Business

In the wake of CBS and Viacom announcing their merger, both companies’ shares have dropped roughly 20%. At today’s Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit in Beverly Hills, Viacom president and CEO Bob Bakish was asked what exactly was up. When the deal was announced, the combined entity was valued at $30 billion. Now…

EXCLUSIVE: Sony’s label Stage 6 Films has hired Elizabeth Grave and Tamara Woolfork as SVP of Production and Development and SVP of Business Affairs respectively, under the studio’s Worldwide Acquisitions division. The announcement today was made by Stage 6 co-heads Michael Helfand and Joe Matukewicz. In a joint…

New York Attorney General Letitia James said 46 other attorneys general have joined her antitrust investigation into Facebook, adding more legal firepower to a potential lawsuit. The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice have already opened antitrust investigations. At a Wall Street Journal…

Snapchat parent Snap Inc. has continued to gain momentum after stumbling badly in 2018, posting third-quarter results that exceeded Wall Street estimates for revenue and new subscribers. Total revenue of $446 million in the period rose 50% from the same quarter a year ago and beat analysts’ consensus forecast by more…

Roku, which has evolved beyond streaming boxes and dongles to become a force in streaming advertising, has acquired ad-tech firm Dataxu for $150 million in cash and stock. The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter. Roku executives will detail their plans for integrating Dataxu’s demand-side buying and…

Quibi, the short-form mobile streaming service launching next April, said it has sold out its $150 million in advertising inventory for its first year. Advertisers getting in on the ground floor include Discover, General Mills, T-Mobile and Taco Bell, along with previously announced buyers Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo…

Felicity Huffman is halfway through her prison sentence for her role in the nationwide college bribery scheme, but Lori Loughlin could be looking at a lot longer stretch if found guilty for getting her daughters into USC under false pretenses. Having plead not guilty this spring to various federal charges from…

An anonymous senior administration official plans to publish a book next month that will serve as a “warning” about President Donald Trump’s presidency. The author — who will publish the book anonymously — is represented by Matt Latimer, a literary agent and lawyer. His agency Javelin tweeted out a link to the book…

Former ten-day White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci did not mince words at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit during a conversation with Vanity Fair‘s Gabriel Sherman titled “The Impeachment Will Be Televised”. Scaramucci was very direct with his thoughts about the impeachment hearings that D…

Gary Newman, who had a long run as chairman of Fox alongside Dana Walden until 2018, has joined Attention Capital as executive partner. Attention Capital was founded by former Fox ad chief Joe Marchese, former Snapchat content head Nick Bell, former head of content at Snapchat, and former Palantir exec Ashlyn Gentry…

The conversation on Tuesday between Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Radhika Jones and Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger and filmmaker Jon Favreau was largely about the upcoming Disney+ streaming series Star Wars: The Mandalorian. But toward the end of their chat, Jones put the media conglom boss in the hot seat over his…

ICM Partners promoted three to agent posts across three departments: Victoria Gutierrez was raised to Agent in the Concerts Department, Charlotte Lichtman to Agent in the International & Independent Film Department, and Brittany Perlmuter to Agent in the Talent Department with her focus in Comedy. Gutierrez has been…