Mediagazer: Memo: Amazon Studios Head Jennifer Salke says recent layoffs were part of its plan to consolidate the Amazon Studios and MGM theatrical distribution teams (Deadline)

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy confirms plans to cut 500+ jobs, or 35% of its staff, and says the workforce was oversized for its current position, after March 2023 cuts — Twitch is laying off more than 500 employees, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy announced this morning, reportedly accounting for around 35 percent of its staff.

Deadline:

Memo: Amazon Studios Head Jennifer Salke says recent layoffs were part of its plan to consolidate the Amazon Studios and MGM theatrical distribution teams — EXCLUSIVE: Earlier this morning, Amazon revealed that it was laying off several hundred employees across Prime Video and Amazon Studios as part of a review of its business.

Discussion: The Wrap

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

Internal memo: Amazon Studios SVP Mike Hopkins says “several hundred roles” are being cut in its Prime Video and MGM Studios units; both had cuts in early 2023 — Mike Hopkins announced the cuts Wednesday. — Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs in its Prime Video and MGM Studios division.

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: Skydance backers are discussing an all-cash bid for National Amusements; if successful, they would pursue a second deal to merge Paramount and Skydance — CEO Ellison, his father, Larry, and other investors are in talks to buy Redstone's stake in National Amusements, Paramount's parent

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Deadline, @cgasparino, @tvgrimreaper, @cgasparino, @asharma and @jtoonkel

Press Gazette:

The Reuters Institute survey of news leaders: 48% say money from AI deals will be very little for any publisher, most will put more effort into WhatsApp, more — The Reuters Institute survey touched on AI pessimism, news avoidance and paywall success. — Less than half of news leaders feel confident …

Discussion: Decrypt and BuzzMachine

Discussion: Simon Owens's Media Newsletter, Mitali Mukherjee on LinkedIn and Reuters Institute

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Donald Trump will appear in his first live Fox News interview in nearly two years later today; sources say Trump thinks Fox erred in settling with Dominion — A town hall in Iowa on Wednesday is the network's first live interview with the former president in nearly two years, the latest twist in a long-running drama.

Discussion: @grynbaum, @alexthomp, @davidfolkenflik, @alexthomp, The Hill, The Streamable and Semafor

The Guardian:

An armed gang stormed Ecuador's TC Televisión during a live broadcast, after Ecuador's president declared a state of emergency; all the gunmen were arrested — Gangsters unleashed wave of terror following move by President Daniel Noboa in response to gang leader's prison escape

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:

The British Film Institute names Jay Hunt, the creative director for Apple TV+ in Europe, as its chair for a four year term starting on Feburary 16 — She serves as creative director for Apple TV+ in Europe. — Jay Hunt, the creative director for Apple TV+ in Europe …

Discussion: Variety

Maria Sherman / Associated Press:

Luminate's 2023 report: the global music industry passed 4T streams in 2023, a new record and up 34% from 2022; Taylor Swift had one in every 78 US streams — Listened to more music last year? You're not alone. — The global music industry surpassed 4 trillion streams in 2023 …

Discussion: CNN, Billboard, Boston Herald, Axios, @lucas_shaw, @alexselbyb, @lucas_shaw, Variety, Music Business Worldwide, @lucas_shaw and Music Ally, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Sensor Tower: Netflix Games downloads rose 180% YoY to 81.2M globally across the App Store and Google Play in 2023, with Q4 accounting for 53% of downloads — Just over two years ago, Netflix announced it would enter a new business: gaming. Amid a mobile gaming market dominated by free …

more at Techmeme »

Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:

A look at Brazilian fact-checking org Aos Fatos' bot FátimaGPT, which pairs an LLM with its archives to answer questions on WhatsApp, Telegram, and the web — “Instead of giving a list of URLs that the user can access — which requires more work for the user — we can answer the question they asked."

Discussion: American Press Institute

Bloomberg:

Sources: WPP is considering options to exit its 40% stake in market-research business Kantar; WPP sold 60% of Kantar to buyout firm Bain Capital in 2019 — - Kantar could be valued about £7 billion in a transaction — WPP sold a majority stake in Kantar to PE firm Bain in 2019

Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:

In a letter to Washington Post executives, top reporters raise concerns about the gutting of the research department as part of the paper's ~10% staff cuts — Top reporters have urged executive editor Sally Buzbee and publisher Will Lewis to address the gutted research department, a casualty of the paper's roughly 10% staff reduction.

Discussion: @charlottetklein, @mlcalderone and @seamushughes

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: @pkafka, @tomaxwell, Axios 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

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Media Nation and @benmullin

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
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