 Les Moonves |
CBS is investigating claims of sexual misconduct by CEO Les Moonves following a story in the New Yorker by Ronan Farrow. While the story deals with CBS as a whole, Moonves is singled out as someone who is said to have been accused of sexual misconduct. CBS said in a statement that it is “committed to investigating claims that violate the Company’s clear policies.” The story hits as the legal fight between Moonves and CBS vice chair Shari Redstone intensifies. Redstone wants to merge CBS with Viacom, both of which she controls through voting shares in National Amusements, a Redstone-family owned trust. Moonves wants CBS to maintain its independence from Viacom. Before today's stock plunge, Moonves had piloted the company to a 1,200 percent increase in its share price over the past nine years, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and he recently told Wall Street to expect record financial results this year.
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Viacom has acquired youth-oriented digital media company AwesomenessTV, currently a joint venture of NBCUniversal's DreamWorks Animation, Hearst and Verizon. CNBC reports that Viacom will be paying around $300 million for the company—a steep discount from its 2016 valuation of $650 million. Viacom says that Awesomeness CEO Jordan Levin will depart after a transition period and that the company will integrate with Viacom Digital Studios. Viacom CEO Bob Bakish has been building out its digital footprint, picking up VidCon, an online video conference popular with teens, earlier this year.
 Paul Buccieri |
A+E Networks Group has named Paul Buccieri president. Buccieri, who was previously president of A+E Studios and A+E Networks, succeeds Nancy Dubuc, who left the company to become CEO of Vice Media in March. Before coming to A+E Networks, Buccieri was chairman of ITV Studios U.S. Group and ITV Studios Global Entertainment. He also previously served as president of programming, production and development at Fox Twentieth Television. In his new position, Buccieri will oversee all of the A+E Networks’ operations, including A&E, Lifetime, History, LMN, FYI and VICELAND, as well as A+E Studios and other properties.
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New York Daily News, which slashed its staff by 50 percent earlier this week, is now hiking the newsstand price of the paper—also by 50 percent. Beginning August 6, the cover price will rise from $1 to $1.50. According to the New York Post, the price of the Daily News Sunday edition will jump from $1.50 to $2. But the extra 50 cents might not be all that successful of a moneymaker: The Alliance for Audited Media reported that the paper’s daily circulation for the first quarter of the year was just 164,472. The cuts at the paper once called “New York’s Picture Newspaper” included the elimination of all staff photographers.
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.
