Every big grocer in America has spent the last year assuring shoppers and investors that it is not falling behind when it comes to grocery delivery. Walmart is touting delivery partnerships with Point Pickup, Skipcart, AxleHire and Roadie. Kroger is expanding its autonomous delivery service from city to city. Target has teamed up with Shipt.
Reality check: But experts watching food retail tell Axios that they have yet to see a clear demand signal for food delivery. Retailers may be running at this logistically difficult, extremely low-margin service for relatively little return.
JW Player, a technology company that powers the videos that run on many publishers' websites, is expanding its ads business by adding three new partners to its video ad product, the company tells Axios.
Why it matters: JW Player has been used by thousands of publishers for years to reliably deliver video, but now, it wants to use that technology to help publishers more reliably deliver quality ads.
President Trump once again blasted General Motors and the United Automobile Workers this week for closing a Chevrolet Cruze plant in Lordstown, Ohio, as union activists accused the carmaker of favoring hedge funds over the workers laid off amid plant closures.
Why it matters: Ahead of Trump's visit to Ohio later this week where he's expected to push for more manufacturing jobs, the closure of the GM plant has become a key issue in a state critical for him in 2020. The closure in Lordstown was part of a 15% cut to GM's salaried workforce in North America, affecting jobs that the president promised were "all coming back" to the state in 2017.
Fox Corp., formed from the leftovers of Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, added former House Speaker Paul Ryan to its board of directors on Tuesday, per Variety. Fox Corporation was established as a stand alone company Tuesday. The close of the 21st Century Fox and Disney transaction will happen on Wednesday.
Our thought bubble, Per CNN, Paul Ryan and Rupert Murdoch "have been friendly for many years," with Murdoch naming Ryan as a 2014 presidential candidate that he had "particular admiration for."
Stagwell Group, an investment company in Washington, D.C. that specializes in advertising and marketing companies, has agreed to make a $100 million equity investment in MDC Partners, an ad agency holding group with dozens of brands but still considered tiny compared to major ad holding companies like Omnicom, WPP or Publicis.
Why it matters: Stagwell president and managing partner Mark Penn says there's a sweet spot in the ad agency world where he thinks his bet will pay off.
During a difficult year for U.S. agriculture amid President Trump's trade war with China, record-breaking floods in the Midwest are causing farmers to lose their livestock en masse, further putting their livelihoods at risk, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: Lessened demand due to Trump's trade policies and greater international competition in agriculture already pushed Farm Belt bankruptcies last year to the highest level in a decade. Now, the floods across the Midwest could cause a $400 million hit to the state's livestock sector as farmers in the region are cut off from their cattle herds — and the supplies necessary to care for them.
Kevin Rudd — the former Australian prime minister, who's now president of the Asia Society Policy Institute — warns that President Trump's freewheeling diplomatic style won't work with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
What's happening: Rudd tells Axios that Trump's preferred approach — meeting Xi at Mar-a-Lago to hash out a final deal — isn't a realistic way to get there. "The deep Chinese learning from the Hanoi outcome is that we Chinese would never allow that to happen to our leader," Rudd says.
Former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Donna Brazile will join Fox News as a contributor.
Why it matters: Brazile resigned as a CNN contributor in 2016 after WikiLeaks revealed that she provided Hillary Clinton's campaign with questions ahead of a CNN Town Hall event — a scandal that Fox's Sean Hannity and other right-wing commentators have shown little interest in letting go. She later called it a mistake she will "forever regret."
Kevin Tsujihara is out as CEO of Warner Bros. after an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, which were first reported in the Hollywood Reporter, WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey said in a statement obtained by CNBC Monday.
"It is in the best interest of WarnerMedia, Warner Bros., our employees and our partners for Kevin to step down as Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Kevin has contributed greatly to the studio's success over the past 25 years and for that we thank him. Kevin acknowledges that his mistakes are inconsistent with the company's leadership expectations and could impact the company's ability to execute going forward."
Why it matters: The company had just announced a promotion for the Warner Bros. vet to oversee all of WarnerMedia's Global Kids and Young Adults division, which includes assets like Adult Swim and Cartoon Network. A leadership team consisting of Warner Bros. Motion Pictures Group Chairman Toby Emmerich, Warner Bros. Television Group President and CCO Peter Roth, and at least one other top executive" will function as Tsujihara's interim replacement, Variety reported Monday.
China's total caviar exports "more than quintupled" between 2012 and 2017, as farmers are increasingly able to churn out fish eggs from wild female sturgeon at a relatively low cost, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: The most recent data from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization shows U.S. caviar imports from China sold for 13% less in November compared to the year prior, and nearly 50% since 2012. American caviar farmers are increasingly struggling to compete with China's dominance as the market becomes flooded with fish eggs, though the Trump administration's 10% tariffs on Chinese caviar have helped cushion the blow.
