Axios' Sara Fischer put the future of media on the hot seat at Axios' Future of Media event Tuesday evening in D.C., which highlighted insights from Axios' Co-Founder & CEO Jim VandeHei and experts at Snapchat, Edelman, and Goldman Sachs. To kick it off, VandeHei pointed out that "all of our minds are cluttered…to punch through you need something sharp and clear. That's what we tell advertisers" at Axios.
Fox News has filed a motion to dismiss contributor Rod Wheeler's federal court claim that the network fabricated quotes from him to bolster a now-retracted story linking Seth Rich's murder to WikiLeaks. The network argues that Wheeler should have brought the case to arbitration under his employment contract with Fox News and, alternatively, that Wheeler made substantively similar statements in television interviews to the allegedly fabricated quotes.
An art industry startup is doing what many media companies believe is impossible: Attracting consumers who want to pay for content. Patreon, which lets artists charge fees for their work, today announced that it has raised $60 million in a new funding round led by Thrive Capital.
How it works: Borrowing from the idea of patronage, Patreon's creators can collect membership fees from their fans (or patrons) in exchange for access to exclusive art or content. This year, the company will pay out $150 million in earnings to its 50,000 creators.
Why it matters: "I think we're seeing a shift in the entire ecosystem where people are realizing that they're sick of clickbait," Carlos Cabrera, Patreon's VP of data science and operations, told Axios. "The current systems are really bad at promoting great stuff."
Despite Amazon's tightening grip on the retail market, Best Buy has consistently surprised Wall Street with its revenue numbers, and its stock price continues to rise, per the New York Times' Kevin Roose.
Why it matters: Other big electronics chains like Circuit City, Radio Shack and HH Gregg have gone bankrupt or shut down, but Best Buy has managed to stay afloat with some luck and smart, revamped business practices.
Laura Ingraham, the fiery conservative commentator known for her radio show and frequent appearances on Fox News, has landed Fox's 10pm hour, with a show titled "The Ingraham Angle." The program will debut on October 30th, and will see Sean Hannity's show move to the 9pm hour, while "The Five" will move back to the 5pm time slot, starting Sept. 25.
Timing: The reshuffle in the network's primetime lineup comes after Eric Bolling's exit amid sexual harassment allegations, which led to the cancellation of his 5 P.M. show The Specialists.
Between the lines: Ingraham, who is already well-known and liked among Fox News viewers, may be able to provide much-needed stability during a time of unrest at the network.
Walmart is worth half as much as Amazon but has paid 46 times more income tax since 2008 — $64 billion versus Amazon's $1.4 billion, writes Scott Galloway, an NYU marketing professor.
"The most uncomfortable question in business, in my view, is how do we pay our soldiers, firefighters, and teachers if a firm can ascend to $460 billion in value (#5 in the world) without paying any meaningful corporate taxes," writes Galloway, author of the forthcoming The Four, an examination of Big Tech.
Why Amazon pays so little: Amazon is worth a lot to investors, but since its founding has plowed almost all its profit back into the business: Since 2008, Walmart has earned $229 billion before tax and paid dividends; Amazon has reported just $14 billion in profit, with no annual cash payout to shareholders.
Meghan McCain, former Fox News host and the oldest daughter of Sen. John McCain, is reportedly in talks to join ABC's "The View," per CNN, citing three sources familiar with the matter.
McCain announced last week that she was leaving Fox News' "Outnumbered" last week. Meanwhile, Jedediah Bila, former Fox News contributor and panelist on "Outnumbered" announced Monday that she is leaving "The View," where she's served as the program's conservative panelist.
Sean Spicer wheeled onstage at last night's Emmys behind an SNL mobile podium: "This will be the largest audience to witness the Emmys, period — both in person and around the world."
Jon Favreau of Pod Save America tweets: "Harvard fellowships, Emmy appearances, huge speaking fees: there's just gonna be no penalty for working in Trump's White House, huh?"
"Politics Win Big: TV shows reflecting current events are lauded during the ceremony, and stars onstage get in digs at Trump," by L.A. Times TV Critic Lorraine Ali:
NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke talks to Jessica Lessin, founder and CEO of The Information, about "the math puzzle that keeps all media executives up at night":
"On any given night, about three and a half million people watch 'The Tonight Show' on linear television. Over the course of the next number of days, almost the exact same number, three and a half million, watch it online ... We make real money off the first. We don't make very much money off the second. Every year, the three and a half million is going to go to 3.3, to 3, and the online will go 3.5 to 3.6."
In quest of solutions to that puzzle, Burke sees Snap CEO Evan Spiegel every month or so to plot new areas of collaboration.
Burke, whose $500 million bet on Snap is now worth about 12% less: "Snap treats professional content with respect, unlike Facebook, just to give a real pointed example. We are making real money on Snap."
