Mood change at the Telegraph

Caro Hulshoff Pol (above), new CEO of the Axel Springer-owned, £270mn-revenue Telegraph Media Group, told staff in London this week: “During the sale process, The Telegraph had limited ability to invest, adapt and move at the pace the market demanded. Our ambition is to transform The Telegraph from a leading British newspaper into a global, AI-powered premium media and intelligence business – built on trusted journalism, direct relationships with our audiences and expertise that sets us apart…. we need to change how we are organized, how decisions are made, where we focus our resources and create efficiencies.” The “next chapter” of the Telegraph would focus on new revenue streams including “video, audio, puzzles, events, B2B, licensing, commerce and new products”, and on growing its audience internationally, “particularly in foreign affairs, defence and business”. The company is expected to reduce its c1,250 headcount by up to 100 including by merging some editorial content departments. <The only unexpected word in the CEO’s declared ‘new revenue streams’ might be B2B, which may just include the launch and acquisition of Semafor-like marquee conferences, trade shows, subscription newsletters and business data> (Guardian) Background
Informa, whose acquisition of Clarion Events is expected to complete in early December, has reported strong nine-month growth in events (8%), academic (+4%) but weakness (-1.5%) in TechTarget. For events, the only significant weakness (especially for its new IMEA JV with Dubai) is due to events suspended due to “disruption” in Saudi Arabia. Background
Endeavor B2B is being taken apart. The $150mn-revenue Nashville-based B2B media company, whose CEO-founder Chris Ferrell quit last month, is to sell off at least two of its divisions, Transportation and Energy, Water & Infrastructure through Bright Tower investment bank. The other three primary groups (not currently for sale) are: Building & Construction, Healthcare, and City Services. (A Media Operator) Background
Rest of World, the non-profit technology news outlet, founded by Sophie Schmidt, plans to stop publishing independently in January unless it finds a new home, just six years after launching with a $60mn funding commitment. The digital publication, which focuses on tech’s impact outside the Western world, has experienced a sharp decline in website traffic over the past 18 months. “Tech media is increasingly dominated by largely sycophantic media outlets owned by the decision-makers themselves. A new generation of tech news consumers have turned their backs on the likes of Wired and The Verge in favor of self-congratulatory or friendly podcasts, newsletters, and X accounts.” (Semafor)
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said, “None of us could have imagined that Korean stories would move hearts around the world, and land right at the centre of global culture”, as he visited Seoul to mark the streamer’s 10 years in the country. (Deadline)
Norwegian news groups including Schibsted and NRK have lodged legal action against Meta, seeking a temporary injunction blocking new terms of service that would allow it to scrape websites as a condition of access to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. (Press Gazette)
Reddit is rolling out a new ‘For You’ feed globally, combining posts from joined communities with personalized recommendations to help users discover new content. Users can switch to a ‘Following’ feed to see posts only from communities they have joined. (TechCrunch)
Alphabet‘s ads revenue rose 11% year-on-year to $82bn in Q3. YouTube ad revenue grew 9% to $11.2bn, while Google Search and other ads revenue increased 12% to $63.4bn. (Media Leader)
Politico will challenge US TV broadcasters next Tuesday with live video coverage of the country’s midterm elections.
The $2bn-revenue People Inc is laying off 195 employees (about 6% of its headcount). CEO Neil Vogel told staff: “The vast majority of those affected today are in our print and legacy web businesses, as we continue to evolve for a prosperous future.” He claimed that the publisher has added 320 “new” employees so far in 2026 and plans to keep making “meaningful investments” in 2027. (Adage) Background “Interestingly, the move comes a day after People Inc. and MGM Resorts (in which People Inc has a 27% shareholding) ended talks on a potential acquisition. Barry Diller’s firm had pursued an $18bnn takeover bid earlier this year. It dropped the bid in September—but then MGM then appeared to turn the tables in pursuit of People.” (Status)
Juliana Stock, marketing and digital boss of A+E (recently acquired 100% by Hearst) and a former executive of Conde Nast, has been appointed president of Hearst Magazines. She succeeds Debi Chirichella, who will have the title of chair after six years as president. Hearst CEO Steve Swartz has described magazines as the company’s most challenging business, pointing to the disruption of search traffic by AI and the growing influence of social platforms on how audiences discover content.
Steve Swartz, CEO of $13.5bn-revenue Hearst Corp, says:“I like the current <portfolio> balance the way it is… we built the B2B side of the company through a combination of acquisitions and really good organic growth. We really haven’t sold anything in consumer media, but… obviously there have been headwinds that have kept the growth not at the same pace as B2B. But we still look for acquisitions in consumer media… you but right now the B2B still has more momentum, so it’ll probably get a little wider…. We bought a business called Bring a Trailer, It is a phenomenal online auction site for classic cars. And it is the single fastest growing business in our whole corporation over the last six years.” (Axios) Context: In 2025, Hearst’s business media division accounted for about 60% of the company’s profits, up from less than 10% 15 years ago.Background