TodayInMusic: Pandora adds Chernin and ex-Netflix CFO to board
Pandora, the popular Internet radio service, has expanded its board membership with two heavyweights of the media world: former News Corp no.2 Peter Chernin and former Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy.
The news will naturally stoke speculation that an IPO is indeed round the corner. Reuters reported last month that the company has met with bankers to discuss a $100 million public offering.
Chernin, wh0 left News Corp in early 2009, now runs his own business in Hollywood called The Chernin Group and Chernin Entertainment investing in media, entertainment and technology businesses.
McCarthy stepped down from Netflix in December after 12 years but has some background in the music business with a previous role at Music Choice.
A Pandora spokeswoman declined to confirm if either Chernin or McCarthy has made a personal investment in the business. To date the company has raised about $56.3 million according to various venture data sources.
Pandora founder Tim Westergren (pictured) says in a statement the company’s “very fortunate” to get these two names. He had a nice Q&A with us last month here.
(Photo: courtesy Pandora)
Media, tech moguls meet in New York (You are NOT invited)
Media and technology executives are meeting Wednesday and Thursday in New York City at a conference hosted by private equity firm Quadrangle. Note the word private.
When they meet at the Plaza, they will talk about a ton of different things that their customers, their investors and other readers want to know. I have to apologize for them because they’re not letting in any riff-raff. And that includes reporters who get paid to spend all day figuring out how these people decide what kind of entertainment you want, what kind of technology you pay them for and what deals they pursue with the money that you give them when you buy their stock. This event always excludes press, but that’s no reason not to highlight what you probably are missing because of this. After all, who wants to wait for the 8-K filing?
Some press will be allowed, but it will be an assortment of celebrity journalists who will moderate panels and, according to Peter Kafka, author of “MediaMemo” at News Corp’s AllThingsD blog, will not write about the event (I’m talking about Maria Bartiromo and David Faber of CNBC, The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta, etc).
Peter wrote two posts about this, here and here. He also issued me a challenge to sneak into the conference, but horror of horrors, I’m on a deadline that I can’t shirk any longer. So consider this an invitation from me to you to go to the Plaza and catch these guys on the way in and out of the building. It’s a fun way to spend the day, and maybe you’ll learn something interesting.
Here is the agenda, courtesy of Peter Kafka. Below that is a list of speakers. Outrage breeds corrections: I have to amend the record: The list I had posted here of topics is last year’s agenda. My mistake. The list of speakers appearing THIS year still appears below.
2009 SPEAKERS EMILIO AZCÁRRAGA President, Board of Directors and CEO, Grupo Televisa DENNIS CROWLEY Co-Founder, foursquare BARRY DILLER Chairman and CEO, IAC; Chairman, Expedia, Inc. and Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. BRIAN DUNN CEO, Best Buy CHARLES FORMAN Founder, OMGPOP REED HASTINGS Founder, Chairman and CEO, Netflix REID HOFFMAN Executive Chairman and Founder, LinkedIn Corporation CHAD HURLEY CEO and Co-Founder, YouTube JEFF IMMELT Chairman and CEO, GE PAUL JACOBS Chairman and CEO, Qualcomm Incorporated OLLI-PEKKA KALLASVUO President and CEO, Nokia JASON KILAR CEO, Hulu LESLIE MOONVES President and CEO, CBS Corporation ANNE MULCAHY Chairman, Xerox Corporation JAMES MURDOCH Chairman and Chief Executive, Europe & Asia, News Corporation BRIAN PHILLIPS CEO and Co-Founder, Thread DAN PORTER CEO, OMGPOP BRIAN ROBERTS Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation PAUL SAGAN President and CEO, Akamai ERIC SCHMIDT Chairman and CEO, Google IVAN SEIDENBERG Chairman and CEO, Verizon Communications BIZ STONE Co-Founder, Twitter HOWARD STRINGER Chairman, CEO and President, Sony Corporation BEN VERWAAYEN CEO, Alcatel-Lucent DAVID ZASLAV President and CEO, Discovery Communications
MODERATORS MARC ANDREESSEN General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz KEN AULETTA Author and Writer, “Annals of Communications”, The New Yorker MARIA BARTIROMO Anchor, Closing Bell; Host & Managing Editor, Wall Street Journal Report, CNBC JAMES CITRIN Co-Leader, Board & CEO Practice, North America, Spencer Stuart DAVID FABER Anchor, Reporter, CNBC MICHAEL HUBER Co-President and Managing Principal, Quadrangle Group BECKY QUICK Co-Anchor, Squawk Box, CNBC GEOFFREY SANDS Director & Leader, Global Media, Entertainment & Information Practice, McKinsey & Co. JOSHUA L. STEINER Co-President and Managing Principal, Quadrangle Group GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS Anchor, This Week; Chief Washington Correspondent, ABC News
Haha. I absolutely loved the tone and tenor of this write-up. Says a lot! (And oh, why did Reuters have to allow blogs and columns after I left–conspiracy!)Also loved the Michael Moore comment. Last journo left standing?;-)
Murdoch daughter disses dad
Courtesy of Richard Siklos, Fortune’s media writer extraordinaire, who just posted this on the website on Tuesday:
“In the weeks that Rupert Murdoch was locked in unsuccessful negotiations to keep his longtime No. 2 at News Corp., the media baron also had to accept his daughter Elisabeth’s decision to turn down a spot on the company’s board, sources told Fortune.”
That’s exciting, from a soap-opera-meets-financial-news angle, because Murdoch is letting longtime right-hand man Peter Chernin leave the company, in part because the media baron has a sense of familial duty. That is to say, many people say he wants his children to take over the company. The most likely choice is his son James, 36, who is active in the company’s UK and Asian operations. Having said that, Elisabeth is no slouch in the media department.
Here’s Siklos again:
On the one hand she has a sense of duty and is one of four grown Murdoch children who will one day inherit the family’s controlling votes. But she also has a conflict of interest with Shine, the big U.K. production company she has built up over nearly seven years. Under U.K. broadcast regulations, Liz Murdoch’s presence on the News Corp. board would have rendered Shine illegible for the 25% of programming budgets that big British broadcasters like the BBC and Channel 4 are required to spend on independent production houses that have no links to broadcasters. Two people close to Murdoch said that this pool of funding represents a large proportion of Shine’s business, and that there are other advantages to being an independent producer that allow Shine to more easily retain the rights to formats it creates. Being on the News Corp. board would be a conflict for Shine because News controls British Sky Broadcasting, the big U.K. satellite TV business, as well as numerous Sky and Fox TV channels that air there. Liz Murdoch owns 63% of Shine and another big backer is Sony Pictures Entertainment, which has 20%.
Dad should understand. After all, it’s just business.
WHY CAN’T PEOPLE JUST STAY OUT OF THERE FAMILY BUSINESS.
I AM A GENERAL CONTRACTOR AND HAVE WORKED FOR THE FAMILY FOR YEARS.
THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE.
Chernin parachutes, Murdoch keeps flying
News Corp President and Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin’s perks after he leaves News Corp at the end of June are basic compared with some legendary golden parachutes, though they’re still worth more money than I make in a year. Or 10 years for that matter.
In addition to his Fox studios production deal, Chernin’s creature comforts include 50 hours on News Corp’s jet ($1.65 million value), corporate car ($210,000 value) and possibly personal secretary services ($1.05 million value). See the proxy statement for more details.
That might not send the image of a cost-cutting corporate culture at a time when News Corp’s stock is down 70 percent and the bottom looks further away as its most can-do executive quits. Then again, maybe Chernin’s doing the right thing, all things considered. Check out this little-noticed excerpt from Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch’s memo to employees:
Achieving our ambitions will require change and renewal. So throughout 2009, I will continue to work closely with all of our companies to make sure that we are organized and resourced in the best way to take advantage of this extraordinary point in time. We will press our advantages and invest in our great franchises. And, of course, we will keep our eyes on big prizes, some of which may arise only once in a generation. [Emphasis ours -- ed.]
Wait a minute. Didn’t he already do that with The Wall Street Journal and its parent company Dow Jones? What’s it going to be next? Michael Wolff, who wrote the Murdoch tome “The Man Who Owns the News,” published late last year, thinks that Murdoch has it bad for The New York Times. Of course, the Times’s ruling family, led by Arthur Sulzberger Jr, has said the company and its legendary paper are not for sale.
But then again, it’s a generational issue — just like the word Murdoch uses in his memo. Younger Sulzbergers can’t be that happy that the TImes suspended the dividend that some of them depend on. Could they put enough pressure on their elders to sell? Maybe they could if Murdoch decided that some of his $5 billion would be money well spent on enticing the family with a larger-than-life offer, just like the Times. He said he’s not interested in becoming more of a “public enemy” by chasing the paper, but even media moguls are allowed to change their minds.
With investors in News Corp getting more annoyed for Murdoch’s attachment to newspapers (including the New York Post where he just axed longtime gossip columnist Liz Smith), it’s easy to imagine that Chernin — News Corp’s ambassador to Wall Street — might not be able to defend one more once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Rough day for Murdoch. Or is it?
One has to wonder what today is like for a media chief as mogul-y as Rupert Murdoch, whose
News Corp has its hands in everything from publishing and newspapers to Internet, TV and movies. Today is the first day after News Corp President and COO Peter Chernin — who has been a critical force in News Corp’s success in movies and TV — said he was planning to leave the executive suite in June to make movies.
That leaves the 77-year-old Murdoch without his well-regarded No. 2 at a time when all media players are struggling with a dramatic advertising slowdown. That’s not good, right?
On the other hand, Chernin’s exit leaves the door open for Murdoch to personally run News Corp’s movie and TV divisions. In addition, it might open the door for Rupert Murdoch to give his son James (or perhaps Lachlan, who is not currently a part of the company) a crack at more power in the family business. For daddy Rupert, that can’t be all bad, right?
With all that on his mind, Murdoch also posted an apology related to a controversial cartoon the New York Post printed a few days ago, which many had labeled as racist, saying it likened President Barack Obama to an ape.
“Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted.”
“We all hold the readers of the New York Post in high regard and I promise you that we will seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community.”
For what it’s worth, News Corp’s shares are up, so someone thinks these are good developments. What do you think?
I think Murdoch’s conrol of the airwaves is the most destructive thing for America. It appeals to the ignorant massas that can’t remember that Reagan tripled the national debt. Created the war on drugs which is a total disaster. Gave the rich a big tax rate so instead of puting the money that would be taxed at a high rate back into the business, they just take big saleries and bonuses and let the company go broke or buy cheap goods from overseas.
Steve Ballmer might as well take applications for Yahoo job
Able to use a computer? Check. High school diploma? Check. Work well with others? Check. Willing to strike a deal with Microsoft? Ummmm….
Indeed, in the hunt for the next top dog at Yahoo that last issue — whether the candidate can do a deal with Microsoft — may be the most pressing.
Since Yahoo’s announcement on Monday that Jerry Yang would step aside, the tech/media world has been abuzz with speculation about his replacement. Silicon Alley Insider is even running a terrific mock election — letting its readers vote among six candidates.
(News Corp’s Peter Chernin is one of them. Wouldn’t it be great if he got the job? It would let us spend some time chattering about what will happen over at Rupert Murdoch’s empire).
But as Anupreeta Das points out in the Reuters story, the only way Yahoo may be able to satisfy its investors is either a massive turnaround plan, which would be very difficult in this environment, or an M&A deal. And the best shot at a deal may be with Microsoft.
“Microsoft wants Yahoo’s search audience, the traffic, the clicks,” Needham & Co. analyst Mark May said. “They want to have as much as Google does. So it’s important for Microsoft to have a big presence in search and display.”
What does Yahoo need in a new CEO? They need someone who is a business and technology person. They also need someone with a strong background in mergers in case Yahoo’s board decides to sell.
The best executive I know with those skills is James Kennedy
Robert
News Corp’s Chernin gets Supreme Court warm-up
News Corp’s U.S. television network Fox is going to the Supreme Court to fight for its right to broadcast freely — whatever the Federal Communications Commission has to say about it.
Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin will offer a preview of the network’s thinking tonight when he addresses the Media Institute, which is honoring him for his leadership on free speech. This comes in advance of the Nov. 4 court date in FCC v. Fox Television Stations.
Here’s the gist of the case, as The New York Times described it:
When Cher appeared on the Billboard Music Awards in 2002, she used a four-letter word connoting sex. The next year, on the same show, banter between Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie included that word and another obscenity. In Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, No. 07-582, the court will decide whether the F.C.C. has the power to punish broadcasters for airing “fleeting expletives.”
And here’s a bit of what Chernin plans to say (We presented the excerpts in consecutive order. Spaces indicate where we cut things out for the sake of space):
And for creators of content, if we’re doing our jobs right, we sometimes offend people. It’s that simple. And, believe me, we wrestle with that fact. We struggle with complex issues every day. Are we guilty of contributing to the vulgarization of our society or simply of mirroring it? Is it our responsibility to be the arbiters of good taste, or is it our duty to push boundaries? Is it even possible to create innovative programming for a mass audience that is diverse on every level – from age, to religious affiliation, to ethnicity?
If we are found in violation, just think about the radical ramifications for live programming – from news, to politics, to sports. In fact, to every live broadcast television event. The effect would be appalling.
But the truth is, people don’t think about defending broadcasters’ right to utter expletives in the same way they think about defending one’s right to speak critically of our government. But they should. The First Amendment is at stake in both cases.
I’ll admit: some of the content we are defending is not particularly tasteful: the expletives, the brief nudity, the carefully placed whipped cream and, of course, the pixels. I would not have allowed my own children, when they were younger, to watch some of these shows. But, I vow to fight to the end our ability to put occasionally controversial, offensive, and even tasteless content on the air.
Why? Because, if the government gets its foot in the censorship door with respect to unpopular entertainment content, it is the beginning of the steep slide toward censoring unpopular political content.
The job of protecting children lies with PARENTS. The job of the GOVERNMENT is to resist the views of interest groups with particular agendas and instead to enforce the law in a way that is consistent, fair and constitutional.
Chernin adds one other argument, like a dollop of practicality, and one that we suspect will come up in court:
Regarding News Corp.’s Fox News Channel, I find it interesting that you don’t discuss the issue of integrity and truth in broadcasting.
The Fox News Channel is widely known as the broadcaster of barefaced propaganda for Murdoch’s right-wing beliefs and his associated political agenda.
This certainly is an issue in the current US election. While huge numbers of citizens are desperate for change, Murdoch’s Fox News Channel relentlessly agitates over the airwaves 24/7 for the Republican Party ticket. (Murdoch even went so far as to prominently place right-wing radio talking-head Rush Limbaugh on the pages of his Wall St Journal)!
However, in just 13 days, the politics of Murdoch-foisted ploys, stunts, slime, sleazy robocalls, and culture wars will be on the ballot! I’ll wager a bet that on Nov. 4th, the politics of Bush/Cheney, McCain/Palin, Karl Rove/Steve Schmidt, and Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Propaganda Central, will be defeated.
My fellow American citizens, remember – we need a massive turnout of citizens, and a landslide victory, because as we can today see, the Republicans are again trying to steal this election at the polling stations, just like in 2000 and 2004!
People, let’s find the strength and courage to vote Obama/Biden into office in overwhelming numbers, and return honesty, decency, and integrity to our American politics.
And starting Nov. 5th, let us together begin the hard work of repairing the immense damage these right-wing thieves and scoundrels, high among them Rupert Murdoch, have done to our economy, our country, and our people.
Semel, Kotick pass the buck on Yahoo’s future
During a panel discussion on media and entertainment at the Milken Institute Global Conference on Wednesday, former Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel swiftly deflected questions about the Internet company’s current pickle with Microsoft to his fellow panelist and Yahoo! board member Activision CEO Bobby Kotick.
Asked by moderator Dennis Kneale of CNBC how Yahoo had gotten itself in the position of being courted by Microsoft, Semel pointed to Kotick, who was sitting next to him.
“Ask the board member,” he said.
But Kotick wouldn’t bite. In fact, he said nothing at all.
Later on, Kneale tried again, asking another panelist, News Corp. President Peter Chernin, to tell Semel and Kotick what Yahoo! should do in response to Microsoft’s $44 billion bid.
“Can you tell us what Yahoo should do with itself?” Kneale pleaded.
