Mediagazer: WBD closes three game studios and cancels a highly anticipated Wonder Woman title in a bid to boost the profitability of its interactive entertainment business (Jason Schreier/Bloomberg)

6:00 PM ET, February 25, 2025

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Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Major UK newspapers blanket their front covers to protest government proposals to let AI companies train models on copyright-protected work without permission

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Ted Johnson / Deadline:

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Matthew Belloni / Puck:

Three sources say Kathleen Kennedy, a legendary movie producer and Lucasfilm president for 13 years, plans to step down by the end of 2025 — After a mixed 13-year run, the legendary movie producer has informed Disney, as well as friends and associates, that she will exit as Lucasfilm president by the end of the year.

New York Times:

Sources: Paramount and Trump agree to appoint a mediator in his $20B lawsuit against CBS, a sign that the sides are trying to resolve the case over 60 Minutes — The move is another indicator that the two sides are exploring ways to resolve the case, over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview, out of court.

Discussion: New York Post, @benmullin, WWCP-TV, TVNewsCheck, @owillis.bsky.social, TV Tech and Fox News

Jessica Testa / New York Times:

Jonathan Goldstein's podcast Heavyweight joins Pushkin Industries and plans to release new episodes this year, after being canceled by Spotify in 2023 — Pushkin Industries, the podcast company that will release the show, is betting that documentary-style audio programs can still win an audience.

Discussion: Theo Beidler on LinkedIn, Eric Sandler on LinkedIn, Sara Nics on LinkedIn, @benmullin, Gretta Cohn on LinkedIn, @fountain.bsky.social, @jtes, @heavyweight.bsky.social, @ariellethisandthat …, @philthepill.online and The Hollywood Reporter

Vlad Savov / Bloomberg:

Baidu acquires the YY Live streaming platform from Joyy for $2.1B, completing a deal started in 2020; a previous $3.6B deal was rejected by Chinese regulators — The operator of China's leading search engine is paying roughly $2.1 billion for YY Live, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Discussion: Baidu, Inc., Capital Brief, Reuters, @briantycangco and Reuters

Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:

Oliver Darcy's Status adds CNN Editor Jon Passantino, now has 70,000+ subscribers, and is on track to top $1M in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2025 — Oliver Darcy's media newsletter, launched in August, is poaching a CNN editor and on track to top $1 million in annual recurring revenue

Discussion: Talking Biz News, TVNewsCheck, The Information, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, Bradley Singer on LinkedIn, @donie.bsky.social, @kfile.bsky.social, @passantino.bsky.social, @brianstelter, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, @brianstelter, @stevenjcbuckley.bsky.social, @jackjenkins.me and Oliver Darcy on LinkedIn

Jason Schreier / Bloomberg:

WBD closes three game studios and cancels a highly anticipated Wonder Woman title in a bid to boost the profitability of its interactive entertainment business — - Company halts work on highly anticipated Wonder Woman title — Closures follow several disappointing releases last year

Carolyn Giardina / Variety:

Memo: Technicolor Group, which encompasses VFX brands MPC and The Mill, begins to shut down operations “due to inability to find new investors” — Following a weekend during which it tried to make 11th hour deals to save the company and its brands, Technicolor Group CEO Caroline Parot sent …

Bron Maher / Press Gazette:

AAM: the combined average daily circulation of the 25 largest newspapers in the US fell 12.7% in the year to the end of September 2024; LAT saw the biggest drop — The combined average daily circulation of the 25 largest audited newspapers in the US dropped 12.7% in the year to the end of September 2024, new data shows.

Discussion: @defeatthefascists.bsky.social

Katie Campione / Deadline:

NBCUniversal extends its partnership with Macy's via a 10-year rights deal that includes the Thanksgiving Day Parade, 4th of July Fireworks, and a new program — NBCUniversal is extending its partnership with Macy's via a 10-year programming rights deal.

Discussion: Variety, TVNewsCheck, Adweek, The Wrap, Vital Thrills, TVNewsCheck, Macy's, The Hollywood Reporter, WWD and StockTitan

Annika Pham / Variety:

Norway's Schibsted agrees to buy telco Telia's TV and media business, including TV4 in Sweden and MTV in Finland, for ~$615.3M in a deal set to close in Q3 2025 — Oslo-based heavyweight news-led Schibsted Media has agreed to acquire from Nordic and Baltic telco Telia its TV and Media business led …

Discussion: Advanced Television, Broadband TV News, Mobile World Live, C21Media, TelecomLead, Cision, SportBusiness, Schibsted, IMDb, Reuters, Deadline and WORLD SCREEN

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Sara Fischer / Axios:
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Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
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Gene Maddaus / Variety:
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Wes Davis / The Verge:
YouTube will show fewer mid-roll ads that interrupt sentences or action sequences, and more ads at “natural break points” like transitions, starting May 12

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Adweek:
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Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: during a Sunday staff meeting, Rachel Maddow said she had privately fought MSNBC's recent decisions, before making some complaints public on her show

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BBC:
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Craig Silverman / ProPublica:
How Meta paying bonuses to Facebook creators for viral content, even as it dials back fact checking, may lead to a resurgence of false stories on the platform

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Nilay Patel / The Verge:
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Patience Haggin / Wall Street Journal:
Antenna: around 80% of Disney+/Hulu/Max bundle subscribers from July-September 2024 stayed after three months, a higher retention rate than each service alone

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David Gilbert / Wired:
A profile of Dan Bongino, Trump's FBI deputy director pick and an ex-Fox News host who rose from online conspiracy circles to become a top right-wing podcaster

Zach Everson / Forbes:
SEC filing: Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes earned $47M in 2024, including $44.1M in stock awards, while the company posted a $401M net loss

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From Techmeme:

Bloomberg:
The Trump administration exempts smartphones, laptops, hard drives, processors, memory chips, and machines used to make semiconductors from reciprocal tariffs

Martine Paris / Forbes:
Sam Altman says ChatGPT users had doubled in the past few weeks and that “10% of the world uses our systems”, which would peg the number closer to 800M users

Kate Pickert / Bloomberg:
AI could transform medicine by helping doctors and medical students improve their empathy and bedside manner before they interact with real patients

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