Top News:
New York Times:
CBS draft report says former CEO Leslie Moonves destroyed evidence and misled investigators to preserve his reputation and save his $120M severance deal — Facing multiple sexual misconduct allegations and fearing his career as an entertainment titan was over, Leslie Moonves …
Discussion:
New York Times, Newser, Fortune, The Week, Variety, @meganmurp, CNN, Broadcasting & Cable, @miriamelder, @hunteryharris, @poniewozik, @yashar, @nytimes, @slack2thefuture, New York Post, The Wrap, TMZ.com and Mediaite
RELATED:
New York Times:
Draft CBS board report describes Les Moonves' oral sex with subordinate, transactional sexual relationships with employees, board member awareness of assault — A 59-page draft report produced by lawyers for CBS's board contains new details and allegations about Mr. Moonves, the company's former chief executive.
Discussion:
The Week
Edmund Lee / New York Times:
Sources: Netflix paid $100M to license Friends in the US from AT&T's WarnerMedia through 2019, up from $30M/year, ahead of AT&T's 2019 streaming service launch — Are Netflix and “Friends” on a break? — The answer is no — for now. Reruns of Joey's thespian trials …
Discussion:
Recode, @jonfriedman, Adweek, @jasondashbailey, @shiraovide, @jacobfeldman4, @dkthomp, Wall Street Journal, Broadcasting & Cable, The Ringer, Slate, The Week, Fast Company, Vulture, Observer, Ad Age, Business Insider, Decider, BuzzFeed, Vanity Fair, Fortune, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, Bleeding Cool, /Film, TechCrunch, Deadline and Variety, more at Techmeme »
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Sources: Weekly Standard EIC told staff the magazine's future is uncertain after parent MediaDC told Standard leadership it was no longer interested in its sale — New York (CNN Business)The fate of The Weekly Standard, the conservative magazine that has staked out a position as a publication …
Discussion:
Vox, @giladedelman, Mediaite, Politico, The Hill, @oliverdarcy, @maxboot, @timodc and The Daily Caller
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
Source: Vox Media's 2018 revenues are projected to increase 15%-18% YoY, with the company planning to charge for certain content across its sites — Vice, Vox, and BuzzFeed, among other companies that once heralded the dawn of a new media age, are now grappling with decidedly old-media problems.
Discussion:
Hit & Run
Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Viacom CEO Bob Bakish says the network is debuting niche video-streaming services using existing content and that there's no merger deal with CBS underway — - ‘We like the configuration we have,’ Bob Bakish says — Viacom Inc. Chief Executive Officer Bob Bakish, facing fresh speculation …
Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Strauss Zelnick, interim chairman of CBS, says he is “unequivocally” uninterested in taking the CEO job permanently — Strauss Zelnick, interim chairman of CBS Corp., said he's definitely not interested in becoming the media giant's chief executive officer, refuting rumors that have been circulating for weeks.
David Folkenflik / NPR:
NPR CEO Jarl Mohn will step down at end of his five-year term in June 2019, move to new role fundraising for the network ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2020 — NPR's chief executive, Jarl Mohn, announced Tuesday he would step aside next June at the end of his five-year term to focus …
Discussion:
@davidgura, @elisewho and @nprinskeep
RELATED:
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
The Hollywood Reporter unveils the Young Executives Fellowship, a two-year job training program to train 25 underrepresented LA high school kids per year — LOS ANGELES — Stung by fierce criticism about a lack of diversity on both sides of the screen, movie studios have scrambled …
CNN:
Australian police have arrested a man over the disappearance of his ex-wife 36 years ago, following revelations in a true crime podcast about the case — (CNN)Police in Australia appear to be closer than ever to solving a murder mystery that started with the sudden disappearance …
Variety:
Landmark Theaters sold to Cohen Media Group for an undisclosed price, after speculation about possible purchase by Netflix or Amazon — Arthouse specialist Landmark Theatres has been sold by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban to Cohen Media Group for an undisclosed price.
Discussion:
The Wrap
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
Acast, a Swedish podcast platform that helps podcasters make money through advertisements, raises $35M Series C from a group of European investors — Podcasting has grown tremendously in recent years, and a Stockholm-based company called Acast is looking to help all those podcasters make money.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, more at Techmeme »
Reuters:
To drive up traffic, Qutoutiao, a Chinese content aggregator, lets users earn digital coins by referring friends and playing games that involve reading stories — BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Cai Li, a janitor in Shanghai, developed a serious addiction to news app Qutoutiao …
Discussion:
Press Gazette