Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Wednesday, January 4th, 2023

Amazon video products employees among those losing their jobs.

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, January 4th, 2023.

AMAZON SET TO LAYOFF UP TO 17,000 EMPLOYEES WORLDWIDE, INCLUDING UNKNOWN NUMBER FROM PRIME VIDEO
The Wall Street Journal is one of the outlets reporting this evening that Amazon is planning on cutting around 17,000 workers from its global workforce, a much larger number than originally predicted by analysts who follow the company.

The layoffs began last month and while early estimates placed the total number at around 10,000,  a slumping worldwide economy and slowing sales has apparently led to a more substantial retrenchment.

Like everything else associated with Amazon's video efforts, it's not clear how many people in the company's video products divisions will lose their jobs. I was told by a company executive with direct knowledge of the decision making on background today that a "bit more than 120" employees from Prime Video's marketing and PR departments, as well as its AVOD and PVOD departments have been let go so far. An unknown number of open jobs are also remaining unfilled. There are also apparently some unknown number of additional video jobs that will lost in EMEA over the next several weeks.

It's a challenge to report on Amazon's Prime Video and other video efforts since it's unclear how many Prime subscribers are accessing the service's video products or how frequently. I can't even determine how many Amazon employees are tasked with the various video products, so it's difficult to know how serious of an issue these layoffs might be in the overall context of the company.

VARIETY IS ALL-IN WITH THE GOLDEN GLOBES
One of the under-appreciated facts about the online media business (at least for civilians) is that one of the biggest moneymakers are the "events." Conferences that offer exclusive access to industry types, special screenings and festivals that offer unique programming.

The challenge of launching those events is that while they are extremely lucrative, they are also difficult to book and market. So it helps if you have a semi-monopoly that allows you to use your scale to make your offer feel more like something that the participants can't afford to turn down. At least, not if they want to continue to get the friendly press coverage they need.

The Penske Media Group is the Borg of the entertainment media world. After a Public Investment Fund set up by the Saudi Arabian government invested $200 million in the company in 2018, it went on a buying spree and it now owns nearly every major entertainment trade publication: Variety, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, TV Line, Billboard, IndieWire, Rolling Stone, Gold Derby, The Robb Report, Vibe, Sportico and many more. It recently acquired a controlling interest in SXSW and the Austin TV Festival.

And now in a move that illustrates how money outweighs anything else in Hollywood, Penske-owned Variety is partnering with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) to produce and stream the official digital pre-show for the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards:

The red carpet pre-show will stream on Variety.com, its social media platforms plus 20 websites in the PMC portfolio. Variety senior culture and events editor Marc Malkin and chief correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister will host the gala carpet, interviewing Hollywood’s biggest stars from film and television attending the Golden Globes. The pre-show will air live at 3:30 p.m. PT/ 6:30 p.m. ET and include exclusive footage of the stars’ arrivals on the red carpet, plus conversations with the Golden Globe nominees with Variety editors.  

As a journalist, I find the idea of a news organization partnering up with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) to produce anything extremely problematic. Much less a partnership which will provide Penske Brands with additional exclusive access that its rivals can't match.

And how can a news outlet aggressively cover a problematic organization it is doing business with at the same time?

TWEET OF THE DAY

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION | 'THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN' (SPONSORED AD)

ODDS AND SODS
* More details have emerged about the on-set chaos that occurred during production of Noah Baumbach’s White Noise.

* Benedict Cumberbatch is in talks to star in Eric, a 6-part Netflix show about a former TV puppeteer who is now homeless and searching for his son. 

* "After my son got a brain tumor, his treatment left him unable to speak. Children’s shows that used the language program Makaton became a source of joy for our family."

WHAT'S NEW FOR WEDNESDAY:

Abbott Elementary Spring Premiere (ABC)
American Pickers (History)
Big Sky Spring Premiere (ABC)
Bungo Stray Dogs (Crunchyroll)
Chicago Fire Spring Premiere (NBC)
Chicago Med Spring Premiere (NBC)
Chicago PD Spring Premiere (NBC)
Home Economics Spring Premiere (ABC)
How I Became A Gangster (Netflix)
Madoff: The Monster Of Wall Street (Netflix)
Married At First Sight Season Premiere (Lifetime)
NFL Tailgate Takedown Series Premiere (Food)
1000 Lb. Best Friends Series Premiere (TLC)
Special Forces: World's Toughest Test Series Premiere (Fox)
Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season Premiere (Disney+)
The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague (Crunchyroll)
The Kings Of The World (Netflix)
The Lying Life Of Adults (Netflix)
The Price Is Right At Night Season Premiere (CBS)
Tomo-chan Is a Girl! (Crunchyroll)
Tough As Nails Season Four Premiere (Food)

Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.

SEE YOU THURSDAY!

If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.