Broadcasting
Steve Babaeko Joins Global Business Leaders at the UN Stereotype Alliance Global Member Summit
Steve Babaeko, Founder and CEO of X3M Ideas, earlier this week, joined global business leaders at this year’s UN Stereotype Alliance Global Member Summit at the UN Headquarters in New York.
The Summit brought together executives of over 230 companies from the US, UK, Japan and Europe, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Türkiye, and the UAE to discuss the influence of the advertising, media, and marketing community as a force for transformative change.
Themed “Raising the Bar”, the two-day signature event Steve Babaeko joined sixteen other speakers like award-winning playwright and actress, Danai Gurira; Deputy Executive Director UN Women, Anita Bhatia; Co-Founder & Chairman Getty Images, Mark Getty; and Model and activist, Munroe Bergdorf.
“It is inspiring to join some of the world’s most committed changemakers at the United Nations Headquarters for the Unstereotype Alliance Global Member Summit. It is very important work as we continue to steer the global marketing communications industry in the right direction.
Communications plays a pivotal role in creating social change. This is one of the reasons why I proudly support the UN Stereotype Alliance in the fight to eliminate negative stereotypes of women in advertising and communications generally,” Steve said.
The sixteen speakers who are leading voices across a broad spectrum of industries including film, advertising, business, and government emphasized the need to tackle systemic stereotyping.
Babaeko’s company, X3M Ideas, had last year announced its membership of the Nigerian Chapter of UN Stereotype Alliance – a global coalition committed to ending harmful stereotypes in media and advertising.
Statistics provided by UN Women reveals that almost a third of Nigerian women have reported having experienced physical violence. In addition, representation of Nigerian women in governance is amongst the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, and 40% of Nigerians believe that men should be paid more than women for the same job.
X3M Ideas, in partnership with the Nigerian Chapter, wants to use advertising to encourage positive and equal portrayal of women and girls in all forms of media.
Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) has announced the postponement of its maiden annual Public Relations, Reputation, Ideas, Concepts and Excellence (PRICE) Awards and Prizes to January 25, 2026.
NIPR
The event, earlier scheduled for December 7, 2025, was deferred to accommodate stakeholders whose observance of Christmas festivities had commenced earlier than expected.
Chairman of the Organising Committee, Mr. Israel Opayemi, urged stakeholders to note the new date and prepare to participate in the ceremony.
He said the awards would motivate professionals, practitioners and scholars, while enhancing Nigeria’s global competitiveness in the public relations ecosystem and strengthening brand equity for all stakeholders.
Opayemi reaffirmed the Committee’s commitment to delivering a best-in-class award administration and ceremony, describing the PRICE Awards as a credible and enduring platform to identify, celebrate and elevate outstanding individuals, campaigns and organisations shaping the public relations landscape across sectors.
The development of the PRICE Awards peaked in September 2025 when the NIPR President and Chairman, Council, Dr. Ike Neliaku, inaugurated a 12-man committee to organise the maiden edition. The inauguration followed the Council’s adoption of the report of a technical team tasked with establishing the awards.
Netflix has announced a landmark agreement to acquire Warner Bros. and HBO Max in a transaction valued at $82.7 billion, a move analysts say will reshape the global entertainment industry.
Netflix
The deal, which includes Warner Bros.’ film and television studios, HBO, HBO Max, and Warner Bros. Games, was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies. Under the terms, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) shareholders will receive $23.25 in cash and $4.50 in Netflix shares for each WBD share.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos described the acquisition as “a defining moment” for the streaming giant, noting that the company intends to maintain Warner Bros.’ current operations while expanding its production capacity.
“By combining Warner Bros.’ incredible library of shows and movies with Netflix’s culture-defining titles, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling,” Sarandos said.
The transaction is expected to close within 12 to 18 months, following the planned spin-off of WBD’s TV networks division, Discovery Global, in 2026. Netflix projects annual cost savings of $2–3 billion by the third year after completion and expects the deal to be accretive to earnings per share by year two.
Industry groups, including the Directors Guild of America and Cinema United, have raised concerns about the impact on movie theaters, while regulators are expected to scrutinize the deal over antitrust issues. Netflix has pledged to continue supporting theatrical releases, with Warner Bros.’ cinema commitments running through 2029.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav hailed the agreement, saying it “combines two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world to bring to even more people the entertainment they love.”
Observers note that the acquisition comes 15 years after former Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes dismissed Netflix as “the Albanian army,” underscoring the dramatic shift in the entertainment landscape.
A major shake‑up rocks viewers and subscribers of DSTV/GOTV as many channels are set to shut down and be removed on January 1, 2026.
The trigger for the upcoming shut‑down is a breakdown in negotiations between the owners of multiple global channels and the pay‑TV operator.
As of December 2025, the deal between Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and DStv/GOtv has expired and the two parties have not reached a renewal agreement.
Without a new carriage/distribution agreement, the channels belonging to WBD risk being pulled off the DStv/GOtv line‑up.
This is the most significant content cutback the service has seen in years.
The affected channels are:
Discovery Channel
TLC
Cartoonito
Cartoon Network
CNN International
Food Network
The Travel Channel
TNT
Investigation Discovery
Real Time
HGTV
Discovery Family
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