league of their own: amazon wants to get in on a game that could tip the scales for possible cord-cutters: live sports. the e-commerce giant has been in talks for live game rights with heavy-hitters like the nba, major league baseball and the nfl, as well as a number of smaller players like major league soccer, the acc and lacrosse leagues, reports the wall street journal. while the details of a potential premium exclusive sports package are still up in the air, the mere presence of sports could help amazon attract new prime subscribers and customers for a possible online <u+201c>skinny bundle<u+201d> of live channels, potentially undoing the <u+201c>glue<u+201d> holding the cable bundle together. in its aggressive content play, amazon has gone so far as to canvass traditional tv networks for game rights they aren<u+2019>t using, as well as look for overseas rights to cricket and nba games. the challenge is that premium rights are largely tied up in multibillion-dollar contracts with broadcast and cable networks until early next decade. but amazon is in this for the long game, and that could be a real threat to traditional pay tv. to the tower: president-elect donald trump invited top executives and anchors from the major broadcast and cable networks to an off-the-record meeting on monday at trump tower, where he criticized their election and postelection coverage. he complained about the media<u+2019>s predictions that he would lose to hillary clinton and chastised nbc news for using an unflattering picture of him , reports cmo today. the meeting, during which mr. trump said he wants to wipe the slate clean, included executives like cnn president jeff zucker and fox news co-presidents jack abernethy and bill shine, as well as on-air talent like nbc<u+2019>s lester holt and abc<u+2019>s george stephanopoulos. the new york post described the meeting as a <u+201c>firing squad<u+201d>--a report that kellyanne conway, a senior adviser to mr. trump, dismissed. she told reporters that the meeting was <u+201c>cordial<u+201d> and allowed both sides to <u+201c>hit the reset button.<u+201d> after the meeting, mr. trump bypassed the media and uploaded a youtube video in which he describes his transition plans. mr. trump had made plans to hold a second meeting with the new york times on tuesday, but early tuesday morning he tweeted that he canceled it when the times <u+201c>changed the terms and conditions of the meeting at the last moment.<u+201d> imitation game: they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. facebook<u+2019>s photo-sharing app instagram has unveiled private photos that disappear after being viewed <u+2014>a new product that takes direct aim at the vanishing-pic pioneer snapchat, reports the wall street journal. it<u+2019>s also launching a live video product where the video can<u+2019>t be viewed again after the stream ends. the product will live within instagram stories, where people share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. instagram hopes to make live video less about broadcasting and more about hanging out, said kevin weil, instagram<u+2019>s head of product. instagram adopted its stories product , which is also akin to snapchat<u+2019>s, this summer. these launches might make competitor snap inc. seethe on an ordinary day, but snap is keeping busy with its own pr blitz as it brings its new spectacles product to new york city . the company is selling its camera-enabled glasses through a vending machine in a pop-up in midtown manhattan following a similar launch strategy in other cities. getting comfy: buzzfeed and nbcuniversal are getting cozier. nbcu confirmed its latest $200 million strategic investment in the digital media darling, including efforts for the two companies to intertwine their ad sales and production , reports cmo today. with nbcu doubling down on its investment, the companies will now co-sell ad packages that could include space on each other<u+2019>s properties, as well as combine content studio resources to work on native ad production and social distribution. but for nbcu, the latest investment means more than just access to a content studio that produces branded cat videos. it means more control over its position in buzzfeed, people familiar with the matter told cmo today. provisions include the right to additional shares if buzzfeed<u+2019>s ipo price comes in lower than nbcu<u+2019>s investment valuation, as well as being first in line for a pay back if the company is sold. for buzzfeed, the funding and resources provide security and more scale as it targets an ipo by 2018. reese witherspoon has teamed up with otter media, a joint venture of the chernin group and at&t, to launch hello sunshine. the consumer-facing content company plans to create and aggregate <u+201c>powerful content by and for women across all platforms.<u+201d> [ variety ] the financial times is looking at possible acquisitions of companies that can boost its digital subscriptions business, as well as technology firms that can strengthen its data and analytics capabilities. [ bloomberg ] a number of brands that buy internet ads using automated technology, including allstate, modcloth, nest, earthlink and sofi, want to blacklist alt-right news site breitbart, which has been accused of catering to white nationalists, among other things. many brands didn<u+2019>t know they were appearing on the site, which has come under scrutiny since its former chairman, steve bannon, was named as president-elect donald trump<u+2019>s chief strategist. [ digiday ] months after acquiring cablevision from the dolan family, altice is entwined in public and heated negotiations over programming fees with cable brand amc networks, which is also controlled by the dolans. [ new york post ] the fake news epidemic shows no signs of abating with the next generation of voters, at least according to a stanford university study of 7,804 students from middle school through college. the study found that 82% of middle-schoolers couldn<u+2019>t distinguish between an ad labeled <u+201c>sponsored content<u+201d> and a real news story on a website. [ wsj ] at&t inc., dish network and ad holding company wpp have together acquired addressable ad technology company invidi technologies corp. at&t will hold a controlling stake. [ wsj ] conservatives are taking to the app stores on apple and google to give low ratings to apps from publishers like cnn, mic, quartz and usa today, which they accuse of having a liberal bias. [ digiday ] the bbc has named amol rajan its first media editor to cover an industry that faces <u+201c>unprecedented challenges,<u+201d> said bbc director of news and current affairs james harding. [ bbc ] 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: amazon explores premium sports package  - wsj
alexandra bruell