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 ad revenue reached $74.18B, up from $65.85B in Q3 2024 — YouTube, the internet's biggest video streaming platform, continues to flex its muscles as an advertising powerhouse …
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Alex Heath / Sources:
Sources: YouTube reorganizes its leadership team, with three product teams reporting to CEO Neal Mohan, and announces a “voluntary exit program” for US staff — Neal Mohan's internal memo about YouTube's “next frontier” and opt-in layoffs. — ∙ Paid
Kendra Barnett / Adweek:
Alphabet passed $100B in quarterly revenue for the first time, in Q3; Sundar Pichai says “AI Overviews drive meaningful query growth” and AI Mode has 75M DAUs — Google surged past Wall Street's Q3 estimates, with shares up over 6% in after-hours trading Wednesday. — The numbers
Liam Scott / Columbia Journalism Review:
Q&A with Isaac Chotiner, who has been called the “interview assassin”, on why he likes Q&A's, how he structures them, why he points out contradictions, and more — If Isaac Chotiner comes calling for an interview, is it best to just hang up?
Discussion:
New Yorker, @ichotiner, @bendreyfuss, @alexthomp, @joshuaeaton.bsky.social, @joemurph.bsky.social, @eric-reinhart.com, @mitchellepner.bsky.social, @reckless.bsky.social, @joshuaeaton.bsky.social, @davidafrench, @ldlewiswrites.blacksky.app, New York Times, @justinhendrix.bsky.social, @deniseschipani.bsky.social, @jayrosen.bsky.social, @annabower.bsky.social, @alaintolhurst.bsky.social, @smilner.bsky.social and @zandywithaz.bsky.social
Brendan Ruberry / Semafor:
A man named Bill DeBlasio, quoted in a Times story as ex-NYC mayor de Blasio, says he just played along in response to Times' email and used ChatGPT to respond — The Scoop — The man at the heart of a high-stakes mix-up that rippled through global political journalism in the final days …
Discussion:
@jbarro, @joshuaholland.bsky.social, @semafor, @brigidbergin, @caitlingilbert.bsky.social, @mattlech, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @willmenaker, @semafor, @emilyngo, @armanddoma, @pablotorre, @jbillinson, @_vectorist, @semaforben, @armanddoma, @arifcrafiq, @alex_shephard, @mannyfidel, @semaforben, @semafor, @sturgeons_law, @adamjohnsonchi, @semafor.com, Mediaite and The New World
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Marc Schneider / Billboard:
UMG and Stability AI announce a partnership to develop music creation tools powered by “responsibly” trained AI — Following its Udio pact, the label group says it will team up with Stability AI to build AI tools that are “trained responsibly” and with proper licensing.
Discussion:
Stability AI, Music Business Worldwide and Dow Jones Newswires, more at Techmeme »
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Katherine Sayre / Wall Street Journal:
UMG partners with AI music generator Udio to launch a subscription service for creating music with licensed songs in 2026, in part to settle a copyright lawsuit — Udio agrees to launch a new subscription service for fans to create music based on licensed songs
Karissa Bell / Engadget:
Mark Zuckerberg says Threads has 150M DAUs, up from 100M+ in December 2024, and Meta has rolled out ads globally in the Threads feed with plans to add video ads — Ads in the Threads feed have rolled out globally and video ads are on the way. — Threads has grown to 150 million daily active users.
Discussion:
9to5Mac, Digital Trends, Social Media Today, Thurrott and MediaPost, more at Techmeme »
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Jonathan Vanian / CNBC:
Meta reports Q3 revenue up 26% YoY to $51.2B, vs. $49.4B est., net income down 83% YoY to $2.7B, and family DAP up 8% to 3.54B for September; META drops 8%+
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Fast Company, TVNewsCheck, Blockonomi, Proactive, Yahoo Finance, Meta and Sherwood News
Pooja Rajkumari / TheStreet:
Crypto media company Blockworks is closing its newsroom, launched in 2021, and will focus on software and data, continuing its main newsletters and podcasts — Founded in 2017, the crypto media outlet says the move marks the next phase of its growth. — Blockworks, a leading crypto media company …
Discussion:
@duru_tobe, @imtovak, @zguz, @whosknave, @strack_ben, @eking0x, @gdkairos, Blockhead, @0xjonnydee, @mollyjzuckerman, @jasonyanowitz, Talking Biz News and NFTgators, more at Techmeme »
Connor Hart / Wall Street Journal:
Fox reports Q1 revenue up 4.9% YoY to $3.74B and profit of $599M, down from $827M in Q1 2025; TV unit ad revenue rose 6% YoY to $1.07B, driven by Tubi — The broadcaster said fiscal first quarter revenue improved to $3.74 billion — Fox logged higher revenue in its fiscal first quarter …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Deadline, The Streamable, Deadline and TradingView
Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
OpenAI's Sora app adds new features, including “character cameos” to create AI deepfakes of pets, illustrations, and more, clip stitching, and leaderboards — Users can now create character cameos and combine clips together to make longer multi-scene videos.
Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Disney and YouTube settle their legal dispute over YouTube's hiring in May of former Disney executive Justin Connolly to be global head of media and sports — “A Notice of Settlement of Entire Case has been filed in this case,” said an order placed in the Los Angeles Superior Court docket Wednesday.
Discussion:
@matthewkeyslive, TVNewsCheck, Variety, Cord Cutters News, Sports Media Watch, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter and Awful Announcing
Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:
Comcast reports NBCU Q3 revenue down 20% YoY to $6.6B, EBITDA up 28% to $832M, 41M Peacock subscribers, and a $217M Peacock loss, down from a $436M loss YoY — Comcast topped Wall Street earnings and revenue estimates for the third quarter on Thursday, despite once again reporting a loss in broadband customers.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Reuters, Benzinga, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg and Cord Cutters News
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.
Discussion:
Status, Poynter, @jeremymbarr, CNN, Variety, @corbinbolies, @corbinbolies, FTVLive, @timcarvell.bsky.social, @jeremymbarr, Newsbusters, Adweek, The A.V. Club, Variety, The Wrap, New York Sun, Deadline, TheDesk.net, TVNewsCheck, Barrett Media, Telegraph, @samthielman.com, Newsweek and Washington Post
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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 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”
Discussion:
The Guardian, New York Times, @maxwelltani, Comic Book, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, The Movie Blog, @jamesfaris_, @theonlyrsj.bsky.social, Jeff Heckelman on LinkedIn, @scottnover, @variety, @joshsternberg.com, @jswatz.bsky.social, Fast Company, The Hollywood Reporter, Baller Alert, Sports Business Journal, Screen, Times of India, Yahoo Finance, UPI, Adweek, Dow Jones Newswires, Fox Business, The Hill, Paula Lauzon on LinkedIn, @bostonjerry.bsky.social, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, TVNewsCheck, @aram@aoir.social, GamesRadar, Deadline, WPXI-TV, Business Insider and Barrett Media
