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Condé Nast has sold Golf Digest to Discovery Inc. for what sources told the New York Times was $35 million. When Condé Nast picked up the publication and several other titles from the New York Times Company in 2001, the price tag was $430 million. Golf Digest editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde and his editorial staff are expected to keep their jobs, and the magazine will continue with its print edition. Tarde will also take on the title of global head of strategy and content for Discovery Golf. In addition to owning the Food Network and HGTV, Discovery has been working to build what it calls a “digital home of golf.” The company carries PGA Tour events to audiences outside the U.S. (NBC has the domestic rights), and also broadcasts European Tour, Ladies European Tour and select Masters events on its Golf TV channel. Golf Digest is the first of the three Condé Nast titles put up for sale last year (the others are W and Brides) to find a buyer.
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Disney will be taking full operational control of Hulu, following a deal brokered with Comcast, which owns the 33 percent of the company not owned by Disney. According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal’s terms would permit Comcast to require Disney to purchase that 33 percent share as early as January 2024. Comcast is also giving up the three seats it currently has on the Hulu board. The deal is part of Disney’s plan to make Hulu part of its overall streaming future. “We are now able to completely integrate Hulu into our direct-to-consumer business,” Disney chairman and chief executive Robert Iger said in a statement. That business would consist of the company’s projected streaming service, Disney+, which would concentrate on content directed at families and children, and Hulu, which would be aimed at adult audiences. While Hulu remains unprofitable, it is growing: the company added 3.8 million subscribers in Q1 2019, as opposed to Netflix’s 1.74 million increase. However, that still makes Hulu (28 million subscribers) a distant second to Netflix (60 million).
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The Daily Buzz, an entertainment and celebrity gossip show that presents paid lifestyle integrations, will broadcast its 100th episode May 16 on CBS-owned POP TV. The show, which aired on the CW network for 13 years, was acquired and re-launched by KEF Media in June 2017. KEF also re-launched the show’s social media pages. Produced in Orlando and hosted by Lance Smith and Kia Malone, the show has presented content from such brands as Amazon, Hilton, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Viking River Cruises and Heineken. “With the Buzz, we’re able to guarantee every client their content will air in every major and secondary television market in the U.S. along with coverage on our robust social media platforms,” said KEF Media CEO Kevin Foley.
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.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7... GQ editor Will Welch is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton... Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. 
The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI reach an agreement that will make a set of more than 200 animated, masked and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars available for use by Sora, OpenAI’s short-form generative AI video platform... CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has moved Tony Dokoupil, a co-host at “CBS Mornings” since 2019, into the anchor’s chair for the “CBS Evening News,” following the departure of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois... USA Today editor-in-chief Caren Bohan has left the paper.
