Mediagazer: MSNBC should be careful not to become the TV arm of the Democratic Party leadership, as shown by some of its recent moves, like canceling Mehdi Hasan's show (Perry Bacon Jr/Washington Post)

8:50 AM ET, December 5, 2023

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Spotify lays off ~17% of its workforce, or ~1,500 staff, to “rightsize” its costs, citing slow economic growth and rising capital costs, its third cut in 2023 — Spotify is eliminating about 1,500 jobs, or about 17% of its workforce, in its third round of layoffs this year …

Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:

Spotify plans to cancel the Gimlet Media podcasts Heavyweight and Stolen after their current seasons, as the company retreats from in-house productions — - Shows will finish out work on current, in-production seasons — Programming decision coincides with company's latest job cuts

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Paul MacInnes / The Guardian:
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Catharine Tunney / CBC News:

CBC/Radio-Canada plans to cut ~10% of its workforce, or 600 workers, and cut CA$40M in programming over the coming year to cope with a CA$125M budget shortfall — Public broadcaster says most cuts will take effect over the coming year — The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada announced Monday …

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Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:

MSNBC should be careful not to become the TV arm of the Democratic Party leadership, as shown by some of its recent moves, like canceling Mehdi Hasan's show — The cancellation of Mehdi Hasan's show is the latest in a series of recent moves by MSNBC that are pushing the network in the direction …

Discussion: Poynter, @kenhuur, @jayrosen_nyu, @drericding and @froomkin

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

The Sun publisher News Group Newspapers pays out “substantial damages” to a group of celebrities and apologizes over unlawful information-gathering practices — News Group Newspapers apologised to the claimants, who include Mel C and Catherine Tate.

Committee to Protect Journalists:

In 10 days in November, eight Mexican journalists were abducted or shot at in four separate incidents; three regularly report on crime, security, and politics — Mexico City, December 4, 2023 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by a spate of violent abductions and attacks …

Discussion: @pressfreedom and Voice of America

Jody Rosen / New York Times:

Behind the scenes of a Sunday Night Football broadcast, which is one of the most inventive and artful uses of the TV medium — Months of preparation, hundreds of staff, convoys of cutting-edge gear: inside the machine that crafts prime time's most popular entertainment.

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Timmy Shen / The Block:

Sources: as part of its January 2023 merger with CryptoSlam, Forkast Labs laid off the majority of its editorial staff and suspended operations in November — - The crypto news site wound down editorial operations on Nov. 30, sources close to the matter said.

Discussion: Web3 is Going Just Great

Will Sommer / Washington Post:

Ex-Fox News employee Andrew Delancey sues the network and top producer Justin Wells over an alleged sexual assault; Wells now works on Tucker Carlson's X show — A former Fox News staffer is suing the producer — who was fired last spring along with the host — over the alleged assault …

Discussion: The Messenger, Rolling Stone, Variety, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, New York Times and Boing Boing

Max Tani / Semafor:

An interview with Megyn Kelly about co-hosting the Dec. 6 GOP presidential primary debate on NewsNation, her pivot to audio, being “un-cancellable”, and more — The News — After Megyn Kelly left her high-profile Fox News perch for a $69 million, three-year NBC contract …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Adweek, @jeremymbarr, @stevekrak, Mediaite, The Hill, New York Post, al.com and Poynter

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Comcast president Mike Cavanagh says Peacock now has 30M paying subscribers, with an ARPU of $10 per month, and saw $2.8B in losses in 2023 — “We collected an eight and a half billion dollar check on Friday,” Mike Cavanagh said, adding that Disney's payment for Hulu has cleared.

Discussion: Broadband TV News, @lmoses, @sherman4949, @aaronklein, BGR, MediaPost, The Desk, Simon Rice on LinkedIn, Next TV, Deadline, Media Play News, The Wrap, Streaming Better, Variety, Tv Technology and Cord Cutters News

Mark Kleinman / Sky News:

Source: Ofcom CEO Melanie Dawes will remain recused from the watchdog's probe into the sale of The Daily Telegraph as the Lloyds Banking employs her husband — Dame Melanie Dawes will play no role in Ofcom's inquiry even after Lloyds, which employs her husband, is repaid a £1.16bn loan later on Monday, Sky News learns.

Discussion: Bloomberg

Rob Davies / The Guardian:
The Barclay family regains control of Telegraph, after an Abu Dhabi-backed consortium helped pay off its £1.2B debt; the deal still requires government approval

Discussion: Press Gazette, Telegraph, Reuters, Financial Times and Media Makers Meet

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