Top News:
Reuters:
The FCC opens a review of agreements between national networks and local TV stations, including about rules controlling how stations preempt network programs — - FCC reviews network-affiliate agreements after Trump's ABC license comments — FCC to ask whether national broadcasters …
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Ted Johnson / Deadline:
The White House sends out a press release calling ABC News “a Democrat spin operation masquerading as a broadcast network” and cataloging perceived offenses — A day after President Donald Trump blew up at ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce and called for the network to lose …
Discussion:
The White House, @fangsbites.bsky.social, @steve@s.yelvington.com, The Wrap, Mirror US, New Republic and NBC News
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Trump calls for ABC to lose its broadcast license and says Brendan Carr “should look at that” after an ABC reporter asked questions about Khashoggi and Epstein
Trump calls for ABC to lose its broadcast license and says Brendan Carr “should look at that” after an ABC reporter asked questions about Khashoggi and Epstein
Discussion:
Poynter, TVNewsCheck, @cdarwin@c.im, The American Bazaar, Robert Reich, @westwingreport, Newsbusters, Reason, NBC News, MS NOW, @billiejsweeney.bsky.social, @dbauder.bsky.social, Newser, Mediaite, UPI, Suggest, Straight Arrow News, National Press Club, PinkNews, The Independent, New York Sun, Associated Press, Barrett Media, @kaydeeartist.com, CNN, All Rise News, New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Matters for America, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, The Hollywood Gossip, Fortune, Raw Story, NewsMax.com, Roll Call, Zeteo, @kaedotcom.bsky.social, PBS NewsHour, Fox News, @timkarr.bsky.social, ABC News, Politico, The Hill, al.com, Mirror US, @maxwelltani, New Republic, The Guardian, TMZ.com, Fox News, People, Reuters, Daily Caller News Foundation, Time, The Wrap, The Gateway Pundit, Political Wire, @klasfeldreports.com, Washington Examiner, @gbrandonffx.bsky.social, Mirror, New York Times, New Jersey Online, ZeroHedge News, NOTUS, Financial Times, The Sun, CBS News, Bloomberg, CNBC and Joe.My.God.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Netflix has told WBD management that it will honor WBD's contractual agreements to release movies in theaters if it's successful in buying the company — Netflix Inc. has told management of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. that it will keep releasing the studio's films in theaters …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, Investor's Business Daily, Sherwood News and Tampa Free Press
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Variety:
Sources: Paramount Skydance formed a consortium with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds to bid $71B for WBD; Paramount denies the claim
Sources: Paramount Skydance formed a consortium with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds to bid $71B for WBD; Paramount denies the claim
Discussion:
Axios, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, MediaPost, Media Play News, @homeofdcu, TVBEurope, TVNewsCheck, Wall Street Journal, Barron's Online, Deadline, Status, The Business Times, Puck, @keepitweird.bsky.social, Capital Brief, Al Jazeera, Yahoo Finance, Financial Times, @brianstelter, New York Post, @ryanhiggins.bsky.social, World of Reel, Bloomberg, Bloomberg Law, Reuters, @danielmcfee.bsky.social, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, r/MediaMergers and r/boxoffice
Andrew Marchand / The Athletic:
MLB finalizes deals with NBC/Peacock, Netflix, and ESPN; sources: NBC/Peacock pays ~$200M/year, Netflix pays $50M/season, ESPN maintains $1.65B over three years — Major League Baseball announced its new TV deals with NBC, Netflix and ESPN on Wednesday, restructuring its broadcast future.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Sportico, ESPN Press Room U.S., Sports Business Journal, NBCSports.com, Front Office Sports, UPI, mxdwn Television, @espnpr, Barrett Media, Plain Dealer, San Diego Union-Tribune, Axios, iDrop News, True Blue LA, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, MacTrast, The Mac Observer, Cord Cutters News, The US Sun, TV Media Blog, New York Daily News, Awful Announcing, MacTech.com, Engadget, CNBC, Reuters, New Jersey Online, MacRumors, Sports Video Group, ESPN.com, USA Today, Washington Post, Associated Press, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Deadline, NBC News, Variety, Sports Illustrated, MLB.com, Wall Street Journal, TVNewsCheck, Daring Fireball, The Big Lead, Sporting News, Fox Business, The Japan Times, The Streamable and Android Authority
Andrew Deck / Nieman Lab:
All four reporters at Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit news site, accused their EIC of using generative AI tools without disclosure; one reporter was fired — Suncoast Searchlight's four reporters told the board their editor-in-chief was using AI editing tools and inserting hallucinations into drafts.
Paul Roberts / Seattle Times:
Seattle Times Publisher Frank Blethen plans to step down December 31 after four decades, to be succeeded by his son, Ryan Blethen; Alan Fisco will become CEO — Ryan Blethen will serve as the next publisher of The Seattle Times, the daily newspaper his great-great grandfather founded in 1896, the company announced Wednesday.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Amazon launches a Video Recaps feature on Prime Video that uses AI to summarize a show's key plot points with snippets and music, available in beta for US users — Feature debuts after streamer introduced text-based AI recaps last year … Now Amazon is using AI to add sight, sound and motion to the mix.
Discussion:
Engadget, BGR, Android Police, Newser, Thurrott, MobileSyrup, Android Headlines, Deadline, Cord Cutters News, CNET, StreamTV Insider, About Amazon, TechRadar and The Hollywood Reporter
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: UMG, WMG, and Sony Music have licensed their works to Klay, which is building a streaming service that will let users remake songs using AI tools — The world's largest music companies have licensed their works to a music startup called Klay, which is building a streaming service …
Discussion:
Reuters and NextBigWhat
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Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Letter: FCC Chair Brendan Carr asks outgoing BBC DG Tim Davie, PBS, and NPR whether the controversially edited January 6 Trump speech clip had aired in the US — Regulator asks UK broadcaster if misleading ‘Panorama’ clip was aired in US — The Federal Communications Commission …
Defector:
Defector reports Year 5 revenue up 1% YoY to $4.65M, including $3.8M from subscriptions; all 19 original co-founders continue to work at the worker-owned outlet — Purpose of this report — Defector celebrated our fifth birthday in September 2025. It is a great honor, and something of a burden …
Ivan L. Nagy / Columbia Journalism Review:
Guardian US EIC Betsy Reed says the outlet expects to bring in $50M+ this year, up from $43M last year, and plans to grow newsletters and launch a news podcast — This fall, as publicly funded media was hollowed out by budget cuts, billionaire owners bowed to political pressure …
Discussion:
@jayrosen.bsky.social and @columjournreview.bsky.social
Rachel Behrndt / WFAA-TV:
Hearst plans to lay off 26 people at The Dallas Morning News, outsourcing print page production; the Dallas News Guild says the action violates its contract — Nearly two months after officially acquiring the paper, Hearst will lay off 26 people at the Dallas Morning News, the paper confirmed Wednesday.
Discussion:
@vtuss.bsky.social, MediaPost, @markstenberg3, @dallasnewsguild and Dallas Business Journal
