The Media Online’s weekly wrap of need-to-know global media news.
CBS/Viacom merger could threaten industry, Warren warns
The massive CBS/Viacom merger has media analysts, and a US politician, talking. Senator Elizabeth Warren, in a tweet, warned the department of justice to pay close attention. Warren said the merger, along with Disney’s acquisition of Fox should “raise serious concerns for consumers, employees, and the entire sector”.
Putting too much power in the hands of large conglomerates could have negative effects such as price hikes, job losses and the “threat of a multi-way monopoly in the media business”, Variety reported.
The CBS/Viacom merger was announced on Tuesday after a lengthy negotiation process. The new entity will be called ViacomCBS.
For more, read the story on Variety.
Winners of Novartis’ global media review
Publicis Groupe has retained Novartis’ global media account, which it won in 2011.
This follows a seven month review, with the agency giant facing stiff competition from WPP, Omnicom and Havas.
As a result of retaining the account, Publicis Groupe’s Starcom and Epsilon, which oversee it, will create a bespoke unit, NovartisOne2, to service the account, which covers media planning and buying, and data and analytics, across 60 global markets.
For more details, published by AdAge, click here.
Condé Nast restructures its operations
Media giant Condé Nast has embarked on a wholesale restructuring of its global operations, aiming for a more cohesive, worldwide offering as it continues its “evolution into a 21st century media company”.
As part of the restructuring, Condé Nast and Condé Nast International have merged under a “unified global team”. The new-look brand will be focused on preserving the editorial voice and authority of its many titles as well as better serving the global needs of clients.
The Drum has more information, here.
Social media often reinforces power, rather than disrupting it
While social media is often seen as an equaliser, giving a voice to the voiceless in society and allowing people to express their beliefs, opinions and thoughts, new research around African case studies points to the opposite being true.
Conducted by The African Report, Social Media and Politics in Africa: Democracy, Censorship and Security explores in nine African countries the relationship between social media and power dynamics.
A startling outcome from the research is that, social media ofen reinforces the existing power dynamics, rather than disrupting them.
To read more insights, from The African Report, click here.
Pastor aims to create $100 million global media platform to navigate the end times
A nondenominational, US pastor, Rick Wiles, is looking for funding to the tune of $100 million to create a global media platform, which will help society navigate the end times.
Speaking on the 1 August edition of his TruNews broadcast, Wiles said that God had given him a vision of this global media platform.
Wiles previously worked for Christian media companies including Trinity Broadcasting Network, and the Christian Broadcasting Network, but is now looking to branch out on his own.
The Christian Post published the full story, here.
Facebook’s case against app developers will set a precedent
The Media Trust’s associate director of digital security and operations believes Facebook’s law suit against two app developers, LionMobi and JediMobi, will set a precedent for future legal manoeuvres against ad fraudsters. But, he said, “app stores should have a more thorough process for validating that an app functions strictly as described by its developers”.
Mike Bittner said the issue of cybercrooks “exploiting major app stores and social media platforms in their click fraud schemes has been on the rise in frequency and sophistication over the past year”.
But, he added, what made this case unique was not only Facebook’s unprecedented lawsuit, but also the fraudsters’ creation of apps to carry out ad fraud. “This campaign reflects bad actors’ thorough familiarity with the Facebook ad ecosystem, and points to the sheer difficulty of vetting apps that are sold on today’s major app stores”, he said.
LionMobi and JediMobi arranged a click injection for Facebook ads to gain money from Facebook’s advertising programme by claiming fake clicks.
