Mediagazer: Sources: the LAT suffers from its owner meddling in editorial decisions and from a lack of vision without a CEO; a former editor estimates it's losing $50M/year (The Wrap)

8:35 PM ET, January 16, 2024

Top News:

Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:

Disney does not endorse the nominations of Nelson Peltz and James Rasulo put forth by Peltz's Trian Fund, nor does it endorse the nominations made by Blackwells — Disney CEO Bob Iger's compensation totaled about $31.6 million for the company fiscal year ended Sept. 30. It includes most of the year.

Discussion: Reuters, The Information, @laurenshirsch, @alexweprin, The Walt Disney Company and The Hollywood Reporter

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Filing: Disney CEO Bob Iger's compensation was $31.6M in 2023, down from $45.9M in 2021, his last prior full year of employment at the company — Disney CEO Bob Iger saw his compensation hit $31.6 million in 2023 — down from $45.9 million in 2021, his last prior full year of employment at the company.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, US Securities and Exchange Commission and @joerussotweets

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

News outlets calling Trump as the winner of the Iowa caucuses early infuriates his Republican rivals and prompts new hand-wringing about the media and elections — No votes had been cast at some locations when The Associated Press and TV networks projected Donald Trump as the winner, half an hour after the caucuses began.

Colin Salao / TheStreet:

Barstool Sports CEO Erika Ayers Badan says she is stepping down after joining in 2016 and overseeing massive growth at the outlet — Ayers Badan was sentimental in a video posted to social media. — Barstool Sports is losing its CEO. — Erika Ayers Badan, the CEO of Barstool Sports posted on X …

Discussion: New York Post, @stoolpresidente, @barstoolnate, Daily Mail, @erika_, The Messenger, Variety, @barstoolbigcat, @joepompliano, New York Post, Barrett Media, The Wrap, Bloomberg and Awful Announcing

Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:

Nielsen: the Emmy Awards drew their smallest audience ever with 4.3M viewers, down 27% YoY, hitting a low in viewers for the fifth time in the past six years — Airing opposite an NFL playoff game and Iowa caucus coverage, the delayed ceremony tumbles again.

Discussion: Variety, Adweek, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, IndieWire, The Wrap, The A.V. Club, @jbflint, Deadline, @theinsneider, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, @tvmojoe, @tzmorsy, @tvmojoe and @dylanbyers

The Wrap:

Sources: the LAT suffers from its owner meddling in editorial decisions and from a lack of vision without a CEO; a former editor estimates it's losing $50M/year — Respected editor Kevin Merida abruptly resigned last week after getting fed up with owner interference in the newsroom

Discussion: Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, @paulimeth, @sharonwaxman, @sharonwaxman, @dabeard, @ckrewson, @dicktofel, @jayrosen_nyu and @zpleat

Kenneth Li / Reuters:

Thomson Reuters acquires World Business Media, a subscription-based, 25-person outlet providing news and analysis on the insurance market — said on Tuesday it acquired World Business Media Limited, a subscription-based provider of news and analysis on the insurance and reinsurance market.

Discussion: Thomson Reuters and Talking Biz News

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Sources: Red Ventures has approached buyers about selling CNET for at least $250M, after acquiring the outlet and other sites for $500M in 2020 — Red Ventures, the digital media and marketing juggernaut based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, has approached strategic buyers about offloading tech news …

Discussion: @tim_stevens, @bmorrissey, @saschasegan, @thezedwards, @ernie.tedium.co, @ernie@writing.exchange, @mediaevan, @afillari, @samantharmeller, @thekenyeung@threads.net, Sara Fischer on LinkedIn, @ashleyesqueda, @alex, @andrewkrok and Talking Biz News

Rebecca Sun / The Hollywood Reporter:

Adobe and the Adobe Foundation commit $6M to launch The Adobe Film & TV Fund to support the work of existing nonprofits that help underrepresented creators — The company and its foundation is collaborating with the NAACP, Easterseals, Gold House, Latinx House, Sundance Institute and Yuvaa in its first year.

Discussion: Adobe Press Releases, IndieWire, Deadline, Variety, @adobe, The Adobe Blog, @adobe and The Wrap

Shelby Talcott / Semafor:

ABC News and WMUR-TV cancel their scheduled Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire after Nikki Haley and Donald Trump refused an invitation — The News — That appears to be it for the Republican primary debates. ABC News and WMUR-TV announced on Tuesday they were canceling …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill, The Desk, TVLine, Washington Post, @gartenberg, Axios, ABC News, Deadline, Reuters, @lizchar, @shelbytalcott and @benjysarlin

Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:

Worcester, MA-based The 016 says the news-oriented social network with no algorithmic feed had 17M email opens and 13M click-throughs over the past five years — Congratulations to Mark Henderson, a Worcester media entrepreneur who's celebrating the fifth anniversary of The 016 …

Discussion: The 016, @henderson_mark and @dankennedy_nu@journa.host

Winston Cho / Hollywood Reporter:

FilmLA: Los Angeles film and TV production fell 36.4% YoY to 5,520 shoot days in Q4 amid the Hollywood strikes, marking the fourth consecutive quarterly drop — The actors and writers strikes, combined with runaway production, led to some of the lowest production levels in the city's recorded history.

Discussion: The Wrap, Variety, Bloomberg, Deadline, Los Angeles Times and FilmLA

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

TelevisaUnivision plans to launch an ad-supported tier of its Spanish-language streamer, ViX, later in 2024 “at a lower price point with a moderate ad load” — TelevisaUnivision plans to launch an ad-supported version of its Spanish-language streamer, ViX, later in 2024 …

Discussion: Next TV, The Hollywood Reporter and TelevisaUnivision

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Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
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Calum Jaspan / Sydney Morning Herald:
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Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
The CFPB will supervise tech companies with digital wallets, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Venmo, with 50M+ annual transactions, treating them more like banks

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