❌ TikTok ban threat

Plus: Biden's antitrust win 🏛 | Tuesday, November 01, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios Closer By Hope King and Nathan Bomey · Nov 01, 2022 Tuesday ✅. Today's newsletter is 693 words, a 2½-minute read. 🔔 The dashboard: The S&P 500 closed down 0.4%, as investors brace for tomorrow's Fed decision. Biggest gainer? Abiomed (+49.8%), the heart pump maker, agreed to be acquired by Johnson & Johnson in a $16.6 billion cash deal. Biggest decliner? Catalent (-24.7%), the drug development services provider, missed on quarterly earnings and lowered its outlook.     1 big thing: Megamerger block upheld Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios   A federal judge took another step toward closing the book on Penguin Random House's $2.2 billion acquisition of rival publishing house Simon & Schuster, upholding an antitrust block on the deal. Why it matters: The decision marks a big win for the Biden administration and its competition enforcement agenda, and it sets a new precedent for future dealmaking. While book publishing executives wanted the deal to go through, writers, including best-selling author Stephen King ⁠— who had testified against his own publisher ⁠— celebrated the news, Kerry Flynn of Axios Pro Media Deals writes. Catch up quick: The deal ⁠— announced two years ago ⁠— was part of a broader effort by Simon & Schuster owner Paramount (formerly ViacomCBS) to offload noncore assets and focus on streaming. The Department of Justice then filed a lawsuit last year alleging the deal violated antitrust law. Details: Unlike typical antitrust cases, the ruling did not focus on protecting consumers or competitors. Instead, the judge said that the deal would "substantially lessen competition" for authors, meaning the combined company would have acted as a monopsony. That sentiment aligns with King's testimony from the three-week trial in August. "I came because I think that consolidation is bad for competition," he said, per the Associated Press. Yesterday, King tweeted, "The proposed merger was never about readers and writers; it was about preserving (and growing) PRH's market share. In other words: $$$." What's next: The publishers plan to appeal. If that isn't granted, Paramount will likely seek another buyer. Go deeper with Axios Pro Media Deals.     2. Charted: Workers still wanted Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Tory Lysik/Axios Visuals Nearly half of all of new job openings in September were across hotels and restaurants, Hope writes. While the economy has fully regained the number of jobs that it lost during the pandemic, recovery has been slowest and hardest to come in service jobs. By the numbers: There was an increase of 437,000 job openings between August and September. The largest — 215,000 of those — were in accommodation and food service businesses, Labor department data shows. At the same time that services are struggling to hire, the 5.7% quit rate is still the highest among industries.     3. What's happening ☣️ More dry shampoos were found to have cancer-causing agent benzene. (Bloomberg) ✈️ Delta Air Lines pilots voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. (NPR)     A message from Axios Smart communications that create workplace transparency     Success, productivity, and growth all hinge on a leader's ability to clearly communicate priorities. We built Axios HQ — an AI-powered communications platform — to help leaders send smart, transparent updates across their organizations. See how it works     4. A new call to ban TikTok FCC commissioner Brendan Carr testifies during a House hearing on March 31. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images   The Council on Foreign Investment in the U.S. should take action to ban TikTok, FCC commissioner Brendan Carr told Axios China author Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian in an interview. "I don't believe there is a path forward for anything other than a ban," Carr said, citing recent revelations about how TikTok and Chinese parent company ByteDance handle U.S. user data. Why it matters: It's the strongest language Carr has used to date to urge action on TikTok. The FCC has no authority to regulate TikTok directly, but Congress previously acted after Carr voiced concerns about Chinese telecom companies, including Huawei. State of play: TikTok is currently exploring whether it can be divested by ByteDance to an American company and remain operational in the U.S. What TikTok is saying: "Commissioner Carr has no role in the confidential discussions with the U.S. government related to TikTok," a TikTok spokesperson told Axios in a statement. Go deeper.   Share Axios and earn rewards If you like this newsletter, your friends may, too! Refer your friends and get free Axios swag when they sign up. Be a good friend and share   5. Blockbuster opening for new "Call of Duty" "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II." Screenshot: Activision Blizzard   The latest "Call of Duty" installment, "Modern Warfare II," brought in more than $800 million in revenue its first weekend, Axios Gaming author Stephen Totilo writes. Why it matters: Game maker Activision Blizzard — and arguably, the video game industry itself — needed this. Both are in slump. State of play: "Call of Duty" is the video gaming industry's biggest annual franchise. Soft sales of last year's "Call of Duty: Vanguard" was a key drag on the industry, which has been hurt by the consumer spending pullback, unfavorable exchange rates and the end of the pandemic-accelerated player boom. What to watch: In 2021, monthly players across "Call of Duty" games exceeded 150 million. That count dipped below 100 million this year, and Activision Blizzard no doubt wants to lift it back up. Read Stephen's full story.     6. What they're saying "As president and a citizen, I'll continue to follow our constitution." — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in his first comments since his electoral loss to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, although he stopped short of formally conceding.     A message from Axios Smart communications that create workplace transparency     Success, productivity, and growth all hinge on a leader's ability to clearly communicate priorities. We built Axios HQ — an AI-powered communications platform — to help leaders send smart, transparent updates across their organizations. See how it works   Today's newsletter was edited by Pete Gannon and copy edited by Sheryl Miller. Why stop here? Let's go Pro. Join the thousands of professionals using Axios Pro to keep up with the companies, deals and trends changing their industries.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. 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