buyer<u+2019>s dilemma : in the year since his return, twitter ceo jack dorsey has made an effort to reinvigorate the brand and boost user growth, and he<u+2019>s not ready to give up on the company he co-founded. days before a recent board meeting, mr. dorsey said he wanted to stay the course , but a former ceo and board member, ev williams, pushed for a sale, according to bloomberg. since mr. dorsey took the helm last year, splitting his time with his other company square inc. , twitter has tried to simplify the service and curb harassment, while introducing new live-video partnerships like a streaming deal with the nfl, the wall street journal reports. but the social giant only increased users by 1% in the second quarter, while revenue growth shrank for the eighth straight period. the board ultimately decided it had a fiduciary duty to explore a sale. twitter, which has a market value of about $17 billion, is expected to consider offers as soon as this week. recode reported late yesterday that disney and google have decided against a bid , while salesforce.com is still in the mix. vp flop : the vice-presidential debate delivered plenty of policy disagreements and a few more fireworks than anticipated, but it failed to generate anywhere close to the same level of interest among the american public as last week<u+2019>s presidential showdown. the first presidential debate between donald trump and hillary clinton broke records with 84 million viewers . the tuesday night matchup between their running mates republican gov. mike pence and democratic sen. tim kaine came in at less than half of that, with 37 million viewers for the lowest-rated vp debate since 2000 , cmo today reports. that<u+2019>s a far cry from the vp debate record of 69.9 million for joe biden v. sarah palin in 2008. nbc led broadcasters with about 7 million viewers on tuesday night, while fox news outranked the cable news networks with 6.1 million viewers. some have argued the ratings are a reflection of a debate that was simply too boring compared with the antics of the election so far. genius moves : brooklyn-based startup genius, formerly known as rap genius, has broadened more than its name as it charts ambitious growth and digital expansion goals. the venture-backed company, which recently hired a chief revenue officer, has expanded its original rap annotation platform to categories like news and begun creating videos geared toward facebook and youtube, said ilan zechory, co-founder of genius on the latest episode of the wsj media mix podcast . during the pok<u+00e9>mon go craze, for instance, genius fashioned a video that showcased every time pok<u+00e9>mon had been mentioned in major rap songs. the company is trying to create more <u+201c>high-end<u+201d> video and content for brands and is working closely with streaming services like spotify. <u+201c>we<u+2019>ve done some sponsored, behind-the-music playlists with spotify where everyone makes money and the advertiser gets involved,<u+201d> he said. for more with mr. zechory, check out the episode and subscribe to the wsj media mix podcast on itunes , google play music , spotify or stitcher. editorial history : the atlantic magazine yesterday made only its third endorsement for a presidential candidate since its founding in 1857. the first two were for abraham lincoln and lyndon b. johnson, and the third is for hillary clinton. while the editors wrote that mrs. clinton is one of the most prepared candidates ever, the piece largely focuses on why voters should not elect donald trump. the atlantic joins a series of publications breaking with tradition by endorsing a democrat for the first time or in decades or even <u+201c>disendorsing<u+201d> a contender. (on the other hand, the observer had typically endorsed a democratic candidate until 2012, when it supported mitt romney. this year, the paper, which is run by mr. trump<u+2019>s son-in-law, endorsed mr. trump in the primary.) as jim rutenberg writes in his new york times media column , the question is whether the <u+201c>collective sense of alarm<u+201d> in the anti-trump editorials will have any impact on voters, particularly undecideds, in an election year when mr. trump is making the case that the <u+201c>dishonest media<u+201d> is rigged against him. the other age-old question is whether readers recognize the divide between the editorial pages and the newsroom. at&t is planning to acquire media companies over the next three to five years to bolster its programming production capabilities, versus just distributing content. the company has a list of potential targets that range from $2 billion to $50 billion. [ bloomberg ] amazon boss and washington post owner jeff bezos topped vanity fair<u+2019>s annual ranking of the 100 tech, media and wall street moguls. mark zuckerberg, evan spiegel, bob iger, rupert murdoch and beyonc<u+00e9> also made it into the top 10. [ vanity fair ] netflix has hired bela bajaria as vice president of content, a role that will include developing original shows and acquiring the rights to existing ones. ms. bajaria was formerly president of nbcuniversal<u+2019>s universal television. [ wsj ] the nra is spending $6.5 million on a spot that features a woman advocating for the right to carry a gun for protection, an ad in favor of a donald trump candidacy. [ politico ] amazon has added a number of books and magazines to its prime subscription benefits. [ engadget ] chipotle is considering launching a creative agency review as the company tries to improve its reputation after a series of health incidents. [ ad age ] the weather company has tapped jordan bitterman, a former mindshare executive, as its chief marketing officer. [ ad age ] mike coates will step down as president and ceo of the americas at wpp<u+2019>s hill+knowlton strategies, with plans to retire next year. [ the holmes report ] follow us on twitter: @wsjcmo , @digitalshields , @vranicawsj , @jackmarshall , @perlberg , @alexbruell , @srabil , @asharma subscribe to our morning newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox, at http://on.wsj.com/cmotodaysignup . write to alexandra bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com
cmo today: twitter ceo<u+2019>s failed efforts set stage for potential sale - wsj
alexandra bruell