 |
Tribune Media has terminated its merger agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group and sued Sinclair for breach of contract. The $3.9 billion deal would have added Tribune’s 42 TV stations in 33 markets to Sinclair’s 192 current stations. Last month, the FCC voted to refer the proposed merger to an administrative law judge to review questions about the amount of control Sinclair would maintain over several stations it was divesting in order to comply with FCC regulations. “To maintain control over stations it was obligated to sell, Sinclair engaged in unnecessarily aggressive and protracted negotiations with the Department of Justice and the FCC over regulatory requirements,” Tribune said. Wednesday was the first-day Tribune was allowed to pull out of the deal, per the merger agreement. Tribune is expected to look for another buyer. One source inside Sinclair told CNN that a possible buyer could be Fox.
 |
HBO is teaming up with news and information website Axios for a documentary series of news-oriented specials set to debut in time for the midterm elections. Matthew O’Neill and Perri Peltz, both of whom have won Emmys for their work at HBO, will collaborate with Axios journalists on the programs, which are expected to combine breaking news content, exclusive interviews and short profiles. The new series will join “Vice News Tonight” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” in HBO’s lineup of programs covering news and politics. Axios was started in 2016 by Politico co-founder Jim VanderHei, Politico's former chief White House correspondent Mike Allen and former Politico chief revenue officer Roy Schwartz. “We see this combination of HBO, Axios and award-winning storytellers as a powerful way of bringing clarity and meaning to the most consequential topics,” said VanderHei.
 Kate Lewis |
Kate Lewis is stepping into the chief content officer role at Hearst that was vacated by Joanna Coles on Monday. Lewis has been with Hearst Magazines Digital Media since 2014, most recently as senior vice president and editorial director. In that position, she managed content groups across the company’s 21 websites for such brands as Harper’s Bazaar and Marie Claire. Before that she was senior vp, editorial director & content operations at digital publisher Say Media. Her resume also includes considerable print experience, including a 10-year stint as managing editor at Self. “Kate has built a team of first-rate editorial talent that is focused on publishing exceptional feature and service journalism in words, images and video,” Young said in a company statement announcing Lewis’ hire. “She has played an integral role in growing our digital organization into the fast-moving, profitable business it is today.”
Underscore Media, a new creator-led media venture dedicated to New York sports, is built around three established New York sports personalities, Sal Licata, Jimmy Traina, and John Jastremski.
McClatchy, which owns 29 daily papers across 14 states (including The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and Kansas City Star), launches a wave of layoffs that extends to at least 13 of those papers... The Toledo Blade, which was founded in 1835, is set to shut down on Dec. 31, unless owner Block Communications manages to find a buyer for it... A bill awaiting approval by California governor Gavin Newsom would give local newsrooms a boost. 
Fox News Media issued a pretty sparse release to announce the departure of one of its stars. “Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media,” it reads.
Brunswick Group partner John Simons has joined CNN as senior director of business & media. He held top jobs at Time and the Wall Street Journal.
WNET, the nation’s largest public media company, names Edward O’Keefe its next president and CEO, effective September 21. O’Keefe succeeds Neal Shapiro, who becomes president emeritus and will retire at the end of the year... The Stealth Bot Prohibition Act, which would empower news publishers and other content providers to defend themselves by mandating transparency for all bots crawling their sites, in introduced in the House by Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) and Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC)... Google gets socked by European Union regulators with a $1 billion fine for using the platform’s dominance as a search engine to illegally undercut competition.
