Top News:
Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
Memo: BuzzFeed plans to rely on OpenAI to enhance quizzes and personalize content; a spokeswoman says the newsroom remains focused on human-generated journalism — CEO Jonah Peretti said publisher would use the technology to make more comprehensive quizzes, interactive content
Discussion:
Variety, The Hill, CNN, Nieman Lab, Gizmodo, CBS News, @thataldendiaz, Social Media Today, @nxthompson, @loudmouthjulia, Forbes, @henereyg, @timmarchman, @henereyg, @jackmirkinson, @carnage4life, @sokane1, @dellcam, @kelsaywhat, Engadget, Yahoo Finance, The Verge, @samitsarkar, @jon_christian, @mylesudland, @sizpatel, @mattmitovich, @katienotopoulos, @abrahamjoseph, @dandock, @jimprosser, @rosiegray, @paultassi, @kylebuchanan, @emmmzyne, @bendwalsh, @katehydeny, @kantrowitz, @glenngabe, @mattshuham, @azalben, @lindsaygoldwert, @tomwarren, @pranavdixit, @azalben, @kevincollier, @tomgara, @rcmacleod, @adribbleofink and @yoda, more at Techmeme »
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Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Meta pays BuzzFeed to generate creator content for Facebook and Instagram and to train online creators to grow, as part of a ~$10M deal reached in 2022 — Partnership marks latest iteration of yearslong relationship between digital publisher and social-media giant
Discussion:
Insider, The Rebooting, Social Media Today, The Information, The Wrap and @chrisharihar, more at Techmeme »
Sara Fischer / Axios:
In a memo to staff, Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel announces layoffs affecting 274 people, or ~7% of the outlet's workforce, across nearly all departments — Dotdash Meredith, one of the largest print and digital publishers in the country, is laying off 274 people, roughly 7% of its staff …
Discussion:
CNN, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, @parkermolloy, Variety, @simonowens, @petersterne, @jeffjarvis, Observer and @elieraine, Thanks:@petersterne
Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
NBCU reports Q4 revenue rose 5.9% YoY to $9.89B as EBITDA fell 36.3% YoY to $817M; Peacock had 20M+ paid subscribers and its EBITDA loss grew 75% YoY to $978M — Parent company Comcast reported its broadband and pay TV subscriber figures for the latest period.
Discussion:
Variety, Seeking Alpha, MediaPost, CBR, The Streamable, The Wrap, TechCrunch, Deadline, IndieWire, @tvgrimreaper, @carlquintanilla, Wall Street Journal, @thr and Media Play News
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Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Comcast and NBCUniversal executives expect Peacock's EBITDA losses to peak in 2023 at “around $3B” and “improve steadily from there”; Peacock lost $2.5B in 2022
Comcast and NBCUniversal executives expect Peacock's EBITDA losses to peak in 2023 at “around $3B” and “improve steadily from there”; Peacock lost $2.5B in 2022
Discussion:
The Wrap, Awful Announcing, Next TV, The Information, Adweek, The Wrap, TVNewsCheck, @richlightshed, @loudmouthjulia and @tvgrimreaper
Lachlan Markay / Axios:
Former employees of Russia-backed broadcaster RT America take over its former Washington, DC studios and ramp up GlobalTek, a media venture formed in April 2022 — Former employees of Russian propaganda broadcaster RT America have taken over its old studios in downtown D.C. and are ramping up a new media venture, Axios has learned.
Discussion:
@lachlan, @sarafischer and @lachlan
Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
Nielsen's most-streamed titles on US TVs in 2022: Stranger Things, followed by NCIS, CoComelon, Ozark, and Encanto; streaming content consumption rose ~27% YoY — Nielsen's year-end rankings put the Netflix hit head and shoulders above every other title. — One of Netflix's biggest shows ever is …
Discussion:
Variety, Screen Rant, Bloody Disgusting!, LostRemote, Insider, NME, New York Daily News, UPI, Media Play News, The A.V. Club, TVLine, The Streamable, CBR, Deadline, IndieWire, UPROXX and GameSpot
Kareem Shaheen / New Lines Magazine:
Mainstream outlets made important missteps in the Hamline University controversy, particularly by not publishing the painting of Muhammad that sparked it all — The omission is curious because the drawings are central to both the reporting and the cause of academic freedom
Philip Stafford / Financial Times:
Chicago-based Clouty creates a tradeable index tracking revenue made by the top 500 songs streamed globally, as private equity groups invest in music catalogs — Start-up is seeking to launch futures to let streaming companies and rights owners manage risks
Discussion:
@michellemanafy and @matthuber78
Sarah Sluis / AdExchanger:
Q&A with David Cohen, the CEO of ad trade group IAB, who has blasted Apple's ATT rules and legislators' labeling of personalized ads as surveillance capitalism — Digital advertising's biggest trade organization, the IAB, took a shot at Apple on Monday.
Washington Post:
After layoffs, The Washington Post adds seven contributors to its opinion section and two visual team members to present content in “new and compelling formats” — The Washington Post's opinion section continues to grow under Editorial Page Editor David Shipley's direction adding seven new contributors today.
Discussion:
@ggreeneva, @will_bunch, @bradfordpearson, @csymrl, @rameshponnuru, @froomkin, @mattyglesias, @aghamilton29, @mcbyrne, @speechboy71 and @jonahdispatch
Lucia Moses / Insider:
Bloomberg plans to hire 1,000 staff in 2023, some for its news arm, and form a team to improve the Bloomberg Terminal's user experience and news discoverability — - Bloomberg LP plans to hire 1,000 people this year as other media and finance companies slash staff.
Discussion:
@lmoses, @mediaevan and TechCrunch
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
The New York Times launched its flagship TikTok account on January 24, after creating specialized accounts including for NYT Cooking and the Hard Fork podcast — On March 21, 2007, The New York Times announced itself on Twitter: “Word up! It is I, the Gray Lady, with a ‘shoutout’ to all my hip young friends.
Discussion:
@arjunbasu