If a big story erupted at a random hour not too long ago, executives at big TV-news outlets would typically try to break into regularly scheduled network programming with one of the oldest tools in the box, a “special report.” Now, thanks to a widening fight among TV companies to capture streaming audiences, they have many new options.
When the U.S. exited Afghanistan earlier this year, ABC News collected considerable footage – more than was required for news shows like “World News Tonight” or “Good Morning America.” Rather than letting it all sit unwatched, production teams from “20/20” and “Nightline” worked to get a program, “Final Hours: America’s Longest War,” up on Hulu. ABC News, says Kim Godwin, who was named president of the Disney unit earlier this year, has used the sibling streaming-video hub to distribute everything from in-depth investigative projects from George Stephanopoulos to a detailed recent...
When the U.S. exited Afghanistan earlier this year, ABC News collected considerable footage – more than was required for news shows like “World News Tonight” or “Good Morning America.” Rather than letting it all sit unwatched, production teams from “20/20” and “Nightline” worked to get a program, “Final Hours: America’s Longest War,” up on Hulu. ABC News, says Kim Godwin, who was named president of the Disney unit earlier this year, has used the sibling streaming-video hub to distribute everything from in-depth investigative projects from George Stephanopoulos to a detailed recent...
- 12/28/2021
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
CNN said on Wednesday that it was closing Great Big Story, a venture that was seen as a way to draw in younger viewers.
“Challenging times call for difficult decisions, and it is with a heavy heart that we are announcing today that will be closing the doors of Great Big Story,” read an announcement posted to its Twitter account. The shutdown was due to the economic environment due to Covid-19, according to a source, that proved to be too much for the business model.
pic.twitter.com/JWE9riptB2
— Great Big Story PR (@greatbigpress) September 23, 2020
The venture created short films and documentaries, and was seen as a way to tap into millennial audiences who favored outlets like BuzzFeed and Vice. The shutdown of Great Big Story was expected to impact up to 30 positions, according to the source.
Great Big Story won three Emmys and other awards.
At the time...
“Challenging times call for difficult decisions, and it is with a heavy heart that we are announcing today that will be closing the doors of Great Big Story,” read an announcement posted to its Twitter account. The shutdown was due to the economic environment due to Covid-19, according to a source, that proved to be too much for the business model.
pic.twitter.com/JWE9riptB2
— Great Big Story PR (@greatbigpress) September 23, 2020
The venture created short films and documentaries, and was seen as a way to tap into millennial audiences who favored outlets like BuzzFeed and Vice. The shutdown of Great Big Story was expected to impact up to 30 positions, according to the source.
Great Big Story won three Emmys and other awards.
At the time...
- 9/23/2020
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
CNN launches many stories each day, but one of them has come to an end.
The AT&T-owned news operation is shuttering Great Big Story, a streaming-video hub that launched in 2015 to some attention, and was billed as a way for CNN to reach a younger generation increasingly turning to short-form video delivered via broadband and mobile to get its news and information. For some, Great Big Story represented a way to compete with upstarts like Vice or Buzzfeed – digital boostrappers who were making inroads in the mainstream news cycle with stories and videos that appealed to millennial consumers.
“Challenging times call for difficult decisions, and it is with a heavy heart that we are announcing today that we will be closing the doors of Great Big Story,” the unit said in a statement Wednesday. The decision was driven in large part by economic conditions spurred by the spread of the coronavirus pandemic,...
The AT&T-owned news operation is shuttering Great Big Story, a streaming-video hub that launched in 2015 to some attention, and was billed as a way for CNN to reach a younger generation increasingly turning to short-form video delivered via broadband and mobile to get its news and information. For some, Great Big Story represented a way to compete with upstarts like Vice or Buzzfeed – digital boostrappers who were making inroads in the mainstream news cycle with stories and videos that appealed to millennial consumers.
“Challenging times call for difficult decisions, and it is with a heavy heart that we are announcing today that we will be closing the doors of Great Big Story,” the unit said in a statement Wednesday. The decision was driven in large part by economic conditions spurred by the spread of the coronavirus pandemic,...
- 9/23/2020
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
NBC News often delivers seismic headlines and attention-grabbing special reports. Now it wants to offer something equally as compelling to Madison Avenue.
The NBCUniversal news operation is launching NBC News Custom Productions, an editorial unit devoted to finding ways to pair advertisers with a growing array of content options made for streaming-video outlets. “The worlds of TV and digital are converging,” says Chris Berend, executive vice president of digital for NBC News, in an interview. “We have been working really closely with [ad-sales] teams to develop more capabilities to deliver more value for advertisers, particularly around news.”
NBC News’ launch of an editorial “studio” is the latest in a series of recent efforts by media companies to find new ways to hitch big brands to advertising in news programming – not always the easiest feat. News stories can be by turns shocking, violent, or depressing. And yet, in an era when people...
The NBCUniversal news operation is launching NBC News Custom Productions, an editorial unit devoted to finding ways to pair advertisers with a growing array of content options made for streaming-video outlets. “The worlds of TV and digital are converging,” says Chris Berend, executive vice president of digital for NBC News, in an interview. “We have been working really closely with [ad-sales] teams to develop more capabilities to deliver more value for advertisers, particularly around news.”
NBC News’ launch of an editorial “studio” is the latest in a series of recent efforts by media companies to find new ways to hitch big brands to advertising in news programming – not always the easiest feat. News stories can be by turns shocking, violent, or depressing. And yet, in an era when people...
- 3/10/2020
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
A group of approximately 150 editorial workers who help produce some of NBC News digital content have formed a union, citing a desire to push their employer to work more seriously through such issues as equal pay and the recent handling of sensitive stories.
Editorial employees of NBC News Digital won certification of their union after a vote count at the National Labor Relations Board in Manhattan Friday afternoon, with a vote for forming a bargaining unit prevailing 90 to 40, according to the NewsGuild of New York, which will represent the staffers. The group includes reporters, video journalists, editors, social media strategists, designers, and editorial staff from NBC News outlets such as NBCNews.com, Today.,com, the Snapchat program “Stay Tuned,” MSNBC.com and NBC News Now, the company’s recently launched streaming-video outlet. The NewsGuild said NBC management challenged the eligibility of nearly 20 editorial employees to vote in the election.
“I...
Editorial employees of NBC News Digital won certification of their union after a vote count at the National Labor Relations Board in Manhattan Friday afternoon, with a vote for forming a bargaining unit prevailing 90 to 40, according to the NewsGuild of New York, which will represent the staffers. The group includes reporters, video journalists, editors, social media strategists, designers, and editorial staff from NBC News outlets such as NBCNews.com, Today.,com, the Snapchat program “Stay Tuned,” MSNBC.com and NBC News Now, the company’s recently launched streaming-video outlet. The NewsGuild said NBC management challenged the eligibility of nearly 20 editorial employees to vote in the election.
“I...
- 12/13/2019
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
NBC News Digital is poised to join newsrooms across the country in being unionized by one of two unions vying to represent editorial staffs. The WGA East and the NewsGuild have made major inroads in recent years, organizing reporters and editors employed in a wide range of digital shops, major magazines and newspapers.
The NewsGuild, an affiliate of the Communication Workers of America, reached a tentative agreement earlier this month with the Los Angeles Times to represent some 475 of its reporters and editors – the paper’s first newsroom contract since it began publishing in 1881. And today, the NewsGuild of New York announced that 75% of the 150-member editorial staff of NBC News Digital has asked the company to voluntarily recognize it as their collective bargaining representative. The bargaining unit would include staffers from NBCNews.com, Today.com, StayTuned, Left Field, MSNBC.com, and NBC News Now. According to the NewsGuild, about...
The NewsGuild, an affiliate of the Communication Workers of America, reached a tentative agreement earlier this month with the Los Angeles Times to represent some 475 of its reporters and editors – the paper’s first newsroom contract since it began publishing in 1881. And today, the NewsGuild of New York announced that 75% of the 150-member editorial staff of NBC News Digital has asked the company to voluntarily recognize it as their collective bargaining representative. The bargaining unit would include staffers from NBCNews.com, Today.com, StayTuned, Left Field, MSNBC.com, and NBC News Now. According to the NewsGuild, about...
- 10/30/2019
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
A group of digital journalists at NBC News have asked the company to recognize their efforts to unionize, the latest sign of strife at the NBCUniversal operation to break out as it grapples with accusations of how it has handled recent employee matters over the past two years.
“There have been several different situations at NBC that have given us a pretty clear reason to fight for a protected voice in the newsroom,” said Tate James, a video editor who works on “Stay Tuned,” a video program NBC News has devised for streaming via the Snapchat social-media outlet. Among the policies desired by the approximately 150 employees who would take part in the collective-bargaining unit are better defined severance packages, rules about discussing matters via social media and salary distinctions, said James.
“We will address this request quickly, and will keep you updated every step of the way,” said Chris Berend,...
“There have been several different situations at NBC that have given us a pretty clear reason to fight for a protected voice in the newsroom,” said Tate James, a video editor who works on “Stay Tuned,” a video program NBC News has devised for streaming via the Snapchat social-media outlet. Among the policies desired by the approximately 150 employees who would take part in the collective-bargaining unit are better defined severance packages, rules about discussing matters via social media and salary distinctions, said James.
“We will address this request quickly, and will keep you updated every step of the way,” said Chris Berend,...
- 10/30/2019
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
NBC News is planning to add to the hours of programming it already puts out via its morning “Today” franchise and MSNBC.
The NBCUniversal news unit said it intends to expand its NBC News Now streaming-video outlet to a full 24 hour, seven day a week service by winter or spring, and hire more than 70 staffers as part of a ramp-up in its digital operations, some of the first big moves under Chris Berend, who took over as vice president of NBC News Digital in July. NBC News Now, the free, ad-supported Ott service had been transmitting between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. eastern Monday through Friday.
“The investment will be across our journalism, our products, our technology, and our business,” Berend said in a memo to staffers Tuesday.
As part of the move, the company intends to cut back on a vertical devoted to science and climate reporting, which will...
The NBCUniversal news unit said it intends to expand its NBC News Now streaming-video outlet to a full 24 hour, seven day a week service by winter or spring, and hire more than 70 staffers as part of a ramp-up in its digital operations, some of the first big moves under Chris Berend, who took over as vice president of NBC News Digital in July. NBC News Now, the free, ad-supported Ott service had been transmitting between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. eastern Monday through Friday.
“The investment will be across our journalism, our products, our technology, and our business,” Berend said in a memo to staffers Tuesday.
As part of the move, the company intends to cut back on a vertical devoted to science and climate reporting, which will...
- 10/29/2019
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Chris Berend, an executive who has been overseeing digital video for CNN and helped launch Great Big Story, a streaming-video site aimed at younger audiences, will jump to NBC News to lead its digital efforts.
Berend will replace Nick Ascheim, who will move into a new role that is described as “improving digital and product for NBCU and NBC News Group broadly.” Under Ascheim’s aegis, NBC News has launched an e-commerce business around its “Today” franchise; debuted “Stay Tuned,” a program for Snapchat audiences; and built a foundation for a new streaming-video project, NBC News Now.
Berend will start in July, and will be executive vice president of NBC News Digital. He will report to Noah Oppenheim, president of NBC News.
“With Nick moving on, I’ve been giving a good deal of thought to the next steps in the evolution of our Digital efforts. Specifically, how can we...
Berend will replace Nick Ascheim, who will move into a new role that is described as “improving digital and product for NBCU and NBC News Group broadly.” Under Ascheim’s aegis, NBC News has launched an e-commerce business around its “Today” franchise; debuted “Stay Tuned,” a program for Snapchat audiences; and built a foundation for a new streaming-video project, NBC News Now.
Berend will start in July, and will be executive vice president of NBC News Digital. He will report to Noah Oppenheim, president of NBC News.
“With Nick moving on, I’ve been giving a good deal of thought to the next steps in the evolution of our Digital efforts. Specifically, how can we...
- 5/20/2019
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Anderson Cooper will not sit behind a desk for his newest show. He will not be surrounded by the bright red-and-white graphics blocks for which his news outlet is known. There’s no need. Anderson Cooper’s new CNN show will not be seen on CNN.
The program, “Full Circle,” debuts July 16, and will appear on Facebook Watch at 6:25 p.m. Monday through Friday. It’s aimed at getting Cooper and CNN “where everybody is and increasingly will be,” says the anchor, taking a break for an interview while visiting Allen & Co’s annual media-and-technology executive gathering in Sun Valley, Idaho. “On their mobile phone.”
CNN has experimented with other kinds of social-media programing in the recent past, airing a show called “The Update” on Snapchat for a period of four months. Sending Cooper into the fray on Facebook, however, represents an even bigger trial, utilizing one of...
The program, “Full Circle,” debuts July 16, and will appear on Facebook Watch at 6:25 p.m. Monday through Friday. It’s aimed at getting Cooper and CNN “where everybody is and increasingly will be,” says the anchor, taking a break for an interview while visiting Allen & Co’s annual media-and-technology executive gathering in Sun Valley, Idaho. “On their mobile phone.”
CNN has experimented with other kinds of social-media programing in the recent past, airing a show called “The Update” on Snapchat for a period of four months. Sending Cooper into the fray on Facebook, however, represents an even bigger trial, utilizing one of...
- 7/13/2018
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
A media company with significant backing has committed to sharing compelling pieces of nonfiction, and audiences have responded positively. Great Big Story, a venture launched in 2015 thank to funding from CNN, has excelled on numerous platforms. While its has been most successful on Facebook, it also recently surpassed one million subscribers on YouTube, and it will soon expand its over-the-top presence thanks to the launch of a 24-hour streaming channel. To celebrate the second of those three accomplishments, we spoke to a handful of Gbs execs -- co-founder Chris Berend, VP of Content Courtney Coupe, VP of Audiences Khalil Jetha, co-founder Andrew Morse, Head of Sales Partnerships David Spiegel, VP of Development Matt Drake, and Svp and Gm Uyen Tieu -- about their work.
Tubefilter: How does it feel to have one million subscribers? What do you have to say to Gbs fans?
Chris Berend: Our YouTube fans have...
Tubefilter: How does it feel to have one million subscribers? What do you have to say to Gbs fans?
Chris Berend: Our YouTube fans have...
- 6/29/2017
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
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