Across the country, open positions at TV newsrooms stay vacant or draw a drizzle of poorly equipped, unimaginative applicants. Changes at journalism schools and compensation, along with reframing how we think of applicants, could be among things to change that.
Paramount and Skydance are inching closer towards a potential merger that would see David Ellison’s media company buy out Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone. According to individuals with knowledge of the talks, Skydance has agreed as part of a potential merger deal to infuse between $4.5 and $5 billion of fresh capital into Paramount, $2 billion of which would be used to buy Redstone’s shares and to settle the company’s debts. Ellison would become CEO of Paramount, replacing current CEO Bob Bakish, with former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell serving as president.
Google and YouTube parent Alphabet blew away Wall Street estimates with revenue up 15% to $80.5 billion driven by strong ad growth. The company also announced a major milestone, its first ever dividend of 20 cents a share in June. The stock is up more than 12% after market close. During a call, CEO Sundar Pichai said YouTube TV has more than 8 million subscribers, a stat YouTube CEO Neal Mohan noted in February.
Roku posted solid first-quarter financials, with positive results in several key metrics illustrating the benefits of ongoing price inflation in the streaming sector. Net losses totaled 35 cents a share, far better that Wall Street analysts’ consensus estimate of 62 cents and much narrower than the $1.38 recorded in the year-ago quarter. Revenue of $754.9 million fell significantly short of the Street’s expectation for $848.6 million, but the company notched its third straight quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow.
Shares of Snapchat parent Snap popped 26% in late trading after the social media network said revenue jumped more than expected last quarter to $1.95 billion, up 21% from 2023. The number, and the outlook for the current quarter were nicely above Wall Street forecasts, as were daily active users, which hit 422 million.
Whistleblowing isn't unique to any industry. Yet the contrary outlook baked into many journalists — which can be a central part of their jobs — and generational changes in how many view activism have combined to make it probable these sort of incidents will continue.
Scott R. Flick: "On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission announced a new rule banning employee noncompete agreements, treating them as harmful and an 'unfair method of competition.' This includes noncompetes in the broadcast industry, where they serve a vital purpose that was given short shrift by the FTC.
The Peabody Awards on Thursday revealed its full list of nominations for its 84th edition, with high-profile TV series like The Bear, Bluey, The Last of Us, Reservation Dogs, Fellow Travelers, Blue Eye Samurai, Last Week Tonight, Jury Duty and Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur among those making the cut.
The Los Angeles Times newsroom continues to feel the invisible hand of owner Patrick Soon-Shiong in coverage of his pharma research, home page choices and in pushing for livestream video.
From Glee to The Golden Bachelor, Empire to The Dropout, Arrested Development to Abbott Elementary and 24 to 9-1-1, Shannon Ryan has played a critical role in the launch of countless TV series over the past three decades. Now president of marketing for Disney Entertainment Television, Ryan oversees marketing, publicity and communications for an unprecedented portfolio of more than 200 active series at any given time across Hulu, ABC, National Geographic, Disney Channel, Onyx Collective, Freeform and other platforms.
The former CBS Evening News anchor has not appeared on CBS since he left the network in 2006, but will be the subject of a CBS Sunday Morning profile this weekend.
With NBC’s #OneChicago in rerun mode one final time this season, CBS’s Survivor dominated Wednesday both in total audience and in the demo (with 4.9 million total viewers and a 0.7 demo rating). ABC's Not Dead Yet (2.2 million/0.2) was steady with its season (series?) finale.
Canceled by Disney before it even aired, The Spiderwick Chronicles found a new home at Roku and has so far “delivered results beyond expectations,” its creator says.
Netflix is investing in Leanne Morgan. The streamer has handed out a 16-episode, straight-to-series order for an untitled multicamera comedy starring the stand-up comedian. Comedy kingpin Chuck Lorre (Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men) co-created the series alongside Morgan and Susan McMartin.
Netflix’s 3 Body Problem delivered its second straight No. 1 showing among streaming titles, leading the rankings for the last week of March. The acquired series top 10 had several new entrants, thanks in part to a change in how Nielsen reports the numbers.
There will not be a fourth season of Canadian comedy Run the Burbs. Co-creator and star Andrew Phung shared the news Thursday on Instagram that CBC has canceled the series after three seasons. The show airs in the U.S. on The CW.
Jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include an opening for a director of sales and an account executive, executive producer, meteorologist, weekend anchor, sales manager, senior newscast producer, digital video producer and reporter.
Streaming sales leaders from Gray Television, E.W. Scripps, Hearst Television, Ticker and Megaphone TV will share the latest developments in technology and strategy for OTT and FAST channels. Learn more about this critically important revenue source for broadcasters in a TVNewsCheck Working Lunch Webinar on May 16. Register here.
16 May 2024
23 May 2024
