By Mike Shields 

VIACOM SEATFILLER: Media business junkies were abuzz Wednesday with the news that mogul Sumner Redstone was out as executive chairman of CBS Corp., with CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves sliding into that position. And then on Thursday, word came that Mr. Redstone was also vacating the chairman position at Viacom and handing the reins to Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman . The move at Viacom can be summed up as a victory for Mr. Dauman, a longtime adviser to Mr. Redstone, over the mogul's daughter, Shari, who did not vote for his elevation, The Wall Street Journal reports. Investors who have been pushing for Mr. Dauman's ouster -- blaming him for the media giant's woes in the ratings and perceived inability to find the next hot thing -- won't be happy with the result. Despite all the drama of this week, Mr. Redstone as of today still controls 80% of both Viacom and CBS.

TIMES CHANGE: The newspaper industry continues to endure hard-to-predict upheaval. Yesterday, Los Angeles Times-owner Tribune Publishing announced it had secured a cash infusion from Chicago investor Michael Ferro, Jr. , who assumed the title of non-executive chairman. Investors didn't like the terms, and sent shares tumbling, reports WSJ. Elsewhere, the New York Times ordered a sweeping review of its newsroom priorities to help manage costs, even as cost-cutting (along with digital subscription gains) helped drive the company's 48% rise in fourth-quarter profits. News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, was hit by foreign exchange fluctuations and lower ad revenue at its core news and information unit in the latest quarter, and suffered a 20% drop in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

SUPER FUNNY: Amid the wave of media news this week, it's easy to forget that the ad industry's marquee moment, the Super Bowl, is this coming Sunday. This year, marketers are using their $5 million, 30-second spots to try to make Americans laugh, reports CMO Today. Remember last year when Nationwide Mutual Insurance featured a dead boy talking about missing out on his life? That macabre stuff is so 2015. This year, expect giant talking squirrels, Jeff Goldblum singing the theme song to "The Jeffersons" and Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen doing a mock presidential campaign for Bud Light. However, don't expect many ads trying to push the envelope. Because everything resonates forever in social media these days, it's a "lot harder to be edgy," said Susan Credle, chief creative officer of FCB.

COMSCORE'S CALL: People in the U.S. spent 23% less time staring at Facebook on their phones in November 2015 compared to September, according to comScore. They weren't busy prepping Thanksgiving dinner. It turns out there was a glitch in the way that comScore tracked how much time people spend on Facebook, reports Ad Age. Essentially, people were being tracked by comScore as if they were using the Facebook app during times that they actually weren't. Does this mean Facebook isn't popular? Well, nearly a billion people a day use the app, so no. But as the Video Advertising Bureau pointed out, Facebook isn't quite the time suck everybody might have thought. That group represents a bunch of cable networks, it should be noted, so they are not exactly impartial here.

Elsewhere

Snapchat has started running app-install ads for mobile games [ Adweek]

Condé Nast and Hearst have formed a new company to handle their back office operations [ CMO Today]

iHeart Media is considering a bond or equity offering to pay off its over $20 billion in debt [ Bloomberg]

Apple, Amazon, Google and Verizon are among the companies looking to stream Thursday NFL games next season [ Variety]

PayPal is tweaking the traditional financial system in its first ever Super Bowl ad [ CMO Today]

Arjun Sethi, who sold MessageMe to Yahoo two years ago and was behind Yahoo's struggling Livetext app, is leaving the company [ WSJ]

Author/social media evangelist Gary Vaynerchuk has launched a new media company that will roll out three new publications developed for brands like Axe and General Electric [ Digiday]

Charter grew its video subscriber base last year for the first time in over a decade [ Hollywood Reporter]

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Write to Mike Shields at mike.shields@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 05, 2016 07:47 ET (12:47 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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