 Pamela Wasserstein |
New York Media, the parent company of New York magazine, is shedding 16 staff employees and 16 freelancers as part of what chief executive Pamela Wasserstein is calling “an effort to most effectively organize our resources around our business strategy.” Wasserstein said that the cuts, which represent about five percent of the company’s staff, are primarily affecting the company’s video department, audience development teams and copy and fact checking staffs. New York magazine implemented a paywall on its website in November. In addition, company staffers unionized with the NewsGuild in December and longtime editor Adam Moss announced his departure in January. While the company said in August that it was exploring “strategic options” that included a possible sale, any plans for a sale are off for now, according to a report from Business Insider.
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The Yankees, Amazon and Sinclair Broadcast Group have reached a deal to buy the YES Network from Disney for $3.47 billion, according to the New York Post. The Yankees already own 20 percent of the network. YES is one of the regional sports networks that Disney must unload to secure regulatory approval for its purchase of 21st Century Fox. The Post reports that Amazon is seeking to extend its reach into streaming sports events, and the deal will let it stream Yankees and Brooklyn Nets basketball games. It also cites a source that says Sinclair plans to use YES to help it sell other programming it owns, such as the Tennis Channel, to New York cable companies. The YES deal won’t need Federal Communications Commission approval.
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Facebook is lining up a roster of publishers including BuzzFeed, Complex Networks and Condé Nast to produce shows for its Facebook Watch video-on-demand service, according to a report on online trade magazine Digiday. Tentatively called “Facebook match,” the new project will fund collaborations between publishers and video creators. The videos are to feature a range of celebrities and influencers including singer Keke Palmer and actress Angela Kinsley. While Facebook says it intends to spend up to $200,000 per show, the company will not own the videos that result from the venture. Rather, it will license the programming for a specified period of time, after which producers will be permitted to distribute their content on other platforms.
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. has replaced CEO and former California Congressman Devin Nunes with Kevin McGurn, a seasoned media sales executive.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
