 |
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.”
 |
| 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.”
 |
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.
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.
