Spotify Cancels 11 Original Podcasts, Trimming Slate as Part of Focusing on Bigger Shows

Meghan Markle made a surprise appearance at Spotify HQ for their Women@Spotify, showing solidarity with protestors in Iran as she wore a t-shirt with 'Women, Life, Freedom' written in Farsi across the front.Taking to the stage, The Duchess of Sussex, 41, spoke of the 'courage' for the Iranian protesters, who have been protesting against the country's gendered oppression following the death of Mahsa Amini. Masha died in police custody at age 22 after allegedly violating Iran's strict morality laws which require women to cover their hair.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix has taken peak TV to a new peak. In a data point sure to fuel more quantity-versus-quality debate, Netflix broke its own record for number of original episodes released in a single quarter — with 1,026 in the third quarter of 2022, according to a tally by Wall Street firm MoffettNathanson. That’s more than five times any other streaming rival: Amazon Prime Video and Hulu released 223 and 194 episodes, respectively, and Disney+ debuted 140 original episodes, per the report. HBO Max, now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, released 114 episodes in the third quarter — significantly fewer episodes than usual and comprising the lightest slate for the service since Q2 2020, the second quarter after launch. WBD has been paring back HBO Max’s content slate in recent months as it looks to cut costs.

Kim Kardashian's new podcast has shot to number one on Spotify. The reality star and trainee lawyer's 'Kim Kardashian’s The System: The Case of Kevin Keith' launched on October 3 with two episodes, and it's proved so popular, it's overtaken the likes of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's 'Archetypes' and 'The Joe Rogan Experience'. The first season of the true crime podcast explores a triple homicide, and Kim's aim with the podcast is to show the "other side" of cases so often go unheard.

Kim Kardashian’s new podcast is taking Spotify by storm.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify terminated at least 38 employees across the Gimlet and Parcast studios as the company canceled 11 original shows, according to the unions representing employees of the divisions. In a joint statement Friday, the two unions said the layoffs represented about 30% of their members. “These aren’t small cuts, they are massive restructurings,” the Gimlet and Parcast unions said. Some Spotify employees were given as little as an hour to close out their work, according to the unions. The statement does not allege that the company violated the terms of its agreements with the unions. “Yesterday, Spotify chose to create chaos instead of treating employees with the dignity and respect they deserve,” said the Gimlet and Parcast unions, both of which are affiliated with the Writers Guild of America East. “The fact that Spotify chose to handle these cuts in this way shows their disregard for both their employees and their audiences.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify has appointed new managing directors for its Gimlet and Parcast podcast studios — Nicole Beemsterboer and Liliana Kim, respectively — coming amid the company’s cancellation of 11 original podcasts from the two divisions. Spotify elevated Beemsterboer (above left), a former longtime NPR exec who joined Spotify this year, to the role of Gimlet’s managing director. She takes over for Lydia Polgreen, who left Spotify this spring to rejoin the New York Times as an opinion columnist. Prior to joining as Gimlet’s head of news and knowledge in March, Beemsterboer spent more than 15 years at NPR as a producer where she led the creation and reorganization of the public media org’s first longform podcast unit, the Enterprise Storytelling Unit. At NPR, Beemsterboer worked on shows including “Embedded,” “Invisibilia” and “White Lies.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Google is showering Velma with confetti and gay-pride flags after the longtime member of the “Scooby-Doo” crew has officially been confirmed as a lesbian. In a new Easter egg that appeared Wednesday, Google Search queries for “Velma,” “Velma Scooby-Doo” “Velma Dinkley” (the character’s full name) and even “Dinkley” yield a regular search-results page — along with a cascade of multicolored confetti and various LGBTQ flags. The Google Search page then pops up two buttons at the bottom of the page: one to replay the animation, and another to share the search result via Facebook, Twitter or email (along with a trio of gay pride flag icons).

Kanye West can’t help himself when it comes to Kim Kardashian’s style. The Kardashians star revealed on the Thursday, October 6, episode of the Hulu show what her ex-husband texted her about her looks from her trip to Milan with Kendall Jenner.

Kim Kardashian's fans have gone wild after she announced her brand new podcast with Spotify.The 41 year old billionaire is adding yet another string to her bow with the new podcast, which inspired by her interest and work on criminal justice reform. She will narrate the series as she looks into the case of Ohio man Kevin Kieth who was sentenced to death in 1994 for committing a triple murder, before former governor Ted Strickland commuted his sentence to life without parole in 2010.

Kim Kardashian is exposing the system.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor More than two years after Kim Kardashian inked an exclusive deal with Spotify for a podcast series focused on criminal-justice reform, the series is finally out. On Monday, Spotify released the first two episodes of original podcast “Kim Kardashian’s The System: The Case of Kevin Keith,” available worldwide. Following the series premiere, new episodes will be released each Monday thereafter. The eight-episode podcast is narrated by Kardashian alongside veteran true-crime producer Lori Rothschild Ansaldi, produced by Spotify and Tenderfoot TV. It follows the story of Keith, an Ohio man convicted of triple homicide who — for nearly three decades — has been working alongside his family to prove he was wrongly accused.

Kim Kardashian is finally getting ready to launch her true-crime podcast The System: The Case of Kevin Keith.

A secret proposal. Khloé Kardashian dropped a major bombshell about her relationship with Tristan Thompson — revealing what the public didn’t know about his plans for their future.