But they don't "have to" report it. It's become standard because it's free, guaranteed content. Finance and sports both follow the same model. Every trading day

But they don't "have to" report it. It's become standard because it's free, guaranteed content. Finance and sports both follow the same model. Every trading day (or game, for sports) is guaranteed to have an article: Up or Down; Win, Loss or Tie. The content is filler as the articles' inclusion is justified regardless.