Top News:
Charles Gasparino / New York Post:
Sources: Netflix ramps up a charm offensive in its pitch to WBD and is sowing doubts about the inevitability of Paramount's bid from an antitrust standpoint — Netflix is ramping up a major charm offensive with Warner Bros. Discovery and US regulators as it pursues the media giant's streaming service …
Discussion:
The Wrap, @devonheinen.bsky.social, @cgasparino, MediaPost, Forbes and r/MediaMergers
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Bloomberg:
Sources: WBD asks bidders to submit improved offers by December 1 and might enter a period of exclusive negotiations with one of the companies after those bids — Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., the parent of HBO and CNN, has asked potential buyers to submit new, sweetened offers after receiving …
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, The Wrap, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Cord Cutters News, Reuters, Media Play News, Deadline and r/MediaMergers
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Sources: Paramount plans to distribute Brett Ratner-directed Rush Hour 4 after Trump asked it to revive the franchise; Ratner directed Amazon's Melania doc — “Rush Hour 4” is in the works, with Paramount on board to distribute the newest installment in the buddy-cop series.
Discussion:
IndieWire, Mediaite, Deadline, Breitbart, Comic Book, Dow Jones Newswires, Us Weekly, CNBC, The Daily Caller, Hollywood Life, Benzinga, The Guardian, Washington Examiner, Plain Dealer, The A.V. Club, TMZ.com, Puck, @virtualbri@mastodon.online, @candicefrederick.bsky.social, Alternet.org, @annabower.bsky.social, @mattbelloni, World of Reel, @fhartunknown.myatproto.social, @carnage4life.bsky.social, @cmewing.bsky.social, The Wrap, Screen Rant, The Hollywood Reporter, DNYUZ, Oh No They Didn't!, Semafor, Just Jared, Decider and New Republic
Kristin Robinson / Billboard:
Documents: AI music startup Suno has spent $32M on compute power and just $2,000 on data, such as music, to train its model since January 2024 — Suno has raised $250 million in a quest to become a “verticalized” creation, social media and streaming service, according to investment documents obtained by Billboard.
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Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:
Warner Music and AI music generator Suno strike a deal, settling previous litigation; Suno will launch licensed AI models and will acquire WMG's Songkick — Warner Music Group and AI music generator Suno have struck what they call a “first-of-its-kind partnership”.
Discussion:
Variety, Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Suno, Engadget, Sam Tall on LinkedIn, The Wrap, DNYUZ, Music Ally, Digital Music News, Billboard, @nayakkayak, @hersh_desai, @mignano, @buckymoore, @koltregaskes, @koltregaskes, @koltregaskes, @mattvidpro, @mikeyshulman, @matdryhurst, @future_of_music, @gavinpurcell, Forbes, Rolling Stone, The Verge, Warner Music Group, WinBuzzer, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg and Reuters, more at Techmeme »
Michael Savage / The Guardian:
Dutch author Rutger Bregman says the BBC removed his Reith Lecture claim that Trump is “the most openly corrupt” US president ever; the BBC cites “legal advice” — Dutch writer Rutger Bregman says claim that Trump was ‘most openly corrupt president in US history’ was removed
Discussion:
New Republic, New York Times, @rcbregman, @lordwoolamaloo.bsky.social, The Daily Beast, @jmpsimor, @gregsargent.bsky.social, @policecommander, @rikiwilchins.bsky.social, @rcbregman, @bachmannrudi, @cricketwyvern, Deadline, @JugglingWithEggs@mstdn.social, @rcbregman, @dpiponi@mathstodon.xyz, @rcbregman, @anna4fes, The Irish News, @jamiesont, @antonmuscatelli, @rcbregman, @ewanmg.bsky.social, The Wrap, @profbillmcguire.bsky.social, @mossman@social.vivaldi.net, The New World, @michaelsavage, @sundersays.bsky.social, @volts.wtf, @kartikkulkarn18, @jmpsimor, Financial Times, The New World and Alternet.org
Bloomberg:
In interviews, 22 indie food creators say Google's AI Overviews and AI food pics on Pinterest and Facebook have decimated traffic and yielded unusable recipes — Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures — Eb Gargano has been writing recipes …
Emmett Lindner / New York Times:
Charm.io: TikTok Shop reached $10B+ in US sales across 600K creators between January and October, up from $5B YoY; global sales are on par with eBay's — The popular app's online marketplace is growing rapidly in the United States, driven by TikTok's popularity and influencer advertisements that look a lot like TV infomercials.
Discussion:
Alex Nisenzon on LinkedIn and TheIndustry.beauty
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Sarah Rumpf / Mediaite:
A Florida judge grants The Guardian's and others' motions to dismiss Trump Media's defamation lawsuit over reporting on a federal criminal investigation — A Florida judge granted motions to dismiss to The Guardian and other defendants in a defamation lawsuit filed by Truth Social's parent company …
Tyler Falk / Current:
The NPR Network revenue programs brought in $18.3M in FY25, including $9M from NPR Network donations and podcast subscriptions via NPR+, up nearly 5x YoY — NPR's programs to help raise funds for public radio stations have exceeded expectations, network executives reported during a Friday board meeting.
Jake Kanter / Deadline:
Memo: the BBC presents plans to save £100M by shrinking its workforce to invest in digital resources and content, potentially affecting jobs in legal and more — BBC chief operating officer Leigh Tavaziva wrote to employees on Tuesday (full memo below) to address Deadline's report …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck and The Wrap
Scharon Harding / Ars Technica:
Plex starts to enforce a rule requiring users to pay for a Plex Pass or Remote Watch Pass to stream from a remote server on Roku; other platforms follow in 2026 — Plex is starting to enforce its new rules, which prevent users from remotely accessing a personal media server without a subscription fee.
Discussion:
@devonheinen.bsky.social, AppleInsider, How-To Geek and r/PleX
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
X exposing political accounts' location shows why trust and safety teams mattered: to combat coordinated inauthentic behavior, not “censorship” of viewpoints — from the it's-almost-as-if-there-are-some-bad- actors-online dept — For the last few years, Matt Taibbi …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Straight Arrow News, CBS News, El País, @nxthompson, @carlquintanilla, @joshkraushaar, Implicator.ai, NBC News, The Week, Digital CxO, @passantino.bsky.social, @joshkraushaar, @brenttoderian, @pwrussell.bsky.social, @ruthmichaelson.com, @watchdogprg.bsky.social, Pixel Envy, @jasondovemark.bsky.social, @bostonjoan.bsky.social, @mmasnick.bsky.social, @cwarzel.bsky.social, @anirvan@mastodon.social, Mother Jones, @ndhapple.bsky.social, @annamerlan.bsky.social, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Business Insider, Inc, Metro.co.uk, Mashable, israelhayom.com, Salon and Axios, more at Techmeme »
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