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Newsmax Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Newsmax Inc., has filed a federal antitrust suit against Fox Corporation and Fox News Network in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Newsmax’s grievance stems from its allegations that Fox has abused its dominance in the MAGA-adjacent pay TV news market by coercing distributors into unfair carriage agreements that it says are intended to exclude or marginalize competitors. The result achieved by Fox, the complaint claims, is the deliberate hampering Newsmax's growth across such critical distribution platforms as Hulu, Sling and Fubo. Among the exclusionary tactics by Fox alleged in the complaint are making access to Fox News contingent on agreements by distributors not to carry or to restrict competing right-leaning news channels; penalizing distributors for placing Newsmax in basic packages by requiring simultaneous promotion of Fox’s less popular channels; and pressuring guests on Fox programming to not appear on Newsmax. "Fox has sought to protect and expand its monopoly power in the right-leaning pay TV news market by engaging in a suite of anticompetitive behaviors," the complaint states, adding Fox's unlawful and exclusionary conduct "has harmed not just Newsmax and other competitors," but also "consumers and competition itself." A statement from Fox News counters that "Newsmax cannot sue their way out of their own competitive failures in the marketplace to chase headlines simply because they can’t attract viewers.”
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| Chloe Malle |
Condé Nast names Chloe Malle head of editorial content of Vogue U.S. Malle takes over from Anna Wintour, who has held the position since 1998. Malle came to Vogue as social editor in 2011. From 2016 to 2023, she was a contributing editor, and since 2023 has served as editor of Vogue.com. She has also co-hosted The Run-Through, a weekly fashion and culture podcast, since 2022. In her new role, Malle will lead the creative and editorial direction of Vogue U.S. While Wintour has passed on the reins of the magazine, she has hardly left the building—or even her office. She remains global editorial director of Vogue, as well as Condé Nast’s chief creative officer, and Malle will report to her. “Chloe has proven often that she can find the balance between American Vogue's long, singular history and its future on the front lines of the new,” said Wintour. “I am so excited to continue working with her, as her mentor but also as her student, while she leads us and our audiences where we've never been before.”
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NBCUniversal, which will broadcast Super Bowl LX next February, has already scored a touchdown, even though the NFL regular season is just getting started. The company says the upcoming NFL season marks its highest grossing to-date when it comes to overall advertising and partnerships revenue. NBC, the company’s broadcast arm, said it has already sold 90 percent of its ad inventory for “Sunday Night Football.” In addition, ad spots have already sold out for Super Bowl LX. According to CNBC, NBCUniversal said it saw high demand for Super Bowl ads, particularly from consumer products, entertainment, finance and alcohol brands. It also noted that spending was up 20 percent on digital platforms since the last Super Bowl on NBC in 2022.
Fox News Media issued a pretty sparse release to announce the departure of one of its stars. “Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media,” it reads.
Brunswick Group partner John Simons has joined CNN as senior director of business & media. He held top jobs at Time and the Wall Street Journal.
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.
