Kartesia Management, a Luxembourg-based investment firm, is acquiring MMC Group, a German studio operator and production services company, from Novum Capital, which has owned it for 6 years. (link)

Fremantle, the TV production and distribution giant that is part of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, and Viral Nation, the influencer marketing agency, are partnering to produce and distribute creator-centered shows. Fremantle's Beach House Pictures is central in the strategy and already has YouTuber-centered unscripted projects in development. (link)

NBC News will lay off about 150 employees, or 7% of its 2,000-person division, this week as parent Comcast prepares to spin off MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, and other assets into Versant. NBC News and MSNBC (which is rebranding to MS NOW) will end shared reporting starting Oct 20. Versant is expected to list on Nasdaq as VSNT by year-end, with about $7B in annual revenue. (link)

Radial Entertainment Group, an Oaktree Capital Management-backed distributor formed from Shout! Studios and FilmRise, implemented layoffs last week as part of a company-wide integration to streamline operations. Cuts were about 14% of staff, per Deadline, across finance, marketing, operations, and e-commerce. (link)

Endemol Shine Boomdog, a Spanish-language production unit of Banijay Americas, is establishing a dedicated production company in Colombia for scripted and unscripted content. (link)

Universal Destinations & Experiences, a Comcast unit, detailed the 2026 opening of Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, Texas, for families with young children. The park will feature 7 lands and a 300-room hotel. Named areas include Shrek’s Swamp, Puss in Boots Del Mar, Minions vs. Minions: Bello Bay Club, Jurassic World Adventure Camp, TrollsFest, SpongeBob SquarePants Bikini Bottom, and Isle of Curiosity. (link)

Roku began rolling out feature upgrades for its 90M streaming households: Roku Sports adds Live Scores and Reminders; Roku Voice uses AI to answer content questions and enable quick launch; Live TV search highlights up to 2 apps based on user subscriptions; and the mobile app adds closed captions, Find My Remote, a sleep timer, daily trivia, a Rate button, and new navigation. (link)

Mattel, following its momentum from the Barbie movie, said it is stepping up TV development after unifying Mattel Studios under President and Chief Content Officer Robbie Brenner, as part of CEO Ynon Kreiz’s strategy to expand into media. (link)

FilmLA, Los Angeles film permit agency, reported over a 13% YoY drop to 4,380 shoot days in Q3. TV fell over 20%, led by reality, while features rose nearly 10%. California expanded its tax credits to as much as $3.75B over 5 years, under industry pressure to address the decline in local production. Global filming rose 11% year over year, per ProdPro. (link)

Philip Manwaring, is the new CEO of Up Entertainment, which provides faith- and family focused content via its UPtv and AspireTV linear networks and its UP Faith & Family SVOD service. Manwaring as previously Up's CFO, CTO, and Head of Streaming. Prior CEO Charles Humbard is stepping down. Reta Peery, formerly Chief Administrative and Operations Officer and General Counsel, was named President & COO. (link)

Aska Yamaguchi was promoted to SVP of Worldwide TV Production Financing and US Film Sales at StudioCanal. Based in Paris, she will report to Chief Commercial Officer Anne Chérel. The move follows a reorganization under managing director M-K Kennedy. (link)

Kevin Lansberry will retire as CFO of the Experiences division at The Walt Disney Co. in February after 39 years. Michael Moriarty, President & Managing Director of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, will become EVP and CFO. The unit oversees theme parks, cruise, and consumer products, and is led by chairman Josh D’Amaro. Moriarty previously served as CFO of Hong Kong Disneyland and of Walt Disney Imagineering. (link)

Daniel Svarts is stepping down as CEO of BBC Studios Nordic Productions after 12 years at the Copenhagen-based BBC subsidiary. (link)

KPIT Technologies, an automotive software firm, acquired about 90% of N-Dream AG, maker of the in-car gaming platform AirConsole. N-Dream will remain independent under existing leadership. AirConsole is adopted by BMW, Audi, and Porsche. (link)

Valve, operator of the Steam PC games marketplace, set a new concurrent user peak of 41.6M over the weekend. This is the third record this year. Previous peaks were 33.6M at the start of 2024, and just under 20M in 2020. Growth is 2x since 2020. Concurrent user counts can include bot activity. (link)

Electronic Arts sold over 7M units of Battlefield 6 in 5 days, generating $350M in gross revenue. Alinea Analytics ranked it behind only EA Sports FC 26 among this year’s premium launches. (link)

Musixmatch, a lyrics and music data company, signed trial AI licensing deals with Sony Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, and Warner Chappell Music. The agreements grant catalog access for AI tool development and include publisher remuneration, signaling potential new revenue streams for publishers and Musixmatch. (link)

Iconic Artists Group, a music IP rights firm led by Irving Azoff, acquired a stake in the Frank Sinatra estate. Frank Sinatra Enterprises, a JV between Sinatra’s family and Warner Music Group, confirmed the deal. IAG now controls Sinatra’s name, image, and likeness rights. (link)

Louis Brown and Raju Watts were appointed General Manager and Financial Director, respectivey, at The Other Songs, a London-based independent music label, publisher, talent manager, and small concert organizer. Brown leaves his role as COO and GM at NQ. Watts was previously Director of Finance and Commercial at MDLBEAST. (link)

Saumil Mehta was appointed Global President of Ticketmaster, effective November 1, and will report to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino. Mark Yovich became Chairman, focusing on long-term strategy and global expansion. Mehta previously served as Square’s Chief Product Officer following its 2015 acquisition of his startup, LocBox. (link)

Los Angeles Times Media Group - which combines the Los Angeles Times assets with Nant Games (a startup mobile games studio in San Diego that released "geolocation fantasy RPG" Mythwalker) and virtual production outfit Nant Studios - reported a $41.8M operating loss and a $48.1M net loss before taxes in 2024, and revealed a $5,000-per-share offering to raise up to $500M ahead of a 2027 NYSE listing. Investors are offered a 7% annual dividend, and a 25% IPO conversion discount. (link)

Pathfounders is launching as a new startups & VC news brand (with a Europe-centric global scope) founded by former TechCrunch editor-at-large Mike Butcher. Amelia Isaacs is joining as full-time Senior Reporter alongside part-time columnists. TechCrunch withdrew from the UK & Europe and laid off staff this past summer after Regent LP acquired it from Yahoo!. (link)

Propagate Content, a US-based producer, launched an outdoor and adventure YouTube channel called Survive+ in a JV with Cowshed Ventures. It will combine licensed and original IP. Cowshed will manage operations, content strategy, and audience development. Initial programming features Bear Grylls, Zoologist Jack Randall, and series like Survivalists. (link)

Motion Picture Association said Meta did not contact it before Instagram announced teen settings guided by its PG-13 rating rubric yesterday, and expressed concern that the ratings imply approval by or involvement of the MPA. (link)

YouTube will roll out global UI updates across mobile, web, and TV this week with the goal of a "cleaner and more immersive" video player that "obscures less content". Threaded replies are added in comments. They have streamlined add-to-playlist and Watch Later flows. And an animated Like button is added on select music and sports videos. (link)

Max Michael, head of Asian business development at UTA, departed after nearly 2 decades and launched M3 Global Strategy, a talent advisory focused on cross-border (US-Asia) film, TV, and vertical shortform. His past clients remain with UTA. Past work includes packaging Crazy Rich Asians. (link)