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11:30 AM ET, January 11, 2024

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Michael Hardy / Texas Monthly:
Houston Landing journalists write to the board to reverse CEO Peter Bhatia firing EIC Mizanur Rahman and an investigative reporter; Bhatia cited a “reset”  —  Seven months after its official debut, a billionaire-funded media start-up just fired its editor and top investigative reporter.
Charisma Madarang / Rolling Stone:
Dudesy, an AI-driven podcast curated by humans, releases an hour-long comedy special featuring an AI-generated recreation of George Carlin, who died in 2008  —  The hour-long special arrived from Dudesy, a podcast run by artificial intelligence … Following the special's release …
Moneycontrol:
ByteDance plans to shut down music streaming service Resso in India on January 31, after removing the App Store and Google Play apps in mid-December 2023  —  ByteDance said all existing users of Resso in India will be offered a full refund for the remainder of their subscription fees
Los Angeles Times:
California public radio station KCRW cuts about 16 jobs by offering buyouts and ends its Greater LA podcast, in a bid to reduce a projected $3M budget deficit  —  Santa Monica public radio station KCRW will part ways with more than a dozen staffers and end the popular podcast “Greater LA.”
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
RELATED:
The Verge:
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy confirms plans to cut 500+ jobs, or ~35% of its staff, and says its workforce was oversized for its business' size, after March 2023 cuts
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Memo: Amazon Studios SVP Mike Hopkins says the company would cut “several hundred roles” in its Prime Video and MGM Studios units; both had cuts in early 2023
Glossy:
Digiday Media appoints COO David Amrani as its new CEO, replacing Nick Friese, who has served has CEO since the company's founding in 2008  —  Digiday Media, the global media company behind Digiday, Glossy, Modern Retail and Worklife, today announced the appointment of its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Discussion: Digiday
Lynette Rice / Deadline:
Sources: Hallmark Media lays off CMO Lara Richardson, Chief People Officer Pamela Wolfe, EVP Research Strategy Robin Thomas, and Head of Distribution Judi Lopez  —  Senior TV Writer/TV Editor, Awards  —  EXCLUSIVE: It's Hallmark Media's turn now: Deadline has learned that the premier home …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Amazon Prime Video's move to make the ad tier its default could unravel how advertisers deal with TV broadcasters and scare off rivals with its massive scale  —  On Jan. 29, Prime Video will make its ad tier the default for its tens of millions of subscribers, a move that could unravel …
Discussion: Adweek, Observer and MediaPost
Allison Quinn / The Daily Beast:
Russia hit a Kharkiv hotel known to house foreign journalists and injured two reporters on January 10, part of a pattern of targeting reporter gathering spots  —  A Turkish reporter covering the Kremlin's indiscriminate assaults on Ukraine and an elderly woman were among those injured.
Andre Gee / Rolling Stone:
Mixtape platform DatPiff uploads its 50TB cache of 366,420 mixtapes and free albums to the Internet Archive, after experiencing a server crash in March 2023  —  DatPiff uploaded its extensive free mixtape catalog to the Internet Archive to protect it for the foreseeable future
Discussion: Mixmag
Kevin Draper / New York Times:
ESPN deciding not to punish Pat McAfee for publicly calling an executive a “rat” highlights a power shift as the network transitions from cable to streaming  —  For decades, the biggest star at ESPN was ESPN.  That's changing as it transitions from cable dominance to a much less certain streaming future.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix says its ad tier has 23M+ MAUs globally, up from 15M+ in November 2023, and 85% of subscribers on the ad tier are streaming for over 2 hours per day  —  Netflix is seeing strong growth of its advertising-based plan, having recently eclipsed 23 million global monthly active users, president of advertising Amy Reinhard said.
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
 
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 More News: 
Bloomberg:
Sources: OpenAI is in talks with CNN and Fox Corp. to license their text, video, and image content; Time “is in discussions with OpenAI” about a content deal
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
Discussion: MediaPost and Ad Age
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Donald Trump appeared in his first live Fox News interview in nearly two years; sources say Trump thinks Fox erred in settling with Dominion
 Earlier Picks: 
Maria Sherman / Associated Press:
Luminate's 2023 report: the global music industry passed 4T streams in 2023, a new record and up 34% YoY; Taylor Swift accounted for one in every 78 US streams
 

 
From Techmeme:

Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:
OpenAI pulls ChatGPT's Sky voice that users say sounds like Scarlett Johansson, says it is an actress' voice and wasn't chosen to be an “imitation” of Johansson

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple and OpenAI are preparing a major announcement of their partnership at WWDC; the new AirTag with a better chip is scheduled to arrive by mid-2025

Financial Times:
PE firm EQT is in advanced talks to buy video game services company Keywords Studios for £2.2B, or £25.5 per share, a 70%+ premium on Friday's close
 
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