Top News:
A.J. Perez / Front Office Sports:
The Arena Group tells Sports Illustrated staff that it will be “laying off staff that work on the SI brand” since Authentic Brands revoked the SI license — Staffers at Sports Illustrated were notified on Friday of massive layoffs—some immediately, others in short time.
Discussion:
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Filing: the Arena Group “failed to make a quarterly payment” of ~$3.75M on January 2 to Authentic Brands, the license holder of Sports Illustrated — Sports Illustrated has been hit with mass layoffs — which will potentially eliminate the entire editorial team of the nearly 70-year-old sports media brand.
Hollywood Reporter:
Authentic Brands says it will ensure that Sports Illustrated and its editorial arm “continues to thrive”; Arena Group says it is still in talks with Authentic — The cuts are arriving after Arena Group Holdings failed to make a licensing payment to Authentic Brands Group, according to a securities filing.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Awful Announcing, Bloomberg, New York Post and @xpangler
Axios:
Simplify Inventions' deal to buy a ~65% stake in Sports Illustrated owner Arena Group in August 2023 didn't close as expected by the end of 2023 — Sports Illustrated editorial staffers were warned on Friday that layoffs were coming that could affect the entire staff, according …
Discussion:
Sportico, Awful Announcing, @sarafischer and @sarafischer
Joe Lucia / Awful Announcing:
Ex-Arena Group CEO Ross Levinsohn resigns from the company's board, calling “the destruction of Sports Illustrated's storied brand and newsroom” the final straw — Ross Levinsohn during his time at Yahoo. — Former Arena Group CEO Ross Levinsohn has resigned his seat on the company's board …
Discussion:
Ross Levinsohn on LinkedIn, @howardbeck, @rohannadkarni, @jerrybeach73, @cujorulesdtown9, @blakeruane and @rj_cfb
Julia Jacobs / New York Times:
A grand jury in New Mexico indicts Alec Baldwin on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting of a cinematographer on the set of “Rust” in 2021 — A grand jury in New Mexico indicted the actor in the shooting death of the cinematographer on the film “Rust,” …
Discussion:
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Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
The LA Times Guild calls for a one-day walkout on January 19 to protest planned cuts; sources: layoffs may affect at least 100 people, or ~20% of the newsroom — Los Angeles Times newsroom guild leaders called for a one-day walkout — Friday to protest planned cuts to offset steep financial losses …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Bloomberg, Politico, @katieporteroc, @erinblogan, @repjimmygomez, @austinnewsguild, @soudijimenez, @eleniforca, @alexpadilla4ca, @byalexzaragoza, @rokhanna, New York Post, @bokchoy_baobei, @kierafeldman, @mattdpearce, @jason_koebler, Poynter, @smasunaga, @latguild, The Messenger, @joshpcain, @corbinbolies, @angiejaime, @jeremymbarr, @cassiermartin, @cmonstah, @eedugdale, @nafeesasyeed, @jessicamartinez, @gerrickkennedy, @benmullin, @benmullin, @davidfolkenflik, @parismarx, @bcmerchant, @awprokop, Axios, @gabemschneider, @pkafka, @aritbenie, Talking Biz News, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, @amyalexca.bsky.social, CNN, @imleor.bsky.social, @craigwelch@threads.net, @oliverdarcy@threads.net, Deadline, @evanrodge@threads.net, The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast and The Wrap
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Ampere: the number scripted series in the US dropped 24% YoY to 481 in 2023; subscription streamers released 77 fewer seasons and broadcast TV 55 fewer seasons — Scripted TV output in the U.S. dropped sharply in 2023, thanks to a combination of twin Hollywood strikes and a pullback on content spending …
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apollo Global is considering making an offer for National Amusements, the Redstone family company that controls Paramount Global — Apollo is one of a number investors, both wealthy individuals and professional money managers, that have reached out in recent weeks to BDT & MSD Partners …
Discussion:
Deadline, @lucas_shaw and @mattbelloni
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable:
Google says it is not “boosting” AI-written articles as the 404 reporter sorted news by date rather than relevance, and there is no “free pass” to AI content — In short, Sullivan said that the way they filtered Google News was by date and not relevancy …
Doug Faulkner / BBC:
Prince Harry withdraws his libel lawsuit against Mail on Sunday publisher Associated Newspapers, over a 2022 article about his fight against the UK Home Office — Prince Harry has withdrawn his libel claim against the Mail on Sunday publisher, Associated Newspapers says.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Daily Mail, New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, Telegraph, Page Six, Rolling Stone, New York Post, The Guardian, Press Gazette, Variety, The Messenger and The Hill
Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:
Author Rie Kudan, this year's winner of Japan's prestigious Akutagawa Prize, reveals that ~5% of her book “quoted verbatim the sentences generated by” ChatGPT — One of the judges praised her winning book as being “flawless.” — At an award ceremony for one of Japan's …
Discussion:
VICE, Boing Boing, Semafor, The Messenger and New York Post, more at Techmeme »
Marc Hogan / Rolling Stone:
As Condé Nast merges Pitchfork with GQ, a longtime Pitchfork staffer reflects on the publication's evolution and its impact on music journalism and his own life — As the hugely influential music site is being “folded into GQ,” a longtime staffer looks back on what P4K meant and how working there changed his life
Discussion:
New York Post, Variety, Mediaite, Slate, @dada_drummer, @senari, WNYC Studios, Stephen Parker on LinkedIn, Jonathan Streetman on LinkedIn, @airbagged, The Honest Broker, @michaelbarthel, @ganserband, @d_felsenthal, @noahshachtman, @future_of_music, @marchogan, The NewsGuild, The Guardian, BBC, CMU and Digital Journal
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