What's Next: Lachlan Murdoch inherits Fox News: Rupert's oldest son is about to become the public face of one of the most divisive and controversial brands in American news media. He enters this role as the network faces intense scrutiny for boosting President Trump and propagating xenophobic and bigoted conspiracy theories.

The 47-year-old Murdoch has been appointed chairman and CEO of "New Fox," overseeing the television assets that his father could not sell to Disney. His portfolio will include Fox Broadcasting, Fox News, the Fox Business Channel and Fox Sports.

Without a high-profile leader like Roger Ailes at Fox News, Lachlan is poised to become the individual most closely associated with the brand and most heavily targeted by its critics. (Test for non-media insiders: try to name the current CEO of Fox News with googling it.)

Hollywood executives who know Lachlan and spoke on the condition of anonymity tell me they believe Fox News' constant state of controversy has the potential to overwhelm his tenure at "New Fox," or at the very least to mire him in a perpetual state of distraction.

To be sure ... the Murdochs have long been a fixture on the Hollywood and New York media scene, and their fellow executives have had no qualms about hobnobbing with Rupert and his sons even if they eschew Fox News' politics. Hell, even Rupert distanced himself from Roger Ailes at times.

Moreover, Fox's controversies are easier to stomach when you look at the bottom line: The network is a cash cow, bringing in billions of dollars in revenue for the Murdochs every year.

But, these Hollywood execs points out:

The political climate is becoming more heated.

Fox News is becoming more controversial.

With the entertainment brands going to Disney, Fox News will be the Murdochs' marquee asset.

What Lachlan has to look forward to:

Financial Times' US editor Ed Luce: "The most effective thing Americans can do is boycott companies that advertise on Fox. They bankroll the poison that goes from the studio into Trump’s head."

Economist Nouriel Roubini: "Trump & Fox News kept on feeding the false meme that a caravan of refugees included jihadists & was financed by the Jewish Soros. So it is surprising that an anti-semite believed this anti-semitic blood libel & massacred 11 Jews? Trump & Fox News have blood all over their hands."

Matt Drudge -- yes, that Matt Drudge: "A segment on Fox News this morning where hosts laughed and joked their way through a discussion on political impact of terror was bizarre. Not even 48 hours since blood flowed at synagogue? Check your soul in the makeup chair!"

We reached out to Lachlan and Rupert for response via their new communications chief Hope Hicks. No dice.

The good news for Lachlan ... "New Fox" is leading the charge into live television while most of the industry pivots to streaming.

For all the interest in on-demand, linear television can remain a powerful force for at least a few years to come specifically because of viewer demand for live television events, sports and news.

In an earnings statement last week, Netflix said "New Fox appears to have a great strategy, which is to focus on large simultaneous-viewing sports and news," adding that "other linear networks are likely to follow this model over time."

What's Next: My colleague Claire Atkinson will have a deeper look at New Fox later today on NBCNews.com.

The Regional Sports Report: Lachlan's "New Fox" is one of several media companies, private-equity firms and sports teams that have expressed interest in the 22 regional sports channels that Disney must divest as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox.

WSJ's Joe Flint, Andrew Beaton and Miriam Gottfried scoop on the likely initial bids, which are due November 8:

"Apollo Global Management LLC, Blackstone Group LP, KKR & Co. and Providence Equity Partners LLC ... Private-equity firm Silver Lake ... in partnership with its portfolio company, talent agency Endeavor LLC."

"Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. has said publicly it is interested in the channels. ... 'New Fox' ... is also considered a serious contender ..."

"Rapper and actor Ice Cube has emerged as the face of one bid, teaming up with investors from his “Big 3” basketball league and others in a minority-owned conglomerate."

"A number of sports-team owners are considering submitting offers for channels in their specific markets."

Price tag? "Guggenheim Securities valued the regional networks at $25 billion, but some likely bidders and industry observers say they are more likely to fetch between $16 billion to $20 billion."

Market Links

Tim Cook will release Apple iOS 12.1 today (Verge)

Ginni Rometty bets her legacy on Red Hat (WSJ)

Ken Yoshida's Sony brings in $211 Million (Variety)

Talk of the Valley: Zuck on the Street: Facebook will announce third-quarters earnings today, rounding out what Bloomberg's Jeran Wittenstein and Sarah Frier say is "its toughest year as a public company":

"Three months ago, Facebook stunned Wall Street with a second-quarter revenue miss and a warning that growth would slow while spending rises."

"The social-media giant is expected to report third-quarter revenue of $13.8 billion, up 34 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit will be $5.79 billion, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

"Those cheery projections belie another quarter of turmoil that included executive departures, a huge privacy breach, threats of regulation, and struggles to contain misinformation ahead of key elections in the U.S."

Google Walkout: Yesterday I noted that Google employees were still irate with Larry Page and Sundar Pichai over the company's decision to quietly give multi-million-dollar exit packages to male executives who were accused of sexual misconduct.

Now, BuzzFeed News' Caroline O'Donovan and Ryan Mac report that those employees are organizing a walk-out:

"A group of more than 200 engineers at Google are organizing a companywide 'women’s walk' walkout for later this week to protest [the] recent revelations."

"The protest, which is expected to happen on Thursday, comes in light of a story by the New York Times last week into the alleged misbehavior of Android creator Andy Rubin and other executives at the company, some of whom still have positions of prominence at Google."

The Big Picture: The mounting frustration inside Google could soon force the reclusive Page to come out and do something he appears to loathe doing: Make a public statement.

So long, Twitter ... The Atlantic's Taylor Lorenz makes an improbable but thought-provoking argument for getting rid of the retweet: "Retweets prey on users’ worst instincts. They delude Twitter users into thinking that they’re contributing to thoughtful discourse by endlessly amplifying other people’s points -- the digital equivalent of shouting 'yeah, what they said' in the midst of an argument."

See you tomorrow.