Top News:
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
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 …
Discussion:
Variety, Media Voices, Wall Street Journal, Spotify, Financial Times, Podnews, Business Insider, The Information, Digital Journal, MediaPost, @markgurman, UPROXX, @sarafischer, Engadget, Billboard, @lucas_shaw, @tvgrimreaper, Digital Music News, Los Angeles Times, CBS News, Axios, Ars Technica, New York Post, CMU, Inside Radio, 9to5Mac, @carnage4life@mas.to, The Wrap, CNN, Neowin, The Desk, The Guardian, The Bookseller, Reuters, The Verge, BBC, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, Music Ally and Ad Age
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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
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 …
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 the cancellation of Mehdi Hasan — The cancellation of Mehdi Hasan's show is the latest in a series of recent moves by MSNBC that are pushing the network …
Discussion:
@kenhuur, @jayrosen_nyu, @froomkin, @drericding and The Nation
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:
New York Post, Associated Press, Adweek, @jeremymbarr, @stevekrak, The Hill, al.com, Poynter and Mediaite
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:
Simon Rice on LinkedIn, @lmoses, BGR, The Desk, Deadline, @sherman4949, @aaronklein, Media Play News, The Wrap, Streaming Better, Variety, Next TV, MediaPost, Tv Technology and Cord Cutters News
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:
Rolling Stone, Variety, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, New York Times and Boing Boing
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Streaming services seem to be increasingly open to bundling with rivals, as Verizon announces a $10 per month deal for Netflix and Max's ad tiers — A Verizon-backed Netflix and Max deal, and talks between Apple and Paramount suggest that streaming bundles may be about go get bigger and better.
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
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Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
GroupM forecasts global ad spending to grow 5.8% YoY to $889B in 2023, excluding US political ads, and US political ad spending in 2024 to reach a record $15.9B — Worldwide advertising will post a 5.8 percent gain this year to $889 billion, before slowing to a 5.3 percent gain in 2024 …
Discussion:
Inside Radio, Next TV, Tv Technology, MediaPost, VideoWeek, Wall Street Journal, Deadline and AdExchanger
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos says the company didn't see much of an “interruption” from Hollywood's strikes and is still targeting a $17B content budget for 2024 — Ted Sarandos is happy the twin Hollywood strikes are over — but the Netflix co-CEO claimed the streamer didn't see significant …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, @tvgrimreaper and MacRumors, more at Techmeme »
Paul MacInnes / The Guardian:
The English Premier League signs a new deal with Sky and TNT Sports under which the soccer competition will receive £6.7B over four years for its UK TV rights — - Number of live games set to grow substantially as part of deal — Match of the Day to continue after BBC buys highlights rights
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Nexstar CEO Perry Sook says The CW may break even by the end of 2025 after Nexstar achieved about $100M in annual savings — Perry Sook said the advertising recession and the recent dual Hollywood strikes represent headwinds to getting beyond losses at broadcast network.
Discussion:
@benmillermke and @tvgrimreaper
Peter Walker / The Guardian:
UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer confirms that the BBC will receive a below-inflation license fee increase; the £159 annual fee has been frozen for two years — Imminent announcement expected to signal further cuts to broadcaster's staffing and programmes
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