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OTHER NEWS THIS MORNING...
VICE MEDIA UPS JOSH TYRANGIEL TO NEWS CHIEF, LAYS OFF A DOZEN PEOPLE: Vice Media has promoted Josh Tyrangiel, the head of its forthcoming HBO nightly news broadcast, to oversee news operations across the company, CNNMoney has learned. The move, which is meant to unify the Vice News television and digital platforms, will put Tyrangiel in charge of VICE News, Vice on HBO weekly, and VICE on HBO nightly.
CAN MAXIM RETURN TO PROFITABILITY BY THE END OF 2016 AS PROMISED?: In the first quarter, Maxim posted an operating loss of $3.5 million — down from $5.9 million in the same period a year earlier, according to a recent regulatory filing. Maxim’s revenue dropped 56 percent to $2.4 million from $5.4 million, In addition, Maxim’s ad pages in the quarter dropped 21 percent, according to MediaRadar, although it did have an uptick in its February issue.
GAWKER WANTS ANOTHER GO AT HULK HOGAN: Down but not out after a staggering verdict, Gawker Media is itching for a rematch in its legal battle with Hulk Hogan. The two sides will be back in court on Wednesday in St. sburg, Florida, as Gawker seeks a new trial in Hogan's invasion of privacy case against the company. Hogan, whose real name Terry Bollea, was awarded $140.1 million by a jury in March over Gawker's publication of his roughly decade-old sex tape.
IN AN EFFORT TO NOT BECOME A THING OF THE PAST, TWITTER IS ROLLING OUT SOME MAJOR CHANGES: These changes are consistent with Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey’s mission to make Twitter easier to use as he struggles to attract new users. “One of the biggest priorities for this year is to refine our product and make it simpler,” said Dorsey, emphasizing that Twitter was good at being “in the moment.” “That concept of brevity, speed and live conversation — being able to think of something and put it out to the world instantly — that’s what’s most important.”
PENSKE MEDIA UPS GROBAR TO NUMBER TWO SPOT: Penske Media, home to publications like Variety, Women's Wear Daily, Hollywood Life and others has a new COO. long time lieutenant to CEO Jay Penske and Executive VP George Grobar has been upped to the company's number two spot as Chief Operating Officer.
BLOOMBERG MEDIA ADDS TO ITS DIGITAL TEAM: Scott Havens who joined Bloomberg Media seven months ago, hit the ground running when he landed at the company. Now he's expanding his team starting with two new hires. Ambika Nigam formerly of IDEO is joining Bloomberg Digital as Global Head of Mobile Applications making sure that the user experience across Bloomberg's apps is memorable. Mr. Havens also named a Global Head of Audience Growth and Strategy...
TIME INC'S BIG AD MISTAKE: The publishers over at Time Inc. had a bright idea. They would create a new site, Motto, aimed at attracting young women with stories like “Ivanka Trump’s 9 Rules for How to Negotiate—and Win” and “Body-Positive Activist Ashley Graham Just Launched Her Own Line of Swimsuits.” And they would put an advertisement for this online, campy, female-driven advice hub in the print edition of Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal—something most millennial women reading about “What Mindfulness Really Means” surely include in their daily media diet.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ROLLING OUT ITS FIRST MAJOR NATIVE AD CAMPAIGN IN THE UK: Six months after The Wall Street Journal’s U.S. Custom Studio launched its in-depth ad campaign, “Cocainenomics,” to promote Netflix’s “Narcos,” the Journal unwrapped its first ambitious native ad campaign coming from the U.K. Launching May 24, the “An honest history of hacking” campaign for antivirus software Bitdefender took three months to produce. It features around 10 pieces of content on cybercrime and its impact on society, through video, articles and graphics.
FRENCH INVESTIGATORS RAIDED GOOGLE'S PARIS OFFICES IN TAX EVASION PROBE: Facing public anger at the way multinational companies use their footprints around the world to minimize tax, France, Britain and others have sought ways to make sure Google, Yahoo and other digital giants, which often have their tax bases in other countries, pay their taxes locally. Investigators from the financial prosecutor’s office and France’s central office against corruption and tax fraud, accompanied by 25 IT specialists, took part in the raid.
VIACOM CEO PHILIPPE DAUMAN COULD FINALLY BE ON HIS WAY OUT AND WALL STREET IS HAPPY ABOUT THAT: Dauman has long been dogged by shareholders frustrated by dwindling revenue and ratings and what seems like a lack of ideas for improvement coming out of the C-suite. “There are only so many short-term rabbits to be pulled out of the hat,” said Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research. “Luck can go a long way, but the legal machinations seem to be the primary spear of activity.”
TIME INC ACQUIRES HONG KONG BASED PUBLISHER CCI ASIA-PACIFIC LTD: Time Inc. announced the acquisition of CCI Asia-Pacific Ltd., the Hong Kong-based publisher of Fortune China, Fortune’s Chinese-language edition. CCI Asia-Pacific Ltd., a regional business publisher established in 1975 by Chairman and Editor in Chief Thomas Gorman, launched the Fortune Chinese-language edition under license from Time Inc. in 1996. Over the past two decades, the brand has grown into a trusted source of management insight and advice for executives based in China. With a total circulation of more than 200,000 in print and digital editions, it has consistently ranked among China’s most widely read business publications.
IT MAY HAPPEN, CBS AND VIACOM URGED TO RE-MERGE: Viacom’s share price spiked upwards Tuesday after Sumner Redstone named two new trustees to a trust controlling his assets, in a move that one activist fund manager believes could drive the ouster of the media giant’s CEO and push the company to recombine with CBS. “I don’t think [Redstone] would want to sell the company given that he doesn’t want to sell a minority stake in Paramount,” said activist Eric Jackson of SpringOwl Asset Management. “One possibility is that he merges Viacom and CBS.”
CONDE NAST IS SUPPLIMENTING SALERIES WITH RENTED DRESSES: On Tuesday, Condé Nast announced it's subsidizing a top-shelf Rent the Runway subscription for all employees. For six months, Condé Nast employees can subscribe to Rent the Runway's Unlimited service for $90 a month, exactly $49 less than what other people pay. The subscription lets you rent three new designer items each month, or what's known around Vogue as "Monday."
WASHINGTON POST GOING AFTER EUROPE: The Washington Post, resurgent under the ownership of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, is expanding in Europe as part of a drive for more readers outside its home market. Anne Applebaum, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and columnist, is spearheading a new opinion section aimed at European audiences, the American publisher said in a statement. Additional regions will be added to the new “Global Opinions” section over the next few months.
VIACOM AND CBS CEO'S ARE THE CASH KINGS: At a time when three out of four adults believe CEOs are overpaid, the directors of CBS, Comcast, Discovery, Disney, Fox, Time Warner, and Viacom continued last year to lavish their chiefs with some of corporate America’s largest salaries — often way out of whack with their company’s performance. The most egregious example: Viacom’s Philippe Dauman received a 22.2 percent increase in his compensation, even though his company’s market value declined 42.5 percent.
YAHOO CEO MARISSA MAYER IN OVER HER HEAD WHEN IT COMES TO MEDIA: On the media front, Marissa Mayer has simply been out of her depth, insiders say. She came to Yahoo boasting Silicon Valley chops, but she has never had a real understanding of the media business. “She believes she can figure it out on her own,” said a former top Yahoo exec. “Her attitude is, ‘I watch TV shows, so I know TV shows.’” According to another media exec: “She got enamored with content — but she had zero expertise. And she hired people with even less experience.”
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