Top News:
Jessica Toonkel / Wall Street Journal:
Sources: Paramount Skydance is preparing a majority cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, backed by the Ellison family; WBD jumps nearly 30% — The majority of the planned bid for Warner will be made up of cash — Paramount Skydance is preparing a majority cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery …
Discussion:
Deadline, Los Angeles Times, Awful Announcing, The Guardian, The Wrap, New York Times, Mediaite, Adweek, Axios, Financial Times, TVNewsCheck, TheDesk.net, Business Insider, Screen Rant, Reuters, CNBC, TheDesk.net, Telegraph, Gizmodo, Engadget, Ace of Spades HQ, Sports Business Journal, NBC Bay Area, @xpangler, Forbes, Graphic Policy, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Quartz, Front Office Sports, Media Play News, NCS | NewscastStudio, @mgsiegler, Cord Cutters News, @akelacooper.bsky.social, The Information, @50501movement.bsky.social, Barrett Media, @jayrosen.bsky.social, @joshsternberg.com, Bloomberg, Comic Book, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, @sherman4949, ZeroHedge News, Consequence, @joshuabenton.com, The Streamable, @kimmasters.bsky.social, @chadquandt.com, @moreperfectus, @azalben.bsky.social, @dylanbyers, @brianstelter.bsky.social, @nick_field90, @hadas_gold, @jtoonkel, @passantino.bsky.social, Sherwood News, @peark.es and Business of TV
Jack Dunn / Variety:
Source: MSNBC fires political analyst Matthew Dowd over his on-air comments about Charlie Kirk; MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler and Dowd apologized for them — Political analyst Matthew Dowd has been fired from MSNBC after his comments about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, according to a network source.
Discussion:
@realDonaldTrump …, @matthewjdowd.bsky.social, @msnbcpr, HuffPost, The Guardian, Adweek, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, New York Times, The Daily Caller, @dceiver.bsky.social, MLive.com, @fatsam@mstdn.social, Blaze Media, @tlf5foot8.bsky.social, @johnshirley2024.bsky.social, Lawyers, Guns & Money, @authorguy.bsky.social, USA Today, Metro.co.uk, Townhall, RADAR, Gizmodo, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, Us Weekly, @_maxgranger, Hollywood Life, TV Insider, @looking_finding, @rbpundit, @jimgeraghty, @chriscillizza, Althouse, @brianstelter, Jewish, The Federalist, The Hollywood Gossip, New Jersey Online, @heerjeet, The Wrap, Sandra Rose, The US Sun, National Enquirer, @trouble_man90, Entertainment Weekly, TMZ.com, Newser, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, @reinbowcleric.bsky.social, @canteverdie, The Daily Signal, @covie_93, @2blessed2nv, National Legal …, Time, @alliegata.bsky.social, Reason, Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, The A.V. Club, New York Post, The Tab, Deadline, NewsMax.com, The Hill, The Washington Free Beacon, al.com, Barrett Media, The National Pulse, One America News Network, Plain Dealer, New York Daily News, @atherton.bsky.social, Newsweek, Mediaite, Tampa Free Press, Fox News, Variety, ZeroHedge News, The Gateway Pundit, Deseret News, RedState, Washington Examiner, Suggest, Imprisoned for llama crimes, Raw Story, HotAir, The Hollywood Reporter, Just Jared, The Post Millennial and Breitbart
David Folkenflik / NPR:
NPR names Thomas Evans as its new editor-in-chief, starting September 15; Evans joined NPR in 2024 and was previously CNN's London bureau chief — NPR is poised to name a new news chief at a moment of uncertainty for the network, when it must adjust to the end of federal funding for public media …
Bloomberg:
China says it opposes 90-day US visa limits for Chinese journalists, compared to 240 days for others, and does not “want to see a new round of ‘media warfare’” — China has pushed back against Washington's proposed new visa limits on Chinese journalists in the US …
Discussion:
European Federation … and KSTP-TV
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
MediaRadar: pharmaceutical industry spent $6.4B on US TV ads in 2024; drug companies may cut TV ad spend if new rules mandate the inclusion of all side effects — Pharmaceutical industry spending on TV ads topped $6 billion last year — The Trump administration is cracking …
Discussion:
Suzanne Vranica on LinkedIn and Nieman Lab
RELATED:
New York Times:
President Trump signs a memorandum seeking to reinstate a pre-1997 policy that would sharply restrict prescription drug advertising on TV and social media
President Trump signs a memorandum seeking to reinstate a pre-1997 policy that would sharply restrict prescription drug advertising on TV and social media
Discussion:
Inside Radio, Not the Bee, CNN, MedPage Today, @mariopro.bsky.social, KSTP-TV, Deseret News, RealClearPolitics, Newsweek, Adweek, NewsMax.com, Daily Kos, RedState, Pharmaceutical Technology, The Wrap, The Post Millennial, Benzinga, The Hollywood Reporter, @cdarwin@c.im, @proudlyblue.bsky.social, @andrewmceo.bsky.social, Bloomberg, UPI and Time
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster sue Perplexity, alleging that it unlawfully scraped their websites and redirected their traffic to its AI summaries — Perplexity AI is the latest artificial intelligence company to be hit with a lawsuit by copyright holders …
John Koblin / New York Times:
The differences between Severance and The Pitt in terms of budget, star power, time between seasons, and genre attest to changes in priorities for streamers — The Apple TV+ drama “Severance” and the HBO Max medical series “The Pitt” have only one thing in common: Both shows center on a workplace.
Discussion:
AppleInsider, The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, 9to5Mac and MacDailyNews
Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
Analysis: journalism's DEI efforts in the US have declined, fueled in part by the Trump administration's quashing of diversity initiatives — Diversity-related newsroom jobs haven't totally disappeared — but they also haven't stuck. — In 2020, as George Floyd's killing …
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix and AMC extend their licensing deal, adding new AMC shows and some library titles to Netflix; some titles will be available in international markets — The deal includes new seasons of current shows like ‘The Walking Dead Daryl Dixon,’ and library content like ‘Orphan Black’
Discussion:
Screen Rant and Variety
John Paul Rathbone / Financial Times:
Turkish authorities seize Can Holdings, which owns one of the country's last independent broadcasters, as part of a probe into money laundering and tax evasion — Takeover of one of last remaining independent news groups in graft probe extends government control over national media
Discussion:
@robertscotthorton.bsky.social and Winnipeg Free Press
David Bauder / Associated Press:
While traditional media avoided sharing explicit videos of Charlie Kirk's assassination, gory imagery flooded social media, including X, Instagram, and TikTok — They were careful with the explicit imagery — as usual. But did it make any difference? — Traditional news organizations …
Discussion:
Wired, Associated Press, Vox, NewsMax.com, KOIN.com, KELOLAND.com, WRIC ABC 8News, Poynter, @jackjenkins.me, @nikitabier, The Tab, The Independent, @paulyacoubian, Mirror, @gkamstra, @struglord, New York Times, The Hill, @newsjennifer.bsky.social, New York Times, New York Post, @faineg.bsky.social, @rincewind.run, @trashmale.bsky.social, @faineg.bsky.social, @refusecomplicity.bsky.social, twitchy.com, New York Times, @winterwarpath.bsky.social, The US Sun, LAmag, The Gateway Pundit, Althouse and Deseret News, more at Techmeme »
Lesley Goldberg / The Ankler:
Netflix's 10-year worldwide exclusive licensing deals for original shows like House of Cards are starting to expire, allowing studios to reclaim and resell them — ‘House of Cards,’ ‘Orange Is the New Black’ and 130+ shows are set to hit the market as FASTs, rival streamers and yes, cable, muscle in
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck and Deadline
