Top News:
Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
UK broadcaster Channel 4 plans to cut as many as 200 roles, its biggest round of layoffs in over 15 years, amid a TV ad slump; Channel 4 employs 1,200+ staff — Exclusive: As many as 200 roles could go as firm seeks to accelerate digital streaming strategy and limit cuts to content budget
Discussion:
City A.M., Broadband TV News, Hollywood Reporter and Advanced Television
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Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Internal memo: Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon says the broadcaster needs to “accelerate” its digital shift and confirms “an impact on jobs”, citing an ad slump — Exclusive: Broadcaster looks to hasten shake-up amid TV advertising slump with most job losses likely to affect London-based workers
Max Tani / Semafor:
Axel Springer launches a review of the editorial processes at BI, after a BI story claimed many instances of plagiarism by MIT's Neri Oxman, Bill Ackman's wife — The Scoop — Business Insider's parent company is divided over the publication's recent article about plagiarism allegations …
Discussion:
Washington Post, @niallstanage, @billackman, @jamesrbuk, @benmullin, CNN, @karaswisher@threads.net, @alex.stamos@threads.net, @hshaban, @karaswisher@threads.net, @lorakolodny@threads.net, The Wrap, @esqueer_@threads.net, @chancerydaily@threads.net, Talking Biz News, @lpolgreen@threads.net, @karaswisher@threads.net, @alexheath@threads.net, @benmullin, @maxwelltani, The Daily Beast, Business Insider, Boing Boing, New York Times, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg and New York Post
Erik Gruenwedel / Media Play News:
Netflix, Max, and Hulu won a combined 12 awards at the 81st Golden Globes; HBO's final Succession season won four awards and Netflix's Beef won three awards — Netflix, Max and Hulu led all streamers with 12 combined key category trophies at the 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards held Jan. 7 in Los Angeles.
Discussion:
Page Six, Deadline, AppleInsider, NBC News, Deadline, People, Engadget, @appleinsider, Awardsdaily, The Streamable, The Hollywood Reporter and Next TV
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Wall Street Journal:
A look at the ambitious bid to turn around the Golden Globes, as a source say CBS is paying a significantly lower licensing fee than the ~$60M NBC used to pay
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Vox, TVNewsCheck, Vanity Fair, Slate, CBS News, Variety, abc7NY, TMZ.com, Billboard, Vogue, Associated Press, New York Times, @albertfong98, KTFT and Awardsdaily
Christine Burke / Bloomberg:
Radio network Audacy reaches a deal with a supermajority of its debt holders that allows Audacy to reduce its total debt load by 80% to ~$350M — - Deal announced Sunday will reduce total debt load by 80% — Radio, podcast company also files for Chapter 11 protection
Alan Blinder / New York Times:
How US News & World Report licenses “badges” that US colleges use to promote their rankings, as critics say the payments incentivize a harmful ranking system — U.S. News sells “badges” to colleges, so they can promote their rankings — whether they are 1st, 10th or much, much lower.
Discussion:
Jonathan Henry on LinkedIn, @halsinger and @jselingo
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: Will and Jada Smith's Westbrook struggled to land deals after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock and its 2023 revenue dropped to $100M, forcing steep cuts — The Scoop — The fall of 2021 was the perfect time for Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith to sell their media company, Westbrook.
Discussion:
Poynter
Kateryna Kadabashy / Bloomberg:
MBC Group, the Middle East's biggest broadcaster, rises 20% on its first day of trading on the Saudi exchange, after raising $222M by selling a 10% stake — - MBC has raised $222 million selling a 10% stake in IPO — Company was founded by Waleed Al Ibrahim in London in 1991
Discussion:
Reuters
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Music industry insiders reflect on the waning influence of popular, human-curated Spotify playlists, as the company shifts towards AI-driven personalization — The streaming giant's shift to automation is impacting the supremacy of curated music selections — Welcome back to Soundbite, and happy New Year!
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
What's On Netflix data: Netflix released about 130, or 16%, fewer original programs in 2023 than 2022, after a decade of increasing output — After years of spending more on new shows, the company is finally shrinking how much new it has to offer. — Over the last 18 months …
Brakkton Booker / Politico:
A profile of Charlamagne tha God, co-host of iHeartRadio's The Breakfast Club and a growing fixture in the US' conservative media for his criticism of Joe Biden — The influential radio host of “The Breakfast Club” is a thorn in the side of Democrats — but he's also representative of one of their biggest problems.
Discussion:
Semafor and Brakkton Booker on LinkedIn
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Mehdi Hasan says he is leaving MSNBC “to look for a new challenge”, after MSNBC cancelled his show in November 2023 — Hasan said Sunday that he decided to leave the cable channel to pursue other ventures. … The cable news host said at the end of his show Sunday …
Discussion:
@mehdirhasan, The Hill, Mediaite, @jonahblank, @johncusack, The Daily Beast, @wajahatali, @teflondub, The Gateway Pundit, BNN Breaking, @MikeImBack@disabled.social, @_waleedshahid, Variety, @sahyder1, @luckytran, New York Post, @robprovince, @sabbysabs2, HuffPost, @victorshi2020, @mattrjbrodsky, Daily Mail, @mehdihasanshow, The Daily Wire, @politicussarah, Deadline, @lamarmf, @moawady, @therightswriter, @deggans, @benjamingoggin, @socialistmma, @mrddmia, @mehdirhasan, Fox News, @faisalkutty, @realnikohouse, @kylegriffin1, Fox News, @rafaelshimunov, @claresambrook, @dylanotes, The Daily Caller, @luckytran, @abegreenwald and r/TheMajorityReport
Armando Tinoco / Deadline:
In response to Pat McAfee's claims, ESPN says no one is more committed to ESPN's success than Norby Williamson and it will “handle this matter internally” — ESPN is responding to claims made by Pat McAfee that an executive from within the sports network is “trying to sabotage” his show.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, New York Post, Awful Announcing and Sports Media Watch
RELATED:
Sharon Knolle / The Wrap:
Pat McAfee, who signed a lucrative deal in 2023 for his YouTube show to air on ESPN, accuses top ESPN executive Norby Williamson of “sabotaging” his program
Discussion:
The Athletic, Barrett Media, The Daily Beast, @benjstrauss, CNBC, CNN, New York Post, Sports Media Watch, @benjaminsolak, @darrenrovell, @benhoffmannyt, @leviremmick, @nacholeber, @dhookstead, @rgiii, @anthony_russo97, Awful Announcing, @awfulannouncing, @claytravis, @adampatricknfl@threads.net, Deadline, The Comeback, Sportico, Mediaite, The Hollywood Reporter and Fox News
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