The ad agency M&A to watch in 2021

Hello and welcome to Insider Advertising for February 5. I'm senior advertising reporter Lauren Johnson, and here's what's going on:

• Ad agency M&A to watch.
• Who will replace Jeff Zucker?
• The $1.5 billion sports-betting industry.

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Tips, comments, suggestions? Drop me a line at LJohnson@businessinsider.com or on Twitter at @LaurenJohnson.

10 ad agencies that are top acquisition targets in 2021 as private equity money pours in

• Patrick Coffee reports that 2021 will be an active year for ad industry M&A after a pandemic-stricken 2020.
• He talked with 23 ad industry experts, who named 10 agencies that are on the market or likely to be targets in 2021.
• Private equity firms and upstart ad networks like Martin Sorrell's S4 Capital are expected to lead an acquisition spree.

Read the story.

Jeff Zucker is leaving CNN - meet 14 execs who could succeed him or run other TV networks as massive turnover looms

• A new generation of TV news executives is waiting in the wings, reports Claire Atkinson.
• CNN's Jeff Zucker said Thursday he would leave at the end of 2021. Disney's ABC News president James Goldston is leaving in March after 17 years at the helm. MSNBC president Phil Griffin was replaced by Rashida Jones after running the channel since 2008.
• 10 senior TV news executives, headhunters, and agents predicted who could take over roles like these. Their picks include Deborah Turness from NBCNews International, head of Apple News Nick Ascheim, and News UK's head of broadcasting David Rhodes.

Read the story.

JPMorgan says US media companies are 'scratching the surface' on sports betting. Read the key takeaways for media investors from its 33-page report.

• JPMorgan said in a new report that US media companies have yet to unlock the potential of sports gambling, reports Ashley Rodriguez.
• NBCUniversal and Barstool Sports have leaned into the US's emerging legal sports betting industry over the past few years.
• JPMorgan estimates the US sports-betting industry brought in $1.5 billion in revenue in 2020, and will generate $9.2 billion by 2025.

Read the story.

More stories we're reading:

• Election technology company Smartmatic files $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News over election conspiracy theories (Business Insider)
• The movie-grading company CinemaScore navigated a chaotic year for the theater business. Now it wants to grow by courting streamers. (Business Insider)
• A new antitrust bill could pose a huge threat to Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook, with potential fines of up to 15% of annual revenue (Business Insider)
• How the CEO of Edgewell, maker of Schick, is competing with skincare startups and fighting the 'arms race' in the shaving aisle (Business Insider)
• New York Times added record number of digital subscribers in 2020 (Wall Street Journal)
• Walmart acquires Thunder ad tech as it preps self-serve display portal (Marketing Dive)

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! You can reach me in the meantime at LJohnson@businessinsider.com and subscribe to this daily email here.