THE NEW YORK TIMES BUSINESSTUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2019 N B3MEDIALOS ANGELES — Quibi’s latest part-
ner is ESPN.
The sports network, part of the
Walt Disney Company, has agreed
to join the likes of NBC News in
providing content for the soon-to-
launch short-form video platform
from Jeffrey Katzenberg, a one-
time chairman of Walt Disney Stu-
dios and a founder of Dream-
Works.
ESPN’s contribution, a daily
sports highlights show, is ex-
pected to air on Quibi at the plat-
form’s scheduled launch in April.
The show will be part of Quibi’s
Daily Essentials, programming
that Mr. Katzenberg and his team
are betting will be the kind of thing
young viewers will want to watch
on their phones.
“Daily Essentials is setting out
to take information and organize
it, specially produce it, curate it
and make it convenient,” Mr. Katz-
enberg said. “We’ve gone to the
best talent, the best brands to
commission them to do this in a
unique, new way.”
ESPN already has a streaming
service, ESPN Plus, which started
in April 2018. The partnership
with Quibi is a piece of ESPN’s
overall mobile strategy, which has
the programmer developing con-
tent for Facebook, Instagram,
Snap and Twitter, among others.
“If there is an audience building
around a sports conversation and
looking for sports content, we
want to be there; we want to leadthat,” said Connor Schell, execu-
tive vice president of content for
ESPN. “We think Quibi is a natu-
ral extension of that.”
Under the deal, Quibi pays
ESPN to create the show. and
ESPN, which will retain owner-
ship of it, will then license it back
to Quibi.
With the ESPN show still in de-
velopment, Mr. Schell said he
couldn’t share details of what the
five- to seven-minute episodes
would look like. The company is
hiring a team to create it while
also looking for a host or two, he
said.
Mr. Katzenberg, along with the
Quibi chief executive and co-
founder Meg Whitman, the for-
mer head of Hewlett-Packard and
eBay, have raised an estimated $1
billion for the project from Disney,
Lionsgate, NBCUniversal and
Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Strategic partners include Gold-
man Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and
Liberty Global. The Chinese con-
glomerate Alibaba Group is also
an investor.
And the pair have signed on a
slew of collaborators to test Mr.
Katzenberg’s hypothesis that the
future of entertainment will be
streamed on phone screens. The
directors Steven Spielberg, An-
toine Fuqua and Steven Soder-
bergh are among those who have
agreed to produce scripted shows
lasting no longer than 10 minutes
for Quibi, which is short for “quick
bites.”Quibi Gets Video Deal
For Content From ESPN
By NICOLE SPERLINGJeffrey Katzenberg is betting Quibi will appeal to young viewers.MATT WINKELMEYER/GETTY IMAGES FOR GLSENfrom the printed page, Quartz was
a rare thing: a recognizable dig-
ital-news brand, built from the
ground up.
It debuted in 2012 with around
20 journalists, and established a
niche catering to readers inter-
ested in the intersection of the
business and tech worlds at a time
when the tech industry was rising
to its current place of influence.
With a global perspective, it offers
six editions of its core site: Quartz,
Quartz at Work, Quartz Africa,
Quartz India, the lifestyle and
wellness site Quartzy and the
chart-driven Atlas.
Quartz averages roughly 20
million unique views per month,
with nearly half coming from out-
side the United States, according
to internal reporting.
But it loses money. According to
financial filings, Quartz lost more
than $16 million on nearly $12 mil-
lion in revenue through the first
six months of this year, partly be-
cause of difficulties in the online
ad market. Google and Facebook
together take more than 60 per-
cent of all online advertising dol-
lars, making it difficult for digitalpublishers, even those with robust
readerships, to succeed.
Uzabase started a paywall last
November, charging $99 for a
year’s subscription to Quartz. The
company has said it plans to in-
vest around $18 million in the ef-
fort and is likely to continue see-
ing losses this year.
There has never been Quartz
without Mr. Delaney as editor in
chief. Before he co-founded the
site, he expanded The Wall Street
Journal’s digital operation as
managing editor of its website. He
was a reporter at the newspaper
before that, covering tech compa-
nies like Google and Yahoo. Earli-
er in his career, he was a reporter
at SmartMoney, a personal busi-
ness magazine published by Dow
Jones and Hearst from 1992 to
2012, and a television producer in
Montreal.
“I’m really proud of how Quartz
has helped to fundamentally rede-
fine the media industry’s ap-
proach to journalism, product,
and advertising — and connected
with tens of millions of readers
around the world along the way,”
Mr. Delaney said in a statement.Kevin Delaney, the editor in chief
of Quartz and one of the digital
publication’s co-founders, is step-
ping down as part of a shake-up of
the company’s leadership.
Quartz announced the change
on Monday, adding that another of
its co-founders, Zach Seward, had
become the chief executive officer.
Mr. Delaney had previously
shared that role with Jay Lauf, the
publisher, who was named chair-
man of the company on Monday.
Katie Weber, previously the chief
commercial officer, was elevated
to president in the series of moves.
The job of editor in chief was left
open, with Quartz saying it was
looking for a new one. Mr. Delaney
will leave his role at the end of the
month and remain an adviser to
the company.
Yusuke Umeda, co-chief execu-
tive of Quartz’s parent company,
Uzabase, said, “I am particularly
excited for the next chapter and to
work with Zach and Katie to ag-
gressively build on this momen-
tum, to the benefit of readers,
partners and members.”
Billed by Quartz as a cordial
transition, the leadership changes
nonetheless raised questions
about a company that sustained
losses this year as it moves away
from its reliance on advertising to-
ward a business model based on
paid subscriptions.
The moves were the first major
turnover at the site, which covers
business news, since its founder,
Atlantic Media, sold it last year to
Uzabase, a Japanese financial in-
telligence company. At the time,
the announced sale price was be-
tween $75 million and $110 million.
Uzabase, which also owns the
business news aggregator
NewsPicks, said it had bought
Quartz to expand its overseas
news operation.
In a digital news landscape lit-
tered with failed start-ups and leg-
acy outlets that have struggled or
failed to make the transition awayQuartz Editor in Chief Steps Down
Kevin Delaney co-founded Quartz in 2012. He left on Monday.TOMOHIRO OHSUMI/BLOOMBERGBy MARC TRACY
and EDMUND LEEFor decades, WBAI-FM has re-
mained a proudly scrappy alter-
native in New York’s radio mar-
ket, a bastion of left-wing political
commentary and community
voices rarely heard elsewhere on
the dial.
That identity was cast into
doubt on Monday when the sta-
tion’s owner, the nonprofit Pacifi-
ca Foundation, abruptly laid off
most of WBAI’s staff and replaced
its local programming with shows
drawn from Pacifica’s four other
stations.
Ten of WBAI’s 12 employees
were laid off, according to John
Vernile, Pacifica’s interim execu-
tive director.
Employees and volunteer hosts
at the station said they were blind-
sided by Pacifica’s decision. “We
are in disbelief,” said Alexander J.
Urbelis, a host of “Off the Hook,” a
weekly show about computer
hacking. “Nobody was given any
notice of this or any opportunity to
be heard.”
Berthold Reimers, WBAI’s gen-
eral manager, told producers in an
email on Monday morning:
“There is a show on the air now
that I do not recognize. This
means your shows are no longer
on WBAI.” Mr. Reimers declined
to comment.
Pacifica leaders said that the
decision to shut down WBAI’s op-
erations in New York had been in
the works for months, and that it
was an essential step to save the
larger foundation from ruin.
In an interview, Mr. Vernile said
WBAI — which, like the network’s
other stations, is listener sup-
ported — had fallen short of its
fund-raising goals in recent years.
He added that the station was un-
able to make payroll and other ex-
penses, forcing the larger Pacifica
Foundation network to bail it out.
“Listeners in San Francisco,
Los Angeles, Houston and Wash-
ington, D.C., have been support-
ing the efforts in New York,” Mr.
Vernile said. “It has gotten to a
point where we can no longer do
that.”
WBAI’s ratings are minimal,
but its shows can have an impact.
On Monday, Letitia James, the at-
torney general of New York, wrote
on Twitter: “This is deeply disap-
pointing and I hope this station is
relaunched.”
WBAI and Pacifica had been
under strain for years. Pacifica
has not released any financial
statements since 2017, when its
auditor cited doubts that the orga-
nization could continue as a going
concern.
The foundation faced possible
bankruptcy after a New York
State court ordered it in 2017 to
pay $1.8 million in rent and other
fees to a trust affiliated with the
Empire State Building, where
WBAI transmitted its signal.
Last year, Pacifica settled with
the trust after obtaining a loan
from FJC, a nonprofit lender. Mr.
Vernile said Pacifica had been
meeting its obligations under the
loan agreement. Sam Marks, the
chief executive of FJC, declined to
comment.
WBAI, founded in 1960, was a
leader in the free-form radio
movement, and has had a history
of extraordinary moments in
broadcasting. Bob Dylan made
early appearances on the station,
and in the 1970s WBAI was cited
by the Federal Communications
Commission for indecency for
running George Carlin’s routine
on seven “filthy words,” a decision
upheld by the Supreme Court.
As WBAI’s audience has dwin-
dled, its finances have grown
shaky. In 2013, after nearly a dec-
ade of losses, the station laid off 19
employees. At times, it has
seemed crippled by factionalism,
as board meetings descended into
name-calling and bickering over
parliamentary rules.
The station’s most valuable as-
set may be its license to operate a
coveted spot on the dial, at 99.5
FM, but Mr. Vernile said Pacifica
was determined not to sell that
prime piece of radio real estate.
Pacifica, he said, wants to “re-
build” WBAI at some point, al-
though he did not offer a clear tar-
get date.
“We are not out of the woods
yet,” he said, “but this puts us in a
place where we have a shot at
bringing everything back in full.”
WBAI-FM
Changes
Programs
And Staff
By BEN SISARIO‘Nobody was given
any notice of this or
any opportunity to be
heard.’
Alexander J. Urbelis, host of ‘Off the
Hook.’
Burke said in a statement on Mon-
day.
On the addition of Mr. Strauss,
Mr. Burke added, “He has great
experience with video, digital
technology and streaming and is
the right person for the role at this
juncture.”
There were other moves, too.
George Cheeks, a co-chairman of
NBC Entertainment, was named
vice chairman of NBCUniversal
content studios. He will report to
Ms. Hammer and continue to
oversee late-night television at
NBC.
With Mr. Cheeks vacating his
previous post, Paul Telegdy be-
comes the sole chairman of NBC
Entertainment and will have re-
sponsibility for programming de-
cisions at NBC, the most-watched
broadcast network.
Mr. Telegdy and Mr. Cheeks had
shared responsibility for the home
of “This Is Us” and “America’s Got
Talent” since the departure 13
months ago of Robert Greenblatt,
who led a ratings turnaround at
NBC during his eight years in
charge. In March, Mr. Greenblatt
became the head of entertainment
at Warner Media, the division of
AT&T that is home to HBO, TNT
and TBS.
The moves at NBCUniversal on
Monday came as part of a season
of change.
In January, Mr. Burke an-
nounced several high-level execu-
tive changes, setting up a poten-
tial showdown for who could suc-
ceed him as chief executive. HeLess than a month ago, NBCUni-
versal announced that it would en-
ter the streaming wars with a new
service named after its colorful
NBC logo-slash-mascot.
The service, called Peacock, is
scheduled to make its mark in
April with some 15,000 hours of
content. The streaming service
was being developed under the
leadership of its chairwoman,
Bonnie Hammer, who had previ-
ously served as the head of NBC-
Universal Cable Entertainment,
where she oversaw NBC’s cable
channels.
Cut to the present. Ms. Hammer
is no longer the head of Peacock.
In her place, NBCUniversal has
installed Matt Strauss, a longtime
executive from NBCUniversal’s
parent company, the telecom-
munications giant Comcast. Mr.
Strauss was most recently the ex-
ecutive vice president of Comcast
Cable’s digital arm, Xfinity Serv-
ices. As part of the shake-up, Ms.
Hammer has been named the
head of NBCUniversal Content
Studios, a newly created part of
the company.
Ms. Hammer, 69, and Mr.
Strauss, 48, will report to Stephen
B. Burke, the chief executive of
NBCUniversal.
“Bonnie’s great taste, deep Hol-
lywood relationships, and strong
track record of generating popu-
lar and award-winning program-
ming make her ideally suited to
oversee this new division,” Mr.named Mark Lazarus the head of
most of NBC’s East Coast opera-
tions and gave Jeff Shell responsi-
bility for NBCUniversal’s Holly-
wood properties in Burbank, Calif.
Mr. Burke has denied that he has
plans to leave his post any time
soon.
Ms. Hammer’s move to stream-
ing — away from her longtime
home in cable — was part of that
January announcement. The
round of changes announced on
Monday place her in control of the
company’s television studios.
The game of corporate musical
chairs also pulls Mr. Cheeks into
the running as heir apparent to
Ms. Hammer, whose career as a
television executive stretches
back to the 1980s.
When Peacock makes its
planned debut in April, it will join
the growing list of new streaming
services, including Apple TV Plus
(Nov. 1), Disney Plus (Nov. 12) and
HBO Max, which is also to start in
April. The platforms will enter an
increasingly competitive arena
that already includes established
services like Netflix, Hulu and
Amazon Prime.
Peacock intends to draw from
its vast library, streaming com-
plete seasons of “Parks and Rec-
reation,” “Cheers,” “Downton Ab-
bey,” “Everybody Loves Ray-
mond,” “Friday Night Lights” and
“Frasier.” In June, NBCUniversal
regained the rights to “The Of-
fice,” which has had a successful
afterlife on Netflix. The show will
become available on Peacock in
2021.Matt Strauss, an executive at NBCUniversal’s parent company, Comcast, will lead NBCUniversal’s streaming service.JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESSNBC Shuffles Management
At Peacock Streaming Service
By NICOLE SPERLING
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