Your Media Morning: 100 Jobs to Disappear at Us Weekly, Print Media Outlook is no Good, Time Inc Cancels

OVERSEAS MILLENNIALS  ONE YEAR OLD CHEDDAR IS GOING GLOBAL Cheddar, the one year old fast rising digital business news network founded by former Daily Mail US CEO Jon Steinberg is about to land overseas thanks to a distribution deal with independent studio Propagate which is headed by former NBC entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman.  Post it Tweet it Share it Forward it Good Media Morning to you. As American Media Inc prepares to shake things up at Us Weekly, the print media outlook continues to be bleak. That and more in this morning's issue. DISMAL OUTLOOK FOR MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS The outlook for the US newspaper and magazine industry remains negative, as advertising revenues continue to decline, Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report. “Competition for advertisers continues to rise from search engines, social media and digital video.” THE FUTURE OF ROLLINGSTONE ISN'T ROLLINGSTONE MAGAZINE That’s according to the magazine’s co-owner, Meng Ru Kuok, a 28-year-old blues-loving, guitar-playing billionaire heir from Singapore. His BandLab Technologies acquired 49% of Rolling Stone for an undisclosed sum last year, he’ll have no editorial control. Instead, he says he’s developing the brand elsewhere. The next stage in Rolling Stone’s “lifecycle is…merchandise, hospitality and physical experiences. DISCOVERY INSTALLS PRODUCT/TECH EXECUTIVE FROM VERIZON Joseph Ambeault, an exec formerly with Verizon, has been named SVP, product and technology at Discovery Communications. In his new role, Ambeault will head up product, engineering, design and program management across Discovery’s U.S digital organization. HEARST/DISNEY'S A&E INVESTS IN BEAUTYCON Beautycon Media holds festivals that are a paean to the new model of marketing to millennials. The company has just raised $9 million from a motley assortment of new strategic investors and pedigreed family offices, including A+E Networks and Main Street Advisors. VIACOM LOSES OUT ON $1 BILLION FILM FINANCING Viacom’s Paramount Pictures movie unit has failed to strike a deal with two Chinese groups to receive $1 billion in financing for a fresh series of films, according to several Hollywood sources. “It’s DOA,” one source close to the talks said. “China is passing.” BUZZFEED SKIPPING NEWFRONTS TO HOST EXPERIENTIAL EVENT INSTEAD BuzzFeed has chosen, along with Yahoo, to remove themselves from this year’s schedule. The company will still provide information and inside looks to clients, but as a separate event outside of the NewFront schedule. “We’re really interested in building a deeper engagement with our clients,” Laura Henderson, svp of marketing for BuzzFeed, told Adweek. “We work differently than other players in the space, and we want to have a more in-depth conversation with partners.” JOANNE LIPMAN INSTALLED AS EDITOR IN CHIEF OF USA TODAY Earlier in her career, Lipman rose through the ranks of The Wall Street Journal from reporter to deputy managing editor. But her arguably most high profile gig was the ill-fated editorship of Condé Nast Portfolio, a business magazine launched to great fanfare in 2007 only to fold two years later after a famously bumpy run. AT&T CFO JOHN STEPHENS SAID HE EARNED HIS GRAYS FROM TIME WARNER DEAL “$180 billion worth of debt is a lot of debt, and I’ve earned my greys,” he said. “But … don’t start with the numbers necessarily. Start with the vision and the business plan, and then evaluate everything in that order.” STACI HALLMON-BAZZANI NAMED VP/BRAND DIRECTOR AT TIME INC'S ESSENCE As its in the process of reviewing bids, Time Inc continues to ensure all its brands are well covered. Today the company named Staci Hallmon-Bazzani Vice President and Brand Director for Essence. Ms. Hallmon-Bazzani was recently the brand's National Sponsorship Director. TIME INC IS THE LATEST MEDIA COMPANY TO PULL THE PLUG ON ITS ANNUAL WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS PARTY “Time Inc. will not be hosting its annual Time/People party at the St. Regis during this year’s WHCA weekend. As usual, Time will be participating in the WHCA dinner. People will be making a donation to the WHCA in lieu of tables at the dinner.” THIS IS HOW GOOGLE WON OVER SOME PUBLISHERS In 2015, Google launched the News Lab, a site with tools and training resources for journalists; and the Digital News Initiative in Europe, including 150 million euros in funding. Last year it introduced Accelerated Mobile Pages, its answer to Facebook Instant Articles, which loads publishers’ mobile article pages lightning fast in the app. Efforts like these happened because Google was spending more time listening to publishers CONDE NAST TRAVELER'S NEW COVER, A FIRST FOR A U.S. TRAVEL MAGAZINE Wednesday Mar. 22 sees the release of Condé Nast Traveler’s new Africa issue, which shines a light on one of the word’s (still!) most undiscovered destinations. It’s also notable for its colorful cover — and “cover model” — Senegalese TV anchor Oumy Ndour, the first veiled woman to front a US travel magazine. GROUP NINE MEDIA'S 'NOW THIS' IS LAUNCHING A SPORTS VERTICAL NowThis plans to jump into the wide world of sports with the launch of NowThis Sports on Facebook later this spring. The short-form video giant’s seventh vertical will join existing offshoots such as NowThis Politics, NowThis Future and NowThis Weed. YOUTUBE APOLOGIZED FOR BLOCKING VIDEOS PRODUCED BY THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY YouTube apologized on Monday for upsetting its community by blocking and filtering videos made by its LGBTQ+ community. The problem occurred with YouTube’s “Restricted Mode,” a feature designed to “use community flagging, age-restrictions, and other signals to identify and filter out potentially inappropriate content.” HEARST BRINGS ITS PUBLICATIONS TO VOICE ACTIVATED PLATFORMS Thanks to voice-activated assistants like the Amazon Alexa and Google Home, audio is having a moment with publishers. At Hearst, that means about a dozen Hearst employees have been placed in a group devoted to bringing the publisher’s content to souped-up speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home. So far, Hearst has developed just two voice skills — for Elle and Good Housekeeping — with another voice product in its final testing phase that should debut in the next month or two, said Chris Papaleo, executive director of emerging technology at Hearst. Don't forget to share this morning's issue with colleagues and friends by clicking/tapping the button below SUBSCRIBE

[post_ad]