Mediagazer: A look at the podcast industry, as a faltering ad market and recession fears increase the reluctance to fund projects without a path to short-term profitability (Reggie Ugwu/New York Times)

3:45 PM ET, February 16, 2023

Top News:

Peter Kafka / Vox:

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki plans to step down after nine years, to be replaced by Neal Mohan as SVP and head of YouTube; Wojcicki was Google's 16th employee — One of the most prominent women in tech — and one of Google's earliest employees — is leaving the company.

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

Thousands sign a letter protesting The New York Times' coverage of trans people, coordinated with a letter from GLAAD; a NYT statement defends the outlet's work — This story has been updated with a statement from The New York Times. — In the past year, page A1 of The New York Times …

Discussion: nytletter.com, @powellnyt, @megreenwell, @jaycaspiankang, @nkulw, @ajbauer, @hellgateny, Hell Gate, @chrisgeidner, @laurahazardowen, @yashar, The Present Age, GLAAD, @bgrueskin, Slate, Pirate Wires, Blogging Through the Breakdown, @glaad, @TexasObserver …, @mattyglesias, Wonkette, @ralstonreports, @tomscocca, Breitbart, @froomkin, @megreenwell, @melissagira, @njhochman, BROADVIEW with Lisa …, @davidklion, @kendrawrites, @euanyours, @christrobbins, @ryanlcooper, @chrisgeidner, @esqueer_, @jackmirkinson, @chrismohney, @parkermolloy, @mattbc, @gbbranstetter, @pogform, @genepark, @parkermolloy, @robchappell365, @getfiscal, @rschooley, @nberlat, @sxarletred, Poynter, @holdendcat, @dreamwisp, @ralstonreports, @erininthemorn, @sullydish, @chsommers, @mariskreizman, @jessesingal, @leorsapir, @dilanesper, @thefrankiedlc, @msignorile, @atrios, @ashleylatke, @jessesingal, @jo_livingstone, @dceiver, @mtracey, @alex_abads, @noellehowey, LGBTQ Nation, @parkermolloy, @njhochman, @nberlat, @tuckwoodstock, @diannaeanderson, @brynntannehill, @caseyplett, @tyschalter, @sxarletred, @n_th_n_, @adamgurri, @raxkingisdead, Boing Boing, @albertocairo, @dcwoodruff, @tomwatson, @zackford, @kevinmkruse, @ashleyfeinberg, @froomkin, @parkermolloy, @niemanlab, New York Post, @rgay, @dkiesow@social.kiesow.net, BuzzFeed News, Fox News, NPR, Vanity Fair, HuffPost, The Hill, Mediaite, Forbes, New York Daily News, The Daily Beast, The Wrap, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Paramount reports Q4 revenue up 2% YoY to $8.1B, operating income fell 93% YoY to $182M, and TV media income fell 7% to $5.9B; DTC revenue rose 30% YoY to $1.4B — The New York owner of the CBS broadcast network and the Paramount movie studio said that the costs of generating gains …

Discussion: AdExchanger, TVNewsCheck, Forbes, Next TV, Wall Street Journal and WORLD SCREEN

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:

Paramount reports 77M global streaming subscribers at the end of 2022, up from 67M in Q3, 56M Paramount+ subscribers, and 78.5M Pluto TV MAUs, up 6.5M from Q3 — The conglomerate, led by CEO Bob Bakish, in its fourth-quarter results touts higher streaming revenue.

Discussion: Variety, MediaPost, CNBC, TechCrunch, Broadband TV News, Deadline, The Streamable, @tvgrimreaper, IndieWire, The Wrap and @thr

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Paramount plans to raise the price of Paramount+ with ads to $5.99 per month and the premium tier with Showtime to $11.99 per month in 2023

Discussion: Next TV, The Hill, The Wrap, Adweek, SlashFilm, Deadline, Bloomberg, Reuters, Forbes, TVLine, IndieWire, The Streamable, Collider and Media Play News

Mia Sato / The Verge:

TikTok announces TikTok Trivia, a livestreamed trivia quiz with a $500K prize pool hosted daily between February 22 and 26, open to US users aged 18 and older — TikTok is taking a page out of HQ's playbook and launching a series of live trivia games, the company announced today.

Discussion: CNET, TikTok, TechCrunch, @ernie@writing.exchange, @ebakerwhite, Tubefilter and BGR, more at Techmeme »

Reggie Ugwu / New York Times:

A look at the podcast industry, as a faltering ad market and recession fears increase the reluctance to fund projects without a path to short-term profitability — “The dumb money era is over” as layoffs, budget cuts and scuttled deals challenge a long-booming industry.

Discussion: @nicholasadeleon, @nytimesarts, @reblavoie, @nbj914, @danbenjamin, @katabrew, @michellemanafy, @kairyssdal, @corinne_podger, @macwrites and @dankennedy_nyc

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

Atlanta-based Capital B, the one-year-old nonprofit news outlet for Black Americans, which has raised $12M, announces plans for a second newsroom in Gary, IN — Capital B, the one-year-old nonprofit news startup for Black Americans, has announced plans to launch its second local newsroom in Gary, Indiana.

Discussion: @heres_christine and Indiana Local News Initiative

Erika Wheless / Ad Age:

TikTok quietly launches its in-app shopping checkout feature in the US; apparel brands Pacsun, Revolve, and Willow Boutique seem to be among the pilot partners — Pacsun and Revolve appear to be among the pilot brands — TikTok has quietly launched its shop pilot in the U.S. …

Discussion: @adage and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

DirecTV will simulcast Apple's MLS Season Pass package starting February 25 via DirecTV for Business, serving 300K restaurants, hotels, and other businesses — Satellite broadcaster DirecTV says it will simulcast Apple's Major League Soccer (MLS) television package to business customers.

Discussion: The Streamable, Pro Soccer Wire, Variety, @markfishkin, DIRECTV Insider and Cord Cutters News, Thanks:@matthewkeyslive

The Guardian:

France's BFMTV suspended presenter Rachid M'Barki in January and launched an internal probe into news packages linked to Israeli disinformation unit Team Jorge — Rachid M'Barki, one of channel's longest-serving hosts, suspended during inquiry into news packages linked to ‘Team Jorge’

Discussion: The Guardian, @paullewis, @david_conn, @emilybell, @burke_jason and @manisha_bot

Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:

Meta launches Instagram Channels, a broadcast chat feature that lets select US creators share public, one-to-many text, images, and more with their followers — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today that the company is launching a new broadcast chat feature on Instagram called “Channels.”

Discussion: Bloomberg, Gizmodo, Reuters, @sabakarimm, Meta, @shiringhaffary, @mattnavarra, @sal19 and Observer, more at Techmeme »

Alyssa Lukpat / Wall Street Journal:

Ryan Seacrest is leaving ABC's Live with Kelly and Ryan after joining in 2017 and will be replaced by Kelly Ripa's husband, Mark Consuelos — He joined Kelly Ripa in the hosting chair in 2017 after his predecessor, Michael Strahan, left in dramatic fashion

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Ella Ceron / Bloomberg:
USC Inclusion Initiative: 16 of the 100 top-grossing films in 2022 featured women from racial and ethnic minority groups in leading roles, up from 1 in 2007

Discussion: Forbes, Variety and The Wrap

NewsNation:
Ohio's attorney general says charges against NewsNation reporter Evan Lambert have been dismissed; Lambert was arrested on February 8 at a press conference

Discussion: TVNewser, @statter911, @newsnation, WKYC-TV, Fox News, Slate, The Wrap, The Desk, CBS News, New York Daily News, Mediaite, Associated Press and @couts@mastodon.social

Tiyashi Datta / Reuters:
Roku reports Q4 revenue flat YoY at $867.1M, vs. $801.7M est., streaming hours up 23% YoY to 23.9B, and Q1 2023 revenue guidance above est.; ROKU jumps 10%+

Discussion: Adweek, Inside Radio, Variety, The Streamable, The Wrap, MediaPost, Next TV, TechCrunch, Deadline and The Wrap

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Twitter updates its policies to allow cannabis ads targeting US states where cannabis is legal, promoting brands or providing info but not offering direct sales

Discussion: Ars Technica, Twitter for Business, Search Engine Land, The Wrap, @junglejava1, TechCrunch, Fortune, Gizmodo, The Verge, Reuters, Ad Age and Politico

Earlier Picks:

Ava Benny-Morrison / Bloomberg:
After outlets sought the names of SBF's bail guarantors, a judge reveals Stanford Law emeritus dean Larry Kramer and Stanford computer scientist Andreas Paepcke

Discussion: Financial Times, @lex_dao, CoinDesk, @eamonjavers, @eamonjavers, @eamonjavers, @eriqgardner, @eriqgardner, CNN, New York Post, New York Magazine, New York Daily News, Forbes, Fortune, Insider and The Daily Beast

Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:
Newsmax is complaining on air and online about DirecTV dropping the channel; any new deal can affect the terms of Newsmax's pacts with other pay TV providers

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Wall Street Journal, @jayrosen_nyu, @jayrosen_nyu, @thetweetofjohn, Mediaite, Next TV, CNN, The Desk and IndieWire

Carlos Greer / Page Six:
Sources: CNN last week terminated Federico Quadrani, Jake Tapper's executive producer, over a relationship with a subordinate, amid a separate HR investigation

Discussion: TVNewser, @katiecouric, @johnnydollar01, The Wrap, Fox News and Mediaite

Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
AMC Networks Chairman James Dolan appoints his wife, Kristin Dolan, as the network's CEO, starting on February 27; Kristin is a former COO of Cablevision

Discussion: @jtoonkel, New York Post, Reuters, CBS News, @patiencehaggin, AMC Networks Inc., @jtoonkel, @vanthebrand, @asharma, @bubbaprog, @pkafka, Next TV, Adweek, Media Play News, CNBC, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, MediaPost, IndieWire and The Wrap

From Techmeme:

Tripp Mickle / New York Times:
Sources: Tim Cook approved a plan to double the AI chip budget for John Giannandrea's team in 2023, but CFO Luca Maestri cut the increase to less than half that

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Meta adds Dina Powell McCormick, who served as deputy national security adviser to Trump in his first term, and Stripe CEO Patrick Collison to its board

Ellen O'Regan / Politico:
Ireland's DPC opens an investigation into how personal data in public X posts was used to train xAI's Grok, which could stoke tensions between the EU and the US

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