You can stream the eagles, and we’re not talking football. Minnesota’s launching an eagles’ nest livestream to showcase birds of prey lounging in their off hours. A similar avian airing last year drew viewers from 160 countries.

US indexes barely budged yesterday. After the bell, Nvidia reported expectation-beating #s, with sales nearly doubling from a year ago (though growth is slowing). Bitcoin hit a fresh record of nearly $95K after the launch of options on BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF.

👂 Hear, hear: Tune in to the latest episode of “Snacks Mix” on Spotify or Apple Podcasts for fresh takes on big-box earnings and ByteDance’s AI moves.

Getting a spin-off… not the “Joanie Loves Chachi” kind. NBCUniversal owner Comcast said it’s spinning off almost all of NBCU’s cable-TV biz. The new company’s channels will include CNBC, USA, E!, and Syfy. Meanwhile, NBCU will hang on to assets including Universal Studios theme parks, the streaming service Peacock, and movies like “Wicked.” Though most TV channels will belong to the new company, NBCU will keep Bravo (can’t lose “Real Housewives”) and NBC’s eponymous broadcast channels.

Losing the remote… Comcast’s not the only media co slimming down its cable biz. In August Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount slashed the valuations of their cable businesses by a combined $15B+. Paramount’s incoming CEO has called linear TV a “declining business,” and Fox in 2019 sold off a big chunk of its channels to Disney, including National Geographic and FX. Disney’s mostly hung on to its cable portfolio, but last year suggested channels like ABC were on its priority backburner. But most companies have hesitated to stage a major unwinding like Comcast’s.

Cable’s last scene is in slo-mo… The Great Cord Cut isn’t happening overnight, for one key reason: cable is still lucrative. Meantime, some streamers (including NBCU’s Peacock) are struggling to turn a profit. In Q3 the Olympics helped boost Comcast’s media revenue (mostly TV networks) by 37%; even without the Olympics, revenue rose 5%. But as streaming services dive into live-sports deals, cable could lose its lifeline.

The plot thickens… HarperCollins became the first Big Five publisher to sign an AI licensing deal, confirming it reached an agreement with an unnamed tech company (spoiler: it’s said to be Microsoft). Harper would let Microsoft use some of its nonfiction titles to train AI models — but only if authors opt in. Authors who agree to have their work hoovered up for training purposes will reportedly get a $5K fee per title, which they would split evenly with Harper. Microsoft, which has integrated AI across its products, reportedly wants the books for an upcoming model.

May AI use your content?… As chatbot copyright-infringement lawsuits pile up, AI companies are starting to strike major content-licensing deals. HarperCollins parent NewsCorp signed a reported $250M agreement with OpenAI this year that would let the ChatGPT maker use articles from its pubs (including The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s) to answer queries and in training. OpenAI has made similar deals with other news publishers including Axel Springer (Business Insider, Politico), Vox Media, Dotdash Meredith, and Time. And Microsoft partnered with Reuters, Hearst, and Axel Springer on AI news features. In September, “John Wick” studio Lionsgate gave AI-video startup Runway access to its movie library.

If you think you can’t beat ’em, join ’em… AI companies are trying to avoid legal fallout before court battles set a precedent, but publishers are also trying to cover themselves in case the gavel doesn’t fall in their favor. Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger said: “AI is here to stay. Our goal is to make sure AI use becomes part of a licensing regime rather than to be considered fair use.”

McDonald’s needs consumers to come back. Enter the McRib. Read more.

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