#MediaRevenue - David Clinch

Welcome to my weekly round-up of all things #MediaRevenue. I'm off schedule this week as I have been very busy launching some major new initiatives to bring together Reader Revenue, Ad Revenue and AI Licensing Revenue under one Dynamic Revenue Engine for news publishers.

More on that soon.

I'm attending the Press Gazette Media Strategy USA Network event in New York this week and I'm looking forward to seeing a number of colleagues and friends there. Let me know if you are attending.

An exclusive new AI-powered daily news word game for local news publishers has launched and is available for your news organization here.

I enjoyed participating in this panel last week:

If you need help navigating the threats and opportunities that AI represents for your news organization, let me know: [email protected]

Here are the top #MediaRevenue stories from this week ->

The Associated Press says buyouts and some layoffs are ahead as it seeks to cut its workforce by 8%: "The Associated Press said Monday that it would begin offering buyouts and lay off selected employees, part of a plan to reduce the news outlet’s staff by about 8% and accelerate a transition to a digital-first organization." AP via Dave Bauder

Media giant Dotdash Meredith to lay off 53 people: "Dotdash Meredith, one of the largest print and digital publishers in the U.S., is laying off 53 people, or roughly 1.5% of its staff, its CEO Neil Vogel told employees in a note Thursday obtained by Axios." - Axios via Sara Fischer

OpenAI Is Paying Dotdash Meredith At Least $16 Million to License Its Content: "The figure is a minimum because it only reflects the “fixed” component of the payment and not the “variable” component, which will be calculated in the future, IAC chief operating and financial officer Chris Halpin told analysts on an earnings call last week." AdWeek via Mark Stenberg

Local news is in crisis. This paper has a $150 million plan: "Dashed hopes and slashed jobs define the local news industry in far too many corners of the country. In Atlanta, Andrew Morse, the president and publisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has splashy plans to revive the ailing newspaper. And he's been given a $150 million runway over the next several years to figure it out." - NPR via Dave Folkenflik

Jeff Bezos Cracks Down on the Washington Post: "The Washington Post was on track to lose at least as much money as it lost last year—$77 million—even before 250,000 digital readers unsubscribed." - The Intelligencer via Charlotte Klein

He Saw Digital Media Melt Down. His Next Act? A Media Start-Up.: "Nicholas Carlson, the former top editor of Business Insider, is starting a new company that will focus on video. Just don’t call it a “pivot to video.”" - New York Times via Benjamin Mullin

Substack’s Great, Big, Messy Political Experiment: "The newsletter start-up, which once drew an overture from Elon Musk, is betting on politics content and recruiting stars. But profits remain elusive." - New York Times.

Apple is selling Apple News ads directly for the first time: "Apple is pitching marketers on new ad units within the Apple News feed and within individual stories on Apple News, Axios has learned." - Axios.

Daily Beast Turns First Quarterly Profit Amid Cutbacks, Q3 Revenue Rises 81%: "Ben Sherwood and Joanna Coles, after cutting back staff at The Daily Beast, have managed to swing the digital news and opinion site to its first profitable quarter." - Variety via Todd Spangler

Le Monde and several French newspapers sue X over 'neighboring rights' payments: "Several news organizations accused the social media platform formerly known as Twitter of running their content without payment." - Le Monde

Comcast Greenlights $7 Billion Spinoff of NBCUniversal Cable Channels: "Cesar Conde will remain chairman of NBCUniversal News Group, overseeing NBC News, Telemundo and local TV stations. He will also advise the company on growth opportunities." - WSJ

Florida billionaire's PE firm takes 5% stake in Dallas Morning News parent company: "David Hoffmann, who has an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion, wants to become America's next newspaper baron. He already owned a big stake in Lee Enterprises, owner of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Buffalo News. Now he's taken a position in the parent company of the Dallas Morning News." - Dallas Business Journal

Press Forward Open Call on Infrastructure: "Up to $20 million to fund solutions to common challenges in local news." - Press Forward.