Americans watched 45.2 billion minutes of hit Aussie show Bluey last year, beating fan-favourite Grey's Anatomy.
It is the second year running that Bluey has won the title in Nielsen's ARTEY awards.
You can read more about this story here (or tune in to watch Bluey on ABC iview):
Medical devices company ResMed's shares are gaining in today's trade after a strong quarterly update.
Revenue was up 11% to $US1.42 billion , driven by increasing demand for its portfolio of sleep devices, masks and accessories.
CEO and chairman Mick Farrell said the results demonstrated the "strength and resilience of our global business".
"As we move into the second half of fiscal year 2026, we will continue to invest in innovation to scale out digital health capabilities and expand global access to life-saving care, while delivering sustainable, profitable growth," he said.
Shares in ResMed were up as much as 5.2 per cent in morning trade.
Consumer advocates fear a rate hike when the RBA board meets next week could be the "straw that breaks the camel's back" for borrowers in mortgage stress.
Financial Counselling Australia's CEO says calls to the National Debt Helpline are already on the rise, and many callers are employed, middle-income Australians.
You can read more on this story here:
The ASX200 is up 0.4% to 8,965 points (as at 10.52am AEDT), while the broader All Ordinaries index is up 0.32% to 9,266 points.
Here's a heat map of how the sectors are performing so far this morning.
Health care, real estate and consumer sectors are up, while information technology and materials are down.
In terms of individual stocks, Nine Entertainment is up on news its sold its radio division. ARB Corporation and Resmed are also up.
Viva Energy and Perpetuals are leading the bottom movers.
International bank HSBC is of the view that the Reserve Bank of Australia will hike interest rates on Tuesday.
And it may not stop there.
Here are some comments fresh from chief economist Paul Bloxham's desk:
"The RBA had hoped that inflation was on track towards the mid-point of its 2-3% target band," he says.
"For much of 2025, the inflation prints appeared to support that view, and with that, the RBA cut its cash rate by 75bp (0.75%) that year.
"However, the easing phase ended abruptly with a sharp upside surprise in the 3Q25 CPI print, published in late October."
This "sharp upside surprise" in inflation has not abated, Bloxham says, because productivity growth is too weak.
"A weak supply-side means it has taken only a modest upswing in growth for the economy to be operating beyond its sustainable capacity," he says.
"This can be seen in above-average surveyed capacity utilisation, an unemployment rate below the RBA's estimates of "full employment" and, now, in a persistent excessive rise in inflation.
"Tighter fiscal policy could be used to take some pressure off the economy.
"However, the recent mid-year fiscal update showed that fiscal policy has loosened, with public spending expanding by much more than expected (by around 1.7% of GDP over the forward estimates).
"Of note, this is likely to have surprised the RBA, as it typically takes the fiscal numbers as stated in the budget."
All of this means, Bloxham adds, that the RBA will have little choice but to slow the economy down with an interest rate hike or two.
"For the RBA, we expect a 25bp hike in February, and for it to be a painful hike, given that it reverses course, and that the story is of a supply-constrained economy, not strong demand," he says.
"As always, all that monetary policy can do is slow down demand, not fix supply (or lift productivity)."
Prices current at around 10.12am AEDT.
You can see live values here:
Even with the Trump admininistration making headlines at home and abroad with its forceful actions, the push to fully release the files related to the sex trafficking of disgraced businessman Jeffrey Epstein goes on.
Many US lawmakers want those linked with Epstein to be brought to account.
And on Thursday, a US judge said Bank of America must face part of a proposed class action lawsuit accusing it of knowingly aiding Epstein's sex trafficking by providing banking services to the late financier.
The judge, US District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan, also dismissed a similar lawsuit against Bank of New York.
Rakoff said Epstein's victims may pursue two claims accusing Bank of America, the second-largest US bank, of knowingly benefiting from Epstein's sex trafficking, and of obstructing enforcement of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
The judge rejected four other claims in the lawsuit, including that Bank of America participated in and aided Epstein's sex trafficking, and that it negligently failed to protect victims or refrain from "non-routine" banking services.
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. New York City's medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
With reporting by Reuters
The new owners of Nine's radio network are the Laundy family, headed by billionaire pub owner Arthur Laundy.
Arthur is the dad of former federal Liberal MP Craig Laundy, who was a junior minister in Malcolm Turnbull's government.
We've also got a bit more clarity on how the numbers work - in particular, how Nine is booking a gain of around $10m when it is selling the network for a lot less than the $275m it was worth when the company took full control in 2019.
Nine is expected to reap about $50m in cash from the sale after transaction costs and debt adjustments are made.
This will be booked as a gain of around $10m because last year the company dramatically wrote down the value of the network in its accounts.
On the other hand, it stands to reap a tax benefit of around $50m because for tax purposes it is making a loss compared to the original purchase price.
While many inside Nine's more buttoned-up newspaper division won't be sad to see the looser units over at radio depart, the company insists they'll still be besties.
Nine told the exchange:
Laundy is expected to remain a long-term partner of Nine, with plans to utilise Nine News journalists on radio, showcase Stan Sport through Laundy venues, provide promotion and advertising sales collaboration, as well as increased advertising spend by Laundy on Nine properties.
Nine Entertainment has sold its talk radio network to pub barons the Laundy family, the company has told the ASX.
It says it has sold 2GB, 3AW, 4BC, 6PR, 2UE, Magic1278 and 4BH to the Laundy family "on a cash and debt-free enterprise value of $56m" and will book a $10m gain on the sale.
Nine has also bought outdoor ad company QMS from Quadrant Private Equity for $850m and offloaded its regional NSW TV station, NBN, to long-standing affiliate WIN.
Microsoft shares fell more than 10% overnight after its cloud business, Azure, failed to meet investor expectations - a contrast to Facebook owner Meta, up after it dangled shiny AI success in front of the market (just don't mention the Metaverse).
Reuters has more:
Big Tech earnings so far this week have sent a clear warning: investors are willing to overlook soaring spending on artificial intelligence if it fuels strong growth, but are quick to punish companies that fall short.
The contrast was clear in Thursday's market reaction to earnings from Microsoft and Meta, highlighting how dramatically the stakes have changed since the launch of ChatGPT started the AI boom more than three years ago.
Microsoft dropped 10%, shedding more than $350 billion in market value after its cloud business failed to impress, while Meta gained 10%. The former's market valuation of $3.2 trillion still exceeds that of Meta's $1.86 trillion, but over the last two years Meta shares have gained 87% while Microsoft has risen just 7%.
After riding its first-mover advantage with OpenAI to become the world's most valuable firm in 2024, Microsoft is now under growing investor pressure to justify its soaring capital outlay.