zero-sum game?: at&t plans to let its customers stream as much content as they want through its coming directv now online tv service without it counting toward their monthly data limits. but the offer to exempt its own service from data-usage caps<u+2014>a billing practice often referred to as <u+201c>zero-rating<u+201d> <u+2014>could also prove to be the company<u+2019>s achilles heel. streaming rivals like netflix and sling tv are likely to press regulators to scrutinize the practice when they review at&t<u+2019>s proposed $85 billion acquisition of time warner inc., the wall street journal reports. some fcc staffers believe that at&t<u+2019>s exemption for directv now disadvantages streaming rivals who don<u+2019>t pay for the same treatment. critics of the deal worry at&t could extend zero-rating to hbo now, giving it a leg up on competitors like netflix. at&t argues that zero-rating benefits customers by protecting them from surcharges and bolsters competition since any company can pay to be zero-rated. keep an eye out for zero-rating to become a central issue in the deal review, similar to how <u+201c>net neutrality<u+201d> was pivotal in comcast<u+2019>s purchase of nbcuniversal. time warner beats: speaking of at&t<u+2019>s deal to buy time warner, the media company offered investors the latest look under the hood today with its third-quarter earnings report . despite uncertainties about cord-cutting and the media climate in general, at&t appears to be buying growing assets. time warner reported revenue and profit that beat analysts<u+2019> expectations and boosted its earnings forecast for the full year, wsj reports. revenue growth of 9% was driven by higher carriage fees for turner cable networks and more ad revenue at an election-driven cnn, as well as the success of warner bros.<u+2019>s <u+201c>suicide squad<u+201d> at the box office and growth in subscription revenue for hbo. we<u+2019>ll have to wait for the company<u+2019>s earnings call this morning to drill further into any ratings weakness at the turner entertainment networks and the outlook for tv network subscribers in the face of more streaming alternatives and cord-cutting. plus, investors will be listening for ceo jeff bewkes<u+2019>s latest take on whether the sale to at&t will pass regulatory muster. long live tronc: it looks like the tronc name may be here to stay. gannett terminated deal talks with the publisher of the los angeles times and chicago tribune, ending a more than six month drama. ultimately, it looks like the plunging print advertising market may have doomed the deal , reports wsj. gannett<u+2019>s earnings have disappointed investors, including a 15% drop in print ad revenue in the third quarter and plans for almost 400 job cuts. the final nail in the coffin came last week when two banks pulled their financing support, leaving gannett with a $300 million funding hole. gannett and tronc had already agreed to a takeover price of $18.75 a share, valuing the media company formerly known as tribune publishing at more than $680 million. with tronc shares tumbling below $11 tuesday, investors may be wishing chairman michael ferro hadn<u+2019>t rebuffed gannett<u+2019>s sweetened offered of $15 a share in the spring. tronc will now need to refocus on its shift to digital after its third-quarter loss widened and ad revenue dropped 11%. zucker zinger: monday brought news that cnn had severed ties with donna brazile after leaked emails showed that she had provided the clinton campaign with a question before a primary debate in march. it was the second such instance of the former network commentator and now-dnc chairwoman tipping off the campaign. it turns out that cnn president jeff zucker wasn<u+2019>t too happy with the surprise on the final day of october, just a week before the election. during a tuesday editorial meeting at the time warner-owned network, mr. zucker called ms. brazile<u+2019>s actions <u+201c>unethical<u+201d> and <u+201c>disgusting,<u+201d> according to the huffington post. he said he has <u+201c>no tolerance<u+201d> for such behavior but stressed that no cnn staffers revealed any questions. meanwhile, cnn has its own story on how political journalism has changed with this election. one thing<u+2019>s for sure: it has been good for tv ratings. in october, cnn was the no. 1 cable news network in the key demographic of 25- to 54-year-olds in both prime time and total day for the first time in 15 years, cmo today reports. fox news continued to dominate in total viewers. discovery communications disappointed on revenue and profit, citing currency headwinds and ratings declines. but it also indicated that it won<u+2019>t fall victim to a quickly shifting traditional media business. it<u+2019>s latest digital initiative is a european joint venture with bamtech, the streaming unit of major league baseball , to provide digital video technology to media companies on the continent. [ wsj ] u.s. mobile ad revenue, which accounted for nearly half of all digital ad revenue in the first half of 2016, was up 89% from the same period a year earlier, according to the interactive advertising bureau. total digital ad revenue in the u.s. was up 19%. [ cmo today ] instagram has introduced new shopping features for a handful of brands, including a <u+201c>tap to view products<u+201d> icon in the lower corner of photos that offers users more information about a product and directs them to the retailer<u+2019>s mobile site. [ recode ] hulu struck deals with two of its owners<u+2014>21st century fox and walt disney co.<u+2014>for more than 35 networks, including espn, to be available on its planned live streaming tv service. [ variety ] donald trump may have denied that he has a tv project in the works, but it won<u+2019>t be difficult for the republican presidential nominee to switch gears postelection, if he wants. the trump organization already owns the web addresses trumptelevision.com, trumpnetwork.com and thetrumpnetwork.com. [ yahoo ] erin johnson is returning to jwt<u+2019>s new york office this week in the midst of her lawsuit against former ceo gustavo martinez. ms. johnson, jwt<u+2019>s global communications officer, took a leave of absence after filing a discrimination suit accusing mr. martinez of sexist and racist behavior. [ adweek ] how do retailers get consumers to come back every year on black friday? they offer and promote the same exact deals that worked the year before. so don<u+2019>t be surprised if on nov. 25 you recognize the circular ads for target or the price cut on beats headphones. [ wsj ] sesame street<u+2019>s grover teamed up with online education company khan academy to explain the electoral college as part of a series of educational videos about politics a week before the presidential election. [ cmo today ] follow us on twitter: @wsjcmo , @digitalshields , @vranicawsj , @jackmarshall , @perlberg , @alexbruell , @srabil , @asharma subscribe to our morning newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox, at http://on.wsj.com/cmotodaysignup . write to alexandra bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com
cmo today: at&t-time warner deal puts <u+2018>zero-rating<u+2019> on regulatory agenda - wsj
alexandra bruell