Spotify Slashes Podcast Division by 200, or About 2% of Audio Streamer’s Total Workforce

EL 47, the latest feature from Spanish production powerhouse Mediapro Studio, is kicking into gear with cameras set to roll on the pic in Barcelona in the coming days.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Carol Hanley, a six-year veteran of Whip Media, has been promoted to CEO of the company, a provider of data and analytics software to the entertainment industry. In addition, Whip Media’s board of directors elected her to the board. Richard Rosenblatt, who is stepping down as CEO after serving in the role since the company was founded in October 2014 as Whipclip, has been named the board’s executive chair. Hanley joined the company in 2017 as head of sales, after it pivoted from its original video-clip sharing business model to focus on collecting user data through the TV Time app. She was named co-president of Whip Media in April 2021 alongside Rob Gardos, former CEO of Mediamorph, the provider of entertainment content distribution and tracking services that Whip Media bought in 2019. Gardos left the company last year.

Days after settling her lengthy legal battle with Dr. Luke, Kesha is speaking out about her next chapter.

EXCLUSIVE: On-the-block super-indie All3Media saw revenues rocket to £1B ($1.3B) last year, as accounts reveal it has taken majority voting control of The Traitors producer Studio Lambert.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are ready to move forward after their Spotify deal fell through — but they aren’t too pleased with how news broke of their exit from the platform.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Hairspray. Spandex. Leather pants. Makeup. The ‘80s metal scene left a long and lasting legacy, and the stories of five of its top artists are told in “I Wanna Rock: The ‘80s Metal Dream.” Paramount+ has announced that the new three-part docuseries will premiere exclusively on the service on Tuesday, July 18 in the U.S. and Canada and internationally on Wednesday, July 19 in the U.K. and Australia, with further international markets to follow later this summer. The series follows members of the bands Skid Row, Winger, Twisted Sister, Vixen and the Scream as they chased fame and found it. While artists like Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Guns N’ Roses and others found even bigger and more lasting success, these artists’ stories are more suited to tell the story of struggle, success, and struggle again.

Halo have been invited to take part in the “world’s biggest” performance of its now-iconic Gregorian chant, with “no previous singing or gaming experience” required.The original Gregorian chant debuted in 2002, as part of the first Halo game’s theme.  Composed by Marty O’Donnell, the piece went on to become synonymous with the long-running Halo series, with many elements from the first theme turning up in subsequent games.Today (June 28), gamechoir has sent out a call for fans of the game to come together in creating the “world’s biggest” performance of the series’ Gregorian chant.The digital event will begin with a live-streamed vocals lesson on YouTube, which will take place on July 10 at 18:45 BST. From there, singers will be encouraged to practice using a professionally-recorded backing track, before submitting their “high, medium or low voice” performances to gamechoir.Following that, gamechoir will broadcast the final piece on August 17.Marty O’Donnell, the composer behind Halo‘s theme, has encouraged fans — “singer or not” — to take part in the Halo chant, and admitted he “never imagined” people would still be singing the chant over 20 years later.“Video games and video game music have the power to bring people together,” shared O’Donnell.

Pulp have announced the door times, curfew and stage times for their upcoming show at London’s Finsbury Park this weekend (Saturday July 1). Check them out below.The returning Jarvis Cocker-fronted Britpop heroes will be returning to the London venue for the first time since their legendary Hyde Park show back in 1998 – as documented in the concert move The Park Is Mine.After the gates open at 3pm, the first support act on will be Exotic Gardens at 5.05pm before cult indie hero Baxter Dury takes to the stage at 6pm and BRIT Award-winning Isle Of Wight art-pop stars Wet Leg at 7.10pm, before Pulp’s headline set kicks off at 8.40pm with a strict curfew of 10.30pm.

The fascination over American Gladiators isn’t over just yet: Three weeks after ESPN aired 30 for 30: The American Gladiators Documentary, Netflix is now shining a spotlight on the inimitable ’80s competition show that gave us Nitro, Gemini and thrilling jousts with what looked like giant, padded Q-tips.

A paedophile who raped a girl and hoarded hundreds of sick images of children was snared by undercover 'decoys' at a shopping outlet. Derek Smith thought he was meeting three teenage girls at the Cheshire Oaks outlet in October last year after speaking to them online, Cheshire Live reports.

Former Coronation Street star Jamie Kenna has been supported by his ex-castmates and his fans after revealing his latest career move. The actor appeared in the ITV soap back in 2021 as Phill Whittaker.

New Look fans say they have found the 'perfect' comfortable summer outfit for anybody with a mum tum they want to hide. New Look's £27.99 Black Floral Strappy Tie Waist Jumpsuit has been showered with five-star reviews from fashion fans, who have hailed it 'comfortable' and 'easy to iron'.

Martin Lewis' MoneySavingExpert website has told banking customers they can claim £200 just by switching.

Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard-starring FX/Sky comedy Breeders is ending after four seasons.

Naman Ramachandran The British Film Commission (BFC) and Malta Film Commission have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU is aimed at enhancing the collaboration between the U.K. and Malta screen industries, as well as facilitating film and high-end TV production (HETV) between the two territories. In 2022, inward investment production spend soared to $7.72 billion in the U.K., while Malta hosted 24 film and TV projects in 2022 alone. Major film and HETV productions filmed across both countries include: Apple TV+’s “Napoleon,” Universal’s “Jurassic World: Dominion,” (Universal, 2022), Eone/Participant Media/Focus Features’ “7 Days in Entebbe,” 20th Century’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”

Ellise Shafer The fourth season of “Breeders” will be the show’s last, FX has announced. The news comes just one month before the premiere of Season 4, which debuts on the network July 31 with episodes available to stream the next day on Hulu. Starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard, the comedy about parenthood will pick up five years after the events of Season 3, which saw Freeman’s Paul and Haggard’s Ally on the brink of splitting up. According to a press release, the fourth and final season of “Breeders” will bring “the biggest parenting challenge that Paul and Ally have ever faced, as 18-year-old Luke (Oscar Kennedy) drops a bombshell at Christmas dinner that will change everyone’s lives forever. No longer in Luke’s shadow, 16-year-old Ava (Zoë Athena) experiences her own bombshell moment as she meets and immediately falls for the charismatic Holly (Jessie Williams). Paul and Ally continue to try, fail and try again as they face these latest parenting challenges, while also having to support the increasingly troubled Jim (Alun Armstrong) and Jackie (Joanna Bacon).”

Naman Ramachandran Elan Closs Stephens, who has assumed charge as acting BBC chair following the resignation of Richard Sharp, has spoken out about her predecessor and the process of appointing her successor. Sharp resigned in April over his role in a 2020 loan to then U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. On Wednesday, Closs Stephens’ first day as acting BBC chair, a Q&A with BBC presenter Tina Daheley was shared with the corporation’s staff. When asked what she would say to people who feel the BBC’s reputation has been damaged by what happened with Richard Sharp, Closs Stephens said: “There’s no doubt that we’ve gone through a difficult period of time and I’m sure that staff and the board and Richard himself were unnerved by what happened over the past few months. All of us feel a debt of gratitude to Richard for the way in which he committed himself to the organization during his two years. But the organization as a whole is about the creativity and the news values and the production values of all the people who work in it.”

Emily Longeretta The Salinger siblings are coming back together. Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf are set to co-star has brother and sister once again in Hallmark Channel’s “A Merry Scottish Christmas.” The movie is set to air on the network’s Countdown to Christmas programming event. The film, written by NBC Correspondent Andrea Canning and author Audrey Schulman, follows estranged siblings Lindsay and Brad as they travel to Scotland at Christmas to reunite with their mother Jo (Fiona Bell) and “a big family secret is revealed.” Chabert and Wolf previously starred together as Claudia Salinger and Bailey Salinger, respectively, on Fox’s “Party of Five,” which aired from 1994 to 2000. Neve Campbell and Matthew Fox co-starred in the family drama.

Alissa Simon Film Critic Bulgarian multi-hyphenate Stephan Komandarev completes his trilogy on social problems and moral ills in contemporary Bulgaria with “Blaga’s Lessons,” world premiering in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Crystal Globe competition. Heretic is the sales agent. After “Directions” (2017), which centers on tough times for some Sofia taxi drivers over a long and eventful night, and “Rounds” (2019), about police officers patrolling the capital, Komandarev and his co-writer Simeon Ventsislavov use an older woman duped by a telephone scam to look at issues afflicting their parents’ generation. Komandarev says: “The Bulgarian pensioners turned out to be the real victims of the so-called ‘transition’ (the time from 1989 to today.) These people, who have worked and created persistently all their lives, have lost basic safety and security, normal food, adequate medical care, heating, etc.”

Naman Ramachandran Prime Video India has revealed a blockbuster lineup of Indian and international titles ahead of Prime Day 2023 on July 15 and 16. The lineup includes the Hindi-language version of “Ponniyin Selvan 2,” starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, “Babylon,” headlined by Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, Gerard Butler thriller “Kandahar” and Nawazuddin Siddiqui‘s Hindi-language drama-comedy “Tiku Weds Sheru.” Hindi-language original horror series “Adhura,” headlined by Rasika Dugal, the final season of hit series “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” Tamil-language superhero film “Veeran” and Telugu-language family entertainer “Anni Manchi Sakunamule” are also part of the lineup as are Tamil-language series “Sweet Kaaram Coffee” that captures the journey of three women and Telugu-language Young Adult series “Hostel Days.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Viaplay Group has unveiled its new operating model and executive management team for the Nordics as it anticipates an economic downturn. Earlier this month, Viaplay issued a warning over its second-quarter results and told employees that it would merge the Swedish and Norwegian units of its production arm into a new entity named Viaplay Studios. The listed banner also has new leadership — Anders Jensen stepped down and was replaced by Jorgen Madsen Lindemann as Viaplay’s CEO and president. Under the new operating model, which will be effective on July 1, the daily operation and strategic development of the businesses will be spearheaded by country management teams. Madsen Lindemann will be interim CEO of the Swedish and Finnish operations; Lars Bo Jeppesen has been appointed as EVP and CEO of the Danish and Icelandic operations and will join on Aug. 1.; and Kenneth Andresen has been appointed as interim CEO of the Norwegian operation.

Emotional pictures have shown the moment Kate Garraway was watched by her husband Derek Draper as she was awarded her MBE. It was revealed at the end of 2021 that the Good Morning Britain presenter would be receiving the honour in recognition for her services to broadcasting, journalism, and charity.

Homeowners looking to move are being forced to cut asking prices in a bid to sell their homes after mortgage rates have soared. According to property site Zoopla, around 42 percent OF house sellers are now having to shave more than five percent off the original asking price to achieve a sale.

Joe Swash has opened up about his and his wife Stacey Solomon's foster plans after he made a 'sad' admission about their life together. The couple, who wed in July last year, currently share three children together and three between them from previous relationships.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach bosses have blamed a 'payroll oversight' after finding themselves in the spotlight for breaching minimum wage regulations.

Former striker Louis Saha believes it would be in Fred's best interests to leave Manchester United this summer if he does not feature in Erik ten Hag's plans for next season.

A man has been charged with assault and possession of a blade following an incident in Salford.

Emmerdale has been flooded with 'when' questions after leaving fans seriously distracted with their latest social media post. The ITV soap had a reason to celebrate after they picked up the soap of the year gong at the 2023 TRIC awards.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has issued a one-month warning to hundreds of thousands of tax credits customers ahead of an urgent deadline.

Residents of three streets in Kilmarnock insist they are the victim of ongoing fly-tipping and littering in the area.

303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, has echoes of another case that was decided a few years ago, Masterpiece Cakeshop v.

Jimmie Johnson is dealing with a family tragedy. The NASCAR driver’s in-laws, Jack and Terry Janway, and 11-year-old nephew, Dalton, died on Monday after a shooting at their Oklahoma home, ET confirms.

Two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey walked into a London courtroom Wednesday to face trial on charges of sexually assaulting four men as long as two decades ago.

Spotify is cutting 200 jobs, about 2% of its workforce, in a revamp of its podcast business.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify is undertaking a “strategic realignment” of its podcast division, laying off about 200 staffers. Sahar Elhabashi, Spotify’s VP, head of podcast business, announced the job cuts in a memo to employees Monday that was shared publicly. The 200 employees represents about 2% of the audio streamer’s worldwide workforce. The layoffs come after Spotify cut 6% of its total headcount earlier this year and saw the exit of Dawn Ostroff, chief content and advertising business officer, who had previously headed Spotify’s podcast business “We are expanding our partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with a tailored approach optimized for each show and creator,” Elhabashi wrote. “This fundamental pivot from a more uniform proposition will allow us to support the creator community better. However, doing so requires adapting; over the past few months, our senior leadership team has worked closely with HR to determine the optimal organization for this next chapter. As a result, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to make a strategic realignment of our group and reduce our global podcast vertical and other functions by approximately 200 people, or 2% of Spotify’s workforce.”

A version of this story about “Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed” first appeared in the Race Begins issue of TheWrap’s Emmy magazine.The latest installment in the HBO Max Music Box series created by Bill Simmons, “Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed” finds director Sam Jones (“Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off,” “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco”) following the writing and recording of singer Jason Isbell’s 2020 album “Reunions.” But the film is about far more than one of the gifted musician and writer’s best albums, delving into his self-destructive days with drugs and alcohol and his marriage to fellow singer Amanda Shires, a charged creative and personal partnership that nearly fell apart while Jones’ cameras were rolling.Sam, why a film about Jason Isbell?Sam Jones: He was on my interview show (“Off Camera With Sam Jones”), and once I chatted with him, I felt like not only did he have an interesting story, but he was good at telling it. So I flew to Nashville and I asked him a couple hours before he went on stage at the Ryman.