 Glenn Beck |
The Blaze and CRTV are combining to form Blaze Media, which they say will reach 165 million people via television, digital platforms and social media—making it “the largest independent, traditionally conservative multiplatform media company in the United States,” according to a report on TheBlaze.com. The Blaze was founded by Glenn Beck after he parted company with Fox News, and CRTV was started up by current Fox News host Mark Levin in 2014. The new company will be led by Tyler Cardon, who served as president of TheBlaze, and Gaston Mooney, who was president of CRTV. Effective immediately, subscribers to CRTV and TheBlaze Premium will have access to streaming content from both entities.
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Nexstar Media Group has entered into a merger agreement with Tribune Media. The $6.4 billion deal would make Nexstar the largest local television station owner in the country, with 216 stations in 118 markets. However, Nexstar has said it intends to divest or swap stations it has in 13 of the 15 markets in which its current stations overlap with those of Tribune. Following the merger, which is set to be completed in the third quarter of 2019, Nexstar would have stations in eight of the top 10 U.S. television markets (including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago) and in 37 of the top 50 markets. Tribune terminated its previous merger deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group in August following regulatory difficulties. According to Variety, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook told analysts that he has already discussed the Nexstar/Tribune transaction with FCC chairman Ajit Pai. Perry also said he would quickly deliver a “comprehensive plan for compliance with regulatory requirements” to the FCC.
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The News Group, which controls about two-thirds of the magazine wholesale market, is being sold by media conglomerate Jim Pattison Group to New Jersey-based hedge fund Chatham Asset Management in a deal expected to close by the end of the year. TNG will become part of American News Group, a newly formed Chatham portfolio company, joining Comag Marketing Group, which is the national newsstand distributor for such publishers as Hearst Magazines, Condé Nast and American Media Inc. According to Bloomberg, Chatham also has a majority stake in American Media, owner of the National Enquirer as well as a string of such recent acquisitions as Us Weekly, Men’s Journal, and InTouch. The announcement added that approximately 1,500 TNG employees will make the transition to American News Group.
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.
