MediaBizBuzz: Yahoo, Tribune, Verizon, Vice and Billboards

Yahoo Prepping to Auction Off Its Core Internet Business

Reports that company has begun sending nondisclosure agreements to prospective bidders, rumored to include Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and Time (via Investor’s Business Daily).

+ Yahoo exploring sale of $1 billion-$3 billion in “non-core assets”: CFO (via Reuters)

+ Yahoo Launches eSports News and Video Site (via Variety)

+ Ad Agencies Weigh In On Yahoo's Uncertain Future (via MediaPost)

Tribune Media, WGN America Fight TV’s Headwinds as “For Sale” Sign Goes Up

Tribune takes $385 million write-down, discloses that it has hired two investment banks to help sort through sale or partnership options for its various TV, digital and data assets (via Variety).

Vice Media Launches Its Own Cable-TV Channel

New channel pledged to carry only about half of the 18 minutes of ads that most cable networks air in an hour. So far, most ad partners are still in the early stages of planning how to do business with Vice (via WSJ).

+ Viceland Is Shaking Up TV Advertising by Running More Native Ads (via Adweek)

+ A&E Networks Abandons Glitzy Upfront Presentation (via AdAge)

Comcast Accused of Violating NBC Merger Commitment and Net Neutrality Rule

Consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge has asked regulators to stop Comcast from exempting its own streaming video service from Internet data caps (via Ars Technica).

Turner Enlists IBM’s Watson for Ad Sales Efforts

“Over time we are looking to turn ourselves more into a marketing services group than just an advertising sales team” (via WSJ).

Verizon and Hearst to Create TV for Mobile Millennial Viewers

Joint venture will develop programming for young adults to watch on their phones and launch with channel for “Millennials from the heartland” and one offering a comedic take on current events (via NY Times).

CBS Looking to Nail Down NFL Streaming Deal

Network is looking to secure a deal that will allow it to stream its NFL games to subscribers of its over-the-top streaming service, CBS All Access (via AdAge).

+ Leslie Moonves on Donald Trump: "It May Not Be Good for America, but It's Damn Good for CBS" (via Hollywood Reporter)

Disney’s ESPN, ABC Launch on Sony’s Vue Web TV Service

It’s the latest move by Disney to fend off worries about cord-cutting eating away at its crown jewel of television business (via The Wrap).

Nielsen Doubles Down on Media Planning With Latest Buy

Acquisition of Pointlogic, an analytics tool that helps agencies and marketers plan cross-platform media buys, comes as Nielsen prepares its Total Audience Measurement offering (via AdAge).

+ Nielsen: Separating Fact from Fiction

Advertising Company Will Use Its Billboards to Track Passing Cellphones

Clear Channel Outdoor is starting a new program called Radar that will use billboards to map real-world habits and behaviors from nearby consumers (via NPR).

+ Sen. Franken Demands Clear Channel Explain Its New Data-Collecting Billboards (via AdAge)

+ Andy Stevens of Clear Channel Outdoor Americas on OOH Research

Tencent OMG and Omnicom to Co-Develop Data Mining Models

Chinese communications giant will partner with agency to create infrastructure for holistic data mining to improve media planning and buying efficiency (via Campaign Asia).

xAd and Outfront Media Ink MarketPlace Beta Partnership

Outfront is beta partner for xAd MarketPlace, the “first and only fully transparent, self-service platform for the buying and selling of locations” (via PR Newswire).

Rubicon Project Recognized as #1 Marketplace Internationally for Inventory Quality

Mobile application inventory and U.S. desktop inventory each received highest possible rating in Pixalate’s latest Global Seller Trust Index (via Business Wire).

+ Pixalate Launches TruReach Metric for More Holistic View of Inventory Quality (via MediaPost)

Facebook Wants Celebrities for Its Live Streaming Service, and It’s Willing to Pay Cash

It isn’t promising huge sums. But it’s still a big deal, conceptually, for a company that has previously shied away from licensing content or paying creators (via Re/code).

+ Facebook hits 3 million advertisers and reveals plan to woo small businesses (via The Drum)

Spotify is quietly funding a startup that could break open a whole new market for streaming music "Two-thirds of businesses play CDs still… we stumbled on an area that hadn't been digitized” (via Business Insider).

Ad Blockers Are Making Money Off Ads (And Tracking, Too)

Their business models aren’t too far off from the very ones that publishers and advertisers use to make money on the web (via Wired).

+ Mondelez: We would welcome a bit of ad-blocking (via Campaign)

People on the Move

Spotify Hires Former VH1 President Tom Calderone

Tom Calderone, formerly president of MTV Networks’ VH1, has joined Spotify as global head of content partnerships (via Variety).

Rubicon Project’s Global GM Jay Stevens Departs

Current senior vice-president of Europe, Oli Whitten is to take over Stevens' role as head of international on an interim basis (via The Drum).

Accounts on the Move

Ikea launches £300 million global media review

WPP's GroupM is believed to be the agency group that has the single, largest part of Ikea's business (via Campaign).

+ After Mediapalooza 2015, activity heats up again (via AdWeek)

+ Getting the Most from Your Media Buy Means Improving Metrics

Video Picks

Explain it Like I’m Eight -- Programmatic: Buying With Computers Instead of People (via AdAge)

eXelate Builds Nielsen in to ‘Enterprise Marketing Platform’

“In talking to global CMOs for the last year, it’s clear they know this is a space they need to dig deeper in” (via BeetTV).

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