Mediagazer: WPP rolls out WPP Open Pro, a self-serve version of WPP Open, its AI-powered marketing platform that helps marketers build campaigns and develop creative assets (Kendra Barnett/Adweek)

Top News:

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

TelevisaUnivision reports Q3 revenue down 3% YoY to $1.3B and $90.5M net income, down from $190.3M YoY; subscription and licensing revenue rose 3% YoY to $493M — Spanish-language giant TelevisaUnivision said third-quarter profit declined as the company continued its efforts to streamline operations …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter

Max Goldbart / Deadline:

BBC Strictly Come Dancing presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are leaving at the end of this season after 10+ years; Strictly is the BBC's biggest show — Strictly Come Dancing presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are exiting at the end of this season.

Discussion: HELLO!, The Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Star, GB News, E! Online, Mirror, closeronline.co.uk, RTÉ, The Guardian, Variety, TheJournal.ie and Just Jared

Janko Roettgers / The Verge:

Microdrama platforms borrow aggressive, user-hostile monetization and retention tactics from free-to-play mobile gaming to fuel in-app purchases and ad revenue — Apps like ReelShort and DramaBox have seen strong growth and huge revenue numbers by embracing user-hostile design choices.

Discussion: BBC

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
Former movie executive Bill Block launches GammaTime, a microdrama platform with more than 20 shows, with $14M in seed funding

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, Business Insider and @tyleraking.com

Angela Fu / Poynter:

How Chicago journalists are covering the ICE raids, a task made more difficult by the agencies' unpredictability, lack of transparency, and attacks on press — 'It's really exhausting, mentally and physically. But somebody has to record history' — Ever since federal agents arrived …

Discussion: Chicago Sun Times, The Independent, HotAir, Block Club Chicago and American Prospect

Marine Doux / Columbia Journalism Review:

Meta's removal of all ads on “political, electoral, and social issues” in response to an EU law has swept up thousands of promotional posts from news outlets — When outlets depend on a single platform, what works to reach readers today can vanish tomorrow. — Read this article in French in Médianes.

Discussion: MediaNama

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:

MuckRock and Sunlight Research Center merge; Sunlight provides training, tools, and support for investigative reporting, with a focus on local news — A merger between MuckRock and Sunlight Research Center will help slimmed-down newsrooms investigate local governments, public officials, and more.

Discussion: Brandi Grissom Swicegood on LinkedIn, MuckRock, @niemanlab.org and @sarahscire.com

Tania Myronyshena / The Kyiv Independent:

Journalists Olena Hramova and Yevhen Karmazin of Ukraine's Freedom TV were killed in a Russian drone strike Thursday in Donetsk; Oleksandr Kolychev was injured — Freedom TV journalist Olena Hramova and cameraman Yevhen Karmazin were killed in a Russian drone strike on Kramatorsk …

Discussion: Committee to Protect … and Reuters

Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:

The UK's Observer signs a commercial partnership deal with AI-powered news reader Particle News, joining Time, the LAT, Fortune, and The Atlantic — The Observer has signed a commercial partnership deal with AI-powered news platform Particle News as it ramps up its digital presence as a standalone brand.

Seb Joseph / Digiday:

Amazon Web Services announces AWS RTB Fabric, a real-time bidding service for ad buyers and sellers, aiming to cut integration hours between ad tech partners — The ad dollars are nice but the real prize for Amazon is the infrastructure itself - the rails on which the entire system runs.

Discussion: The Hill, Variety, Amazon Web Services, AdExchanger, TVNewsCheck and The Register

Kendra Barnett / Adweek:

WPP rolls out WPP Open Pro, a self-serve version of WPP Open, its AI-powered marketing platform that helps marketers build campaigns and develop creative assets — WPP Open Pro is a new push from the holdco to expand vertical and horizontal integration of its flagship AI platform.

Discussion: MediaPost, Reuters and campaignlive.co.uk

Natalie Korach / Status:

Sources: WaPo is planning newsroom cuts to the audio, sports, and metro teams, and Opinion Editor Adam O'Neal said WaPo is in “severe financial distress” — On Tuesday morning, staffers at The Washington Post received a memo from Executive Editor Matt Murray …

Discussion: @chrisgeidner.bsky.social, @kennysmith.bsky.social, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, @uncivil.work, @jcrutchmer.bsky.social, @nataliekorach.bsky.social and @devonheinen.bsky.social

New York Times:

In a letter, David Ellison told the WBD board that Paramount was WBD's only viable suitor, as offers from bigger companies would invite regulatory scrutiny — A letter from Paramount's chief executive, David Ellison, to Warner Bros.' board of directors reveals weeks of talks between the two companies.

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Source: WBD plans to require potential bidders to sign NDAs before it shares sensitive financial data; sources say Amazon and Apple have shown an interest

Discussion: The Verge, BGR, CNBC, AppleInsider, Cult of Mac, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, New York Times, iClarified, The Wrap, TheDesk.net and Daily Mail, more at Techmeme »

Kayla Cobb / The Wrap:

VideoShops, an affiliate retail platform that lets creators start personalized storefronts with no minimum follower count, raised a $42M seed — Abra Potkin and Nicole Winnaman are changing that — When you think of the most basic definition of an influencer — a person whose recommendations …

Discussion: Shop My Shelf, INC. and The Business of Fashion, more at Techmeme »