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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.
Trump Media & Technology Group today reported a $58.2M net loss on $4.1M in 2023 revenues, a disclosure that drove its stock price down 22.6 percent to $47.96.
Barry Pollack, an attorney at Wall Street’s Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler, has registered Julian Assange as a client with the Justice Dept. “out of an abundance of caution.”
Paramount Global to slash 800 jobs in what chief executive Bob Bakish calls part of an effort to “return the company to earnings growth"... Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman is exiting at the end of the month due to disagreements with chief executive Gus Wenner over the direction the magazine is taking... The New York Times broke the $1 billion barrier in annual revenue from digital subscriptions in 2023... Press Forward is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms.
The majority of news articles are read within the first three days of publication, according to a recent report.
The Los Angeles Times gives pink slips to 115 people or 20 percent of its newsroom staff... TIME is also laying off about 30 employees, which is approximately 15 percent of its editorial staff... The Baltimore Banner, which was launched by Stewart Bainum in 2022 after he failed to buy the Baltimore Sun, added 500 subscribers per day in the three days following Sinclair Broadcast Group's deal to purchase the Sun.
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