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Welcome to The Brief by Kuro House, where we cut through the noise to bring you the stories that matter most in the marketing, media, and business world. Today, we’re diving into record-breaking consumer behavior during Cyber Week, a major leadership shakeup at Fortune, a dramatic ratings shift in cable news, and the latest power moves in the agency world. Let’s get into it.

First up, from Adweek, U.S. consumers shattered records during the post-Thanksgiving Cyber Week, spending a staggering $44.2 billion online, according to Adobe’s ecommerce data. This figure covers the five-day stretch from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday and includes projections for the final hours of the event. Cyber Monday alone was expected to hit $14.2 billion in online sales. What’s fueling this surge? AI-driven traffic to retail sites skyrocketed by 805% year-over-year on Black Friday. Shoppers who landed on retail sites via an AI service were 38% more likely to make a purchase compared to those from other sources. Black Friday itself saw $11.8 billion in online spend, outpacing Adobe’s expectations and representing a 9.1% year-over-year jump. And while Black Friday used to be the big day for in-person shopping, the gap between it and Cyber Monday is shrinking as ecommerce discounts hit earlier. Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Black Friday, people were spending $12.5 million per minute online. Over the next two days, shoppers added another $11.8 billion, up 8.7% from last year. With inflation still a concern, flexible payment options like “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) are taking off—$747.5 million was spent using BNPL on Black Friday alone, an 8.9% increase. Adobe predicted that BNPL would surpass $1 billion by the end of Cyber Week, and between November 1 and 30, consumers spent $9 billion using these options. Mobile shopping is also on the rise: 61.6% of Thanksgiving online sales happened via smartphones, and on Cyber Monday, mobile was expected to account for 58% of sales—about $8.2 billion, up nearly 8% year-over-year.

Turning to a significant leadership transition in media, Adweek reports that Anastasia Nyrkovskaya, the CEO of Fortune, is stepping down at the end of the year. Nyrkovskaya, who joined Fortune in 2019 as CFO and chief strategy officer, became CEO in April 2024 after the departure of longtime chief executive Alan Murray. Her appointment was historic—she was the first woman to lead the 95-year-old business publisher. In her farewell email to staff, she described her tenure as “the honor of a lifetime and a highlight of my career.” Nyrkovskaya’s leadership comes at a time when Fortune is not only profitable but also facing increased pressures in the business publishing world. Her previous roles include stints at NBCUniversal, Birchbox, XpresSpa, and KPMG, marking her as a seasoned executive whose departure will be closely watched by the industry.

Now, let’s switch gears to cable news, where Adweek’s TVNewser has the latest ratings shakeup for the week of November 17, 2025. MS NOW, the newly rebranded MSNBC, finished its first week under the new name with strong momentum, being the only major news network to post week-over-week gains in both primetime and total day viewership, especially among adults aged 25-54. CNN held steady, but Fox News saw declines across the board, dropping 5% in total viewers and 1% in the key demo during primetime. That said, Fox News still led in total day viewers and held second place in the primetime demo. MS NOW averaged just over a million primetime viewers, up 5%, and 90,000 in the 25-54 demo, up 6%. In terms of year-over-year performance, Fox News is down sharply—21% in total primetime viewers and a whopping 41% in the demo. Meanwhile, MS NOW and CNN have seen impressive growth, with MS NOW up 54% in primetime viewers and 50% in the demo, and CNN up 37% and 30% respectively. On the programming front, Fox News dominated the top 15 most-watched cable news shows, with The Five leading at 3.7 million viewers, but MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show and CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 also made the list. These numbers suggest shifting loyalties and a more competitive landscape as we head into a critical election year.

Finally, let’s talk agency world. According to Adweek, Omnicom has officially closed its acquisition of IPG, leading to a flurry of leadership changes across its creative agencies. One standout is Tyler Turnbull, known for turning around FCB’s struggling Canada office six years ago. He’s now been elevated to CEO of McCann Worldgroup, a huge step up and a testament to his reputation as a turnaround specialist. Joining him is Andrés Ordóñez, formerly FCB’s chief creative officer, who will take on the same role at McCann. While McCann hasn’t officially confirmed the promotions, these appointments signal that Omnicom is keen to bring proven IPG talent into top roles after the merger. The moves are part of a broader C-suite reshuffling that’s typical in mergers of this scale, but Turnbull and Ordóñez’s rise shows that Omnicom is betting on leaders with a track record of revitalizing agencies.

That’s it for today’s edition of The Brief by Kuro House. Whether it’s record-breaking consumer spending, major executive exits, ratings shakeups, or agency power moves, we’re here to keep you ahead of the curve. Thanks for tuning in—stay curious, stay sharp, and we’ll see you tomorrow.