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9:40 AM ET, December 8, 2025

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 Top News: 
CNBC:
Paramount launches a hostile bid to acquire WBD, offering WBD shareholders $30/share in a $108.4B all-cash deal; sources say WBD rejected the same bid last week  —  Paramount Skydance is launching a hostile bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery after it lost out to Netflix in a months-long bidding war …
RELATED:
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Ted Sarandos met with Trump in November, arguing that Netflix wasn't a monopoly; Sarandos agreed with Trump that WBD should sell to the highest bidder  —  Netflix Inc. co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos ventured to the White House in mid-November for a meeting with President Donald Trump.
Bloomberg:
President Trump says Netflix's WBD deal has “got to go through a process”, its big market share “could be a problem”, and he will be involved in the decision  —  US President Donald Trump raised potential antitrust concerns around Netflix Inc.'s planned $72 billion acquisition …
Financial Times:
Sources: WBD's board wanted a proposal it could sign immediately, and Netflix was the only bidder whose paperwork was fully executable the night of December 4
Kerry Flynn / Axios:
Samba TV raised up to $60M in venture debt to scale through acquisitions and new AI-powered measurement tools; Samba previously raised $69M in equity funding  —  Samba TV has secured up to $60 million in venture debt to scale through acquisitions and new AI-powered measurement tools, CEO Ashwin Navin exclusively tells Axios.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
The Academy reports fiscal 2025 revenues of $269.2M, up from $263.1M in 2024, after cutting expenses from $220.1M to $208.1M; Oscars revenue grew to $150.5M  —  “It is so important that we continue to diversify revenue streams and control expenses to allow for a sustainable and impactful future," Academy CEO Bill Kramer tells THR.
Discussion: Variety
Matt Donnelly / Variety:
A look at the auction for the Oscars' TV rights, as sources say Netflix is out, NBCUniversal gains ground, and YouTube and ABC remain active bidders  —  There are eight weeks left on the holy Hollywood awards calendar until Oscar nominations are announced, and it's not just artists and craftspeople hunting for trophies.
Megan Graham / Wall Street Journal:
WPP Media expects global ad revenue, excluding US political ads, to grow 8.8% YoY in 2025 to $1.14T, and says AI investment drives more spending than expected  —  A new report from WPP Media says global ad revenue will reach $1.14 trillion this year  —  Advertising spending will grow …
Max Tani / Semafor:
Source: OpenAI privately complained to NBC News that the author of a story about OpenAI pressuring nonprofits was backed by a nonprofit involved in the story  —  The Scoop  —  Last month, NBC News broke the news that the artificial intelligence behemoth OpenAI had quietly issued a series …
Variety:
The WGA, which routinely opposes media mergers, says the Netflix-WBD deal must be blocked, and the Producers and Directors guilds express concern over the deal  —  SAG-AFTRA says proposed pact raises ‘serious questions about its impact on the future of the entertainment industry’
RELATED:
Katie Campione / Deadline:
SAG-AFTRA puts off taking a position on the Netflix-WBD deal but says a deal benefiting its members “must result in more creation and more production, not less”
Jody Godoy / Reuters:
Congressional Democrats and Republicans criticize the Netflix-WBD deal, saying it would raise streaming subscription prices and lessen workers' pay and control
John Koblin / New York Times:
Netflix's WBD deal should quiet concerns, for now, from CNN employees worried about the prospect of Paramount combining CBS News and CNN in a WBD acquisition  —  The prospect of Paramount's buying Warner Bros. Discovery had led CNN journalists to wonder if the channel may be combined with CBS News.
Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:
A look at Paramount's culture shift under David Ellison, where the focus is on male-driven action movies, and not on prestige films seen as critics' darlings  —  It's a brand-new day at the legacy studio, where prestige films are out, testosterone-heavy tentpoles are in and Brett Ratner is back on the call sheet.
RELATED:
Oliver Darcy / Status:
Sources: David Ellison's interference in WBD's failed summer talks to extend HBO Max's South Park licensing deal left David Zaslav distrustful of Ellison
 
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 More News: 
Kat Tenbarge / Wired:
Some Reddit moderators say a surge of AI slop on the site is eroding its authenticity and could lead to a feedback loop of AI models training on AI content
 Earlier Picks: 
Humeyra Pamuk / Reuters:
The Trump administration orders enhanced vetting of H-1B applicants and their families for past work in “censorship”, including fact-checking and online safety
Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:
Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi agree to part ways and let her contract expire at the end of the year, following new allegations about her affair with RFK Jr.
 

 
From Techmeme:

Lauren Thomas / Wall Street Journal:
IBM agrees to acquire data streaming software maker Confluent for ~$11B in cash, above its ~$8B market value as of its December 5 close, paying $31 per share

Bloomberg:
President Trump says he will sign “a ONE RULE” EO on AI “this week” and “you can't expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something”

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Internal memo: Johny Srouji, who oversees Apple's chip division, tells his employees that “I don't plan on leaving anytime soon”
 
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