Breaking: The New Yorker is planning to publish an article by Ronan Farrow that includes allegations of sexual misconduct against CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves, according to THR's Kim Masters. The report, expected to publish on the New Yorker's website later today, comes as Moonves is locked in a heated battle with CBS and Viacom chairwoman Shari Redstone over the future of the company. The New Yorker declined comment.
Official CBS statement:
• "All allegations of personal misconduct are to be taken seriously. The Independent Directors of CBS have committed to investigating claims that violate the Company's clear policies in that regard. Upon the conclusion of that investigation, which involves recently reported allegations that go back several decades, the Board will promptly review the findings and take appropriate action."
• "The timing of this report comes in the midst of the Company's very public legal dispute. While that litigation process continues, the CBS management team has the full support of the independent board members. Along with that team, we will continue to focus on creating value for our shareowners."
CBS shares have dropped as much as 6%. | | Mouse & Fox
Shareholders OK Disney-Fox
What's Next: The Mouse Gets The Fox: Disney and 21st Century Fox shareholders have just voted in separate meetings at the New York Hilton to approve Bob Iger's $71.3-billion offer for Rupert Murdoch's entertainment assets. Neither of the two men were in attendance, opting to send their financial officers and lawyers instead.
The Justice Department has already approved the takeover, which means the only thing now pending is regulatory approval outside the United States, from Europe to China to Brazil. Sources at both companies tell me they anticipate that will take until the first half of next year.
Three big questions:
• Can Disney take on Netflix? Disney can now stock its forthcoming streaming service with a massive portfolio of Disney, Fox, Marvel, Pixar and LucasFilm content that may give it an edge against Netflix, not to mention Amazon, Apple, etc.
• Can the Fox Force Three save Disney TV? 21st Century Fox President Peter Rice will soon take the helm on Disney's television side, with Fox TV chief Dana Walden and FX chief John Landgraf expected to take senior positions as well, per sources familiar.
• What will Lachlan Murdoch do with "New Fox"? Many media insiders are convinced Rupert's elder son will sell Fox News, Fox Business and Fox Sports to other buyers, but well-placed sources tell us that won't happen.
Post-game statements:
• Iger: "We ... look forward to welcoming 21st Century Fox's stellar talent to Disney and ultimately integrating our businesses to provide consumers around the world with more appealing content and entertainment options."
• Murdoch: "We expect the enlarged Disney and new 'Fox' companies will be pre-eminent in the entertainment and media industries."
How it's playing: "One empire grows. Another shrinks," NYT's Edmund Lee and Brooks Barnes write. "This move could set off a wave of mergers in a film business that has not seen significant consolidation since 1935." | | | PACIFIC
The Agenda Good Morning. For those of you following Facebook's dramatic market fall, we highly encourage you to read this thread from former Facebook product manager and "Chaos Monkeys" author Antonio García Martínez.
We wrote yesterday that Facebook's slowing growth is a near-term problem, not necessarily a long-term one. García Martínez agrees, and explains why: "This isn't about FB 'losing engagement,'" he argues. Facebook still has a massive user base: 2.5 billion between all apps. Now it just needs to keep making money from extant users and their data, which is something they've proven quite capable of doing.
Moreover, García Martínez argues that Facebook's heavy investment in product improvement -- a key source of the market freakout -- actually makes it less vulnerable to competitors who can't spend nearly as much. "The corporate survival curve for Facebook (i.e. the chance of succumbing to existential risks over time) just jumped upwards," he writes. "FB equity got a kick in the ass, but so did whatever kid out there is (was?) destined to unseat FB."
"Investors shouldn't panic," my colleague Paul R. LaMonica writes. "Facebook will bounce back." | | Katz's Gamble
New details on 'New TV'
Since yesterday's lead on Jeffrey Katzenberg's $1-billion financing round for "New TV," we've picked up new details on the content and distribution strategy for his premium short-form platform -- or, as he calls it, long-form content broken up into shorter segments.
Who owns the content?
• "New TV" pays for and licenses the content for a matter of years but ownership remains with the studios, a source with direct knowledge of the arrangement tells us.
How is it distributed?
• Distribution will likely be through a walled-off "New TV" subscription service, two sources with knowledge of the matter say.
The Big Picture: "New TV" will be yet another subscription service, which means the most important variable is still consumer demand: Do people actually want to watch five or ten-minute segments of premium-quality shows?
Oh/and: If so, what's to stop Netflix from doing that, too? | | | Remote Control "In Age of Cord Cutting, Many Cable Loyalists Cling to Remotes" Bloomberg's David Caleb Mutua reports: "More than 90 million households still subscribe to some form of pay TV, and they often can't envision a life without their hundreds of channels, live sports and generously sized remote controls." | | | LeBron Watch
HBO picks up 'The Shop'
Richard Plepler has picked up LeBron James and Maverick Carter's barbershop talk show "The Shop," which features the star NBA player hosting what are billed as real, candid conversations about sports, politics, culture, etc., with other athletes and celebrities.
The Big Picture: "The Shop" is the culmination of star athletes' emergence as outspoken cultural influencers, and the ultimate defiance of the archaic "shut up and dribble" view of professional athletes' role in society. It cuts out the middlemen (reporters, interviewers, etc) and gives athletes the opportunity to speak more frankly and informally, on their own terms:
• @KingJames: "I am so proud of this project. Athletes and artists get to have a real, uninterrupted discussion the way we always do. Politics, race, culture, music fashion...all of it."
The first 30-minute episode features Snoop Dogg, Odell Beckham Jr., Alvin Kamara, Draymond Green, Candace Parker and Jon Stewart. HBO Sports will air episodes "as frequently as the conversation warrants," meaning there is no set schedule.
Carter tells me why the barbershop setting matters...
• "This setting and this vibe is a place where athletes have been going since they were young athletes. This is where you learn everything except sports: life, culture, politics. This is where everyone has an opinion and a voice."
...and why it matters that it's on HBO:
• "When we started this company we wanted to be like HBO. We wanted to have a brand that athletes would look to like writers and producers look to HBO. So going to HBO is like, 'You've grown up and you got something great.' Richard Plepler has become a really close friend. It's the perfect match." | | | What Hollywood Is Reading "LeBron's First Glimpse of Local Color" by The Ringer's Paolo Uggetti: "James's decision to join the Lakers put the NBA's glamour franchise back on a path to glory. But murals of the new Laker that sprung up around Los Angeles were vandalized. LeBron may be the King, but he'll have to prove himself before Lakers fans—and especially Kobe fans—embrace him as the new King of L.A." | | | Full Court Press
Endeavor wants more sports
"Endeavor, the talent and sports agency formerly known as WME-IMG, wants to become the ESPN of niche sports," per The Information's Jessica Toonkel:
• "The company, backed by Silver Lake Partners and SoftBank, already owns bullfighting and martial arts competitions, and runs streaming services for both. But now it is considering how to expand these efforts."
• "Endeavor has held talks with the World Surf League about buying the rights to stream its competitions when they become available ... Endeavor also is interested in acquiring sports leagues."
Read Toonkel's full report here. | | What Next: New Summit Alert: Google's Sundar Pichai, Instagram's Kevin Systrom and YouTube's Susan Wojcicki will be among the featured guests at Wired's Wired25 festival this October in San Francisco. The four-day summit commemorates Wired's 25th anniversary. See you Monday. | | | | | |
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