Mediagazer: Spotify launches DJ, an AI-powered radio DJ feature that offers curated music and commentary about the tracks and artists in a “stunningly realistic voice” (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

3:45 PM ET, February 22, 2023

Top News:

David Folkenflik / NPR:

NPR plans to lay off ~10% of its workforce, or at least 100 people, and eliminate most vacant positions, citing reduced ad revenue, particularly for podcasts — HEADLINE: NPR says it's cutting jobs by 10% as ad revenue drops — NPR's chief executive announced the network would lay off roughly 10% …

Michael Schneider / Variety:

A profile of Casey Bloys, the CEO of content for HBO and HBO Max, as he oversees programming on a new mega-service combining HBO Max and Discovery+ this spring — Casey Bloys was about four years into his tenure as a programming executive at HBO when he was driven to champion a project that was disliked by others at the network.

Discussion: Screen Rant, The Wrap, IndieWire, The Playlist, Collider, @theinsneider, @variety_cynthia, @lucas_shaw, TVLine, @variety and @variety

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Spotify launches DJ, an AI-powered radio DJ feature that offers curated music and commentary about the tracks and artists in a “stunningly realistic voice” — Ahead of Spotify's upcoming Stream On event, where the company is expected to announce a redesigned home feed and other updates …

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Two years after announcing a HiFi lossless, CD-quality music service, Spotify has yet to launch the tier, offering no new information and falling behind rivals

Discussion: @chriswelch, more at Techmeme »

Jessica E. Lessin / The Information:

Jessica Lessin announces the launch of The Information Pro, a new subscription tier with expanded org charts, new databases based on staff reporting, and more — I am delighted to share the launch of The Information Pro—a new tier of subscription that features our expanded org charts …

Discussion: Talking Biz News, @boygenius, @jessicalessin and Axios

Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:

A look at Substack-hosted entertainment business publication Ankler Media, which claims profitability, with ~50% of revenue from subscriptions and ~50% from ads — Rushfield's sharp-tongued missives have earned him a bold-faced subscriber list. ("I read it the second I see it pop up," says Richard Plepler.)

Discussion: @joepompeo, Talking Biz News, @josephkapsch, @bmorrissey, @felixgillette, @janicemin, @theinsneider, @joepompeo, @mlcalderone and @richardrushfield

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

UK magazine publisher Future appoints Jon Steinberg as CEO, replacing Zillah Byng-Thorne starting on April 3; Steinberg was a BuzzFeed and Mail Online executive — Steinberg takes over from Zillah Byng-Thorne at the start of April. — Jon Steinberg will be the next chief executive (CEO) …

Discussion: Financial Times, Next TV, Variety, @dangrabham, Dow Jones Newswires, Sharecast, @oliverdarcy, Bloomberg and Talking Biz News

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

WARC projects global ad revenue for publishers will fall 7.7% in 2023 to $47.2B; Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta will take nearly $400B of the global $993B ad market — Amazon, Alphabet and Meta are estimated to take $4 in every $10 spent in the global ad market.

Aisha Majid / Press Gazette:

ABC data: digital circulation of consumer magazines globally grew 22% YoY in 2022, with BBC Science Focus up 131%; print circulation globally fell 14% to 20.9M — ABC consumer magazine data shows growth in digital circulation in 2022. — Digital consumer magazines saw a circulation increase …

Discussion: @joshglancy, @wturvill, @pressgazette and Press Gazette

Bill Grueskin / Columbia Journalism Review:

Dominion's filing details Fox News' post-election dysfunction and the channel's troubles for the 2024 election, particularly if Donald Trump wins the nomination — b — By most appearances, Fox News is a well-managed, tightly run outfit. It's America's most popular cable news channel …

Discussion: @bgrueskin, @bgrueskin, San Antonio Express-News, @ddiamond, New York Daily News, Fox News and The Hill

Bloomberg:

Turkey's telecom watchdog BTK blocks Eksi Sozluk, one of the country's biggest social media websites, and fines three TV channels over their earthquake coverage — Turkey's media watchdog fined three TV channels over their coverage of this month's earthquakes, the latest move by the state …

Discussion: Committee to Protect …, @diegocupolo and @middleeast, more at Techmeme »

Bloomberg:

Sources: Viacom18, which beat Disney and Sony to Indian Premier League cricket streaming rights for $2.7B in 2022, plans to stream the matches for free with ads — Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate will stream Indian Premier League cricket games for free, according to people familiar with the matter …

Discussion: The Streamable, @lucas_shaw, @lucas_shaw and The Indian Express

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Artifact, the personalized news reader created by Instagram's co-founders, opens to the public for Android and iOS, with new features and no sign-up required — Artifact, the personalized news reader built by Instagram's co-founders, is now open to the public, no sign-up required.

Discussion: The Verge, Engadget and @nicholasadeleon, more at Techmeme »

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Lauren Thomas / Wall Street Journal:
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Igor Bonifacic / Engadget:
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Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:
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Eduardo Suárez / Reuters Institute:
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