 |
ESPN axes 300 people across its business, and is not filling 200 currently open positions. While few of the cuts will immediately affect on-air personnel, the New York Post reports that the company has been letting some of those contracts expire over the past few months. The layoffs follow an organizational change made last month by Disney (ESPN’s owner) that will result in the company focusing more of its attention on direct-to-consumer and streaming initiatives. "The speed at which change is occurring requires great urgency, and we must now deliver on serving sports fans in a myriad of new ways,” said chairman of ESPN and sports content Jimmy Pitaro in a memo to employee. “Placing resources in support of our direct-to-consumer business strategy, digital, and, of course, continued innovative television experiences, is more critical than ever."
 |
Sinclair Broadcast Group took a $3.2 billion hit in the third quarter, as it wrote off a portion of the value of the Fox Regional Sports Networks it acquired for $10.6 billion last year. Hulu and YouTube both recently stopped carrying those networks on their services. The company also reported a higher rate of subscription losses during the quarter. Following the announcement, shares of the company fell 7.9 percent to $18.10 each. However, Sinclair says that, excluding the writeoffs, it would have earned $161 million. The company says its revenues were up 37 percent compared to Q3 2019, driven mostly by the newly acquired sports networks and a solid jump in political advertising during the election season.
 |
Gannett saw its number of digital subscribers hit 1.03 million in the third quarter, an increase of 31 percent from Q3 2019. The company ended the second quarter with 927,000 digital subscribers. Despite that jump, decreases in both print and digital advertising revenue contributed to a $31.3 million net loss in Q3, up 69 percent from the same period last year. Digital advertising and marketing services revenue declined by 13.5 percent, while print ad revenues plunged 30.9 percent. While Gannett has said that many of the cost cuts it made earlier this year to offset losses were temporary, the company is now rolling out permanent cuts, including a round of voluntary buyouts. According to USA Today (a Gannett paper) increasing paid digital subscriptions is seen by the company as a primary path toward achieving revenue growth.
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.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7... GQ editor Will Welch is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton... Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. 
