Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Alphabet reports YouTube's Q3 ad revenue rose 15% YoY to $10.26B, vs. $10.01B est., and Google's advertising revenue reached $74.18B, up from $65.85B a year ago — YouTube, the internet's biggest video streaming platform, continues to flex its muscles as an advertising powerhouse …
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Jaspreet Singh / Reuters:
Meta recorded a one-time income tax charge of $15.93B related to Trump's Big Beautiful Bill and expects 2025 capex of $70B-$72B, up from a $66B-$72B forecast — Meta (META.O) recorded a nearly $16 billion one-time charge in the third quarter related to U.S. President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill …
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Variety, The Wrap and Deadline, more at Techmeme »
Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Meta reports Q3 revenue up 26% YoY to $51.2B vs. $49.4B est., net income down 83% to $2.7B due to a $15.9B one-time income tax charge; META down 6%+ after hours — Here's how the company did, compared with estimates from analysts polled by LSEG: — Earnings per share: $7.25 adj. vs. $6.69 estimated
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Paramount Skydance lays off ~1,000 staff, mostly in the US; in a memo, David Ellison says the cuts “are necessary to position Paramount for long-term success” — Paramount Skydance, aiming to get leaner and meaner, today is laying off about 1,000 employees, mostly in the U.S. David Ellison …
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Los Angeles Times:
Sources: Paramount layoffs will affect CBS, CBS News, and cable channels including MTV and Comedy Central — - Paramount began laying off 1,000 workers this week with another 1,000 planned later on as new owners pursue $2 billion in expense cuts across the company.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Apollo Global reaches a deal to sell AOL to Bending Spoons, sources say in a deal valued at ~$1.5B; AOL has about 30M MAUs across its email and web properties — Apollo Global Management has reached a deal to sell AOL to Italian tech holding group Bending Spoons in a deal valued at roughly $1.5 billion, Axios has learned.
Emma G. Fitzsimmons / New York Times:
The Times of London takes down a story about former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio criticizing Zohran Mamdani, after de Blasio says the outlet fabricated his comments — The former New York City mayor said comments attributed to him about Zohran Mamdani, reported in The Times of London on Tuesday, were fabricated.
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Simon Goodley / The Guardian:
The Telegraph's sale to RedBird Capital faces new controversy after the paper linked RedBird's John Thornton to Chinese leader and suspected spy chief Cai Qi — Media group's own paper publishes photo of RedBird Capital chair with alleged spy ring chief — The sale of the Telegraph Media Group …
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Ana Marie Cox / Talking Points Memo:
Patron-supported journalism, including newsletters on platforms like Patreon and Substack, offers only a precarious income for many journalists — Writing about the failure of patron-supported journalism is itself a kind of confession. It hasn't worked for me, and I struggle to weigh my guilt around that …
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Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
YouTube is using AI to upscale videos uploaded at between 240p and 720p to HD on TV screens, but users can opt out, and plans 4K upscaling “in the near future” — The platform is optimizing its TV experience with new resolution upscaling and shopping features.
Scott Nover / Washington Post:
Radio Free Asia CEO Bay Fang says RFA will stop publishing on October 31 and close its bureaus across Asia, amid a crisis brought on by US federal funding cuts — The government-funded nonprofit, a staple of U.S. soft power in the region since 1996, is facing nearly total closure …
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The Hollywood Reporter:
Sources detail how Paramount's Taylor Sheridan partnership fell apart, even as NBCU's Donna Langley courted him; Paramount never made an offer to retain him — David Ellison has the deepest pockets in Hollywood. Sheridan has the best track record in streaming. Why the most obvious deal in TV didn't happen.
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The Verge:
Grokipedia hands-on: many articles clone Wikipedia, but deviate significantly on topics Elon Musk cares about, with inaccuracies on some scientific topics — xAI's Wikipedia-like website offers a generous take on Musk's worldview. … On Monday, a new online “encyclopedia” sputtered to life.
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