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Billboard-The Hollywood Reporter Media Group is unloading Spin and Stereogum, two of its music publications. The two were acquired, along with Vibe, from SpinMedia in 2016. Vibe is remaining part of the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter stable. Spin, which was founded by Bob Guccione, Jr. in 1985, has been sold to Next Management Partners, which bills itself as “a private equity firm solely focused on acquiring and scaling digital publishing and advertising technology businesses and building leadership teams.” Stereogum founder and current editor-in-chief Scott Lapatine is buying back the daily internet publication, and will serve as CEO. Valence Media, owner of the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, let go of seven editorial staffers across Spin, Vibe and Stereogum last September.
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| Glenda Bailey |
Harper’s Bazaar editor-in-chief Glenda Bailey is stepping down, Hearst, the magazine’s publisher, announced on Jan. 15. Bailey, who has helmed the publication for almost 20 years, will stay on as global fashion consultant. Her move comes as Hearst president Troy Young continues to emphasize digital know-how when staffing the top position at the company’s publications. Rumored to be on the shortlist to replace Bailey, according to WWD, are Joyann King, currently the executive editorial director at harpersbazaar.com; Stella Bugbee, the editor-in-chief at New York magazine’s fashion vertical The Cut; and Kristina O’Neill, editor-in-chief at WSJ magazine and former Harper’s Bazaar executive editor.
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NBCUniversal unveiled its Peacock streaming service on Jan. 16. The new service will be available for subscribers to Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex services on April 15 (Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal), and it will launch nationwide on July 15. It includes two ad-supported services, Peacock Free and Peacock Premium, and will offer an ad-free option for an extra $5 per month. Peacock Premium be available to Comcast and Cox subscribers at no extra charge, and will cost $4.99 per month for other customers. Perhaps one of the new service’s biggest draws will be the live sports programming it will offer, kicking off with exclusive coverage of the Tokyo Olympics and also including soccer’s Premiere League and golf’s Ryder Cup. It will also stream NBC’s two late-night chat shows—“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Myers”—three-and-a-half hours before they air on NBC. Also set to be offered as part of the NBC News programming on Peacock is a proposed partnership with Sky News to create an international news network.
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.
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.
