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| Courtney Coupe |
LinkedIn signs up Courtney Coupe, who was most recently SVP of content strategy and operations at CNN Digital, as its first head of original programming. The social media platform, which recently launched a podcast network, has been investing in original content. Coupe is charged with leading a newly formed original programming team that will bring its efforts together, overseeing the strategy, development and production of all original video and audio content. "Courtney has spent her career creating high-quality, economy and career-focused audio and video content for some of the top brands in media," said LinkedIn editor-in-chief Dan Roth. LinkedIn's editorial team currently numbers more than 180 employees across 16 countries.
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Apple Music has signed on as the sponsor for the Super Bowl halftime show, taking over from Pepsi, which has backed the event for the past 10 years. According to Sports Business Journal, the five-year deal is worth approximately $50 million per year. Apple is reportedly in talks with the NFL on a possible deal to carry the Sunday Ticket out-of-market package and buy part of the NFL Media properties. The lineup of performers for next year's halftime show is still to be announced. Last year's Emmy-winning edition, which featured Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar, averaged 103.4 million viewers, up seven percent from the previous year.
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Parade magazine, the Sunday newspaper supplement that was launched in 1941, will cease print publication after its November 6 issue. The magazine will now only appear in the digital editions of the newspapers that run it. According to a report on MediaPost, Parade currently appears in about 700 newspapers. The Arena Group, which also owns such brands as TheStreet and Sports Illustrated, acquired Parade's parent, AMG/Parade, earlier this year for $16.3 million. "We are infusing fresh energy across our brands in all formats to make sure they can meet both the moment and the needs of their readers in new and innovative ways," Kevin Craig, Arena's senior vice president for newspaper relations, said in an email to newspapers last week. The company said it was also ending its Relish and Spry Living magazines after their October issues.
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.
