Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
AT&T plans to sell its Xandr programmatic advertising marketplace to Microsoft; the deal would not include the ad sales business supporting DirecTV — Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed; the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory reviews.
Discussion:
Axios, Microsoft Advertising, Ad Age, PR Newswire, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, PRWeek, @joshsternberg, MediaPost, @aagave, @aripap, @bristei, @msftadvertising, @xandr, @msftnews, Reuters, @davidclinchnews, nexttv.com, @sarafischer, @aaronwall, @arctictony, Light Reading and Adweek, more at Techmeme »
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
Fox says Jesse Watters was speaking metaphorically when he told a conference audience to “ambush” Dr. Fauci with a “kill shot”; Dr. Fauci called for his firing — The Fox host was referring to confrontational interviews in comments at a conservative conference but leaned hard on violent imagery: 'Boom!
Discussion:
@ronfilipkowski, CNN, TVNewser, @therecount, @brianklaas, @brianklaas, Politico, The Daily Beast, @mikelupica, @deliacabe, UPROXX, @ndrew_lawrence, @walshfreedom, @jimsciutto, @existentialfish, @karaswisher, @keitholbermann, Deadline, @jjohnsonlaw, @ynb, @existentialfish, @mehdirhasan and Mediaite
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely steps down as CEO, naming head of communications and marketing Ami Gan as his replacement; Stokely will remain as an adviser — OnlyFans named spokesperson Ami Gan as its new chief executive officer, replacing Tim Stokely, who founded and built the media company …
Discussion:
PR Newswire, Billboard, Gizmodo, @lucas_shaw, Observer, CNET, Variety, Tubefilter, TechCrunch, New York Post and @pkafka, more at Techmeme »
Emma Goldberg / New York Times:
In an internal memo, Fox says all its NYC office staff must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination by December 27, blaming Mayor de Blasio for the vaccine mandate — Fox Corporation, the owner of Fox News, told employees on Friday that those working in New York City would have to show proof …
Discussion:
@brendannyhan, @emmabgo, Breitbart, @jeremymbarr, @mollyjongfast, @mmoyr, @brianstelter, @bradmossesq, @mehdirhasan, @deray, @billpascrell, @ericuman, @jeremymbarr, @zac_petkanas, @scottfeinberg, @jonlis1, @helenkennedy, @projectlincoln, @xtrixcyclex, @maxboot, The Hill, TVNewser, Mediaite, The Daily Beast and @jeremymbarr
Axios:
Source: GSV Asset Management is working on a bid to buy Forbes Media at a $620M valuation, as an alternative to Forbes' planned $630M SPAC merger — Investment firm GSV is working on a bid to buy Forbes Media at a $620 million valuation as an alternative to Forbes' announced SPAC merger, Axios has learned.
Discussion:
@sarafischer, @michellemanafy and @mathewi
Mitchell Clark / The Verge:
Meta says over half of its Bulletin newsletter platform's 115 creators have over 1,000 free subscribers, “with many having more than 5,000 or 10,000” — Six months in and there are 115 publications writing on it — A new blog post from Meta marks the six-month anniversary of its newsletter publishing platform, Bulletin.
Discussion:
Insider, @yoda, @perlberg, @broderick, Bulletin FYI, @bmorrissey and What's New in Publishing, more at Techmeme »
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Disney says it intends to join the Nielsen One “cross screen” framework, which is expected to debut at CES in January before a launch at the end of 2022 — Don't count Nielsen out as the media industry scrambles to find new ways to tabulate audiences increasingly making their way to venues other than a traditional TV set.
Discussion:
Ad Age, AdExchanger, insideradio.com, nexttv.com, Deadline, @bristei and Radio & Television …
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
Swedish video game holding company Embracer Group acquires Mike Richardson's comics publisher and production group Dark Horse Media; Richardson remains the CEO — Embracer Group, a Swedish video game holding company, unveiled plans to buy Dark Horse Media, the comic book and entertainment group founded and led by Mike Richardson.
Discussion:
Embracer, PC Gamer, CNET and @paultobin
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
NYT's Thomas Friedman favorably cited Conservation International in 20+ columns without disclosing $5.9M in family donations to the environmental organization — In two dozen opinion columns published by the New York Times over the past 15 years, Thomas Friedman has favorably cited …
Discussion:
@timmarchman, @w7voa, Media Nation and @awinston
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Taboola partners with Microsoft to launch a real-time service by the end of Q1 2022 that lets advertisers bid for ad inventory across the open web — Taboola, a content recommendation company, is launching an audience network for advertisers looking to place native ads on the open web.
Discussion:
@sarafischer, @riskreversal, @joshsternberg, @marktluszcz, @adamsingolda and @wexler, more at Techmeme »
Axios:
Challenger Gray & Christmas: Media job losses are set to hit a 14-year low in 2021, following 2020's unprecedented high — Job cuts in media and news specifically are on track to hit a 14-year-low in 2021, according to the latest data from Challenger Gray & Christmas.
Discussion:
@sarafischer, @emilyrpeck, @seyitaylor, @markmilian, Jacklail.com and @sherman4949
Keri Blakinger / The Marshall Project:
A look at The Tank, a low-wattage radio station run by the inmates at a Texas prison to help men in solitary and on death row connect with the prison community — They can't go to classes or prison jobs, and they don't have tablets or televisions. But they do have radios.
Discussion:
@bshelburne, @a_mendelson, @keribla, @burkhaltereddie, @prempanicker, @stephstradley, @pamelacolloff, @solitarywatch and The Guardian
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