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.
Discussion:
Deadline, CNBC, Digiday, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, UPI, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, The Desk, Fox Business, @thesimonetti, The Information, Joey Esposito on LinkedIn, Front Office Sports, Mark Emerson on LinkedIn, Erin Riska on LinkedIn, Bill Dempsey on LinkedIn, @carnage4life@mas.to, @sherman4949, @caplangaby, Richard King on LinkedIn, Defector, Zak Brocchini on LinkedIn, Observer, Engadget, Gabrielle Dalvet on LinkedIn, @sherman4949, Jaime Primak Sullivan on LinkedIn, Alex Sherman on LinkedIn, Deadline, Awful Announcing, CNN, New York Daily News, Barrett News Media, Quartz, Adweek, Reuters, Fortune, Media Play News, Next TV, The Wrap, IndieWire, Ad Age, Bloomberg, Forbes, Advanced Television, Sportico and Cord Cutters News, more at Techmeme »
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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 Daily Beast, The Desk, Deadline, @alexsteigrad, Variety, The Wrap and Reuters
Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:
Jon Stewart's Daily Show return drew 930K viewers, the most for a Daily Show installment in almost six years; simulcasts brought the total to 1.85M viewers — Comedy Central records its most watched episode of the late night show since March 2018. — The reunion of Jon Stewart …
Discussion:
The Independent, @deanobeidallah@threads.net, Variety, @daviddarmofal.bsky.social, New York Times, @adamkotsko.bsky.social, MSNBC, The A.V. Club, Rolling Stone, @iamspoonbedner.bsky.social, The Wrap, UPROXX, @screamerjim.bsky.social, New Yorker, @reallyseansmith.bsky.social, @bencollins.bsky.social, @bartholomewb.bsky.social, @sudsterkel.bsky.social, @emilystjams.bsky.social, NPR, Next TV, Boing Boing, The Daily Beast, Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, Vanity Fair and Decider
Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
Forbes' Cyrus Farivar and Poker.org's Haley Hintze face libel lawsuits from Bitcoin Latinum over their coverage of securities fraud lawsuits against the firm — Bitcoin Latinum angry about quotes from fraud lawsuit and Star Trek reference. — The cryptocurrency firm Bitcoin Latinum …
Discussion:
Techdirt, @Lazarou@mastodon.social, @arstechnica@mastodon.social and Talking Biz News
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Pete Distad, who was in charge of Apple's video and sports businesses, is among the top CEO candidates for the Disney/Fox/WBD streaming venture — Planned venture from Disney, Warner and Fox would combine their live-sports channels into a streaming package
Discussion:
The Desk and @dylanbyers
Patrick Frater / Variety:
Sony Pictures reports Q3 sales up 5% YoY to $2.47B, operating income up 56% to $281M; Sony Music revenue up 16% YoY to $2.81B, operating income up 21% to $507M — Operating income at the ‘Pictures Division’ of Sony Group Corporation climbed by 56% to hit $281 million in the October to December 2023 quarter …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Deadline, Sony Group, Sony Group, Sony Group and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Though Karine Jean-Pierre is press secretary, John Kirby, WH national security communications adviser, has increasingly co-hosted briefings since October 7 — The White House heralded Karine Jean-Pierre as a trailblazing press secretary. But it has increasingly relied on John Kirby, a longtime Washington hand, to spread its message.
Discussion:
Teena Touch on LinkedIn, Fox News, @katierogers, New York Post, Mediaite, PolitiFact, The Hill, The White House, Axios and Deadline
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Flipboard has launched more than 1,000 of its social magazines in the fediverse, allowing users to find the magazines via federated social apps like Mastodon — The fediverse just got a little bigger today as Flipboard has now launched over 1,000 of its social magazines across the decentralized social web …
Discussion:
Flipboard
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
TikTok plans to launch an in-app local language Election Centre in March in all 27 EU countries, to fight fake news ahead of the European Parliament elections — ByteDance-owned social media platform TikTok said on Wednesday it will ramp up its fight against fake news and covert influence operations …
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 …
Bloomberg:
A look at Adobe's cautious gambit in developing Firefly after the soaring popularity of DALL-E and Midjourney, emphasizing brand safety and liability protection — Dall-E and Midjourney pushed the Photoshop behemoth to develop Firefly, a suite of AI tools. Will creatives get on board?
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, RouteNote Blog, CMU, Music Business Worldwide and Digital Music News
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