Top News:
Variety:
Disney names Josh D'Amaro, head of its theme parks and consumer products division, as CEO, replacing Bob Iger, effective March 18; D'Amaro joined Disney in 1998 — Dana Walden named president and chief creative officer of the company — The Walt Disney Co., after a more than two-year saga …
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Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Disney names Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, as its president and chief creative officer, a newly created role, effective March 18 — Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro has been elevated to CEO of the Walt Disney Co., capping a closely watched multi-year process of identifying Bob Iger's successor.
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CNN, New York Times, The Wrap, Variety, CNBC, Fortune, Bloomberg, Breitbart, Fast Company, The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Disney News, GV Wire, Axios, New York Post, ZeroHedge News, Financial Times, UPI, Los Angeles Times, Screen, Yahoo Finance, Pulse 2.0, StreamTV Insider, BMI, IndieWire, Comic Book, Media Play News, Barrett Media, WPXI-TV, The A.V. Club and Orlando Sentinel
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Disney says new CEO Josh D'Amaro's initial annual package is set at ~$38.4M, with a $2.5M base, and President Dana Walden's is set at ~$24M, with a $3.75M base
Disney says new CEO Josh D'Amaro's initial annual package is set at ~$38.4M, with a $2.5M base, and President Dana Walden's is set at ~$24M, with a $3.75M base
Discussion:
Deadline, E! Online, The Hollywood Reporter, Business Insider, Fortune, The Wrap, New York Post, The Indian Express, Inc.com, CNBC, Just Jared, Yahoo Finance and Washington Examiner
Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
CBS pulls a 60 Minutes segment with contributor Peter Attia that was set to re-air after the Super Bowl, as Attia's name appears ~1,700 times in Epstein docs — Attia, named a contributor to the network last week, is named in the latest release of documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Adrià Calatayud / Wall Street Journal:
Publicis reports 2025 net profit of €1.65B, down from €1.66B in 2024, and total revenue up 8.5% YoY to €17.4B, but PUB falls 8%+ driven by AI fears — Shares in European afternoon trading were on track for their biggest one-day percentage drop since April 2020
Discussion:
Marketing Dive, MediaPost, campaignlive.com, BMI, PR Week UK and MediaBrief
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Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
New York Public Radio names Christy Tanner as its CEO; Tanner is a former AP reporter and spent eight years at CBS, expanding its streaming platform — Ms. Tanner was previously an executive at CBS News and serves on the board of Audacy, a major U.S. broadcaster and podcast producer.
Discussion:
Variety, Radio & Television …, TheDesk.net, Gothamist, S. Mitra Kalita on LinkedIn and Current
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
DMGT reports revenue down 1% YoY to £1.1B, adjusted operating profit up 11% to £97M, and digital ad revenue down 15% to £148.3M due to Google's AI Overviews — Digital advertising revenue at the publisher of the Daily Mail fell by 15% last year.
Discussion:
Yahoo Finance and A Media Operator
Hannah Abraham / Forbes:
Reliance's Jio Studios acquires a 50.1% equity stake in Sikhya Entertainment for ~$16.7M, uniting India's largest studio with the Oscar-winning production house — Sikhya Entertainment co-founders Guneet Monga Kapoor and Achin Jain with Jio Studios President Jyoti Deshpande
Jackie Strause / The Hollywood Reporter:
NBC's Savannah Guthrie cancels plans to travel to Milan for Winter Olympics coverage, amid a search for her missing 84-year-old mother — The ‘Today’ co-host's mom, Nancy Guthrie, was reported missing on Sunday, with her disappearance now being treated as a possible kidnapping or abduction.
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The Wrap, Variety, Page Six, Entertainment Weekly, NBC News, TMZ.com, People, Us Weekly, E! Online, Star Magazine, CNN, Deadline, Sports Business Journal, Sandra Rose, The Daily Beast, TV Insider, Just Jared, Awful Announcing, RADAR, Daily Mail, ROB SHUTER'S Naughty But Nice, Fox News and Telecompaper
Financial Times:
LexisNexis-owner Relx, Thomson Reuters, and other media and financial stocks fell 10%+ after Anthropic launched Claude Cowork tools that automate legal work — New Anthropic legal tool sends shares in companies including S&P Global and Intuit sliding — US tech stocks fell sharply …
Wren Graves / Consequence:
Sinclair's digital stations plan to stream Kid Rock from Turning Point's alternative Super Bowl halftime show, competing against their own NBC affiliates — During the Super Bowl, Sinclair's digital stations Charge! and National News Desk will stream Kid Rock on Turning Point USA's …
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
Nielsen plans to give panelists wearable devices that capture audio to better count viewers in bars, hotels, and offices, starting with the Super Bowl — TV networks and sports leagues rely heavily on Nielsen to to tell them how many people at home watch football games, tennis matches and auto races.
Discussion:
TheDesk.net, Awful Announcing, Radio & Television …, The Wrap, TV Tech, MediaPost, Sports Business Journal, AdExchanger and Front Office Sports
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
LADbible-owner LBG Media reports adjusted revenue up 10% YoY to £92M in the year to September 30, pre-tax profit down 3% to £14M, and £49.7M in direct revenue — LBG Media reported total adjusted revenue up 10% in the year to 30 September.
Discussion:
@pressgazette.co.uk, The Standard and BusinessCloud
