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| Charles Dolan |
Cablevision founder Charles Dolan is stepping down as executive chairman of AMC Networks, and will become chairman emeritus. Dolan has led the AMC Networks board ever since the company was spun off from Cablevision in 2011. His son James L. Dolan, who is also executive chairman of The Madison Square Garden Company and MSG Networks (both Cablevision spinoffs), will succeed him. When the Dolans sold Cablevision to the European telecom company Altice in 2016 they retained control of the AMC Networks and Madison Square Garden businesses. The Dolan family currently controls about 70 percent of the voting shares in AMC Networks. “The Dolans have led this company from its inception, and both Charles and Jim have provided vision, guidance and support through its long history of growth and evolution," said AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan in a statement.
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Red Ventures, which includes such digital brands as Healthline, Bankrate and Reviews.com, says it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CNET Media Group from ViacomCBS for $500 million. In addition to technology news brand CNET, CNET Media Group includes ZDNet, a leader in B2B focused content and Gamespot, a games information brand, as well as TVGuide, Metacritic and Chowhound. CNET Media Group executive vice president and general Mark Larkin and his senior team will remain in place after the acquisition. "CNET Media Group has built a dynamic portfolio of brands with well-earned authority on such topics as consumer tech and gaming that play an increasingly important role in people's lives,” said Red Ventures CEO and co-founder Ric Elias. “Red Ventures is eager to invest in CNET Media Group's growth with more personalized consumer experiences that will reinvigorate CNET Media Group's brands."
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| Aya Kanai |
Marie Claire editor-in-chief Aya Kanai is leaving that position to join Pinterest in the newly created role of head of content and editorial partnerships. According to WWD, Kanai’s departure was not expected by Hearst management. Before coming to Marie Claire, she served as chief fashion director for a group of Hearst publications that included Cosmopolitan and Redbook. Kanai had only been at Marie Claire since January, when she succeeded Anne Fulenwider, who left to build a start-up dedicated to women’s health. Sally Holmes, currently Marie Claire's digital director, will be taking over from Kanai. Holmes was previously executive editor at Elle.com.
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.
