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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Memo: Paramount starts layoffs to reduce costs; sources say ~800 employees, or an estimated 3% of its headcount, are getting cut across all divisions — Paramount Global, amid a swirl of M&A discussions, is laying off about 800 employees worldwide — an estimated 3% of its headcount — as it looks to trim costs.
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Selome Hailu / Variety:
Nielsen and Adobe Analytics: Super Bowl 2024 averaged 123.4M viewers across CBS and streaming services, making the game the most-watched telecast ever — The Feb. 11 Super Bowl game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers brought in an average of 123.4 million viewers …
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Max Tani / Semafor:
Slate says 2023 was the most profitable year in its 27 year history, with revenue up 28% YoY through investments and growth in its podcasts and website — The Scoop — Amid a difficult year for news media last year, at least one legacy digital media company has quietly been moving the other direction.
Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
Interviews with the four co-founders of 404 Media, who each own 25% of the tech news outlet, which they say is profitable six months after launch — “Owning our own work, and being beholden to no one but our readers and colleagues — as opposed to say, investors, venture capitalists …
Chris Vallance / BBC:
The BBC says its iPlayer streaming service will stop supporting PC and Mac program downloads in March 2024, citing cost and low usage, but mobile is unaffected — The BBC's iPlayer streaming service is to end downloads for users who watch on desktop or laptop computers.
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Memo: SiriusXM plans to cut ~160 jobs, or ~3% of its workforce, after laying off 475 employees, or ~8% of its workforce, in March 2023 — SiriusXM is eliminating about 160 jobs, a move to cut expenses that represents a layoff affecting just under 3% of the satellite radio and audio streamer's workforce.
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
How generative AI is transforming the advertising industry; WPP and Publicis plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to embed AI in their businesses — At the start of the year, every single one of the roughly 100,000 people working for advertising giant Publicis received a video message …
Lynn Neary / NPR:
Bob Edwards, the veteran broadcaster who hosted NPR's Morning Edition for 24 years, dies at 76 — Bob Edwards, the veteran broadcaster and longtime host of Morning Edition who left an indelible mark on NPR's sound, has died. He was 76 years old. — NPR's Susan Stamberg …
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John Archer / Forbes:
Amazon Prime Video's basic ad tier, which US subscribers who didn't pay extra were downgraded to on January 29, doesn't support Dolby Vision HDR or Dolby Atmos — Amazon AMZN caused a furor recently when it announced that it was introducing advertisements right across its Prime Video streaming service.
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Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
A look at the Fox, Disney, and WBD venture to create a sports streaming service, which will include live feeds of channels like ESPN and TNT — Watching sports has never been more complicated or expensive. It's going to get worse before it gets better. — Good morning from Los Angeles.
Discussion:
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Reuters:
Thai police arrest journalists Nattaphol Meksobhon and Nattaphon Phanphongsanon over a story on an activist spray painting an anarchist symbol on a temple — Two Thai journalists have been arrested for their story about an activist spray painting an anarchist symbol and a symbol critical of …
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with the US DOJ's Jonathan Kanter on Google's ad tech and search cases, media consolidation, blocking Penguin's merger with Simon & Schuster, and more — The assistant attorney general says “the resonance these issues have is something that I've never witnessed in my lifetime.”
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