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| Sam Feist |
C-SPAN enlists CNN Washington bureau chief Sam Feist to come on board as its new CEO at the end of June. Feist joined CNN as an intern in 1989. In addition to heading the D.C. bureau since 2011, his positions at the news platform have included serving as its political director, the founding executive producer of “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” and producer of such shows as “Crossfire” and “Inside Politics.” In a memo to staff, CNN chief executive Mark Thompson called Feist a “CNN institution” and “one of the best-connected journalists in Washington.” Feist will become the third chief executive in C-SPAN’s history, replacing co-CEOs Susan Swain and Rob Kennedy, who had served in that role since 2012. C-SPAN chairman Pat Esser said in a statement that Feist is “an outstanding leader who is trusted and respected by both sides of the aisle and who has a deep respect for C-SPAN’s nonpartisan mission.”
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Fox Corporation, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have finally come up with a name for their joint sports streaming service. Venu Sports aims to be "an all-new streaming home where sports fans outside of the traditional pay TV eco-system can experience an incredible collection of live sports, all in one place," Venu Sports CEO Pete Distad said in a statement. The service, which is expected to launch this fall in the US, is slated to offer sports content from sources including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, college sports, UFC, PGA and FIFA World Cup. Details of the formation and launch of Venue are subject to regulatory approval and the finalization of definitive agreements between the parties.
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Real Simple magazine has teamed up with Pinterest on what it is calling a “shoppable” issue of the magazine. The magazine’s June “Best & Brightest” issue, which is online now and will be available on newsstands May 17, features more than 120 products that can be immediately purchased by readers via QR codes that link to Pinterest boards and then to the online retailer pages for each product. “We're thrilled to team up with Pinterest to help our readers get tried-and-true products into readers' homes," said Real Simple editor in chief Lauren Iannotti. The issue follows a “strategic partnership and licensing agreement” between Real Simple owner Dotdash Meredith, the IAC-controlled publishing company that also operates such publications as People, Food & Wine, Better Homes & Gardens, InStyle and Southern Living, and ChatGPT that will “enhance ChatGPT with DDM's trusted content, including time-tested recipes, expert health and financial information, leading style and entertainment content, and rigorous product reviews.”
WNET, the nation’s largest public media company, names Edward O’Keefe its next president and CEO, effective September 21. O’Keefe succeeds Neal Shapiro, who becomes president emeritus and will retire at the end of the year... The Stealth Bot Prohibition Act, which would empower news publishers and other content providers to defend themselves by mandating transparency for all bots crawling their sites, in introduced in the House by Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) and Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC)... Google gets socked by European Union regulators with a $1 billion fine for using the platform’s dominance as a search engine to illegally undercut competition.
Boston Globe Media acquires InstaTrac, a company that provides subscription-based services aimed at making government information easier to find, track, and understand... AARP names former New Republic CEO and publisher Michael Caruso as its SVP and chief content officer, unifying the organization's portfolio of media, live events and digital platforms... The Fund for American Studies, an educational nonprofit, awards its inaugural Journalism Excellence Fellowships.
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.
