Top News:
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney says it plans to “invest approximately $24B in content across Entertainment and Sports in fiscal 2026, an increase of $1B compared to the prior year” — The company says it expects to spend $24 billion in content in fiscal 2026, an increase from $23 billion in 2025.
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Tony Maglio / The Hollywood Reporter:
Bob Iger says upcoming changes to Disney+ include “game-like features” and “mostly short-form” user-generated content made with generative AI — Disney CEO Bob Iger hinted at “productive conversations” with unnamed AI companies that would protect IP but add new features …
Discussion:
The Verge, Deadline and CinemaBlend
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Bob Iger says 80% of new sign-ups to ESPN's streaming service, which was launched in August, opt for the bundle that includes Disney+ and Hulu — Of the new sign-ups to the service, which offers access to ESPN linear networks, 80% are opting for the “Trio Bundle,” which also includes Disney+ and Hulu …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, CNET, Business Insider and Barrett Media
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney reports Q4 revenue up 3% YoY to $22.5B, entertainment revenue up 19% YoY to $4.7B, DTC revenue up 8% YoY, 196M Disney+ and Hulu subscribers, up 12.4M QoQ — It's the last quarter Disney will report streaming sub numbers; Hulu increase largely driven by expanded Charter deal
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
Sources: the BBC is prepared to formally apologize to Trump for the Panorama edit; an apology would allow it to push back on wider criticisms of its US coverage — The US president has threatened the BBC with a lawsuit over the editing of a Trump speech in an edition of Panorama
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Brian Stelter / CNN:
Source: the BBC board held a surprise meeting on November 12 after President Trump demanded the BBC retract a Panorama documentary about January 6 and apologize — The BBC board held an unexpected meeting on Wednesday as the British broadcaster stares down a l egal threat from President Trump, a source told CNN.
Kevin Collier / NBC News:
A group of former FCC members petition the FCC to repeal its News Distortion policy, invoked by Brendan Carr in the 60 Minutes case, arguing it violates the 1A — The policy was directly referenced by FCC Chair Brendan Carr in disputes over Jimmy Kimmel and “60 Minutes.”
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Wrap, The Hill, Protect Democracy, @christopherterry.bsky.social, Forbes and @bengoggin.bsky.social
Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:
The EU opens a DMA investigation into Google over allegedly demoting news outlets with promotional content; Google says this is part of its anti-spam efforts — Google is under investigation by European Union antitrust watchdogs over concerns it unfairly demotes some news results in a probe …
Discussion:
The Keyword, The Guardian, TechCrunch, European Commission, UPI, Silicon Republic, Oliver Bethell on LinkedIn, Courthouse News Service, @amilcartavares.bsky.social, Search Engine Journal, Reuters, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Agence France-Presse, Ukrainian National News, Dow Jones Newswires, lawsociety.ie, Daily Sabah and BelfastTelegraph.co.uk, more at Techmeme »
Erik Wemple / New York Times:
Emails: Michael Wolff, the journalist whose proximity to sources has drawn scrutiny from his peers, advised Jeffrey Epstein on Trump during the 2016 campaign — Mr. Wolff, it turns out, was enough of an insider to provide advice to Jeffrey Epstein on how to handle his dealings with Donald J. Trump.
Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
Condé Nast employees rallied in New York to protest recent firings and suspensions following Teen Vogue layoffs; NY AG Letitia James joined the rally — - NY AG Letitia James joined Condé Nast union staff in protesting recent firings and suspensions.
Laura Pitel / Financial Times:
Bertelsmann, which oversees Penguin Random House, BMG, and RTL, appoints Thomas Coesfeld as CEO; he beat his older brother to run the family-owned business — Thomas Coesfeld, 35, gets nod to run Penguin Random House and BMG owner in early 2027 — A 35-year-old scion of the family …
Elissa Welle / The Verge:
Spotify starts rolling out Recaps, a new AI feature for audiobooks that summarizes what users have listened to so far, in beta on iOS — The Recap button will show up automatically on some English-language audiobooks in the iOS app. … Spotify is launching a new AI feature …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, CNET, T3, Engadget, Spotify and Trusted Reviews
Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:
NBCUniversal plans to launch cable sports channel NBCSN, with NBA games, Big Ten college football, and more, on November 17; source: NBCU is closing an MLB deal — The network, named NBCSN, will launch on Monday — NBCUniversal is adding to its mix of sports offerings Monday by launching a new cable channel, dubbed NBCSN.
