cnn revenge? : shortly after at&t announced its blockbuster acquisition of media giant time warner, then-candidate donald trump promised to block the deal, calling it <u+201c>an example of the power structure i am fighting.<u+201d> at&t didn<u+2019>t think he<u+2019>d win the election, but now that he has, the company is betting that he won<u+2019>t follow through on his threat and that it can still get regulatory approval for the merger, the wall street journal reports. to the extent there<u+2019>s a wild card, it<u+2019>s mr. trump<u+2019>s stated distaste for mainstream media including time warner-owned cnn, which mr. trump has referred to as the <u+201c>clinton news network.<u+201d> some consultants and lobbyists close to the telecom giant think his hard-line remarks on the deal were really aimed at cnn<u+2019>s coverage and shouldn<u+2019>t be taken as serious merger opposition, wsj reports. several observers think at&t will have success by leaning on its longstanding relationships with a network of republican officials and lawmakers. but such connections could prove less reliable in trump<u+2019>s washington, where new characters (like former breitbart news chairman steve bannon) are suddenly poised to become power players. oops i did it again : in september, facebook admitted that it had been overestimating the average viewing time for video ads over about two years, a miscalculation that peeved the many advertisers and publishers that have come to depend heavily on the social giant. now, as cmo today reports, facebook has uncovered several more errors . facebook said it had been overcounting in some cases how many people saw marketers<u+2019> <u+201c>organic,<u+201d> or unpaid, posts. the company also said it had been undercounting how many people watch videos until the end, and that it was overestimating by 7% to 8%,on average, the amount of time people spend with instant articles, the program where publishers post content directly to the service. facebook<u+2019>s announcement comes as more players in the media and ad world call for the company to beef up its third-party measurement chops . facebook promised it is doing just that. the company said it would work with nielsen to count facebook video views and third-party metrics companies like moat and integral ad science for display ad campaigns. fission : univision is laying off about 6% of employees <u+2013> or around 200 to 250 people <u+2013> becoming the latest media company to slash its workforce amid hard times in the media business. as the washington post reports, many of the layoffs will be at fusion, univision<u+2019>s youth-focused site that made a splash two years ago with a series of big-name media hires but has struggled to find its footing. the layoffs also come shortly after fusion staffers voted to unionize, a move that some employees said faced resistance from univision executives. meanwhile, univision just recently acquired a fleet of sites from the former gawker media, including gizmodo, jezebel and deadspin, and the restructured fusion will now fall under the newly-formed gizmodo media group. fusion, which is also a cable tv outlet, will soon tap into gizmodo media group properties as a source for tv programming , variety reports. as the hollywood reporter noted, univision posted a loss of $30.5 million for the third quarter , compared with a profit of $109.8 million a year ago. fankings or draftduel : it appears the long-rumored merger between draftkings and fanduel, the two industry leaders in the controversial daily fantasy sports space, is poised to happen. according to reporter dan primack, the final agreement is still subject to change, but documents circulated to company investors show that draftkings ceo jason robins will lead the new enterprise , while fanduel ceo nigel eccles will become chairman. the formal announcement is expected to come within a week, according to the report. whether the deal would pass regulatory scrutiny is still unclear. draftkings and fanduel burst onto the scene, accumulating huge investments from media companies and obtaining valuations at more than $1 billion. last nfl season, their ads were ubiquitous across sports programming, to the point that their presence became a running joke among fans on social media. now, however, both companies have felt regulatory pressure from various state legislatures and attorneys general, and merging appears to be one way the duo can slog through an expensive fight. fox news will air a one-hour special on friday hosted by tmz founder harvey levin featuring an interview with donald trump. mr. trump gives mr. levin a tour of his home in the interview, which was filmed in september. [ politico ] tony haile, the former ceo of chartbeat, joined the latest episode of the wsj media mix podcast to discuss why the current state of online measurement is so messy. [ cmo today ] prosecutors raided a division of south korean advertising firm cheil worldwide as part of a wider corruption investigation centering on a longtime aide of the country<u+2019>s president. [ ad age ] the first set of nfl games after the election enjoyed a return to normalcy in the ratings, with some marquee matchups likely helping out with the boost. [ ad age ] the whistleblower who set the theranos saga in motion has come forward. tyler schultz, the grandson of a former secretary of state, has faced legal backlash and estrangement from his grandfather. [ wsj ] megyn kelly says she is still weighing her options as contract negotiations continue with fox news. she said that the current schedule she is on is <u+201c>not ideal for a mother of young children.<u+201d> [ the hollywood reporter ] tbs has renewed samantha bee<u+2019>s show <u+201c>full frontal<u+201d> through 2017. the show will move from monday to wednesday night. [ variety ] during the final three months of the presidential campaign, the top-performing fake news stories on facebook received more engagement than the top stories from mainstream news outlets. [ buzzfeed ] a group of major journalism organizations has written a letter to donald trump urging him to instill transparency and openness in his administration. the group is asking for the president-elect to allow for a traditional press pool to follow along with him. [ politico ] 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 steven perlberg at steven.perlberg@wsj.com
cmo today: at&t reads trump tea leaves on merger - wsj
steven perlberg