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Sinclair Broadcast Group is firing back at Tribune Media over the $1 billion breach of contract suit Tribune filed earlier this month concerning the collapse of a deal in which Sinclair would have acquired 42 TV stations currently owned by Tribune, as well as the national network WGN America. In a countersuit filed on Aug. 29 in Delaware Chancery Court, Sinclair claims that Tribune failed to meet its contractual obligations by not engaging in “reasonable best efforts” to close the deal. Sinclair also says that Tribune is looking to profit from the scuttled deal. “We were extremely disappointed that the Tribune transaction was terminated,” Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley in a statement. “We are likewise disappointed that Tribune, through its meritless lawsuit, is seeking to capitalize on an unfavorable and unexpected reaction from the Federal Communications Commission to capture a windfall for Tribune.”
 Kristen O'Hara |
Snap Inc. has appointed Kristen O’Hara VP-U.S. global business solutions. O’Hara comes to Snap after 16 years at WarnerMedia (the former Time Warner), most recently as chief marketing officer for global media. She succeeds Jeff Lucas, who left the company in February. Before coming to Time Warner, O’Hara was senior partner, account director at WPP agency Young & Rubicam. In her new post, she will be in charge of Snap’s U.S. sales operations, reporting to chief strategy officer Imran Khan. The Wall Street Journal reports that Snap’s estimated share of the global digital ad market currently lags far behind competitors Facebook and Google. Numbers from research firm eMarketer give Snap about 0.5 percent of that market, while Facebook and Google come in at 18 percent and 31 percent respectively. Snap, which launched its self-serve programmatic platform in June, grew revenue by 44 percent to $262 million during the second quarter this year.
 Alex Hardiman |
The Atlantic has hired Facebook head of news products Alex Hardiman as chief business and product officer. Before coming to Facebook, Hardiman was vice president, news products at the New York Times. At Facebook, she led the product and engineering teams for news and oversaw the news experiences for all Facebook users, as well as working to expand the company’s subscriptions product for news organizations and serving as a liaison with publishers as part of The Facebook Journalism Project. She will be responsible for guiding audience experience and product strategy across the brand’s platforms; leading the product, engineering, data and growth teams; and shaping The Atlantic’s initiatives on digital consumer revenue. Bob Cohn, The Atlantic’s president that Hardiman’s stints at Facebook and the Times “give her an unrivaled perspective on digital media, and her audience-first focus will sharpen the appeal of our work.”
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.
