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.
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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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CNN, Fast Company, CNN, Deadline, HuffPost, Billboard, Vanity Fair, IndieWire, VIBE.com, The Hollywood Reporter, The A.V. Club, @cbssportsgang, Bleacher Report, Andrew Steinberg on LinkedIn, New York Times, WORLD SCREEN, Paramount Press Express, Poynter, Axios, @deggans, Financial Times, Mediaite, Adweek, @claytravis, Awful Announcing, Dr Rochelle Parks-Yancy on LinkedIn, The Desk, Sports Media Watch, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, CNBC, The Wrap, TVLine, Reuters, NPR, Media Play News, Decider, GoldDerby, Wall Street Journal, Fox Business and Forbes, more at Techmeme »
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.
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 …
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.
Discussion:
The Streamable, The Verge, 9to5Google, The Hollywood Reporter, Tech Advisor, Engadget, @ianbetteridge@writing …, 9to5Mac, @bigjohnnyarcher, @andreibc, @uhd4k, BGR, @noondlyt@mastodon.social, Digital Trends, The A.V. Club, Ars Technica, TechHive, @witewulf@mastodonapp.uk, Cord Cutters News and Making Television Easy Again!, more at Techmeme »
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 …
Discussion:
Broadband TV News
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 …
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.
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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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:
The Verge, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw and The Streamable
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 … and Al Jazeera
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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