Top News:


NPR plans to lay off ~10% of its workforce, or at least 100 people, and eliminate most vacant positions, citing lower ad revenue, particularly for its podcasts — HEADLINE: NPR says it's cutting jobs by 10% as ad revenue drops — NPR's chief executive announced the network would lay off roughly 10% …
Discussion:
Fox News, New York Times, The Wrap, New York Daily News, Deadline, @davidfolkenflik, Current, @brianmannadk, @aspiegelnpr, @nprkelly, @shanegoldmacher, RAIN News, @diaahadid, @peterboghossian, @laurie_garrett, @sayssimonson, @kevinferguson, @aliveness_ape, @stphnfwlr, @jaycowit, The Daily Beast, @deggans, @leilafadel, @meredithshiner, The Hollywood Reporter, @clay_masters, @liamstack, @brandonetc, @audiecornish, @kelseyproud, @nprinskeep, @haleaziz, @publicbill, @rebekahentralgo and Bloomberg


A profile of Casey Bloys, the CEO of content for HBO and HBO Max, as he oversees the programming on the service combining HBO Max and Discovery+ this spring — Casey Bloys was about four years into his tenure as a programming executive at HBO when he was driven to champion a project that was disliked by others at the network.
Discussion:
Screen Rant, The Wrap, The A.V. Club, @edmundlee, IndieWire, The Playlist, @variety_cynthia, TVLine, @variety, @theinsneider, @lucas_shaw and @variety


Spotify launches DJ, an AI-powered radio DJ feature that offers curated music and commentary about the tracks and artists in a “stunningly realistic voice” — Ahead of Spotify's upcoming Stream On event, where the company is expected to announce a redesigned home feed and other updates …
Discussion:
Spotify, Variety, Spotify on YouTube, @gustavs, Billboard, Radio & Television …, Neowin, RAIN News, @mirandareinert, @midimyers, @mignano, @chrismessina, @ocelma, @patrick_oshag, @mountain_ghosts, @elite_gz, Music Ally, CNET, @richontech, 9to5Mac, Gizmodo, Engadget and Music Business Worldwide, more at Techmeme »
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The Information launches Pro, a subscription tier with expanded org charts, databases based on staff reporting, surveys, and a specialized weekly newsletter — I am delighted to share the launch of The Information Pro—a new tier of subscription that features our expanded org charts …
Discussion:
Talking Biz News, @boygenius, @jessicalessin and Axios


A look at Substack-hosted entertainment business publication Ankler Media, which claims profitability, with ~50% of revenue from subscriptions and ~50% from ads — Rushfield's sharp-tongued missives have earned him a bold-faced subscriber list. ("I read it the second I see it pop up," says Richard Plepler.)
Discussion:
@joepompeo, Talking Biz News, @josephkapsch, @bmorrissey, @felixgillette, @janicemin, @theinsneider, @joepompeo, @mlcalderone and @richardrushfield


UK magazine publisher Future names Jon Steinberg as CEO, replacing Zillah Byng-Thorne starting on April 3; Steinberg was a BuzzFeed and a Mail Online executive — Steinberg takes over from Zillah Byng-Thorne at the start of April. — Jon Steinberg will be the next chief executive (CEO) …
Discussion:
Financial Times, Next TV, Variety, @dangrabham, @oliverdarcy, Dow Jones Newswires, Sharecast, Talking Biz News and Bloomberg


How “TikTok detectives” drove speculation and spread conspiracy theories after UK woman Nicola Bulley disappeared, showing the dark side of the true crime genre — The flurry of speculation and conspiracy theories which arose in response to Nicola Bulley's disappearance shows …
Discussion:
@thobbsjourno, @jamesdgreig, The Week and New Statesman


WARC projects global ad revenue for publishers will fall 7.7% in 2023 to $47.2B; Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta will take nearly $400B of the global $993B ad market — Amazon, Alphabet and Meta are estimated to take $4 in every $10 spent in the global ad market.


Dominion's filing details Fox News' post-election dysfunction and the channel's troubles for the 2024 election, particularly if Donald Trump wins the nomination — b — By most appearances, Fox News is a well-managed, tightly run outfit. It's America's most popular cable news channel …
Discussion:
@bgrueskin, @bgrueskin, San Antonio Express-News, @ddiamond, New York Daily News, Fox News and The Hill


ABC: in 2022, global circulation of digital consumer magazines grew 22% YoY, with BBC Science Focus up 131%, and global print circulation fell 14% YoY to 20.9M — ABC consumer magazine data shows growth in digital circulation in 2022. — Digital consumer magazines saw a circulation increase …
Discussion:
@joshglancy, @wturvill, @pressgazette and Press Gazette


Turkey's telecom watchdog BTK blocks Eksi Sozluk, one of the country's biggest social media websites, and fines three TV channels over their earthquake coverage — Turkey's media watchdog fined three TV channels over their coverage of this month's earthquakes, the latest move by the state …
Discussion:
Committee to Protect …, @diegocupolo and @middleeast, more at Techmeme »


Sources: Viacom18, which beat Disney and Sony to Indian Premier League cricket streaming rights for $2.7B in 2022, plans to stream the matches for free with ads — Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate will stream Indian Premier League cricket games for free, according to people familiar with the matter …
Discussion:
The Streamable, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw and The Indian Express