Change in media company leadership is in the air

Hi and welcome to Insider Advertising, weekly edition, where I get into the big stories in media and advertising. Today's our last newsletter this week before we pause for the Thanksgiving weekend.

If someone forwarded you this email, remember you can sign up here to get your own.

This week: Media leadership changes are in the air, top startups to watch, and Netflix salaries.

What's next for newsroom leadership

The election's over, to our great relief. But those of us who thrive on drama can turn their attention to the news media.

Recently we've been watching how companies seems to be poised for their own upheaval in leadership, whether because of retirement, organizational changes, or personal decisions to move on.

• At the big TV companies, speculation has been swirling about when CNN boss Jeff Zucker will step down.
• There's chatter at CBS News about who could replace Susan Zirinsky as she drops hints that she could be looking for a change.

Change is also afoot in digital and print media.

• There's a search for a new editor in chief at HuffPost, where the role's been vacant since Lydia Polgreen left in March.
• The Atlantic has been looking for a new CEO — although to be sure, given the length the search has gone on, it doesn't seem to be an urgent need and there's a chance it won't be filled at all.
• Other old-media stalwarts The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post are expected to replace their top editors in the next year or so.

It's no ordinary time for media. Companies are grappling with greater activism among their newsrooms, calls for more diversity in leadership, and big changes in how people consume media, which have been sped up in the pandemic — so any changes of the guard will be closely scrutinized for how they address these shifts.

Startups to watch

All year we've been asking VCs and other investors which startups they're most closely watching.

In advertising and media, the most promising include ones that are especially suited to life in lockdown or promising to solve advertisers' need for sound consumer data:

• Players' Lounge, a platform where video game players compete with each other for money, a model that seems made for the pandemic.
• Narrative, which helps direct-to-consumer brands and marketers buy and sell data and offers an antidote to the often shady data broker industry.
• Encantos, a 4-year-old education and entertainment company for kids that's benefiting from the rise of at-home learning in the lockdown.
• The Juggernaut, a subscription media company that tells stories around South Asia and the South Asian diaspora.
• Perksy is an app-based research firm that collects anonymous data about millennials in a privacy friendly way.

Read the full list here.

Netflix salaries

Netflix keeps churning out hit after hit as its subscriber numbers keep soaring.

It's also hiring. Business Insider analyzed US work-visa disclosure data released by the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification to see what Netflix pays for everything from engineers to marketers.

Working at Netflix means accepting some unorthodox practices. The streaming company doesn't offer performance-based bonuses on the belief that they hinder innovation, and says managers shouldn't be afraid to fire people who they don't want on their teams.

But one reason Netflix can get away with this is that it pays pretty darn well.

Based on the data, annual base salaries for various roles range from $110,000 to $850,000, with a median of $400,000.

Read the rest here: Netflix salaries revealed: Data shows how much content execs, engineers, marketers, and more made at the streaming service in 2020

Other stories we're reading:

• Inside the rise of the 'career influencer,' a growing group of content creators using TikTok and LinkedIn to disrupt the $11 billion coaching industry (Business Insider)
• Roiled by election, Facebook struggles to balance civility and growth (The New York Times)
• Mars just bought snack bar maker Kind for a reportedly $5 billion. Here are 5 other established food brands that could be acquired next as companies look to put cash from coronavirus-driven sales to use. (Business Insider)
• Trump bump: NYT and WaPo digital subscriptions tripled since 2016 (Axios)
• EXCLUSIVE: Amazon's fashion chief told employees that 50 brands have inquired about selling in its new luxury store, as the company tries to shed counterfeit concerns (Business Insider)

Happy Turkey Day and see you back here Monday.

— Lucia