BBC Cuts, Sinclair’s Takeover Push, Newsweek’s AI Move: Media News Recap for November
Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of the biggest media stories from the past month.
Photo by Lisa from Pexels.
November brought a mix of reinvention and reckoning across the media landscape. The BBC outlined a sweeping plan to save $130 million by shrinking and reshaping its workforce, while Newsweek leaned further into personalization with an AI-powered homepage experience. NBC News launched its first digital subscription offering, and Sinclair intensified consolidation pressures by acquiring an 8.2% stake in Scripps as part of a broader takeover push. And in a symbolic end to a long chapter of American publishing, Farmers’ Almanac will close after 208 years.
Here’s everything you need to know.
BBC to save $130M by shrinking and rethinking workforce
The BBC has confirmed plans to save at least £100M ($132M) by radically reimagining its workforce to compete with tech giants.
BBC Chief Operating Officer Leigh Tavaziva wrote to employees following Deadline’s report on secret internal work known as Project Ada, named after Ada Lovelace, the pioneering 19th-century British mathematician.
The project could result in thousands of non-content jobs — including HR, finance, legal, and operations — being outsourced to private sector companies. The BBC is also exploring spinning off a potential commercial unit housing the digital teams that power services including iPlayer and the BBC Sounds app. (Deadline)
More cuts in November include:
- Dallas Morning News staffers laid off weeks after merger (MediaPost)
- Crain Communications lays off 25 workers at several publications (MediaPost)
- PBS SoCal cuts 10% of workforce (Current)
- Axios cuts 19 jobs from product, tech and design (TheWrap)
- GBH to cut 15 positions by January (Current)
- Omnicom to cut over 4,000 jobs, fold legacy ad brands after IPG takeover (Reuters)
Newsweek building AI Mode-like experience to customize homepages for readers
Newsweek is developing an AI-powered homepage, modeled after Google’s AI Mode search experience, as part of a broader partnership with Google Cloud. The goal is to create a more conversational, AI-driven homepage that will function more like a utility for users, boosting time spent on-site and helping counter the drop in search referrals.
The homepage will be customized to each user, not just those logged into the site. Visitors will be greeted with local weather, a news briefing summary and stocks, based on their geolocation. The homepage is still in development and likely won’t be ready until next spring at the earliest.
Newsweek’s AI assistant will be front and center — allowing users to ask questions, with suggested prompts to ask about the news of the day or specific information about certain topics. (Digiday)
Here’s more AI news from November:
- Nine publishers sue OpenAI and Microsoft for alleged copyright violations (MediaPost)
- ‘Boomerang’ hires suggest AI layoffs aren’t sticking (Axios)
- People Inc. forges AI licensing deal with Microsoft as Google traffic drops (TechCrunch)
- How The Times is using AI to model synthetic focus groups from human audiences (Digiday)
- Sky News to use AI platforms developed by the Washington Post (TheDesk.net)
- Time launches AI-driven interactive agent (MediaPost)
NBC News launches digital subscription
NBC News is launching its first direct-to-consumer digital subscription product.
The subscription will offer NBC News’ most loyal consumers access to all of the digital journalism it currently offers for free, such as podcasts, video shows and web articles, in one place without ads.
The subscription includes access to all of NBC News’ digital journalism, including content from Telemundo’s Noticias news networks and NBC News’ local affiliates. The new service will provide access to new newsletter content. The package will also feature exclusive, subscriber-only video content and shows, including new vertical video briefings from top talent and correspondent dispatches from the field.
The main hub for the product will be the NBC News app, although subscribers can access the content via the NBC News website on mobile and desktop. (Axios)
Other new offerings in November included:
- New York Post expands to L.A. with launch of California Post (New York Post)
- Consumer Reports revives a 1940s-era newsletter for cash-strapped Americans on Substack (NiemanLab)
- Digital veterans raise $2M+ seed round to launch new food media startup (Axios)
- Deseret News launches weekly audio and video podcast (Editor & Publisher)
- The Atlantic starts podcast to make sense of the “online firehose” (MediaPost)
- South Carolina publications launch statewide business magazine (Talking Biz News)
- New collective brings direct sales support to independent journalists (Axios)
- CNBC launches podcast series with financial journalist Steve Sedgwick (Editor & Publisher)
- BBC launches BBC Global Women to focus on leaders, issues (MediaPost)
- Times of London and Sunday Times relaunch personal finance section (Talking Biz News)
- Bike magazine returns to print with special issue (MediaPost)
Sinclair takes 8.2% stake in Scripps amid takeover push
Sinclair, the third-largest local broadcast company in the country, has taken an 8.2% stake in E.W. Scripps’ Class A shares as it pushes to combine with the smaller broadcaster, according to a new regulatory filing.
The Trump-era FCC has signaled a willingness to roll back decades-old ownership cap rules that prevent large broadcasters from merging. Those efforts are expected to usher in a new wave of consolidation among local broadcasters, which have for years argued that regulation makes it difficult to compete with Big Tech.
In the filing, Sinclair said it has engaged in “constructive discussions” with Scripps “for several months regarding a potential combination of the two companies.” (Axios)
More acquisition news in November:
- Citizen Media Group buys Philadelphia magazine (NiemanLab)
- Adams Publishing to purchase Cedar Rapids Gazette (MediaPost)
- RedBird cancels purchase of UK’s Daily Telegraph (AP)
- Daily Mail owner to acquire Daily Telegraph (BBC)
- Elliott Publishing sells custom printing business (MediaPost)
Farmers’ Almanac closing after 208 years
Farmers’ Almanac, the folksy periodical that has been published since 1818, is shutting down. The last issue will be dated 2026, and the website will go dark in December.
The company blames the “growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the Almanac in today’s chaotic media environment.”
The Maine-based publication is not to be confused with the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the yellow book that is even older than the Farmers’ Almanac that is closing. (MediaPost)
Other closures announced in November:
- Cinematographers Guild shutters nearly century-old magazine (Hollywood Reporter)
- Star Wars Insider magazine is heading out into space (MediaPost)
- WETA to cancel PBS News Weekend amid federal funding cuts (Newscast Studio)
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Maria Perez is director of web operations at Cision. In her spare time, she enjoys gaming, watching too much TV, and chasing squirrels with her dog Cece.
