Top News:
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 — Financial Times CEO John Ridding is stepping down in June after leading the newspaper group for almost 20 years.
Discussion:
Financial Times, Dominic Ponsford on LinkedIn and @ft
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
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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
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:
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
The Wrap:
Sources: LAT's Hector Becerra faced an HR probe in 2022 over alleged “insulting” behavior, including bullying; LAT says it has “been addressed and resolved” — The paper's De Los editor Paloma Esquivel resigned last week, accusing HR of dismissing her complaints against Becerra
Discussion:
@sharonwaxman, @sharonwaxman, @sharonwaxman and @gstarr.bsky.social
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
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.
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
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.
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, USA Today, Forbes, Winnipeg Free Press, Adweek, @radarradar.bsky.social, Media Play News, PoliticusUSA, 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 »
RELATED:
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
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