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New York Times reported a rise in digital subscriptions but they are not making up for lower advertising revenues and increased costs. Operating profit at the New York Times Company decreased to $25.1 million in Q3 2019 from $41.4 million in the same period of 2018. The Times added 273,00 online subscribers in the third quarter, and NYT president and chief executive officer Mark Thompson said that “Q3 2019 was our best ever third quarter for new digital news subscriptions,” noting that the paper now has more than four million digital subscriptions and is “on track to hit 10 million subscriptions by 2025.” The advertising picture is not nearly so rosy, however. Overall ad revenues slid 6.7 percent, with a 5.4 percent dip in digital ad revenue. Thompson said he also expects Q4 to be “challenging” as far ad digital ad revenues are concerned.
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Fox Corporation has picked up three television stations from Nexstar Media Group, the first local stations the company has acquired since it closed the sale of its entertainment assets to Disney in March. The major drawing card for the stations—KCPQ and KZGO in Seattle and WITI in Milwaukee—is football (Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers). “Acquiring stations in these high-performing NFC markets enhances our already strong nationwide footprint,” said Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy. As part of the deal, Fox is selling Nexstar two Charlotte, NC stations, Fox affiliate WJZY and My NetworkTV affiliate WMYT.
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| Kevin MacLellan |
NBCUniversal chairman of global distribution and international Kevin MacLellan is leaving the company. MacLellan has been with Comcast, which controls a majority share of NBCUniversal, since 2001. “In light of Kevin’s departure, we have reassessed our international organizational structure,” said NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment chairman Jeff Shell. “With the rapidly evolving global media landscape, we have decided to more closely align our U.S. and international operations.” Last month, the studio brought Universal Television and Universal Content Productions together under a single business, NBCUniversal Content Studios, run by chair Bonnie Hammer and vice chair George Cheeks. The division will also encompass NBCUniversal International Studios, which includes Working Title TV and Carnival, the producer of Downton Abbey.
Michael Kaminer, who was responsible for the Observer’s “Power List” for the past 13 years, has cut ties with the publication... The New York Times Company continues the march toward its goal of 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027... The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is providing more than $6 million in funding to eight organizations working to address the challenges local news and information environments face along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Conservative outlets Fox News, Newsmax and the Daily Caller are holding back from signing Pete Hegseth’s edict restricting press access in the Pentagon... CBS News sees the first executive departure of the Bari Weiss era as head of standards and practices Claudia Milne exits... Indiana University shuts down the print version of The Indiana Daily Student.
Rothschild family plans to unload 26.7 percent stake in The Economist... STAT, a digital media company that focuses the life sciences, brings back Damian Garde, who anchored its biotech newsletter and podcast from 2016 to 2024... High Times officially resumes print publication (following its 2024 shutdown) with the release of a limited-edition, collectible 50th anniversary issue. 
CBS News is set to hand over its reins to The Free Press co-founder Bari Weiss as Paramount acquires her site for $155M... C-SPAN comes on board as an official media partner of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is charged by Congress to lead the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence... A new Gallup survey says that the level of trust that US audiences have in the media has hit a new low.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has named Kenneth Weinstein, former head of the conservative Hudson Institute, as ombudsman for CBS News.
