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9:35 AM ET, July 25, 2025

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Todd Spangler / Variety:
The FCC approves the Paramount-Skydance deal, granting the transfer of licenses for 28 CBS-owned local TV stations to the Skydance-led ownership group  —  The FCC has granted approvals necessary to clear the way for the $8 billion merger of Paramount Global and David Ellison's Skydance Media.
RELATED:
Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the FCC, dissents against the Paramount-Skydance merger and says the FCC made “unprecedented” moves to help broker the deal  —  “Despite this regrettable outcome, this Administration is not done with its assault on the First Amendment.
Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Chris McCarthy, co-CEO of Paramount Global and president of Showtime/MTV, plans to depart the company once its acquisition by Skydance is completed  —  Chris McCarthy, co-CEO of Paramount Global and president of Showtime/MTV Entertainment, has opted to depart the company once its acquisition by Skydance is completed early next month.
Peter White / Deadline:
Source: E! News, the long-running celebrity news show, will end on September 25; its digital brand will continue with a focus on social platforms  —  Versant, the nascent company that oversees E! as well as a number of former NBCUniversal cable networks, is axing the show, which first launched in 1991, in September.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Meta will end political, election, or social issue ads in the EU from October, like Google, with both citing incoming regulation  —  Meta on Friday said starting in October it will no longer accept political, election or social issue ads in the European Union, in response to new regulation …
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Donations to US public media surge amid funding cuts, up by ~$70M YoY so far in 2025, but still fall well short of the annual $550M that Congress has cut  —  Donors are turning out to support local stations, but those contributions so far fall well short of the annual $550 million that Congress cut.
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
A look at micro dramas, like those on China's ReelShort: a whole season typically films in two weeks and features tired tropes and actors from ad backgrounds  —  How did steamy, short soap operas that originated in China become the hottest thing in Hollywood, seemingly overnight?
Melissa Heikkilä / Financial Times:
Q&A with Stability AI CEO Prem Akkaraju on taking over from Emad Mostaque, his movie background, data and copyright, working with creative industries, and more  —  The boss of the company behind Stable Diffusion insists film industry fears about the impact of the popular image-generating AI model are misplaced
Discussion: implicator.ai
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Fortune laid off its European editorial team, including Executive Editor Alex Wood Morton; the layoffs took place before its 10% global workforce cut on July 21  —  The redundancies are separate to newly-announced plans to cut 10% of the Fortune global workforce.
Jesse Whittock / Deadline:
Sony acquires a ~2.5% stake in Tekken and Pac-Man owner Bandai Namco for $464M, to expand “the fan community for IP such as anime and manga around the world”  —  Sony Corp. has taken a small stake in Tekken and Pac-Man games giant Bandai Namco, as part of a strategic business alliance.
Jenna Amatulli / The Guardian:
One day after signing a $1.5B deal with Paramount, South Park satirizes Paramount's settlement with Trump, pro-Trump PSAs, and the cancellation of The Late Show  —  Show begins 27th season covering Trump's lawsuit against Paramount and cancellation of Stephen Colbert's show, depicting Trump in bed with Satan
 
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 More News: 
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Spotify and Netflix launch a minigolf game within Spotify's app to promote Happy Gilmore 2, marking Spotify's first partnership for an in-app gaming experience
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: the NFL is in talks to take a minority stake of up to 10% in ESPN, which would own NFL Network and RedZone rather than just hold a controlling stake
Jon Lewis / Sports Media Watch:
MLS commissioner Don Garber says matches on Apple TV's MLS Season Pass are averaging 120,000 unique viewers this season, a 50% increase from last year
 Earlier Picks: 
Ellen Ehrlich / Press Gazette:
Under a new amendment, English and Welsh courts will have to notify journalists in advance when reporting restrictions are applied for, starting in October
Discussion: InPublishing and HoldtheFrontPage
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
CBS News names Tanya Simon as executive producer of 60 Minutes; she has served as interim executive producer since Bill Owens resigned in April
Amy Walker / BBC:
BBC News, AFP, the AP, and Reuters say they are “desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves”
Charlotte Klein / New York Magazine:
A look at WaPo's recent staff departures: five WaPo Opinion columnists, including Philip Bump, have taken buyouts, while two have moved to the newsroom
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta is considering deep budget cuts to its metaverse efforts in 2026, potentially as high as 30% and most likely including layoffs as early as January

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple says general counsel Kate Adams and policy chief Lisa Jackson will retire, and Jennifer Newstead, Meta's former chief legal officer, will replace Adams

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Two studies suggest AI chatbots can shift political views more effectively than TV campaign ads, especially by presenting many claims, regardless of accuracy
 
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