Mediagazer: Source: the Los Angeles Times is looking at another round of cost-cutting this year, aiming to cut more than $10M from its budget (Peter Kafka/Business Insider)

6:45 PM ET, January 9, 2024

Top News:

In a memo to staff, Los Angeles Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida announces he is stepping down on January 12, two-and-a-half years after joining the newsroom — Los Angeles Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida announced Tuesday that he was stepping down 2½ years after joining …

Discussion: Awful Announcing, @benmullin, Mediaite, Talking Biz News, Variety, The Wrap, @jamesrbuk, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, @megjameslat, @raineytime, @maxwelltani, @jonnypeltz, @simonesnews and @benmullin

Peter Kafka / Business Insider:

Source: the Los Angeles Times is looking at another round of cost-cutting this year, aiming to cut more than $10M from its budget — - Another billionaire is having a hard time with his newspaper. — Jeff Bezos's Washington Post made big cuts — and Warren Buffett has given up on papers altogether.

Discussion: Axios, @pkafka, @tomaxwell and Bloomberg

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

Sources: Kevin Merida and the Soon-Shiong family clashed over his decision to ban journalists who condemned Israel's bombing of Gaza, 2024 budgeting, and more — Kevin Merida, who took over the job in 2021, said in an internal note that his last day would be on Friday.

Discussion: @benmullin

Thomas Germain / Gizmodo:

X suspended several podcasters and journalists, including The Intercept's Ken Klippenstein and Texas Observer's Steven Monacelli, with little to no explanation — Elon Musk's “free speech” social media platform banned a number of accounts recently critical of Israel.

Kashish Tandon / Reuters:

India's Zee Entertainment remains committed to its $10B Sony India merger, calling media reports of the deal falling through “baseless and factually incorrect” — India's Zee Entertainment (ZEE.NS) on Tuesday said it was committed to its merger with Sony's (6758.T) local arm …

Discussion: Advanced Television, Financial Times, Anto Antony on LinkedIn and Bloomberg

Bloomberg:
Sources: Zee misses a deadline to pay $200M to Disney's India unit for cricket TV rights, citing a cash crunch; Zee agreed to pay $1.4B+ in August 2022

Discussion: Anto Antony on LinkedIn

Cecilia D'Anastasio / Bloomberg:

Sources: Twitch could cut 500 employees, or about 35% of its staff, as soon as Wednesday amid concerns over losses at Twitch and after several top execs left — Move is designed to stem losses after two rounds of layoffs last year. — Amazon.com Inc.'s livestreaming site Twitch is poised …

Discussion: The Information, @carnage4life, @lowcotv and @tunguz, more at Techmeme »

Josh Kosman / New York Post:

Source: MLB rejected a ~$150M investment by Amazon to bail out bankrupt Diamond Sports because Amazon wanted a streaming deal for more than one year — Major League Baseball rejected a proposed roughly $150 million lifeline extended by Amazon to the nation's largest regional sports network …

Discussion: The Streamable, Awful Announcing, Sports Business Journal, @jl_baseball, @loudmouthjulia, Cord Cutters News, @mitch_from_mi and Next TV

Sara Fischer / Axios:

On Wednesday, CNBC plans to launch a $99 paid course on job interviewing, its first, part of a new educational venture developed by its “Make It” franchise — CNBC on Wednesday will debut its first paid course as part of a new educational venture developed by the editorial team behind CNBC's …

Discussion: Talking Biz News

Dylan Smith / Digital Music News:

ERA: UK music sales grew 9.6% YoY to £2.22B in 2023, the highest since 2001, with £1.87B from streaming; CD sales grew for the first time in two decades, up 2% — Following the across-the-board implementation of music streaming price increases, UK subscription revenue rose nearly 10 percent year …

Discussion: Billboard, @drewhill, @musicweek, @eraltd, ERA Ltd, Music Ally and CMU

New York Times:

Elections and disinfo are colliding like never before in 2024, as social networks reduce protections and state influence campaigns and AI-fueled disinfo ramp up — A wave of elections coincides with state influence operations, a surge of extremism, A.I. advances and a pullback in social media protections.

Discussion: @recordedfuture and @brennancenter, more at Techmeme »

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

X announces exclusive original programming and content deals, including shows hosted by Don Lemon, former Fox Sports host Jim Rome, and Tulsi Gabbard — The tech company also announced a 10-show deal with Range Media Partners, and a deal with Tulsi Gabbard.

Discussion: Variety, X, MediaPost, Mediaite, @donlemon, CBS News, Gizmodo, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Bloomberg, The Verge, @ken-w.us, @xbusiness, @kevinmkruse.bsky.social, @justinbaragona, @shaunmmaguire, @misterjayem.bsky.social, @apocalypticanow.bsky.social, @jzembik.bsky.social, The Daily Caller, @lulumeservey, @insidejoke.bsky.social, @earnestpettie.com, The Hill, @elonmusk, @golikehellmachine.bsky.social, Deadline, @bubbaprog.ilovecitr.us, @theoneleila.bsky.social, @jimrome, @xbusiness, @tuckercarlson, @jillian.bsky.social, @dell.bsky.social, @bartenderhemry.bsky.social, @aaronvandorn.bsky.social, @russbengtson.bsky.social, @streetsajed.bsky.social, @popecrocodylus.bsky.social, @outerbororoyal.bsky.social, @daveanthony.bsky.social, Reclaim The Net, The Daily Beast, @tressiemcphd.bsky.social, @fbihop.bsky.social, @mxvh.bsky.social, @kevincollier, @tulsigabbard, @keithedwards@threads.net, TVLine, Politico and The Wrap

Radio & Television Business Report:

iHeartMedia partners with supply-side platform Magnite to offer advertisers a single entry point for audio ads on its radio, streaming, and podcast platforms — It's something championed and pioneered on the TV side of the linear media business by NBCUniversal.

Discussion: Inside Radio, @magnite, Magnite and RADIO ONLINE

Nic Newman / Reuters Institute:

Survey of 314 news leaders from 56 countries: just 47% say they are confident about journalism's 2024 prospects; 63% worry about declining social media traffic — The disruptive power of artificial intelligence (AI) will sweep through the information space this year at a time of intense political …

Discussion: BuzzMachine, @risj_oxford, Press Gazette, Mitali Mukherjee on LinkedIn, @nicnewman, @charliebeckett, HoldtheFrontPage and Fast Company

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Bloomberg:
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