Mediagazer: NBCU vice chairman Ron Meyer steps down after disclosing that he was being extorted over his affair with a woman who threatened to also “falsely implicate” NBCU (Brent Lang/Variety)

8:10 PM ET, August 18, 2020

Top News:

Brent Lang / Variety:

NBCU vice chairman Ron Meyer steps down after disclosing that he was being extorted over his affair with a woman who threatened to also “falsely implicate” NBCU — Ron Meyer is stepping down as vice chairman of NBCUniversal after disclosing that he reached a private settlement …

Discussion: New York Times, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Deadline, @bittrscrptreadr, @scottfeinberg, Mediaite, Adweek, @rasmussen_poll, Deadline, Too Much TV Newsletter, @mikesington, @kateaurthur, @rebfef and Fortune

Variety:

Sources: NBCU's Ron Meyer had reached a settlement with actress Charlotte Kirk, who was linked to the resignation of Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara in 2019 — NBCUniversal Vice Chairman Ron Meyer was involved in an affair with actress Charlotte Kirk that ultimately led to his ouster …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Multichannel News, Mediaite, @mattbelloni, Deadline, Page Six, The Wrap, Hollywood Reporter, @thedreaclark and New York Post

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

WPP has hired AT&T's Kirk McDonald as chief executive of North America for its GroupM ad-buying unit; McDonald had been interim head of Xandr — Executive move is the latest exit from Warner Media's advertising-technology unit Xandr — WPP PLC has hired AT&T Inc.'s Kirk McDonald …

Discussion: Variety, Ad Age, Adweek, MediaPost, @tkawaja, AdExchanger, @beet_tv, @aripap and Business Insider

Megan Janetsky / Poynter:

The pandemic is throwing international reporting into a crisis, mostly affecting freelancers' work and turning large swaths of the world into news deserts — I was in rural Guatemala following the lives of former migrants when the pandemic hit like a sledgehammer.

Discussion: @penamerica, @pauseinlight, @dylanbaddour, bookforum.com, @poynter, @jatingandhi, @vgstunt, @poynter, @janebsinger, @ligaze, @kerrymflynn, @dartcenter, @meganjanetsky and @poynter

Charlie Warzel / New York Times:

The White House flood of EOs and pronouncements is meant to be exhausting for media and consumers, requiring careful news coverage and mindful readers — Trump is “flooding the zone.” It's a form of modern censorship. — Opinion writer at large. — In the Trump era, news doesn't break, it invades.

Discussion: @jayrosen_nyu, @sashalyutse, @edzitron, @staceynycdc, @edzitron, @emilycrockett, @brianstelter, @grahamwjenkins, @joesudbay, @cwarzel, @ethanz, @slickrockweb, @cwarzel, @jayrosen_nyu, @edzitron, The Week, Time To Say Goodbye and The Monday Notice

Alex Shephard / New Republic:
By embracing conservative talking points about government agencies, media missed the story about the decimation of USPS long before Trump was elected

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, @newrepublic, New York Times, @newrepublic, @newrepublic, @coracurrier, Written Up and Slate

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: ViacomCBS is in talks to sell CNET for ~$500M to Red Ventures, which runs consumer sites Bankrate and Reviews.com, as it looks to shed noncore assets — Discussions value CNET at about $500 million; media company has been looking to shed noncore assets after last year's merger

Discussion: Variety, Talking Biz News, Radio & Television …, @joshsternberg, @shortformernie, @austindlight, @gpingersoll, @benmullin, @aaronwall, @thekenyeung and The Wrap

Brian Bumbery / Apple:

Apple renames Beats 1, its streaming radio station, Apple Music 1 and launches two new radio stations: Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country — Apple Music 1 and two new stations, Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country, feature exclusive original shows from the world's top music hosts and artists

Discussion: The Verge, Variety, TidBITS, CNBC, @richlightshed, Music Business Worldwide, @ashleyrcarman, @vyyyper, Engadget, TechCrunch, @stevemoser, UPROXX, 9to5Mac, @etcanada, @thewomenofcoun, @nixcraft and @jake_k, more at Techmeme »

Amber Neely / AppleInsider:
Apple launches its first Apple TV+ bundle, allowing users to add CBS All Access and Showtime for an additional $9.99 a month

Discussion: TidBITS, Apple, Variety, The Verge, @ballmatthew, Engadget, Adweek, Cord Cutters News and The Streamable

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Netflix says it's testing Shuffle Play, which will randomly play a show you're watching, something you've put on a list, or a title similar to stuff you watched — Don't know what you're in the mood to watch? Netflix's new “Shuffle” feature could help. The company confirms it's currently testing …

Discussion: Variety, The Streamable, The Verge, @deliacabe and @baekdal

Aaron Gordon / The Mail:

Motherboard launches an email newsletter about the US Postal Service and a printed zine on the subject delivered monthly by mail, to run through end of November — For years, Motherboard has cared deeply about election security. We were the first to talk to Guccifer 2.0 …

Discussion: @lainnafader, @sahilkapur, @plitter, @ylichterman, @derektmead, @josephfcox, @timmarchman, @a_w_gordon, @timmarchman, @_danielsinclair, @nixops, @dlberes, @richarddeitsch and @a_w_gordon

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Group Nine's NowThis is launching NowThis Kids aimed at children aged 6 to 11, starting with a YouTube channel, podcast, and newsletter — NowThis, the millennial-focused video brand from Group Nine Media, is launching a new brand aimed at children of millennials called “NowThis Kids,” executives tell Axios.

Discussion: MediaPost, @naomiwadler, @sarafischer, @mralexalba and The Wrap

Nicholas Quah / Nieman Lab:

Vice's VP of audio discusses Vice's audio expansion with 11 hires and the upcoming launch of four podcasts, including the flagship Vice News Reports — Welcome to Hot Pod, a newsletter about podcasts. This is issue 270, dated August 18, 2020. — Hmm... Spotify appears to be hiring …

Discussion: @vicecomms

Laura Wagner / VICE:

A proposed Vox Media settlement of three lawsuits would split $2.5M among 450+ bloggers who managed or wrote for SB Nation; $1.5M would go to legal fees — Hundreds of unpaid and lowly paid bloggers who worked for SB Nation will split $2.5 million. — Laura Wagner

Discussion: Awful Announcing, @alexwatl, @timmarchman, @seth_rosenthal and @jackie_peanuts

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