Mediagazer: Wyndham Destinations, which runs resorts, buys Travel + Leisure from Meredith for $100M; Meredith will continue publishing the magazine under a licensing deal (Dave Sebastian/Wall Street Journal)

4:06 PM ET, January 6, 2021

Top News:

Julia Alexander / The Verge:

Peacock's signup page breaks down tiers according to the degree of access to The Office, as annoyed users complain of ads in the Premium Plus tier — Just buy the box set — Chances are if you're looking into signing up for Peacock ("Ugh, another streaming service!") …

Discussion: @itsretronemo, @loudmouthjulia, @waltmossberg, @parismartineau, @bergmayer, @dgoforth918, @betterwithbears, @tvaziri, @filmfatale_nyc, @waltmossberg and @sherman4949

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

Reuters EIC Stephen J. Adler announces that he will retire in April 2021, after ten years at the head of the newsroom — Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler announced Wednesday that he will retire in April 2021, after ten years at the head of the award-winning global newsroom.

Discussion: Reuters, The Wrap, @stephenjadler, MediaPost, Mediaite, Thomson Reuters, @zenjournalist, @andysullivan, @tglocer, @iron_emu, @rasmus_kleis, @craignewmark, @brianstelter and @wadenyc, Thanks:@talkingbiznews

Manori Ravindran / Variety:

Comcast appoints Dana Strong to succeed Jeremy Darroch as CEO of Sky Group; Strong was previously president and COO of UK's Virgin Media — Comcast Cable executive Dana Strong is set to succeed Jeremy Darroch as CEO of Sky Group in what is a major restructure at the European pay-TV operator.

Discussion: Advanced Television, C21Media, @claireatki, nexttv.com, Digital TV Europe, The Desk, Broadband TV News, Financial Times, FierceVideo, Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap and Reuters

Dave Sebastian / Wall Street Journal:

Wyndham Destinations, which runs resorts, buys Travel + Leisure from Meredith for $100M; Meredith will continue publishing the magazine under a licensing deal — Meredith to continue publishing Travel + Leisure under licensing agreement; Wyndham to rebrand itself

Discussion: MediaPost, Ad Age, @rafat, Skift, The Media Nut, New York Post, @depsebastian, @ashkan, @wyndestinations, @lowrytom, Moderns Comms, @byerussell, @blackamazon, Context is King, @wanderlust13 and @bmorrissey, Thanks:@ashkan

Dade Hayes / Deadline:

NBCU Ad Chief Linda Yaccarino named chair of the Ad Council's board of directors, succeeding David Fischer, chief revenue officer of Facebook — Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal's chairman of global advertising and partnerships, has been named chair of the Ad Council's board of directors.

Discussion: Ad Age, The Drum, @adcouncil, Adweek and MediaPost

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

A look at the work of Tallahassee Democrat reporter CD Davidson-Hiers, who became a one-woman help desk for seniors trying to get the COVID-19 vaccine — A Tallahassee Democrat journalist told seniors to reach out if they needed help signing up for COVID-19 vaccines, and boy did they

Discussion: Tampa Bay Times and New York Post

Ashley Carman / The Verge:

Amazon marked some free podcasts as $8.95 with a discount for Audible subscribers as part of a “limited deal”; pricing disappeared after asking for comment — Trying to sell those Audible subscriptions — Charlie Harding, the host of the podcast Switched On Pop …

Discussion: @bzamayo, @ashleyrcarman, @ronmknox, @nwquah and @backlon

Mark Kleinman / Sky News:

Sources: UK to announce former Goldman Sachs banker Richard Sharp as the next BBC chairman — Richard Sharp is to be named as Sir David Clementi's successor at the BBC as soon as Thursday, Sky News learns. — City editor @MarkKleinmanSky — Created with Sketch.

Discussion: New York Times, BBC, Reuters, @markkleinmansky, Broadband TV News, Press Gazette, The Guardian, Variety and @raju

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:

Discovery partners with VOD company Starzplay to launch Discovery Plus in 18 countries and territories across the Middle East and North Africa — Discovery has struck a strategic partnership with VOD player Starzplay to launch streamer Discovery Plus in 18 countries and territories across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Tampa Bay Times:

Times Publishing will outsource printing of Tampa Bay Times and other papers to a Gannett plant, cutting 150 jobs; other full-time staff salaries to be cut 10% — Times Publishing will eliminate 150 jobs and sell its St. Petersburg production center. Most remaining employees will see temporary pay cuts.

Discussion: Poynter, @lkldnow, @deggans, @lisagartner, @kristenhare, @betsbarnes, @betsbarnes, @fitz_ly, @kristenhare, @carolynpfox, @lyndseymck, @mbakertbtimes, @mareevs, @kathrynvarn and @lauracmorel

Press Gazette:

UK's GB News raises new funding from investors including Dubai-based Legatum, says it will hire 120 journalists; sources: the channel raised £60M in this round — Bosses of news channel GB News have confirmed two new backers for its 24-hour TV and online service set to launch …

Discussion: @shahmiruk, @edmundheaphy, @ian_fraser, @acgrayling, @alixwiltonregan, @pressgazette, @bakerstherald, @emmakennedy, @sturdyalex, @marcusbrig, @joncstone, @greenslader and @peterjukes

Benjamin Butterworth / inews.co.uk:

Sources: YouTube reinstated the channel of UK's talkRadio after personal involvement by Rupert Murdoch to have the ban reversed — The digital station had faced criticism for some presenters' questioning of the science behind lockdowns and the use of face masks

Discussion: @risj_oxford, @rasmus_kleis, TechCrunch, @benjaminbutter and Reuters

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Facebook says it will resume its political ad ban in Georgia after the polls close in the Georgia runoff elections — Following the Georgia runoff elections, the Facebook ban that restricts ads on social issues, elections and politics nationwide will be reimplemented in the state, the company said on Tuesday.

Discussion: Politico, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, @benjancewicz, Wall Street Journal, Variety, Gizmodo and TechCrunch

Corin Faife / The Markup:
Study of 58 Facebook users' feeds in Georgia found partisan content elbowed out traditional news sites after Facebook reversed its political ad ban

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 4:06 PM ET, January 6, 2021.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Deputy Ed. - Gen. Assignment Desk, DC — WaPo

EU Technology Reporter, Brussels — Bloomberg

Breaking News Reporter, NY — Guardian US

Harrisburg Reporter, PA — PCBC

Senior Editor - Styles, NY — NYT

Part-time Editor, Remote — Techmeme

Home & Travel Reporter, Ireland — Newsweek

Assistant Digital Editor, MA — Boston Globe

Senior Editor - Visuals (Temporary), DC — NPR

Copy Editor, Remote US — ProPublica

Markets Reporter, NY/CA — Sherwood Media

Staff Writer, MI — Watershed Voice

Food Reporter, CA — SF Standard

Staff Writer, NV — Las Vegas Weekly

Pharma Editor, Remote — Endpoints

Higher Ed. Reporter, Remote CA — EdSource

Politics Reporter, Brussels — Politico

Investigations & Enterprise Ed., WI — Cap Times

Social Strategy Editor, NY — WSJ

Senior Narrative Editor, CA — Cloud Chamber

Editor-in-Chief, NY (flexible) — The 74

Housing Reporter, OK — The Frontier

Writer/AI Content Reviewer, CA — Outlier

Writer/Editor, Remote — Mediaite

Multi Media Reporter, NC — Cardinal & Pine

Afternoon/Night Editor, NH — Keene Sentinel

Education Lab Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Senior Editor, Remote US — PCWorld

State Worker Reporter, CA — Sacramento Bee

Executive Editor, NM — Searchlight

News Assistant, NY — Quanta Magazine

Local Editor, NJ (Remote) — Patch

News Editor/Reporter, KS — Blade-Empire

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Apple:
Apple says Books now has over 90M MAUs

Discussion: TechCrunch, CNBC, Bloomberg and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »

Anthony Wood / Roku Blog:
Roku says it now has 51.2M active user accounts, up by about 14M in 2020, and users streamed 58.7B hours in 2020

Discussion: The Streamable, The Desk, Variety and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »

Reuters:
Julian Assange denied bail by UK court as judge says there is a risk he may abscond while the US tries to secure his extradition

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Times, CNBC, National Review, SPLICETODAY.com, Bloomberg, Fox News, WGN-TV, Daily Maverick, New York Post and The Week

Wendy Lee / Los Angeles Times:
A look at the evolution of YouTube's relationships with media companies like Disney under Kelly Merryman, the platform's VP of content partnerships

Discussion: Context is King, @latimes, @latimes and Business Insider

Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Monica Lozano, the CEO of College Futures Foundation who spent 30 years as editor and publisher of La Opinión, has been elected to Apple's board of directors

Discussion: @monicaclozano, Variety, Apple and CNBC

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Vizio, the No. 2 maker of smart TVs sold in the US, says viewing in 2020 grew 20.3% YoY, with streaming of ad-supported programming growing 226%

Discussion: Cord Cutters News and The Streamable

Alex Weprin / Hollywood Reporter:
C-SPAN says Steve Scully, the host placed on leave for “Twitter-related controversies” ahead of the second presidential debate, will return to work this week

Discussion: @yashar, @donaldjtrumpjr, Poynter, @pwthornton, @erikwemple, @erikwemple, @erikwemple, Deadline, Mediaite, Fox News, The Hill and TVNewser

Earlier Picks:

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Cameo says it sold 1.3M personalized videos in 2020, had ~$100M in video transactions, and 150 personalities earned $100K+/year

Discussion: musically.com, @marklittlenews, @glenngabe, Filter Coffee ☕ and @sarafischer

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
In email, new JPI Media owner outlines plans to decentralize editorial and sales responsibilities to locally based teams and focus on “bespoke” local UK content

Discussion: @thejoelycarey, @jesstaylor1993, @domponsford, @pollyrippon, @petebarronmedia and @domjoly

Jem Aswad / Variety:
The Grammy Awards are being postponed from Jan. 31, likely until sometime in March; sources said a combination of health and travel issues have led to the delay

Reuters:
BBC says it will broadcast its biggest education offering ever, with many hours of programming for primary and secondary students, amid new pandemic lockdowns

Discussion: @bbcpress, @bbcpress, @lauraph222, @genellealdred, @scottygb, @scottygb, @scottygb, @emma_c_williams, @aapiccini, @publicradionerd, BBC and The Guardian

Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap:
Keith Poole named EIC of News Corp's New York Post Group; Poole is currently deputy EIC of UK tabloid The Sun

Discussion: News Corp, @mattgarrahan, Mediaite, @pressgazette, @markdistef, @noahmanskar, Daily Front Row, WWD, New York Times, MediaPost and Reuters

Social Media Week:
Adweek acquires Social Media Week, a conference and industry news service for marketers, founded in 2009

Discussion: Adweek, @juliangumbo, @brynatweets, @thewebbyawards, @saneel, @joshsternberg, @tobyd and @socialmediaweek

Khanh Vu / Reuters:
Vietnam court sentences two freelance journalists to 11 years and one to 15 years after finding them guilty of spreading anti-state propaganda

Discussion: @hrw, @globalfreemedia, @zachabuza, Al Jazeera, @ejlfox, New York Times, Committee to Protect …, Variety, newslaundry.com and Bloomberg

From Techmeme:

Andy Greenberg / Wired:
Cisco details a hacking campaign that penetrated multiple governments' networks using two zero-day flaws in its VPN and firewall Adaptive Security Appliances

Ben Glickman / Wall Street Journal:
IBM agrees to buy HashiCorp, which helps companies manage cloud infrastructure, in a deal valuing HashiCorp at $6.4B and expected to close by the end of 2024

Bob Van Voris / Bloomberg:
US prosecutors charge two founders of the Samourai Wallet crypto mixing service, saying it facilitated more than $100M in money laundering transactions

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page