The Week Kick-off: From South Korea to Kim Kardashian West, and a very special announcement from FIPP
Our busiest Kick-off ever this week, as the televisuals set the news agenda, and additionally a number of high-profile magazine moments make the media headlines. We’ve also got welcomed news from Google, and a very special announcement from FIPP, which at the time of writing is LIVE and EXCLUSIVE to the Kick-off… So Buckle up Twitter (and everyone else!)
From South to West and servicing the world
Kim Kardashian West hosted Saturday Night Live at the weekend, in an appearance that predictably divided opinion. In one particularly strong line (IMHAO), the US television and social media celebrity said: “Basically, I’m just so much more than that reference photo my sister’s show their plastic surgeons.” The appearance represents further diversification for the mainstream media show, which earlier this year famously featured Elon Musk.
In other televisual news… the Guardian runs with the headline, ‘Squid Game’s success reopens who pays debate over rising internet traffic’, and cites a Reuters story saying that a local South Korean broadband provider is suing Netflix after the popular streaming show caused a massive traffic surge. Begun, the Squid Wars have (sorry!)
Meanwhile, the BBC published a performance review last week, announcing that the institution had achieved record global reach. During the period, the total reach of the service grew 42%, from 246 million people on average each week in March 2016 to 351 million people in March 2020.
Dotdash Meredith
One company that will definitely not be involving itself in the Squid Wars is Meredith, which earlier this year announced that it would be selling its TV division for US$2.7bn. Last week, that figure was matched with the sale of the rest of the company to InterActiveCorp (IAC) Dotdash digital publishing unit, in a deal that is likely to go through before the end of the year.
The new company – Dotdash Meredith – will be headed up by current Dotdash Chief Executive, Neil Vogel, who said: “Dotdash is a digital company, and we have a very different prism on how we view publishing. Our success is based on creating the best content and online experiences for each and every topic we cover, without compromise.” Full story here.
Those magazine moments
While Meredith stole the magazine media headlines last week, a monumental amount of other news also emerged from the sector, and you can find the latest and greatest on the FIPP website here:
- Axel Springer opens new chapter in sustainability with 2019/2020 report
- Hearst UK announces the return of Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards
- While Joanne O’Hara joins said company as Head of Homes in commercial Client team
- Vogue Café opens in Bangkok
- And Future Plc appoints Elizabeth Deeming as SVP of Group
Google ads… climate change responsibility to its agenda
There was also welcomed news from Google, who announced on Friday that the company was drawing the line on climate change denial. In a statement posted on its support site, the company wrote:
“In recent years, we’ve heard directly from a growing number of our advertising and publisher partners who have expressed concerns about ads that run alongside or promote inaccurate claims about climate change. Advertisers simply don’t want their ads to appear next to this content. And publishers and creators don’t want ads promoting these claims to appear on their pages or videos.”
“That’s why today, we’re announcing a new monetization policy for Google advertisers, publishers and YouTube creators that will prohibit ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change. This includes content referring to climate change as a hoax or a scam, claims denying that long-term trends show the global climate is warming, and claims denying that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity contribute to climate change.”
And finally…
I promised a BIG FIPP announcement and here it is… in 2022 we’ll be returning to normality and hosting our first post-pandemic Congress LIVE and IN PERSON! That’s right… Congress is back! And we’re delighted to announce that the 44th FIPP World Media Congress will take place in Lisbon-Cascais, Portugal from June 7th – 9th 2022. This will be a welcome return to meetings, networking and interacting with colleagues from across the world, and will feature a host of world-class speakers across two stages! You can find out further details here.
