- Unsealed court documents in support of the New York Times’ lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft showed that leadership at the tech companies explicitly acknowledged their scraping of publisher content could amount to the “largest theft of labor in human history” and could create a “doom loop” that could threaten the quality of large language models. (New York Times)
- Manta Media Capital has made its third strategic invesment, a 30% stake in On Sale Live: The Experience Economy Expo, which takes place in London in May 2027. Background.
- Metropolis International, the UK B2B publisher and events organiser grew revenue by 6% in 2025 to £53mn, with EBITDA flat at £4.5mn (8% margin). Its principal revenue is events (42%), subscriptions (19%) and digital (12%). Print now accounts for just 12% of revenue. Background.
- Global radio has announced the UK launch of Radio Plus, a subscription service giving listeners access to ad-free live radio, replay and catch up across its UK music brands.
- About one-fifth of all traffic to News UK newspapers over the past six months was non-human, according to chief technology officer Tom Jackson. Bot attacks were even higher before it deployed new bot protection technology to block “malicious bot traffic”. (Press Gazette)
- Paramount is looking to raise cash from equity investors ahead of the closure of its acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, with executives reportedly considering asking X owner Elon Musk to become part of a syndicate of investors into the new company. (Semafor)
- Sony Pictures Television said it expects Live TV on PS5, the new venture which makes 100 ad-funded channels available on PlayStation consoles, to open up new audiences for advertisers: “The intent is that you have 40-50mn people on PlayStation 5 who are incredibly engaged with that platform, who are spending hours and hours on their favorite games, but who also love to watch entertainment.” (Variety)
- Australia-based men’s interest publisher Man of Many has released a playbook on how brands get recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google’s AI Mode. It says 85% of brand mentions in AI answers come from third party sites, with publishers the largest source. 99% of ChatGBT shoppers still end their search on Google. Background.
- In what seems likely to be a precursor to the emergence of the Telegraph’s US and global role, Axel Springer is expanding its Global Reporters Network with leadership by executives from Politico, Business Insider and the newly acquired Telegraph. It aims to become “the leading force in exclusive and investigative journalism”. Background.
- Forge (the merged Emerald-Questex) has reiterated its intention to expand in digital media as well as events, by making its first acquisition: Becker’s Healthcare, whose newsletters and events reach 1.5mn. It will become part of the former Questex’s Fierce Healthcare & Life Sciences, whose $55mn revenue has more than doubled in the last five years. The Chicago-based Becker’s is believed to have revenue of some $80-90mn, with 30%+ EBITDA margins. On that basis, the acquisition price may be some $300mn. Background.
- Hearst UK showed the Elle, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping publisher returned to revenue growth in 2025 – up 5% to £110.1m. It also swung to a £1mn pre-tax profit from a £5.2mn loss. Staff costs fell by almost £5mn to £45.9mn, as head count fell by 84 to 584. Editorial staff numbers fell by 27 to 300. (Press Gazette) Background.
The Week That Was – 25 Sept
