• Fox Corp. fired primetime Fox News host Tucker Carlson after his private messages mocking colleagues and executives were made public as part of the conservative network’s now-settled lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems Inc. (The Wall Street Journal) Meanwhile, CNN ousted star host Don Lemon after 17 years with the company, a move that Lemon said in a tweet left him “stunned.” (The New York Times) 
• The Walt Disney Co. began its second round of mass layoffs on Monday, impacting employees across the company, including Disney Entertainment, ESPN and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. When this latest round is completed, job cuts at the entertainment giant 2023 will total 4,000 this year. (CNBC)
• A major bug involving the daily spending cap function in Meta Platforms Inc.’s ad system caused some advertisers’ campaigns to overspend by up to hundreds of thousands of dollars over the weekend. In a statement given to AdExchanger, Meta said the technical issue has since “been resolved.” (AdExchanger)

What the Public Thinks of AI’s Potential Future in Hollywood

Morning Consult

Google Ad Revenue Expected to Drop for Second Straight Quarter

Miles Kruppa, The Wall Street Journal

Search giant tries to jump-start growth amid volatile digital ad market and competition in AI.

In the in-game advertising world, tension is mounting between intrinsic ads and immersive brand experiences

Alexander Lee, Digiday

As brands increasingly look to reach gamers in their natural habitat, stakeholders in the gaming advertising world are coalescing into two camps: those porting programmatic adtech into games via intrinsic in-game ads, and those integrating brands into more immersive gaming experiences. 

Revry to Launch LGTBQ+ Ad Network

Parker Herren, Ad Age 

PrismRiot platform allows advertisers to reach LGBTQ+ viewers across platforms.

Google’s Latest AI Ad Tool Stirs Fresh Transparency Concerns for Marketers

Trishla Ostwal, Adweek 

Google’s latest attempt to embed generative artificial intelligence tools into its ad products have some marketers skeptical about the level of transparency they will receive over campaign effectiveness, as well as ratcheting up well-worn concerns around brand safety and suitability, according to buyers interviewed for this story.

Mattel and Hasbro Join Forces for ‘Barbie,’ ‘Transformers’ Licensing Deal Tied to Movies

Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter

The toy companies will create co-branded toys and games that pair up their top products just as ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ and ‘Barbie’ movies hit theaters this summer.

The Audience for Women’s Sports Is Surging. Richer Media Deals Could Follow.

Rachel Bachman, The Wall Street Journal

The NCAA women’s basketball tournament, Women’s World Cup and others seek to turn rising ratings into much bigger broadcast fees. 

NFL Draft to Feature AI Artwork From Midjourney

Asa Hiken, Ad Age 

Draft picks will pose with the 3D generative AI art at this week’s event.

Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson are hiring the same powerhouse lawyer

Matthew Loh, Insider

Bryan Freedman is known as the go-to lawyer for multimillion-dollar payouts in messy media breakups.

CNBC Anchor Alleged NBCUniversal Boss Jeff Shell Sexually Harassed Her, Prompting His Exit

Joe Flint, The Wall Street Journal

Lawyer for Hadley Gamble said she filed a sexual harassment and sex discrimination complaint at the company; Mr. Shell has said he had an inappropriate relationship with an employee.

It’s back to the future for a diminished digital news business

Max Tani, Semafor

Homepage traffic, blogging, niche email newsletters. They were some of the foundational concepts of digital media in the early 2000s. And as the digital news media business turns again, they’re increasingly the ones media organizations are turning to.

Google opens its security tools to competitors’ platforms

Sam Sabin, Axios

Google is leaning into flexibility as part of a new strategy to stymie the impact of belt-tightening among cyber chiefs.

Jack Dorsey-Backed Bluesky Attracts More Users as Twitter Falters

Vlad Savov, Bloomberg 

The invite-only Bluesky has been downloaded by iPhone users 245,000 times, of which more than half came this month, according to Data.ai. 

Spotify reports strong user gains as margins improve

Sara Fischer, Axios

Spotify on Tuesday will report double-digit percentage gains for both monthly active users and premium subscribers for the first quarter of 2023, according to numbers shared with Axios.

Apple Largely Prevails in Appeal of Epic Games’ App Store Lawsuit

Kellen Browning, The New York Times

A Ninth Circuit panel did agree with Epic that Apple was violating California law by barring app developers from directing customers to outside payment methods.

Snapchat sees spike in 1-star reviews as users pan the ‘My AI’ feature, calling for its removal

Sarah Perez, TechCrunch

The user reviews for Snapchat’s “My AI” feature are in — and they’re not good. Launched last week to global users after initially being a subscriber-only addition, Snapchat’s new AI chatbot powered by OpenAI’s GPT technology is now pinned to the top of the app’s Chat tab where users can ask it questions and get instant responses. But following the chatbot’s rollout to Snapchat’s wider community, Snapchat’s app has seen a spike in negative reviews amid a growing number of complaints shared on social media.

Microsoft agrees to stop bundling Teams with Office

Javier Espinoza, Financial Times

Tech giant makes concession in an attempt to avoid formal EU antitrust investigation and follows complaint by rival Slack.

Bud Light Sales Drop Induces ‘Panic’ as Brand Response Expected to Include Ad

Jon Springer, Ad Age

The beleaguered brand is expected to address the controversy with new creative.

‘Too good to be true?’ As Shein and Temu take off, so does the scrutiny

Michelle Toh and Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN

Temu and Shein are taking off in the United States, topping app stores and creating a frenzy with consumers. But as the two online shopping platforms become hugely popular, they’re also facing questions over a litany of issues, including how they’re able to sell goods at such strikingly low prices, how transparent they are with the public and how much environmental waste their businesses generate.

Bed Bath & Beyond Shoppers Rush to Use All Those Coupons

Jordyn Holman et al., The New York Times 

The retailer is closing its stores, leaving many longtime customers scrambling to make sure they get their goods — at a discount.

Direct Mail Makes Comeback as Brands Bypass Digital Clutter

Jason Notte, Adweek

Qualtrics and Paycor blend boxes and paper with data and personalization to make a statement with customers and business partners.

Sweetgreen is asking customers to pay $10 a month for its new loyalty program 

Yasmin Gagne, Fast Company

Sweetgreen has a Monday and Friday problem.  The salad-and-grain-bowl chain was riding high pre-pandemic as increasing numbers of office workers relied on it for their daily desk salads.

Why the four-day workweek works

Shubham Agarwal, Insider

Experts say it could be even shorter.

Conferences Are Back, But With a Twist

Julia Hobsbawm, Bloomberg 

The urge to do business again is being amplified by a desire to do so offsite and is bringing innovation to the conference genre.

Low employee engagement? Managers can help turn it around with this one habit

Jeanne Sahadi, CNN

Employers who want a productive, engaged workforce could do more to train, develop and support those in their managerial ranks. That’s because managers are the secret sauce. Gallup’s Quarterly Workforce Indicator surveys consistently show that managers are a linchpin to employee engagement, retention, productivity and trust in leadership.

It’s Optional, Except It’s Not: You’ve Been Voluntold

Rachel Feintzeig, The Wall Street Journal

If you’ve ever had your hand raised for you, we can help. 

3M to cut 6,000 positions globally to improve cash flow

Reuters

The move comes as consumers are cutting back on discretionary spending as a series of interest rate hikes over the past year to bring down stubbornly high inflation has stoked fears of an economic downturn.