Mediagazer: BuzzFeed closed down 11% on its Nasdaq trading debut, attaining a market cap of $364M, after raising less than expected from its SPAC (Gerry Smith/Bloomberg)

9:00 AM ET, December 7, 2021

Top News:

Sources: CNN's Chris Cuomo U-turn came after NY AG records, a law firm report, and a separate sexual misconduct allegation against him from an ex-ABC colleague — Network boss fired the star anchor on Saturday, leaving a hole in the channel's prime-time lineup

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, The Week, @ericmgarcia, Mediaite, New York Times, @ewerickson, Fox News, @yuhline, @froomkin, Newser, @ibjiyongi, @jbflint, Associated Press, New York Post, @benmullin, @asharma, @benmullin, @wsj, @pkafka, The Hill and The Wrap

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Chris Cuomo says he is also leaving SiriusXM, where he hosted a regular weekday radio program, to “focus on what comes next” — Chris Cuomo, terminated from a prominent CNN anchor job over the weekend, is giving up another perch. — Cuomo is also leaving SiriusXM …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, CNBC, Fox News, Los Angeles Times, @johnnydollar01, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, WGN-TV and FTVLive

New York Times:
CNN says it has fired Chris Cuomo after “additional information has come to light” about the help he gave his brother Andrew Cuomo

Discussion: @chriscuomo, @cnnpr, @chriscuomo, CNN, New York Post, CNBC, @marceelias, @benmullin, The Week, Washington Post, Mediaite, Fox News, New’s Newsletter, The Wrap, Vanity Fair, @dylanbyers, @danprimack, New York Magazine, Newser, @poynter, Today in Tabs, Ineptocracy Chronicles, @jayrosen_nyu, Steve Self-Cancels, The Week that Was, @moiradonegan, @jeremymbarr, The Hill, Press Watch, American Press Institute, HuffPost, National Review, @badfoxgraphics, Poynter, @brianstelter, @grynbaum, Associated Press, @jodikantor, FTVLive, @randpaul, @erikwemple, @juliettekayyem, @sorayamcdonald, @koblin, @grynbaum, Los Angeles Times, @juddlegum, @grynbaum, NBC News, Slate, @stevebattaglio, Boing Boing, @ericmgarcia, NPR, @jodikantor, TMZ.com, @shoq, @glennbeck, @benyt, @jodikantor, @jodikantor, @jodikantor, @jodikantor, @benyt, @grynbaum, @grynbaum, @michelemclellan, Media Nation, @davidfolkenflik, @davmicrot, @thrasherxy, @janicedean, @ichotiner, @badfoxgraphics, @megjameslat, @baseballot, @jazayerli, @dick_nixon, @rontkim, @grynbaum, @maddoxrules, @jordanchariton, @jayrosen_nyu, @brentbozell, @jadler1969, @iamsophianelson, @benmullin, @studentactivism, @studentactivism, @originalspin, @froomkin, @jbflint, @mayatcontreras, @josephwulfsohn, @davidfolkenflik, @kenklippenstein, @cernovich, @redsteeze, @meganbitchell, @_cingraham, @matthardybrand, @attorneynora, @shoq, @brianstelter, @jeremymbarr, MediaPost, @mollyjongfast, @phil_lewis_, @froomkin, @jasminestylestv, @jdwackrow, @frankconniff, @a_newsman, @elisestefanik, @adriennelaw, @chrisloesch, @erikwemple, @mrbeaks, @lmoses and @erikwemple

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:

BuzzFeed closed down 11% on its Nasdaq trading debut, attaining a market cap of $364M, after raising less than expected from its SPAC — - Company is in talks to make Michael Del Nin its new president — Sector needs ‘strong public company,’ co-founder Peretti says

Discussion: @benmullin, CNBC, CNN, BuzzFeed, YouTube, Columbia Journalism Review, @sherman4949, @silviakillings, @kerrymflynn, @kerrymflynn, @tomgara, @rmac18, @sherman4949, @gerryfsmith, @alex, @sherman4949, New York Times, Insider and Variety

Peter Kafka / Vox:
A look at BuzzFeed's rocky transformation into a public company, as Bustle CEO says its fate will determine the fortunes of other digital media companies

Discussion: @pkafka, Mediaite, @pkafka, Gawker, Fast Company and Financial Times

Matt Schudel / Washington Post:

Fred Hiatt, The Washington Post's editorial page editor since 2000, dies at 66 — Fred Hiatt, a onetime foreign correspondent who in 2000 became The Washington Post's editorial page editor and greatly expanded the global reach of the newspaper's opinion writers in the era of 9/11 …

Alistair Gray / Financial Times:

GroupM: global ad revenue will reach $763B in 2021, up 18.7% from 2019; Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon control 80-90% of the digital ad market outside of China — Alphabet, Meta and Amazon have doubled their share of ad revenues in past 5 years, industry estimates

Discussion: GroupM, Ad Age, Wall Street Journal, @megancgraham, @groupmworldwide, @digitalshields, @ivan_brussels, @rossmkelly92, @1br0wn, Midday Macro, MediaPost, The Wrap, Digiday, The Drum and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Disney scraps the FX on Hulu branding two years after it launched, to make FX branding consistent worldwide across its DTC and linear TV services — Disney has decided kill off the “FX on Hulu” name less than two years after it launched — a piece of brand-management microsurgery many people probably won't even notice.

Discussion: Cord Cutters News, The Streamable, @sonnybunch, Too Much TV Newsletter, @oliverdarcy, TVLine, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Decider, MediaPost and Adweek

Ben Smith / New York Times:

A document from TikTok's engineering team in Beijing details the app's addictive algorithm, which pursues DAUs by optimizing for “retention” and “time spent” — It's the most successful video app in the world. Our columnist has obtained an internal company document …

Hollywood Reporter:

Sources: Disney names Geoff Morrell to the newly created role of chief corporate affairs officer, an expansion of the top communications job held by Zenia Mucha — Morrell, who was also the press secretary for the Pentagon during the Bush and Obama administrations, will succeed Zenia Mucha, who plans to retire at the end of the year.

Discussion: Variety, Axios, Deadline, @kimmasters, The Wrap, @peterhimler, @fibellefi, @dougheye, @alexweprin and @edokeefe

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

The Financial Times says all editorial staff will get a £5,600 bonus as the paper surpassed its Q4 revenue expectations and will end the year profitable — Financial Times journalists are to receive bonuses of £5,600 this month after the publisher reported profits “well ahead of our business plan”.

Discussion: @alicemuwu, @niemanlab, @jerometaylor, @stokel and Talking Biz News

Madeleine Lim / Bloomberg:

Haze Fan, a member of Bloomberg's Beijing bureau, has now been detained for a year as Chinese authorities say the case is ongoing — Haze Fan, a member of Bloomberg News's bureau in Beijing, has been detained since late last year, with no information forthcoming on her case.

Discussion: New York Times

Mia Sato / The Verge:

YouTube publishes its first Copyright Transparency Report, showing H1 2021 had 2.2M+ videos hit with incorrect copyright claims and 729M total copyright claims — Creators have complained about the claims and appeal process — Over 2.2 million YouTube videos were hit with copyright claims …

Discussion: YouTube Official Blog, Music Ally, Engadget, @glenngabe, @xoxolizza, @grmpyprogrammer and @ashkan, more at Techmeme »

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:

Rep. Devin Nunes, a close Trump ally and former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, says he will resign to become CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group — - Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., will resign from Congress to become chief executive officer of former President Donald Trump's fledgling social media entity next month.

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