Top News:
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
Discussion:
Deadline
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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
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, @benmullin, @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, CNN, @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
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
Discussion:
Audacy Inc., Inside Radio, CNBC, The Hollywood Reporter, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Axios, Radio & Television …, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw, CNN, RADIO ONLINE, @lucas_shaw, The Wrap and Billboard
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, @jselingo and @halsinger
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
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:
Brakkton Booker on LinkedIn and Inside Radio
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
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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:
Barrett Media, The Daily Beast, CNBC, @benjstrauss, 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
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!
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Taylor Swift's associates say they are dismayed by an NYT opinion piece that speculated on Swift's sexuality, calling it “invasive, untrue, and inappropriate” — A controversial New York Times opinion piece that openly speculated this week whether Taylor Swift is a closeted queer person …
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 …
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:
The Hill, @mehdirhasan, Mediaite, New York Post, @jonahblank, @johncusack, The Daily Beast, @wajahatali, @teflondub, The Gateway Pundit, BNN Breaking, @MikeImBack@disabled.social, @_waleedshahid, Variety, @sahyder1, @luckytran, @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
Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:
Cost-cutting by Alden Global Capital and Gannett at legacy newspapers inadvertently created “a call to arms” that helped boost startup local news projects — Is there a silver lining hiding somewhere inside the rise of newspaper ownership by private equity? Brant Houston says yes.
Discussion:
Simon Owens's Media Newsletter and Gateway Journalism Review
Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:
Universal had the largest share of 2023's global box office, after releasing 24 films that made $4.91B, dethroning Disney, which had the top spot since 2016 — Box office jumped more than 8 percent to $1.35 billion but remained well below pre-COVID levels. — Thank you Barbenheimer.
Discussion:
Deadline
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