Mediagazer: Variety.com names Zack Sharf as managing editor; Sharf joined Variety in January 2022 as digital news director after seven years at IndieWire (Variety)

6:55 AM ET, March 6, 2025

Top News:

Ray Schultz / MediaPost:

Gannett unionized employees and management have reached tentative contract deals at six newspapers in New Jersey and New York after threatened walkouts — Walkouts were averted at six Gannett titles in New Jersey and New York when employees agreed on “ life-changing” increases in pay and job protections.

Discussion: New Jersey Globe and NewsGuild of New York

Andrew Cohen / Awful Announcing:

Gannett posts job listings for an AI sports editor and AI-assisted sports reporter; after flubs in 2023, it paused using LedeAI for high school sports stories — Gannett plans to hire an “AI Sports Editor” and “AI-Assisted Sports Reporter” as America's largest newspaper chain doubles-down on artificial intelligence in its newsrooms.

Discussion: @andrew_cohen0 and @michaelsocolow

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

Financial Times CEO John Ridding plans to step down on July 1 after 19 years, and will take an honorary FT chair title; the FT will now find a replacement — Ridding says he is leaving the newspaper group in “strong shape”. — Financial Times CEO John Ridding is stepping down in June …

Discussion: Financial Times and @ft

Chris Roush / Talking Biz News:

WSJ journalists laid off amid consolidation of tech and media teams include Alexa Corse, Tom Dotan, Asa Fitch, Ben Fritz, Miles Kruppa, and Aaron Tilley — Here are The Wall Street Journal journalists whose jobs were eliminated on Tuesday: — Reporters:

Discussion: @shakeelhashim, @benmullin, @joannastern, @chaykak, @heathersomervil, @od_liam, @seanhollister.bsky.social, Jennifer Merritt on LinkedIn, Joanna Stern on LinkedIn, @joannastern.bsky.social, @willoremus.com, The Wrap, Fast Company, @annkspencer.bsky.social and Talking Biz News

Variety:

Variety.com names Zack Sharf as managing editor; Sharf joined Variety in January 2022 as digital news director after seven years at IndieWire — He previously served as digital news director since 2022. … “In the last three years, Zack has helped reinvent Variety's award-winning digital coverage …

Gordon Smith / Journalism.co.uk:

How the Financial Times is using online polls to engage readers and grow subscriptions; polls in FT newsletters regularly record engagement rates above 75% — The newspaper has a loyal, well-informed readership keen to share their opinions. Polls in its newsletters record engagement over 75 per cent

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:

ITV reports FY 2024 revenue down 3% YoY to $5.34B, Studios revenue down 6% YoY to $2.63B, digital ad revenue up 15% YoY, and its efficiency program saved $77.5M — The U.K.'s ITV revealed strong profit growth in its full-year results for 2024, despite facing challenges from the U.S. actors …

Discussion: RTÉ, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and ITV Plc

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann says Netflix plans to spend ~$18B in cash on content in 2025, up nearly 11% YoY, and the amount is “not anywhere near a ceiling” — Netflix expects to spend in the neighborhood of $18 billion in cash on content in 2025 — and it sees plenty of runway …

Discussion: Media Play News and The Wrap

Dominic Ponsford / Press Gazette:

UK journalist Graham Johnson estimates he cost News UK £500M through his testimony, books, and legal research since his phone hacking conviction in 2014 — Former tabloid reporter Graham Johnson believes he helped cost the publisher of The Sun £500m.

Forbes:

A TollBit analysis of 160 websites on its content licensing platform finds AI search engines drive 96% less referral traffic than traditional Google Search — AI companies promised publishers their AI search engines would send them more readers via referral traffic. New data shows that's not the case.

Discussion: Australian Financial Review, @rashishrivast18, @ednewtonrex, @rashishrivast18, @pressgazette and @rashis.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Rick Porter / The Hollywood Reporter:

Nielsen: Trump's address to Congress drew 36.6M viewers, a larger number than three of Biden's addresses to Congress but smaller than any in Trump's first term — The speech drew a larger audience than Joe Biden's last State of the Union but fell short of any from Trump's first term.

Discussion: Variety, PoliticusUSA, USA Today, Forbes, Winnipeg Free Press, Adweek, @radarradar.bsky.social, Media Play News, Los Angeles Times, TVLine, TVNewsCheck, New York Times, The Wrap, Bloomberg and Deadline

Jack Greenberg / YouTube Official Blog:

YouTube debuts an $8/month Premium Lite tier in the US, offering most videos ad-free and music with ads, and plans to launch in Thailand, Germany, and Australia — Today we'll begin expanding our Premium Lite pilot to users in the US. Premium Lite gives viewers a new …

Discussion: TechCrunch, @film_girl, transistor.fm, Waleed Diab on LinkedIn, Gizmodo, 9to5Google, 9to5Google, MacRumors, The Verge, Variety, Engadget, BGR, The Wrap, Streaming Better, Cord Cutters News and Billboard, more at Techmeme »

Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:
YouTube says YouTube Music and YouTube Premium now have 125M+ subscribers globally, including trials, after passing 100M subscribers in February 2024

Discussion: YouTube Official Blog, @lucas_shaw, Digital Music News, TVNewsCheck, The Desk, Music Ally, The Information and The Hollywood Reporter

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

Tom Llamas will succeed Lester Holt as anchor of NBC Nightly News after Holt signs off in early summer — Llamas, who has been with the network since 2021, will continue to anchor Top Story, a signature nighttime show on NBC News Now that runs from 7-8 p.m. ET, immediately after Nightly News.

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Energy & Commodities Editor, Tokyo — Bloomberg

Politics Reporter, TX — Texas Tribune

Consumer Brands Reporter, GA — AJC

Deputy Editor - Health Care, VA — Politico

Product Editor, CA — CalMatters

Indigenous Affairs Editor, Sydney — Guardian US

China Markets Correspondent, Shanghai — Reuters

Bangor Reporter, ME — Bangor Daily News

Commerce Editor - Health, Remote US — Yahoo

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More News:

Ian Carlos Campbell / Engadget:
Amazon announces an “AI-aided dubbing” pilot program on Prime Video, starting with dubbing in English and Latin American Spanish on 12 movies and series

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, BGR, Deadline, @thedesk.net, Quartz, Reuters and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Sesame Workshop cuts staff as it continues to look for a TV or streaming outlet for Sesame Street; production of the series' 56th season resumes next month

Discussion: NPR, Cord Cutters News, Adweek and TVNewsCheck

Variety:
A look at Neon's unconventional strategy to win an Oscar for Anora, including merchandise like branded thongs and spending $18M, a fraction of its rivals

Discussion: @brentalang, IndieWire and Seriously? OMG! WTF?

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Q&A with Jonathan Capehart, Eugene Daniels, and Jackie Alemany on co-hosting MSNBC's The Weekend beginning in April, the channel's transition period, and more

Discussion: Advocate, @msnbcpr.bsky.social, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Barrett Media, Editor and Publisher and Adweek

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The Sun names Jon Lloyd, previously behind TV content formats like Come Dine With Me, as its director of video to lead a video-first commissioning strategy

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
WPP invests in Stability AI as part of a deal to use its models across images, video, and audio, and says it is increasing its AI investment to ~£300M per year

Discussion: Authority Magazine, Adweek, Ad Age and Fortune

Earlier Picks:

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
TNT Sports strikes a deal with DAZN to televise 24 of the 63 FIFA Club World Cup 2025 matches on TNT, TBS, and truTV, including the final

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Awful Announcing, New York Times, TV Tech, Media Play News, Winnipeg Free Press, Barrett Media, The Streamable, Stacey Richman on LinkedIn, WORLD SCREEN, Front Office Sports, @nick-waters.bsky.social, Sports Video Group and Advanced Television

Oliver Darcy / Status:
Source: WaPo Publisher Will Lewis quietly met with Free Beacon EIC Eliana Johnson last month, where the two discussed recruiting conservative journalists

Discussion: SPLICETODAY.com, The Independent, New York Post, @mediaevan, @thejeffmanghera.bsky.social, @joshsternberg.com, @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social, @mattdpearce.com, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social and Mediaite

Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Digg co-founder Kevin Rose and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian are relaunching Digg, after acquiring the site from Money Group for an undisclosed sum

Benjamin Svetkey / The Hollywood Reporter:
Streaming has been a major setback for classic movies, largely due to platforms that ignore or bury old films; the oldest film on Netflix is from 1973

Discussion: @chrisyogerst.com, @tvhilton.bsky.social and Screen Rant

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Patch CEO Warren St. John says its AI-curated newsletters, with 400K subscribers, have grown Patch's reach from 1,100 to 30K US communities in just a few months

Discussion: Will Figueroa on LinkedIn and Mike Carraggi on LinkedIn

From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
The Trump administration exempts smartphones, laptops, hard drives, processors, memory chips, and machines used to make semiconductors from reciprocal tariffs

Connor Jones / The Register:
UK government report: 43% of businesses faced a cyber breach or attack in the past year; phishing was the most common type, affecting 85% of those attacked

Washington Post:
Arguments start Monday in the FTC's antitrust suit targeting Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, amid reports Zuckerberg asked Trump to intervene

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