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7:30 AM ET, August 19, 2020

Mediagazer

 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 …
RELATED:
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 …
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 …
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 …
Peter Weber / The Week:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticizes NBC News for its “totally false and divisive” tweet saying she did not endorse Joe Biden in her DNC speech  —  The Democratic National Convention formally nominated Joe Biden as its presidential candidate on Tuesday night …
Discussion: ABC News, CBS News, @aoc, @aoc, @nbcnews and The Hill
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.
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
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 …
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.
RELATED:
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
Variety:
As the flow of new content dries up, studios are capitalizing on demand from streamers by licensing films for shorter, one to three month runs  —  When HBO Max debuted in late May, it made a surprise announcement: The eight original “Harry Potter” films — among the biggest-ever movie franchises …
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.
 
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 More News: 
Stephanie Sengwe / The Streamable:
Disney+ is launching in Latin America on November 17
DW.COM:
After initially failing to cover protests, employees of Belarus state broadcaster went on strike Monday and demanded an end to media censorship
Jon Allsop / Columbia Journalism Review:
To avoid airing a Democratic infomercial and lacking breaks in the virtual convention, news shows talked over the DNC production, creating an unwatchable result
 Earlier Picks: 
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
Seb Joseph / Digiday:
To make up for lost ticket sales, sports clubs are using Facebook's Fan Subscription Pages to sell content like streams of games and interviews with players
Kayleigh Barber / Digiday:
As the pandemic destroys ad revenue, some publishers, like Bustle, Thrillist, and The Strategist, are seeing success in affiliate and commerce deals
Andrew Bucholtz / Awful Announcing:
Former Sports Illustrated owner Meredith is suing its current owner TheMaven for alleged breach of contract, claiming over $1M in unpaid fees