Top News:
CNNMoney:
ESPN to lay off 100 on-air personalities and writers plus a limited number of off-air jobs — ESPN plans to lay off 100 on-air personalities and writers, a source familiar with the matter told CNNMoney on Wednesday. — The job cuts, including television, radio and online personalities …
Discussion:
Deadspin, @nycjim, Columbia Journalism Review, Recode, Digiday, The Week, The Daily Caller, Hit & Run, Variety, Crain's New York Business, @marisaguthrie, USA Today, ESPN Front Row, New York Magazine, Motherboard, @buccigross, Fortune, CinemaBlend, Hollywood Reporter, SI.com, @daveholmestv, NESN.com, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, CNBC, Mediaite, @ourand_sbj, ESPN MediaZone, @jimmiller, @braddjaffy, @comedianspank, @lilmissrightie, @hotlinejosh, @richarddeitsch, Mashable, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, Multichannel News, @jimmiller, 9to5Mac, @mattlombardophl, Richard Deitsch, Yahoo! Finance, @t_sharp4, @jimmiller, @ourand_sbj, @jimmiller, @jimmiller, @jimmiller, Variety, @seyitaylor, @edmundlee and @rafat
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Kevin Draper / Deadspin:
A list of ESPN layoffs, as they become known — With phone calls and meetings beginning informing some ESPN employees that they have been laid off, word will slowly trickle out all day long about who they are. There will be plenty of names you have heard of, as ESPN reorients their daily lineup of shows …
Discussion:
The Federalist, SBD Articles, SI.com, @buster_espn, Forbes, Newser, @markcoddington, New York Times, New York Post, TVNewser, Washington Post, @sbnlukethomas, NPR, @hotlinejosh, @allahpundit, @bradwellsnfl, @mysportsupdate, @mr4thandlong, @edsbs, Charlotte Business Journal, @sportswatch, @nick_mcintyre, @chrismartin17, @readdanwrite, @davidrivals, @brentscher and @conorsen
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai outlines plan to roll back Title II net neutrality rules, plans to release full proposal on April 27 for FCC vote on May 18 — Vote to begin net neutrality rollback scheduled for May 18. — The Federal Communications Commission will vote next month to start the process …
Discussion:
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Recode, World News Publishing Focus …, Variety, New York Times, The Verge, Broadcasting & Cable, Boing Boing, eMarketer and Newsroom Posts, CBS San Francisco, The Hill, Broadcasting & Cable, Access Now, Ars Technica UK, Reuters, @ajitpaifcc, Bloomberg, @pattymurray, @videograndpa, Fortune, @harrisonweber, @backlon, @stevekovach, @eff, @katecrawford, @tonyromm, @waltmossberg, @mollywood, Radio & Television …, Vanity Fair, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, TechCrunch, Axios, Business Insider, The Verge, Radio & Television …, Free Press Blog, Multichannel News, The Guardian, Broadcasting & Cable, Motherboard, Fortune, WRAL Tech Wire, Electronic Frontier Foundation, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press, more at Techmeme »
Tony Maglio / The Wrap:
Comcast reports Q1 earnings of $20.46B, with cable network revenue rising 7.6% to $2.6B and broadcast rising 5.9% to $2.2B — Comcast is off to a strong start in 2017, thanks in large part to its better box office beginning. — The NBCUniversal parent company topped media analyst's expectations …
Discussion:
@bobbierman and Fortune
George Slefo / Ad Age:
IAB: digital ad revenue grew 22% YoY to $72.5B in 2016, surpassing TV for the first time; idea that Google/Facebook ‘duopoly’ is driving ad growth is incorrect — Digital advertising saw $72.5 billion revenue in 2016, a 22% upswing from the previous year.
Discussion:
@jason_kint, Adweek, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, AdExchanger and Marketing Land, more at Techmeme »
Ricardo Bilton / Nieman Lab:
Podcast network Panoply allowed listeners to vote on four podcast pilots, deciding which would become full shows — “We're basically asking [listeners]: Are we way off base? Are we a little off base? You tell us before we make a whole season of something drive you away." — What makes a popular podcast?
Connie Bruck / New Yorker:
A look at Steve Bannon's background in the film industry, including looking for proof of Seinfeld royalties — Stephen K. Bannon, who maintains a precarious hold over the nativist wing of the Trump White House, honed his skills in the art of conservative persuasion in the most liberal precinct of the American imagination, Hollywood.
Discussion:
@davidbrockdc and Longreads
Sahil Patel / Digiday:
As the Google-Facebook ad duopoly grows, publishers are partnering up to compete for ad dollars — If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. As digital media sellers compete for ad dollars in a fragmented world, they're betting it's better to work together than to individually lose out on ad dollars entirely.
Discussion:
Mindshare In The Loop
Richard Smirke / Billboard:
IFPI Global Report 2017: 50%, or $7.8B, of all music sales come from digital; paid music subs hit 112M, with total streaming rev up 60% YoY to just over $3.9B — Increase of six percent is the highest year-over-year gain since the IFPI first started tracking the market in 1997.
Discussion:
Variety, Forbes, Radioandmusic.com, Music Week, Salon, AllAccess.com, Financial Times, Engadget and Variety
Kristen Hare / Poynter:
The staff of the East Bay Times have been told layoffs are coming to the paper, two weeks after winning a Pulitzer Prize — Earlier this month, the staff of the East Bay Times won a Pulitzer Prize for their breaking news coverage of the Oakland Ghost Ship Fire. Last week, their editor informed them of coming newsroom layoffs.
Discussion:
@testycopyeditor, @umairh, @davidsirota, @kristenhare, @journalistslike and Adweek
Mike Allen / Axios:
Memo: BuzzFeed EIC Ben Smith unveils site's new slogan, “Reporting to You”; site is testing technical features which will help gather feedback from audience — BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith told his staff yesterday about a new slogan for BuzzFeed News, “Reporting to You.”
Discussion:
@bobbierman
Claire Zillman / Fortune:
Jesse Watters, co-host of Fox News show The Five, announced an abrupt two-day vacation after backlash over a remark he made about Ivanka Trump — Fox News' Jesse Watters, a co-host of The Five, faced social media backlash Wednesday for remarks about Ivanka Trump's appearance in Berlin that were interpreted as a crude innuendo.
Discussion:
Business Insider, @anthony, @nycjim and BuzzFeed
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