Top News:
Jeff Horwitz / Reuters:
Docs: Meta projected in December 2024 that 10.1% of its 2024 revenue, or $16B, came from ads for scams and banned goods, including ~$7B from “higher risk” ads — Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, documents seen by Reuters show.
Tony Maglio / The Hollywood Reporter:
ESPN announces DraftKings as the new sports betting partner for ESPN Bet, effective December 1 with a “full rollout expected in 2026” — That was a short-lived exit. — Remember when ESPN was exiting the online sports-betting business an hour ago? Not anymore.
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Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Disney and Penn Entertainment agree to end ESPN Bet on December 1, after failing to capture significant market share; they signed a 10-year, $2B deal in 2023 — Walt Disney Co. and Penn Entertainment Inc. agreed to mutually end their ESPN Bet sports-betting venture on Dec. 1 after failing to capture a significant market share.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, TVNewsCheck, ESPN Press Room U.S., CNBC, Barrett Media, Sports Business Journal, Reuters and The Hollywood Reporter
Richard Rushfield / The Ankler:
Analysis: in 2025, only 17% of North America's top 100 highest-grossing films were directed by non-white filmmakers, down from 27% in 2021 and 24% in 2023 — How to chase away our future, one complacent decision at a time — Last week, I had the whim to take a look and see where things stood for female directors in Hollywood.
Discussion:
Variety, People, Daily Mail, The A.V. Club and Deadline
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Cable company Altice changes its name to Optimum Communications and will change its NYSE ticker symbol to OPTU on November 19 — The cable company (which was once called Cablevision) will begin trading under the ticket OPTU later this month. — The cable company Altice …
Discussion:
Advanced Television, Variety and Cord Cutters News
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon signs a deal that gives its DSP access to iHeartMedia's streaming music and livestream radio now and to its podcasts and broadcast radio stations in 2026 — Amazon is letting advertisers get their audio spots in front of more ears through an expanded pact with iHeartMedia for programmatic ads.
Discussion:
Inside Radio, MediaPost, John Karpinski on LinkedIn and Barrett Media
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD reports Q3 revenue down 6% YoY to $9B, a $148M net loss, $1.2B in debt repayment, streaming subscribers up 16% YoY to 128M, and $2.63B in streaming revenue — The company's streaming business was essentially flat year over year as subs stand at 128 million.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Streaming Better and Reuters
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Sources: RedBird Capital taps Apollo to provide the debt for its £500M Telegraph takeover, ahead of a UK decision over whether to refer the deal to Ofcom — US buyer secures funding ahead of government decision on referring takeover to regulators — RedBird Capital Partners has lined …
Discussion:
City A.M.
Bloomberg:
Snap announces a deal to distribute Perplexity's search engine to Snapchat users; Perplexity will pay Snap $400M through a combination of cash and equity — Snap Inc. shares surged more than 25% in extended trading after the company announced a $400 million partnership with Perplexity AI Inc …
Discussion:
MediaPost, TechCrunch, Mashable, WinBuzzer, ZeroHedge News, CNBC, The Decoder, Forbes, Reuters, The Indian Express, Moneycontrol, BMI, Neowin, Digit, Digital Trends, Business Insider, Blockonomi, Silicon Republic, Social Media Today, NextBigWhat, Benzinga, The Information, Deadline, Financial Times, Search Engine Journal, SiliconANGLE, @shiraovide.bsky.social, Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, Snap Inc., Engadget and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
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Alex Simon / SFGATE:
Apple's MLS broadcasts stand out for their graphics, on-site crews, and global audience focus, as one Apple exec says sports viewing currently “kind of sucks” — How Apple's deal with Major League Soccer is changing the sports television game — As the first company to hit …
Discussion:
San Diego Union-Tribune
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
ITV reports January-September 2025 revenue up 2% YoY to £2.8B and digital ad revenue up 15% YoY, but warns the late UK Budget is causing advertiser pullback — UK broadcaster says uncertain economic outlook causing widespread caution — UK broadcaster ITV has warned of a sharp drop …
Discussion:
The Times, The Independent, Telegraph, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and campaignlive.co.uk
Ben Mullin / @benmullin:
Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei announces cuts affecting 19 people on its product, tech and design teams — Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei announces cuts affecting 19 individuals on the product, tech and design teams, per note. “This is a difficult, but necessary, move to meet our evolving tech strategy.”
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, @ellenychang and The Wrap
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Sinclair reports Q3 revenue down 16% YoY to $773M and $1M net loss, vs. a $94M net income YoY; CEO Chris Ripley calls Disney-Google dispute an “antitrust issue” — Company's ABC affiliates had boycotted ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ in September over host's Charlie Kirk comments
