 Ronan Farrow |
Ronan Farrow has signed an exclusive three-year deal with HBO that will begin later this year. Under the agreement, Farrow will develop a series of investigative documentary specials for the network, as well as appear in them. The specials will focus on the abuse of power by individuals and institutions. Farrow is also joining the New Yorker as a contributing editor, and his television work will incorporate the reporting he does for the magazine. He will also produce and host other pieces for HBO’s various platforms, which will be announced as they are confirmed. “Ronan Farrow’s extraordinary, revelatory reporting for the New Yorker has helped to propel a string of other investigations,” said Casey Bloys, president, HBO programming. “We are excited to provide a platform for this dogged reporter.”
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Paramount Pictures has promoted several executives in its publicity and marketing ranks. David Waldman, previously senior VP national publicity, is now executive VP domestic publicity. Irene Trachtenberg has been promoted from senior VP to head of worldwide marketing Partnerships. Waldman has overseen campaigns for a wide range of pictures, from such big-event titles as Transformers, Paranormal Activity and Iron Man to Oscar-winning titles that include Fences, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Dreamgirls. Prior to Paramount, he worked at Focus Features, MGM and the Angellotti Company. Trachtenberg will now oversee key corporate brand integration and promotional relationships for Paramount’s theatrical film releases. She joined the studio in 2014 as VP international partnerships and was promoted to SVP in 2017 to oversee global, multi-territory and domestic brand partnerships. Before coming to Paramount, Trachtenberg was director of global marketing promotions at Warner Bros.
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As Rupert Murdoch prepares to unload Fox’s film, television and international businesses in a deal with Walt Disney Co., his company is also close to closing a deal to pick up about 10 TV stations from Sinclair Broadcast Group. One of the biggest lures in the deal is football. The stations that Sinclair plans to sell to Fox include several in such major NFL markets as Seattle and Denver. Fox, which has shelled out big money to air NFL games, stands to bring in more football-related revenues if it owns more stations. Sinclair, which is attempting to purchase Tribune Media, needs to lose stations in some markets to facilitate governmental approval of that purchase.
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Discovery Communications is moving its global headquarters from Silver Spring, MD, to New York City next year. A company statement says that the move is intended to let Discovery take advantage of the proximity to business, investment and production partners in New York. “The media industry is rapidly evolving, increasingly global, more consumer focused and more multi-platform and Discovery must evolve with it,” said Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav. “The decision to move our global headquarters from its founding home is one we do not make lightly.” Contingent on the closing of the company’s purchase of Scripps Networks Interactive, the company will also establish a national operations headquarters at Scripps’ current campus in Knoxville, TN.
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. has replaced CEO and former California Congressman Devin Nunes with Kevin McGurn, a seasoned media sales executive.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
