Google

Google is said to be in talks with publishers about a news product that would pay a licensing fee for content. The move comes as Facebook, Google, and now Amazon maintain their grip on the lion’s share of digital advertising revenues. Market research company eMarketer predicts that by the end of this year, the big three will account for about 70 percent of all digital advertising dollars in the U.S. In October, Facebook introduced Facebook News to showcase original reporting and to pay for it. But Google’s plan may have little effect on U.S. news outlets. The Wall Street Journal reports that most of the publishers that Google is negotiating with are located outside the U.S.

ViacomCBS

ViacomCBS is planning two rounds of layoffs, according to a report in Variety. The cuts are expected to mainly affect employees in the television division of the company, specifically in areas such as marketing, distribution, and consumer products, where there are significant overlaps. In addition, several positions in the company’s corporate diversity and inclusion department are expected to be eliminated. Variety says that it has learned from multiple sources that the first round of cuts, projected to affect around 100 people, could take place as early as Feb. 26, with a second set of cuts expected to begin on or around March 31. In August, Viacom and CBS said the merger would yield $500 million in cost savings. ViacomCBS stock has slid 13.4 percent since the merger closed Dec. 4.

This Week

Dennis Publishing is launching a version of its newsweekly The Week aimed at children from 8 to 14. Headed up by former Prevention editor Andrea Barbalich, The Week Junior, a subscription print magazine, will feature articles, photos, puzzles and activities. Dennis started up a UK version of the kids’ publication in 2015, which it says has become the country’s fastest-growing print magazine. Since the announcement of The Week Junior’s US launch in January, Dennis says that more than 10,000 subscriptions have been purchased. The US edition of The Week, which launched in 2001, currently has over 550,000 paid-for print subscribers, according to Statista.