Media News 10/12/25
Credit: Sculpture By The Sea
Art Basel Paris 2025 preview: With the fair taking place 23-26 October in Paris and a rocky global art-market backdrop, organizers upbeat. Sales down ~12 % globally and ~10 % in France this year, yet smaller works (<$50k) remain active. Features an “Emergences” sector spotlighting rising artists. Vogue Business
Link: https://www.voguebusiness.com/story/fashion/art-basel-paris-2025-cheat-sheet1a. Arts (Public Art/Sculpture): At Sculpture by the Sea 2025 (Bondi), artists Lucy Barker & Jane Gillings transformed recycled fish-oil drums into an interactive installation titled Ways of Seeing. This marks the 27th annual edition of the event (Oct 17–Nov 3, 2025). Focus on sustainability + global artist participation (93 artists across 13 countries). https://sculpturebythesea.com/gallery/
1b. Fine Arts/Gallery: In New York City, the group exhibition New York, I Love You (Oct 8-14, 2025) at Agora Gallery in Chelsea opens on Oct 9 with works from emerging and established artists worldwide. AGI Fine Art
1c. An art exhibition in India: Ashok Bhowmick’s “Liminal Lines: Celebrating 50 Years of Artistic Inquiry” show opened in Delhi at the Dhoomimal Gallery, spanning his multi-decade practice. The Times of India
Link: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/events/delhi/liminal-lines-celebrating-50-years-of-artistic-inquiry/articleshow/124574551.cms1d. Altman Siegel gallery (San Francisco) is closing after 16 years, citing sustainability issues and shifts in the gallery ecosystem. San Francisco Chronicle
Link: https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/altman-siegel-sf-gallery-closing-21102895.phpGlobal ad-growth forecasts have been upgraded: social media ad spend is projected to grow ~14.9 % in 2025 to ~$306 billion, making up ~26.2 % of total ad spend. WARC
2a. Advertisers are grappling with “brand safety” in 2025: industry experts outline how brands must navigate a shifting media ecosystem, AI tools, platform risk and trust issues. ExchangeWire
2b. The mega-event Advertising Week New York 2025 (Oct 6-9) tackled the future of media, marketing and culture—marking a key moment in advertising/marketing news. Seafoam Marketing
2c. Advertising/marketing giant WPP plc is experiencing a crisis: its market value has plunged, client losses mount, and questions swirl over its future leadership. The Guardian
2d. Advertising industry pitch: fewer ads, more creative — The Guardian Media Group’s “Upfronts” event at Tate Modern emphasised user-centred creative advertising and launched its “FAME” index for ad effectiveness. The Guardian
2e. A feature on the “future of media in 2025” outlines three key trends: planning in an era of abundance, rewiring of search, and growth of commerce. WARC
2f. European Commission issues new rules on political advertising (EU) — The regulation on the Transparency of Political Advertising takes effect October 10, with guidelines to support implementation. European Commission
2g. Big tech tests EU transparency law — Meta Platforms, Google LLC and others are reacting to the new rules on political ads in the EU by banning or limiting them, raising questions about enforcement. Euractiv+1
Box Office (Weekly data, US): For the week of Oct 6-12 2025, major titles like One Battle After Another, Tron: Ares and The Smashing Machine based on BoxOfficeMojo data. Box Office Mojo+2Box Office Mojo+2
For example, on Oct 12: Tron: Ares ≈ $33.2 m (3rd week) with 4,000 theatres. Box Office Mojo
These figures give a snapshot of the theatrical market in early October.
4a. New streaming docuseries: Mr. Scorsese explores the career of Martin Scorsese — Premieres Oct 17 on Apple TV+. New York Post
4b. The anime film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle becomes highest-grossing international movie in U.S. history — Over $128.6 million domestically. People.com
4c. Holiday movie slate: Lifetime unveils its full “It’s A Wonderful Lifetime” 2025 schedule (13 new films from Nov 29 to Dec 20). EW.com
4d. Production news: Four members of the Spice Girls move ahead with a Netflix biopic, invoking a “rule of four” to proceed despite one member’s reluctance. https://www.98fm.com/celeb/spice-girls-drama-with-netflix-green-lit-as-four-members-override-geris-approval-2204485
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. staging special programming Oct 7–9, 2025, to commemorate two years since the tragic Oct 7 events, marking the institution’s response and engagement with global events via performance. Kennedy Center
5a. The San Francisco Opera is staging Parsifal (Wagner) for the first time since 2000 under Music Director Eun Sun Kim. San Francisco Chronicle
5b. The opera company Opera Parallèle is premiering Hello, Star, a one-act opera (Oct 25-26) based on a children’s book, for its Hands-On-Opera series. San Francisco Chronicle
5c. University of Houston Moores Opera House is producing Hobson’s Choice (Oct 23, 2025) — a comic opera adaptation of a 1915 play by Tom Cipullo. Houston Chronicle
5d. At the Take Me Somewhere Festival in Glasgow, “The Wet and Wild Show!” The Guardian
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/oct/21/take-me-somewhere-glasgow-radical-immersive-theatre-festivalIn global affairs/media: The former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton has been indicted for alleged mishandling of classified documents—highlighting intersections of politics, media, and transparency.
5a. Democrats Await Findings of DOJ’s ActBlue Probe https://campaignsandelections.com/industry-news/dems-await-actblue-probe-findings/
Agence France‑Presse (AFP) is facing severe financial and operational pressures amid rising populism, hostile regimes, and increased risk to its journalists in regions like the Sahel and Eastern Europe. Le Monde.fr
6a. Propaganda & disinformation update (Europe) — A newsletter from EU DisinfoLab describes increasing propaganda campaigns, including in Europe via lesser-known platforms like Mastodon/BlueSky. EU DisinfoLab
Media/Publishing: Rolling Stone announced a merger with Vibe magazine, signalling consolidation in music/media publishing. As part of the deal, several staff roles at Vibe were eliminated. Intended to expand the Vibe brand via podcasts, video and live events. Pitchfork
7a. Running A Local Paper? In This Economy? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/style/midcoast-villager-newspaper-maine.html
7b. NYT Launches Vertical Watch Tab https://www.gurufocus.com/news/3152444/nyt-launches-new-vertical-video-watch-tab-in-flagship-app
White House Begins Ballroom Construction https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/trumps-white-house-demolition-is-the-perfect-symbol-of-his-presidency/
Global film industry shrugs off renewed Trump movie tariff threat https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/global-film-industry-shrugs-off-renewed-trump-movie-tariff-threat-2025-10-18/
10a. Trump’s 100% movie tariff threat risks dealing a heavy blow to Britain’s already struggling film industry https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/20/trumps-100percent-movie-tariff-threat-could-hit-britain-particularly-hard.html
10b. How Trump’s Tariffs on Movies Could Impact Your Streaming Cost https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-trumps-tariff-movies-could-impact-your-streaming-costs