Slate) | | A look inside "conspiracy world..." | | Oliver Darcy emails: On the second anniversary of Seth Rich's death, the Rich family released a statement, saying that they "continue to feel the deep loss," and imploring individuals to stop pushing "false and inaccurate information" about their son's unsolved murder.
That simple request, however, was ignored. Conspiracy theorists held a press conference in the DC area on Tuesday afternoon in which they continued to peddle theories about his death. Those theories, of course, were supported by no actual proof, and were apparently even too much for some of the conspiracy theorists who showed up to the event as well. The Daily Beast's Will Sommer, who attended the press conference, tweeted, "Basically no one is buying this Seth Rich press conference. Now the conspiracy types are jumping in on reporters' questions, agreeing that this story makes zero sense." Sommer later added on Twitter that the press conference was "poorly received in conspiracy world..." | | | Brian Lowry emails: If you can't beat 'em, bite 'em? While Discovery Channel gets ready for the 30th edition of "Shark Week," which begins July 22, National Geographic's Nat Geo Wild channel is kicking off its own two-week event, Sharkfest, on July 15... | | -- Netflix's next big overall deal: Jason Bateman "has partnered with seasoned producer and executive Michael Costigan, and they have set Aggregate Films in a first-look, multiyear deal with Netflix to generate film and TV projects..." (Deadline)
-- "The pilot for George R.R. Martin's recently greenlit 'Game of Thrones' prequel is set to start filming in Belfast in October..." (Deadline)
-- Lisa Respers France emails: It turns out Roseanne Barr will not be doing a TV interview, after all...
-- One more from Lisa: Drake has broken a record and surpassed the King of Pop on the charts... | | Thanks for reading! Email your likes, dislikes, thoughts straight to me:
brian.stelter@turner.com
Thank you! | | | | | | |
