News Information and Media Site: Byers Market: Laurene Powell Jobs speaks out; Susan Wojcicki vs. Sinclair

February 28, 2020

By DYLAN BYERS in Los Angeles &

AHIZA GARCÍA-HODGES in San Francisco

Good morning. 📱 Sheryl Sandberg on TikTok, from this week's pod: "They're huge, they're growing really quickly, they've gotten to bigger numbers faster than we ever did... Of course we worry about it. We have to be worried about all innovation."

🎙️ Subscribe to The Byers Market Podcast for free on Spotify, Apple, Google or Stitcher, or listen online here.

Join the Market.

Steve Jennings/Getty

The Jobs Report

Laurene Powell Jobs exerts her influence

Moving the Market: Laurene Powell Jobs, the media investor, philanthropist and widow of the late Steve Jobs, and someone long known for staying out of the spotlight, has given a rare interview to The New York Times' David Gelles.

• The big picture: Nearly a decade after her husband's death, "Ms. Powell Jobs — the 35th-richest person in the world, worth some $27.5 billion — has begun to exert her influence."

• Powell Jobs has "a diverse set of concerns, and [believes] that issues like poverty, education, personal health and environmental justice are all interconnected."

The Powell Jobs portfolio lives under Emerson Collective, the "umbrella organization for her philanthropic and business interests." In media, that includes Pop-Up Magazine, The Atlantic Magazine and a new documentary studio, Concordia.

• Powell Jobs also owns a stake in the company that owns the Washington Wizards and Mystics basketball teams.

• She founded College Track, which helps underprivileged youths get into college, and is working to reform education and immigration and reduce gun violence, particularly in Chicago.

What's next: "A Silicon Valley billionaire pushing back against the wealthy occupant of the White House," Powell Jobs says she is fighting in honor of her late husband.

• "I've dedicated my life to doing the very best I can to distribute [his money] effectively, in ways that lift up individuals and communities in a sustainable way."

Amy Osborne/Getty

Cost of Coronavirus

Mark Zuckerberg cancels F8

Big in the Bay: Mark Zuckerberg has canceled the in-person component of this year's F8 Developer Conference in San Jose in light of concerns around the new coronavirus, making it the latest high-profile tech summit to be affected by the outbreak.

• Developers from around the world who usually go to hear Zuckerberg announce new products and features will this year be invited to watch videos and live streams. Facebook will also hold local events.

The big picture: F8 is just one of several major events in the coming weeks that have been cancelled or augmented in light of the coronavirus outbreak, which has cost thousands of lives and continues to threaten the global economy.

• Barcelona's Mobile World Congress has been canceled.

• Facebook, Sony and Microsoft have dropped out of San Francisco's Game Developers Conference.

What's next: As of now, Austin's SXSW is still on, but organizers are advising attendees to look at the World Health Organization's safety recommendations before they arrive.

🏊 Tokyo 2020 Watch 🏊

Watch the Flame: "People across the Olympic world have begun to ponder... what might happen if the coronavirus has not been brought under control before the summer," NYT's Andrew Keh and Ben Dooley report.

• Statement from NBC, which has exclusive U.S. rights to the games: "The safety of our employees is always our top priority, but there is no impact on our preparations at this time." (NBCUniversal is the parent company of NBC and NBC News.)

Richard Bord/Getty

YouTube vs. Sinclair

Susan Wojcicki drops RSNs

Talk of TV Land: YouTube TV, the company's $50-a-month television service, has announced that it will drop the Fox regional sports networks and the YES Network at the end of this month due to an impasse in negotiations with Sinclair Broadcast Group.

• The big picture: YouTube TV said their decision was "a reflection of the rising cost of sports content," which has hit astronomical levels as media companies are willing to pay ever-higher sums for exclusive rights to premium live content, especially sports.

• Sinclair says it offered YouTube TV "the best terms under which their competitors carry our regional sports networks," and that YouTube "alone decided to drop these channels citing 'rising costs' despite our offer to actually lower the fees they pay us."

The backstory: YouTube TV, which can be viewed through a mobile or smart TV app, pays broadcasters like Sinclair for rights to distribute their content live and in real time. It is essentially a replacement for television, with a better user interface.

Market Links

• Tony Xu preps for DoorDash IPO (CNBC)

• Jeff Weiner tests Snap-like stories on LinkedIn (Verge)

• Daniel Ek elevates female leaders at Spotify (Rolling Stone)

• Dick Wolf inks a Universal TV mega-deal (Deadline)

• Hillary Clinton is launching a podcast (Politico)

Kelly Sullivan/Getty

Startup Stories

Apple to make WeWork show

New show, same story: "Apple is developing a limited series based on the story of WeWork," Variety's Joe Ottesron reports. "The potential series is based on the Wondery podcast 'WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork.'"

• The big picture: WeWork is hot in Hollywood. "Chernin Entertainment and Endeavor Content are currently prepping their own series about the company... Universal and Blumhouse are... prepping a film... as well."

Amanda Edwards/Getty

The Streaming Wars

David Zaslav tries 'reality' DTC

Talk of Tinseltown: Discovery chief David Zaslav is looking to reality television and other cheap, unscripted content "to help the US pay-TV group compete as the high-stakes streaming war in entertainment heats up," FT's Anna Nicolaou reports.

• The big picture: "Discovery is one of the leftover media minnows of media," fighting against much bigger conglomerates like Disney and AT&T. "Zaslav's solution has been to focus on content that has been overlooked by these heavyweights."

• "While other US media companies are splashing out billions on pricey scripted TV shows or paying hundreds of millions to claw back their hits from Netflix, Discovery's unscripted programming is a cheaper gamble."

• The cost: In a quarterly earnings call yesterday, Zaslav said Discovery "invested between $300 and $400 million in 2019 to develop new streaming services, which weighed on the company's profitability in the fourth quarter."

What's next: Zaslav has tapped Lisa Holme, "a Hulu veteran who had been leading its international expansion strategy," to lead Discovery's streaming strategy.