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| Piers Morgan |
News Corp is bringing Piers Morgan back to the airwaves as the centerpiece in its launch of talkTV, a British channel set to launch early next year. According to News Corp’s British arm, News UK, the network “will be streamed live and made widely available on all platforms including linear TV and OTT with content available across social media as well as News UK’s own broad inventory of websites and apps.” In the US, Morgan’s chat show will run on the Fox Nation streaming service, and it will appear on Sky News Australia. Morgan will also write a weekly column that will appear in The Sun and the New York Post. Most recently, he hosted ITV’s “Good Morning Britain,” but he exited that position in March following his on-air accusation that Meghan Markle was not telling the truth in her CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey.
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Fox Corporation buys celebrity gossip brand TMZ from AT&T’s WarnerMedia. TMZ co-founder Harvey Levin will stay on as managing editor. Fox will operate TMZ’s main website, its culture site TooFab.com, its syndicated television programs and celebrity bus tours. “The unique and powerful brand Harvey has created in TMZ has forever changed the entertainment industry and we’re excited to welcome them to Fox,” Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in a statement. TMZ is one of the assets that AT&T is selling as it prepares for the spinoff of WarnerMedia, which is to merge with Discovery.
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| Roger Darnell |
Roger Darnell, founder of The Darnell Works Agency, has written a book aimed at professionals and students who want to improve their prospects in business. “The Communications Consultant’s Foundation” outlines how readers can develop the soft skills required for a successful career as a communicator, as well as offering tips on effective ways to work remotely and independently. Incorporating knowledge from established industry figures and first-hand insight from Darnell’s own career, the book explores such topics as essential business imperatives, what it means to be a PR expert in the creative industry, customer service and the basics of positive, proactive, strategic communications. Darnell has worked on projects including music videos; featured, short and brand films; integrated marketing campaigns; and Super Bowl spots.
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.
