Top News:
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Spotify lays off ~17% of its workforce, or ~1,500 staff, to “rightsize” its costs, citing slow economic growth and rising capital costs, its third cut in 2023 — Spotify is eliminating about 1,500 jobs, or about 17% of its workforce, in its third round of layoffs this year …
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Variety, Spotify, Billboard, Financial Times, MediaPost, MacRumors, Wall Street Journal, CMU, The Verge, @carnage4life@mas.to, Neowin, Ars Technica, BBC, Inside Radio, @markgurman, 9to5Mac, Axios, UPROXX, @sarafischer, The Information, Engadget, CBS News, @lucas_shaw, @tvgrimreaper, The Guardian, New York Post, Digital Music News, Reuters, Engadget, CNN, Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, Music Ally, The Wrap, The Bookseller, The Desk and Ad Age, more at Techmeme »
Catharine Tunney / CBC News:
CBC/Radio-Canada plans to cut ~10% of its workforce, or 600 workers, and cut CA$40M in programming over the coming year to cope with a CA$125M budget shortfall — Public broadcaster says most cuts will take effect over the coming year — The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada announced Monday …
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CBC News, The Desk, Reuters, @melissambarki, @mickeydjuric, @parismarx, @cbcdaveseglins, @maritstiles, @mickeydjuric, @mickeydjuric, @jonkay, @keithdunnenl and @carolemacneil
Max Tani / Semafor:
An interview with Megyn Kelly about co-hosting the Dec. 6 GOP presidential primary debate on NewsNation, her pivot to audio, being “un-cancellable”, and more — The News — After Megyn Kelly left her high-profile Fox News perch for a $69 million, three-year NBC contract …
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Adweek, Mediaite, @jeremymbarr, @stevekrak, New York Post, The Hill, al.com and Poynter
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Comcast president Mike Cavanagh says Peacock now has 30M paying subscribers, with an ARPU of $10 per month, and saw $2.8B in losses in 2023 — “We collected an eight and a half billion dollar check on Friday,” Mike Cavanagh said, adding that Disney's payment for Hulu has cleared.
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Simon Rice on LinkedIn, Streaming Better, Media Play News, Variety, @lmoses, BGR, The Desk, Deadline, The Wrap, @sherman4949, @aaronklein, Next TV, MediaPost, Tv Technology and Cord Cutters News
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
GroupM forecasts global ad spending to grow 5.8% YoY to $889B in 2023, excluding US political ads, and US political ad spending in 2024 to reach a record $15.9B — Worldwide advertising will post a 5.8 percent gain this year to $889 billion, before slowing to a 5.3 percent gain in 2024 …
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Next TV, MediaPost, Deadline, VideoWeek, Wall Street Journal, Inside Radio, Tv Technology and AdExchanger
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
James Dyson loses his £1M libel case against Mirror Group after a High Court judge rules Dyson was not caused “serious harm” by a January 2022 Mirror article — High Court judge says Brian Reade comment piece did not cause ‘serious harm’.
Discussion:
@pressgazette, @jolyonmaugham, @kevin_maguire, @shipbrief, @healthreglawyer, @pollyrippon, BBC, The Guardian and Boing Boing
Sam Buckingham-Jones / Australian Financial Review:
The Guardian's senior editors issue a rare joint message to staff, warning them on signing letters and posting messages that “risk compromising” its integrity — The Guardian's most senior editors have issued a rare joint message to their staff, warning journalists …
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Crikey, @samebjones, @_claireconnelly, @s_mitchell, @jonkudelka and @markdistef
Mark Kleinman / Sky News:
Source: Ofcom CEO Melanie Dawes will remain recused from the watchdog's probe into the sale of The Daily Telegraph as the Lloyds Banking employs her husband — Dame Melanie Dawes will play no role in Ofcom's inquiry even after Lloyds, which employs her husband, is repaid a £1.16bn loan later on Monday, Sky News learns.
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Bloomberg
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Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Streaming services seem to be increasingly open to bundling with rivals, as Verizon announces a $10 per month deal for Netflix and Max's ad tiers — A Verizon-backed Netflix and Max deal, and talks between Apple and Paramount suggest that streaming bundles may be about go get bigger and better.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos says the company didn't see much of an “interruption” from Hollywood's strikes and is still targeting a $17B content budget for 2024 — Ted Sarandos is happy the twin Hollywood strikes are over — but the Netflix co-CEO claimed the streamer didn't see significant …
Discussion:
MacRumors, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap and @tvgrimreaper, more at Techmeme »
Ashley Carman / Bloomberg:
Spotify plans to cancel the Gimlet Media podcasts Heavyweight and Stolen after their current seasons, as the company retreats from in-house productions — - Shows will finish out work on current, in-production seasons — Programming decision coincides with company's latest job cuts
Paul MacInnes / The Guardian:
The English Premier League agrees a new deal with Sky and TNT Sports under which the soccer competition will earn £6.7B over four years for its UK TV rights — - Number of live games set to grow substantially as part of deal — Match of the Day to continue after BBC buys highlights rights
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Broadband TV News, @skysports, Sky News, Financial Times, @robharris, @sam__carp, @seaningle, @willohara, BBC, @sistoney67, @tariqpanja, @simonlester24, @graemebailey, @david_conn, Sportico and Bloomberg
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Nexstar CEO Perry Sook says The CW may break even by the end of 2025 after Nexstar achieved about $100M in annual savings — Perry Sook said the advertising recession and the recent dual Hollywood strikes represent headwinds to getting beyond losses at broadcast network.
Discussion:
@benmillermke and @tvgrimreaper
Peter Walker / The Guardian:
UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer confirms that the BBC will receive a below-inflation license fee increase; the £159 annual fee has been frozen for two years — Imminent announcement expected to signal further cuts to broadcaster's staffing and programmes
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