Top News:
The Verge:
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy confirms plans to cut 500+ jobs, or ~35% of its staff, and says its workforce was oversized for its business' size, after March 2023 cuts — Twitch is laying off more than 500 employees, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy announced this morning, reportedly accounting for around 35 percent of its staff.
Discussion:
Twitch, GeekWire, @tomwarren, Observer, Next TV, The Hill, Decrypt, Tubefilter, Game Rant, New York Daily News, Justin Gerrard on LinkedIn, WKYC-TV, CNN, Deadline, Dan Rayburn on LinkedIn, Metro, @ianbetteridge@writing …, Gizmodo, @carterfornow, @dannyodwyer, @lucas_shaw, @zacharydiaz, @carnage4life, @richlightshed, @tunguz, Adweek, The Wrap, MediaPost, gamedeveloper, GamesIndustry.biz, Engadget, Spencer Soper on LinkedIn, TechCrunch, The Information, GamesHub, Cord Cutters News, Shacknews, Jalyssa Eliasen on LinkedIn, Digital Music News and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
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Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Memo: Amazon Studios SVP Mike Hopkins says the company would cut “several hundred roles” in its Prime Video and MGM Studios units; both had cuts in early 2023 — Mike Hopkins announced the cuts Wednesday. — Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs in its Prime Video and MGM Studios division.
Discussion:
Variety, CNBC, @lmoses, The Information, @tim_bays, @jessicalessin, @lucas_shaw, Mumbrella, @davidclinchnews, @carnage4life@threads.net, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Engadget, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Media Play News, IndieWire, The Information, MediaPost, Cord Cutters News and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Deadline:
Memo: Amazon Studios Head Jennifer Salke says recent layoffs were part of its plan to consolidate the Amazon Studios and MGM theatrical distribution teams — EXCLUSIVE: Earlier this morning, Amazon revealed that it was laying off several hundred employees across Prime Video and Amazon Studios as part of a review of its business.
Discussion:
The Wrap
Los Angeles Times:
California public radio station KCRW cuts about 16 jobs by offering buyouts and ends its Greater LA podcast, in a bid to reduce a projected $3M budget deficit — Santa Monica public radio station KCRW will part ways with more than a dozen staffers and end the popular podcast “Greater LA.”
Discussion:
@radiochio, Digital Music News, @bigdanimals, The Wrap, @radiochio, Axios, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Skydance backers are discussing an all-cash bid for National Amusements; if successful, they would pursue a second deal to merge Paramount and Skydance — CEO Ellison, his father, Larry, and other investors are in talks to buy Redstone's stake in National Amusements, Paramount's parent
Discussion:
@jtoonkel, @cgasparino, @tvgrimreaper, New York Post, @cgasparino, @asharma, Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Wrap, Deadline and Bloomberg
Lynette Rice / Deadline:
Sources: Hallmark Media lays off CMO Lara Richardson, Chief People Officer Pamela Wolfe, EVP Research Strategy Robin Thomas, and Head of Distribution Judi Lopez — Senior TV Writer/TV Editor, Awards — EXCLUSIVE: It's Hallmark Media's turn now: Deadline has learned that the premier home …
Discussion:
The Wrap, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix President of Advertising Amy Reinhard says its ad tier has 23M+ MAUs globally, and 85% of customers on the ad tier are streaming for 2+ hours per day — Netflix is seeing strong growth of its advertising-based plan, having recently eclipsed 23 million global monthly active users, president of advertising Amy Reinhard said.
Discussion:
The Information, Reuters and Media Play News
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Amazon Prime Video's move to make the ad tier its default could unravel how advertisers deal with TV broadcasters and scare off rivals with its massive scale — On Jan. 29, Prime Video will make its ad tier the default for its tens of millions of subscribers, a move that could unravel …
Discussion:
Observer, MediaPost and Insider Intelligence
Kevin Draper / New York Times:
ESPN deciding not to punish Pat McAfee for publicly calling an executive a “rat” highlights a power shift as the network transitions from cable to streaming — For decades, the biggest star at ESPN was ESPN. That's changing as it transitions from cable dominance to a much less certain streaming future.
Andre Gee / Rolling Stone:
Mixtape platform DatPiff uploads its 50TB cache of 366,420 mixtapes and free albums to the Internet Archive, after experiencing a server crash in March 2023 — DatPiff uploaded its extensive free mixtape catalog to the Internet Archive to protect it for the foreseeable future
Discussion:
Mixmag
Bloomberg:
Sources: OpenAI is in talks with CNN and Fox Corp. to license their text, video, and image content; Time “is in discussions with OpenAI” about a content deal — - Startup has said it's in discussions with dozens of publishers — Negotiations come as OpenAI faces New York Times lawsuit
Discussion:
@davidclinchnews, @lynnmdoan, @shiringhaffary, @carnage4life@mas.to, @wholemarsblog, Reuters and Fortune, more at Techmeme »
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Donald Trump appeared in his first live Fox News interview in nearly two years; sources say Trump thinks Fox erred in settling with Dominion — A town hall in Iowa on Wednesday is the network's first live interview with the former president in nearly two years, the latest twist in a long-running drama.
Discussion:
@alexthomp, @sarafischer, @grynbaum, @davidfolkenflik, Axios, @alexthomp, The Hill, Politico, The Streamable and Semafor
Press Gazette:
The Reuters Institute survey of news leaders: 48% say money from AI deals will be very little for any publisher, most will put more effort into WhatsApp, more — The Reuters Institute survey touched on AI pessimism, news avoidance and paywall success. — Less than half of news leaders feel confident …
Discussion:
@nicnewman, @nicnewman, @nicnewman and @pressgazette
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