Mediagazer: Memo: Paramount starts layoffs to reduce costs; sources say ~800 employees, or an estimated 3% of its headcount, are getting cut across all divisions (Todd Spangler/Variety)

5:05 PM ET, February 13, 2024

Top News:

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.

Alexandra Steigrad / New York Post:

Sources: CBS News was hit with job cuts affecting 20 people, including Catherine Herridge, who is in a legal battle to protect sources of a 2017 Fox News story — Several CBS News reporters were caught up in layoffs at Paramount Global that claimed 800 jobs, including one who is embroiled …

Discussion: The Wrap, The Desk, @alexsteigrad and Reuters

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 US 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 …

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Axel Springer announces its first US leadership team, a 10-person group that includes Politico Europe co-founder Gabriel Brotman, a sign of its US ambitions — The 10-person cohort includes five new hires and points toward centralization — German media company Axel Springer announced …

Discussion: PRWeek, @nickpacilio, Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn, Zia Daniell Wigder on LinkedIn, @markstenberg3 and Axel Springer SE

Bloomberg:

A look at Adobe's careful adoption of AI, pushed by Dall-E and Midjourney, as it tries to differentiate its tools by emphasizing brand safety and IP protections — Dall-E and Midjourney pushed the Photoshop behemoth to develop Firefly, a suite of AI tools. Will creatives get on board?

Discussion: @austincarr, Andy Rosen on LinkedIn, Danielle Sacks on LinkedIn, The Adobe Blog and @sethcjayson@threads.net, more at Techmeme »

Kristin Robinson / Billboard:

The Mechanical Licensing Collective sues Pandora for allegedly failing to adequately pay and report monthly royalties, including for its ad-supported tier — This is the first time the mechanical licensing organization has filed a lawsuit against a streaming service.

Discussion: Inside Radio, Radio & Television …, The Desk, Music Business Worldwide, RouteNote Blog, CMU and Digital Music News

Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:

Q&A with Marc Jury, the CEO of African streamer Showmax, on doubling down on originals, working with Comcast, the appeal of the English Premier League, and more — Marc Jury discusses the appeal of the English Premier League, the challenges of serving 44 markets across sub-Saharan Africa …

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.

Discussion: Advanced Television, @axios, @thataldendiaz, Music Ally, Seeking Alpha, The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Axios, RAIN News, The Wrap, Digital Music News, The Desk, Deadline, Inside Radio and Barrett News Media

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.

Matthew Keys / The Desk:

TVNewsCheck, which covers the TV broadcasting business, says it is suspending updates to its website and newsletters but will continue its events and webinars — TV NewsCheck, a popular online publication that covers the television broadcast industry, says it will temporarily stop publishing new articles …

Discussion: MediaPost, Ethan Holland on LinkedIn and TVNewsCheck

Peter Beaumont / The Guardian:

Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail Abu Omar and photojournalist Ahmad Matar were seriously injured during an Israeli airstrike on northern Rafah in the Gaza Strip — Correspondent Ismail Abu Omar and photojournalist Ahmad Matar allegedly targeted by IDF — An Al Jazeera correspondent …

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, Al Jazeera and CAIR

Leo Schwartz / Fortune:

Source: DCG sold CoinDesk for between $70M to $80M in November 2023 after buying it for $500K in 2016 — When CoinDesk published a suspicious balance sheet of Sam Bankman-Fried's trading firm in November of 2022, it set off a chain of events that would upend every corner of the crypto industry—including its own.

Archived Page Info:

This is a snapshot of Mediagazer at 5:05 PM ET, February 13, 2024.

View the current page or another snapshot:

Who's Hiring in Media?

Output Producer, CA — AP

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Senior Assignment Editor, DC — WaPo

Breaking News Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Senior Correspondent - Wealth, NY — WSJ

Reporter - Ottawa Bureau — Globe & Mail

Local Government Reporter, IA — The Gazette

Research Director, CA — OCBJ

Immigration Enforcement Reporter — Documented

Presque Island Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Contributing Parks Ed. - SW, CA — SFGATE

AI Content Editor, WA — Outlier

Legislative Reporter, TN — Daily Memphian

Editorial Assistant, Remote US — Launch Potato

Elon Musk Reporter, NY or CA — The Information

Government & Politics Editor, WA — Seattle Times

Business & GA Reporter. VT — VTDigger

Sports Reporter, WA — Everett Herald

Energy Reporter, TX — Houston Chronicle

Senior Reporter, SC — Island Packet

Trade & Climate Correspondent, DC — FT

Reporter, WI — Racine County Eye

Political Newsletter Writer, CO — The Lever

Jackson Reporter, MS — Verite

Music Editor, AZ — Phoenix New Times

Breaking News Reporter, NV — Las Vegas Sun

Fearless Reporter/Producer, IA — BPC

Reporter II - Technology, Remote — NPR

Editor, Remote US — Daily Kos

City Reporter, WA — Tacoma News Tribune

Executive Editor, OR — Lookout Local

Education & Budget Reporter, CA — Politico

Senior Writer/Editor, FL — Gulfshore Business

Media Editor, Remote — Axios

Add your company here

See Also:

Mediagazer: site main

Mediagazer River: reverse chronological Mediagazer

Mediagazer Mobile: for phones

Mediagazer Leaderboard: Mediagazer's top sources

Subscribe:

Mediagazer RSS feed

Mediagazer on X

Mediagazer on Mastodon

More News:

Ernesto Van der Sar / TorrentFreak:
A US judge says OpenAI must face a claim of violating CA unfair competition law by using copyrighted books, but dismisses some claims like DMCA violations

Discussion: Engadget, The Information, The Verge, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, Bloomberg Law, @big_cases and @torrentfreak@defcon.social

Reuters:
Thai police arrest journalists Nattaphol Meksobhon and Nattaphon Phanphongsanon over a story on an activist spray painting an anarchist symbol on a temple

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

Discussion: The Verge, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw and The Streamable

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

Discussion: @dcnorg

Amanda Silberling / TechCrunch:
Music encyclopedia EveryNoise, which uses Spotify data, stopped updating after Spotify laid off the employee running the site in December, angering its fans

Earlier Picks:

Carlos Aguilar / New York Times:
A look at movie distributor GKids, which is redefining animation for US audiences by releasing bold work from around the world, including Studio Ghibli's movies

Discussion: @carlos_film, @e_vb_, @nytimesarts and @realdrtacosalad

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

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
A look at Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow's test to boost talk TV via Monday appearances; Vivvix: Daily Show had $39.9M in ad sales in 2022 vs. $129.1M in 2014

Discussion: Decider, NPR, New York Times, The Atlantic, UPI, GoldDerby, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, @bristei, The Daily Beast, TVLine, The Wrap, @zsharf, @pkafka, StyleCaster, CBS News, Jezebel, The Hill, UPROXX, Slate, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and Deadline

Emilia David / The Verge:
Fandom faces criticism from fan Wiki creators after its new generative AI feature Quick Answers gives inaccurate answers to fan questions

Discussion: @cityhoosier, @glenngabe, @aires@tiggi.es and @dangillmor@mastodon.social

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

Discussion: @mjnblack, @nbj914, @jpalfrey, @digiphile, @reillypascal@hachyderm.io, @rationaldoge@hachyderm.io, @zackwhittaker@mastodon.social and MediaPost

From Techmeme:

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
Apple says Meta has made 15 interoperability requests under the EU's DMA, more than any other company, and that these could affect users' privacy and security

Hayden Field / CNBC:
OpenAI debuts a way to talk to ChatGPT by dialing 1-800-CHATGPT for 15 minutes of free access per month in the US or messaging the number via WhatsApp globally

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: the US is investigating Chinese router maker TP-Link, which has a ~65% US market share in homes and SMBs, and could ban the sale of its routers in 2025

Sister Sites:

Techmeme
Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web

memeorandum
What US political commentators are discussing online right now

WeSmirch
The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page