Top News:
Reuters:
Sources: Comcast has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to evaluate a prospective offer for Warner Bros. Discovery's studio and streaming businesses — Comcast has retained financial advisors and gained access to financial information as it explores a bid for Warner Bros Discovery's …
Discussion:
Financial Times, The Guardian, Proactive, The Wrap, Variety, Awful Announcing and Deadline
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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:
Variety, Sports Business Journal, Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal, Streaming Better, The Wrap and Reuters
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: Condé Nast fired four staffers who were among a group of over a dozen that confronted its HR head over the Teen Vogue closure and other recent cuts — The Scoop — Condé Nast abruptly fired four staffers who were among a group of more than a dozen employees …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Wrap, Variety, Status, @maxwelltani, The Independent, @kirk_bado, @goodbyealma, @jakelahut, Allegra Kirkland on LinkedIn, IJR, @goodbyealma, @goodbyealma, @levinejonathan, @goodbyealma, @condeunion, Andrea Riquier on LinkedIn, New York Post, twitchy.com, Jennifer Yeko on LinkedIn, @courtney@pdx.social, @maxwelltani, @andreachalupa.bsky.social, Madeline McGee on LinkedIn, @nataliekorach, @nataliekorach, Deadline, The A.V. Club, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, @dinfontay.com, @thefrontlist.org, The Wrap, @leyrer@23.social, @coreyatad.com and NewsGuild of New York
Juby Babu / Reuters:
News Corp reports Q1 revenue up 2% YoY to $2.14B, above $2.1B est., Dow Jones revenue up 6% to $586M, and News Media with “strong improvement in profitability” — Media conglomerate News Corp (NWSA.O) beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue on Thursday …
Discussion:
MediaPost, Yahoo Finance, New York Post, Crikey, Mumbrella, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, News Corp and Capital Brief
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.
Discussion:
MediaNama, The Wrap, Tech in Asia, AdExchanger, The Overspill, Reuters, NDTV Profit, @mulvihill79, @occrp, The Daily Beast, @jason_kint, @lmatsakis.bsky.social, @jamesw228.bsky.social, @agmacdougall, @cernovich, @girlsreallyrule, @jonathancohn.bsky.social, @jason_kint, WebProNews, eMarketer, @jason_kint, Platformer, @kyle_a_morse, Breitbart, @dylanreeve.com, TechCrunch, Ken Palla on LinkedIn, @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social, @thezedwards.bsky.social, Social Media Today, WeRSM, Ars Technica, CNBC, Engadget, @jvl.org.uk, @briankrebs@infosec.exchange, BonTech Labs, @rtushnet.bsky.social, Ukrainian National News, Forbes, Mashable, @jonkeegan.com, Sherwood News, Sherwood News, The Information, @mxbernhard.bsky.social, @joshsternberg.com, @chopaganda.bsky.social, @karlbode.com, @mattbrown.bsky.social, @shiraovide.bsky.social, @whotargets.me, @petertl.bsky.social and Morningstar, more at Techmeme »
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Craig Silverman / Wired:
A look at CollectiveMetrics.org, a new nonprofit founded by two ex-Meta ad executives that aims to bring more transparency to digital advertising to fight scams
A look at CollectiveMetrics.org, a new nonprofit founded by two ex-Meta ad executives that aims to bring more transparency to digital advertising to fight scams
Discussion:
Moneycontrol, Ben Colman on LinkedIn, Modern Diplomacy, The Keyword, @psst-org.bsky.social and @wired.com
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
An interview with SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin on 2026 AMPTP talks, the Jimmy Kimmel suspension, Tilly Norwood AI controversy, the microdrama boom, and more — Veteran actor sounds the alarm on the unchecked spread of generative AI content: ‘We need to protect our very dignity, our humanness’
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
The owner of the Entrepreneur magazine sues Meta in California federal court, alleging the company used “at least hundreds” of its works to train AI models — The owner of business magazine Entrepreneur sued Meta Platforms (META.O) in California federal court on Thursday …
Ja'han Jones / MSNBC:
USAGM Acting CEO Kari Lake plans to shut down Szabad Europa, RFE/RL's Hungarian service, for programming that has “undermined” Trump policy by opposing PM Orban — The de facto head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media says she's shutting down the Hungarian branch of Radio Free Europe because it opposed Orban.
Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Lionsgate reports Q2 revenue down 21% YoY to $475.1M, net loss of $113.5M, vs. $163.3M a year earlier, $276.4M in motion picture revenue, $198.7M in TV revenue — The Hollywood major released its latest financial results as a standalone film and TV studios company after splitting from its Starz streaming platform.
Discussion:
TheDesk.net, Variety, The Wrap, Deadline, Lionsgate Studios and Media Play News
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.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Front Office Sports, ESPN Press Room U.S., Sports Business Journal, Awful Announcing, The Boston Globe, Plain Dealer, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, TheDesk.net, New Jersey Online, TVNewsCheck, Boston Herald, iDrop News, Dallas Morning News, PennLive, The US Sun, Lisa Scherzer on LinkedIn, Adweek, ESPN, Dow Jones Newswires, Barrett Media, Business Insider, The Athletic, TV Tech, Sports Video Group, Sportico, Sports Media Watch, Axios, Investor's Business Daily, New York Post, The Wrap, Deadline, Variety, The Verge, Fox Business, CityNews Halifax and al.com
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Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Meta launches Vibes, its short-form video feed of AI-generated videos, in Europe through the Meta AI app, following its US debut six weeks earlier — Meta announced on Thursday that Vibes, its short-form video feed of AI-generated videos, is launching in Europe in the Meta AI app.
Discussion:
Meta Newsroom, WinBuzzer and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »
Lawrence Bonk / Engadget:
Amazon is testing an AI tool called Kindle Translate that automatically translates books into other languages, for authors that self-publish on the platform — This is being advertised as a boon for authors who publish directly on the platform. … The appropriately-named Kindle Translate …
Discussion:
About Amazon, Unite.AI, Neowin, TechCrunch and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Suzanne Vranica / Wall Street Journal:
Madison & Wall: US ad spending is expected to grow 8.5% this year to $435.22B and Meta, Google, and Amazon are projected to account for 56% of the US ad market — An increase in targeted ads helps fuel revenue growth, easing some concern about the technology — Big tech is spending big on artificial intelligence.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck
