The Radice Files — Issue #40 “David & Goliath”
When taking about the Discovery/Warner merger, I can’t help but think about the story of David and Goliath. David, in this case, really is David Zaslav. But this time, David is swallowing Goliath whole.
Discovery Extends CEO David Zaslav’s Contract Through 2027 — Deadline
Discovery announced Tuesday it’s extended the employment contract of president and CEO David Zaslav employment contract through 2027.
David Zaslav Brought You ‘Fixer Upper’ and ’90 Day Fiancé.’ Now, He’ll Be HBO’s Overseer. — WSJ
Discovery CEO David Zaslav will head a new venture formed by his company’s merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia, as he seeks to build a streaming juggernaut aiming to take a bite out of Netflix and Disney+.
Nexstar hires former ABC News exec Michael Corn to run NewsNation — Robert Feder
Michael Corn, former senior executive producer of “Good Morning America” and a 19-year veteran of ABC News, has been tapped to run NewsNation, the Chicago-
Jimmy Kimmel Rips Network TV During Disney Upfront: ‘We’re All Screwed’ — The Hollywood Reporter
The funniest jokes from Kimmel’s monologue at Disney’s 2021 upfronts: “Being the most watched network is like being the best-selling fax machine.”
Webby Awards go to Fauci, Oprah, DuVernay and Pharrell
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVernay, Riz Ahmed, Dua Lipa, Andra Day and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson all won honors Tuesday at the Webby Awards, which recognize the best internet content and creators. The Webby Person of the Year went to Fauci for using digital and social media to reach the masses with credible and factual COVID-19 information. DuVernay won the Film and Video Person of the Year trophy for her efforts creating a database to diversify Hollywood.
Google IO 2021, Everything That Was Announced: Android, AI, Privacy, Wear, Project Starline | WIRED
The annual Google IO developer conference kicked off with a two-hour keynote filled with announcements. Here are the highlights.
Spotify will auto-transcribe podcasts over the coming weeks — The Verge
Spotify is making multiple accessibility-oriented updates, including the launch of a feature that’ll allow for automatic podcast transcriptions.
Lamborghini announces plan for a fully-electric car by 2030
Italian supercar maker Lamborghini announced that it will launch a fully-electric car in the second half of the decade.
An Old-School Media Titan Pushes Aside an Upstart — The New York Times
Jason Kilar was named chief executive of WarnerMedia just last year, but now he is negotiating his departure after being sidelined by David Zaslav, the longtime leader of Discovery.
ABC May Adjust Pricetag for Oscar Ad Buys After Ratings Freefall
“We will look at all of the sponsorships across all of our business going forward and make sure that they reflect the potential and the audience,” Disney’s ad sales chief Rita Ferro says
Gillmor Gang: Party Line — TechCrunch
In the early days of social media, all things seemed possible. Twitter was this weird reboot of blogs, with a social layer atop an RSS feed that gave authority to last in/first out musings by providing data not just about read or unread but shared by who. You could take that authority data and rank […]
Galapagos rock formation Darwin’s Arch has collapsed — CNN
The top of Darwin’s Arch, located in the northern part of the archipelago, fell as “a consequence of natural erosion,” according to the Ministry of Environment for Ecuador.
And finally…
“The Heartbreak Kid” and “Midnight Run” star Charles Grodin died Tuesday at age 86 after suffering from bone marrow cancer.
Oh, One last thing…
