 |
| Kevin Delaney |
Kevin Delaney, who left his position as editor and co-CEO of Quartz in October, is joining the New York Times Opinion department, where he will lead what Times editorial page director James Bennet is calling “the department’s next big project.” Before helping to launch Quartz in 2012, Delaney was a reporter in Paris and San Francisco for the Wall Street Journal, and also served as managing editor of WSJ.com. He remains a senior advisor to Quartz. Taking the editor-in-chief slot at Quartz is Katherine Bell, who most recently served as editor-in-chief of Barron’s magazine and was previously the top digital editor at Harvard Business Review.
 |
| Mike Bloomberg |
Mike Bloomberg is on track to become the biggest buyer of advertising in the history of U.S. presidential campaigns. A Politico report from last week said that the former New York City mayor has already spent over $120 million since declaring himself a candidate in November. The ad buys include $13 million each in California, Texas and Florida. “We’ve never seen spending like this in a presidential race,” Jim McLaughlin, a Republican political strategist who worked as a consultant for Bloomberg’s mayoral bids, told Politico. “He has a limitless budget.” Bloomberg’s advertising bill is more than twice the amount of all other Democratic candidates, with the exception of fellow billionaire Tom Steyer, who has shelled out $83 million.
 |
Comcast is in negotiations to buy Xumo, a free, ad-supported over-the-top video app that has more than 190 content channels, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The potential deal comes ahead of the April launch of Comcast’s Peacock streaming service, which will reportedly offer a free version with ads as well as subscription-based options. Peacock joins an increasingly crowded field of streaming services, which includes recent entrants Disney+ and AppleTV+. Xumo was formed in 2011 by Viant Technology LLC, then known as Interactive Media Holdings. One of its shareholders is magazine and TV company Meredith Corp.
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.
