Technology
Advertising news today: Vice Media and marketers, Amazon vs. Roku
Former A&E Networks exec Nancy Dubuc took over the reins of
Vice Media as CEO in May, replacing cofounder Shane Smith amid
a string of controversies and a rough market in the
digital-media industry.
According to a report from The
Wall Street Journal published on
Wednesday, Vice
Media’s revenue is expected to be flat
relative to last year, at $600 to $650 million. The report also
outlined the company’s dip in Comscore traffic and challenges
growing its advertising business, which relies on selling
advertisers sponsored content that mimics editorial articles.
In short, living up to its
eye-popping $5.7
billion valuation is proving to be a
challenge for Vice. On Thursday, Disney, which is one of Vice’s
biggest backers, said it had taken a $157
million write-down on its original
$400 million investment, equivalent to a
40% decline.
Click here to read about what marketers are saying
about Vice Media.
In other news:
‘His comments are illogical’: Analysts say Disney CEO Bob
Iger’s plan to raise Hulu prices is out of step with customer
demand. On Disney’s fourth-quarter earnings call on
Thursday, CEO Bob Iger said he saw “price elasticity” around Hulu
with Live TV, the company’s digital-TV bundle. Analysts don’t
agree.
Amazon’s got its eyes set on yet another market — and one
high-flying upstart should be worried. In the
broader streaming-video market, Amazon is emerging as the chief
rival to Roku, according to a note from Morgan Stanley.
Facebook just launched a standalone video app called
Lasso and it’s basically the exact same thing as
TikTok. Lasso is a social video app that caps posts
to 15 seconds and lets creators add their favorite songs to play
in the background.
‘We market to who we sell to, and we don’t market to the
whole world’: Victoria’s Secret fires back at critics who say it
excludes plus-size shoppers. The brand has
frequently come under fire for excluding plus-size customers from
its ad campaigns and only featuring rail-thin models.
SAP is buying Utah-based startup Qualtrics for $8 billion — days
before it’s scheduled to IPO. Qualtrics is a
Utah-based startup that helps companies gather feedback and
refine their products.
Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon has agreed to
purchase Fortune magazine for $150 million in cash, reports
the Wall Street Journal. After selling Time to
Salesforce cofounder Marc Benioff in September, Meredith still
has Money and Sports Illustrated up for sale.
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