How media companies are returning to the office

Hi and welcome to Insider Advertising for April 15. I'm senior advertising reporter Lauren Johnson, and here's what's going on:

First, a reminder to sign up for our event about the future of digital advertising on April 22 at 2 PM EST/11 PM PST with The Trade Desk, R/GA, The Washington Post, and Mars.

• How media companies are returning to the office.
• Inside Showtime's strategy.
• Meet IPG's Philippe Krakowsky.

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Tips, comments, suggestions? Drop me a line at [email protected] or on Twitter at @LaurenJohnson.

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Media companies including Bloomberg, The Washington Post, and ViacomCBS detail their return-to-office plans as workers push for flexibility after the pandemic

• Media companies are targeting the summer or early fall for their return to the office, Steven Perlberg reported.
• Bloomberg expects employees to return to their desks once they are fully vaccinated.
• Media unions are pushing for more flexible work arrangements to continue post-pandemic.

Read the story.

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Showtime insiders worry it will struggle against big-spending rivals like Netflix if it doesn't broaden its appeal or shake up its strategy

• People close to Showtime questioned whether it can thrive without evolving amid rising competition, Ashley Rodriguez and Travis Clark reported.
• Showtime values its place as the adult alternative to ViacomCBS' Paramount Plus.
• But sources raised concerns about its long-term prospects and "Halo" moving to Paramount Plus.

Read the story.

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How a quiet, behind-the-scenes fixer became CEO of the fourth-biggest advertising company – and how he plans to keep its momentum going

• Philippe Krakowsky, the new CEO of the No. 4 ad-holding company, isn't a typical advertising chief.
• In one of his first interviews as CEO, he discussed how IPG outperformed in a pandemic and plans to grow, Patrick Coffee reported.
• But like the rest of the traditional ad industry, IPG faces competition for ad dollars and talent.

Read the story.

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More stories we're reading:

• Big Tech has turned to Nicholas Bloom for help navigating their return to the office. Here's what the Stanford economist recommends. (Insider)
• Fresh off its $155 million funding round, shaving company Harry's chief of new brands explains what its looking for in consumer retail upstarts as it hunts for its first acquisition (Insider)
• Amazon sellers say sabotage from other 'black hat' sellers is out of control (Insider)
• Facebook is under investigation in the EU for its massive leak of 533 million people's data – and it could face a fine in the billions (Insider)
• A Twitch streamer ended his 31-day livestream by breaking the record for the most-subscribed-to personality on the platform (Insider)
  
• How Amazon strong-arms partners using its power across multiple businesses (Wall Street Journal)
  

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! You can reach me in the meantime at [email protected] and subscribe to this daily email here.