The Brief – Wednesday 21 January – The Independent may take over The Standard, Netflix makes all-cash offer, Meta accused of turning a blind eye

🚫 The Independent is in advanced talks to take over the digital and commercial operations of The Standard. Both titles are owned by Evgeny Lebedev. Standard staff have been told they would be offered a voluntary redundancy scheme alongside a “formal consultation process for those affected by the move.”(FT)

📺 Netflix has submitted an amended all-cash offer for Warner Bros Discovery’s studio and streaming business. Under the revised merger agreement Netflix would pay Warner Bros shareholders $27.75 per share in cash instead of a mix of cash and stock. This revisement has received unanimous support from the HBO owner’s board. (Reuters)

🎲 The UK’s Gambling Commission has accused Meta of turning a blind eye to illegal gambling sites that advertise on Facebook and Instagram. (Bloomberg)

📉 Reach plc is predicting annual profits of £99m for 2025 despite a 1% fall in digital revenues. The company has said this expected result is primarily driven by a “resilient” print business and “continued cost control.” Digital revenues are forecast to be 1% down from 2024 mainly due to reduced Google referral volumes. (HoldtheFrontPage)

🔀 Acast and podcast and content company Perfect Day Media have announced a new ad sales partnership. Acast will take exclusive responsibility for distribution and brand ad sales for all Perfect Day Media podcasts. This will enable the latter to focus on developing its video offering and brand collaborations alongside growing its podcast and talent portfolio. (Podnews)

🏈 Netflix’s Christmas NFL GameDay delivered the platform’s largest US sign-up peak of 2025, according to analysis from Ampere Analysis. The live NFL broadcast, paired with the release of Stranger Things Season 5: Vol. 2, drove 430,000 new US subscribers, making it Netflix’s third-largest acquisition surge since 2018. (Ampere Analysis)

👨‍👩‍👦 From 20-22 January, HelloFresh UK, a recipe box provider, has unveiled a giant, custom-built HelloFresh box installation at Waterloo Station designed to “Bring Back Dinnertime.” From 5pm each evening a family will be inside the box cooking dinner, giving passers-by an insight into what real dinnertime looks like. (HelloFresh)