Top News:
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Netflix agrees to buy WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash-and-stock deal; the transaction is expected to close after Q3 2026 — Deal will transform US tech company into the dominant player in Hollywood — Netflix has agreed an $83bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery …
Discussion:
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Tony Maglio / The Hollywood Reporter:
In the press release announcing the deal, Netflix says it “expects to maintain Warner Bros.' current operations..., including theatrical releases for films” — Now that that's settled... Netflix just solidified itself as the leading entertainment company (and then some), and all it cost was $83 billion.
Discussion:
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CNBC:
Letter: Paramount expresses concern to WBD about the “fairness and adequacy” of the sales process, accusing WBD of favoring Netflix's offer
Letter: Paramount expresses concern to WBD about the “fairness and adequacy” of the sales process, accusing WBD of favoring Netflix's offer
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The Guardian:
Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, and the Netherlands exit Eurovision after Israel received an all-clear to compete; the BBC and Germany's SWR plan to participate — Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands pull out after decision not to hold vote on Israel's participation
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Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
The EU fines X €120M for breaching online content rules, the first fine under the DSA, citing issues including the deceptive design of its blue checkmarks — Elon Musk's social media company X was fined 120 million euros ($140 million) by EU tech regulators on Friday …
David Pierce / The Verge:
Yahoo launches Game Breakdowns in beta, offering AI-generated game summaries, stats, and play recaps, all updated live, to Yahoo Fantasy Plus subscribers — AI models are very useful for mining stats to see exactly what's going on in the game you're watching.
Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
The Chicago Tribune sues Perplexity for copyright infringement, alleging Perplexity's platforms lift Tribune content verbatim and divert traffic from the paper — The Chicago Tribune filed a copyright infringement lawsuit Thursday in New York federal court against Perplexity AI …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, MediaPost, Tech Times, TechCrunch, nextbigwhat and Decode TV
Max Tani / Semafor:
Sources: Atlas Obscura's co-founders were pushed out of the company amid clashes with CEO Louise Story, who has trimmed staff and changed editorial strategy — The Scoop — Several months into Louise Story's tenure as CEO of Atlas Obscura, co-founders Joshua Foer and Dylan Thuras seemed pleased enough …
Discussion:
@ellenenders.bsky.social
James Faris / Business Insider:
Kalshi strikes a deal with CNBC that will integrate Kalshi's prediction data into CNBC's channel, site, and app starting in 2026, days after striking a CNN deal — - CNBC is partnering with prediction site Kalshi to integrate its data, starting in 2026. — Kalshi and Polymarket …
Jane Fonda / The Ankler:
Jane Fonda warns that a WBD merger in any form is an alarming escalation in media consolidation, threatening the entertainment industry and the First Amendment — Jane Fonda is a two-time Oscar-winning actress, producer and activist. She earlier appeared on The Rushfield Lunch to announce …
Mark Stenberg / Adweek:
Bloomberg Media COO Julia Beizer is leaving the company, a source says to lead Microsoft's AI news product, working under Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman — The longtime media veteran will work under Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman — The chief operating officer of Bloomberg Media …
Discussion:
Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn and Talking Biz News
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
CBS Evening News co-anchor Maurice DuBois will exit CBS News on December 18, as EIC Bari Weiss and President Tom Cibrowski overhaul the evening newscast — DuBois follows his co-anchor John Dickerson, who will leave CBS at the end of the year. — CBS Evening News co-anchor Maurice DuBois …
Sara Fischer / Axios:
MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, plans to launch membership subscriptions in the summer of 2026, offering events, curated insights, and moderated community spaces — MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, plans to launch a membership-based, direct-to-consumer product next summer, the network's president Rebecca Kutler plans …
