Top News:
Wall Street Journal:
Sources: after Netflix announced its WBD deal, Larry Ellison called Trump to argue it would hurt competition; Paramount CEO David Ellison promised CNN changes — David Ellison has launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Discovery, taking his case directly to shareholders after Netflix clinched a deal
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Financial Times, @brianstelter, The Wrap, The Hill, Deadline, Daily Mail, Mediaite, The American Bazaar, Defector, Front Office Sports, TV Insider, Techdirt, New Republic, The Economist, New York Times, Fortune, Raw Story, Politico, Joe.My.God., 80 Level, Wonkette, New York Times, @lulugnavarro, Reuters, Times of India, @carnage4life@mas.to, @thetnholler.bsky.social, @brianstelter.bsky.social, Malay Mail, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, @annmlipton@esq.social, Business Insider, Observer, Vanity Fair, Inc.com and Hollywood Life, more at Techmeme »
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Ben Thompson / Stratechery:
Netflix changed movie distribution and its executives now think that licensing shows leaves money on the table; YouTube may help Netflix's WBD antitrust case — Netflix is driving the Hollywood end game, likely confident it can increase the value of IP, and fend off YouTube.
Discussion:
MakeUseOf, @simonowens.bsky.social, Tech Times, @kwcollins.bsky.social, @buccocapital, /Film and AppleInsider
Financial Times:
Inside Paramount's new WBD bid: after six failed proposals across 12 weeks, and alleging WBD's board ignored a final offer, Paramount went hostile to buy WBD — Ellison's approach was rebuffed over concerns about financial backing from China and Middle East sovereign funds
Discussion:
One America News Network, France 24, The National, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Livemint, The Times, @marychilds.bsky.social, IWCP Online, primetimer.com, TechCrunch, CBC News, Fortune, Sports Media Watch, Axios, PitchBook, The North West Star, Sydney Morning Herald, BBC, The Wrap, The Guardian, SiliconANGLE, ABC, Deadline, Bloomberg, Ars Technica, TheDesk.net, The Independent and Semafor
Rohan Goswami / Semafor:
Sources: Paramount's Gulf sovereign funding, accounting for ~30% of the deal's value, and potential political scrutiny led WBD to reject Paramount's initial bid
Discussion:
The Streamable, Reuters, TVNewsCheck and Mediaite
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Filing: Paramount's outside partners for its WBD bid include Saudi Arabia's PIF, Abu Dhabi's L'imad, Qatar Investment Authority, and Jared Kushner's Affinity
Filing: Paramount's outside partners for its WBD bid include Saudi Arabia's PIF, Abu Dhabi's L'imad, Qatar Investment Authority, and Jared Kushner's Affinity
Discussion:
Axios, Democracy Now, Bloomberg, Game World Observer, New York Times, TV Tech, Gulf News, France 24, Financial Post, @vanhollen.senate.gov, @sherman4949, @scottnover, @kasparov63, @rpsagainsttrump, Fortune, @sarafischer, @lucas_shaw, @hshaban, @scottnover, @sarafischer, @jczive, Australian Financial Review, @semaforben, B&T, The Times of Israel, @sarafischer, @lucas_shaw, Politico, @kylegriffin1.bsky.social, Motley Fool, CBC News, Bloomberg Law, Fast Company, The Hill, NME, The Moderate Voice, @chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.ca, Financial Times, @vanhollen.senate.gov, Reuters, The Movie Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Screen Rant, @ryanenos.bsky.social, The National, @karlbode.com, Inc.com, Yahoo Finance, UPI, masslive.com, Benzinga, @panda-news.bsky.social, @kcfennessy.bsky.social, @rosesbloom24.bsky.social, @newsguy.bsky.social, @renegadecut.bsky.social, @schooley.bsky.social, @stephentotilo.bsky.social, @kristoncapps.bsky.social, @franciswilkinson.bsky.social, @emptywheel.bsky.social, @bmdrew73.bsky.social and CNBC
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Ted Sarandos says Paramount's “move was entirely expected”, but Netflix is “super confident” that it will get the WBD deal “across the line and finish”
Ted Sarandos says Paramount's “move was entirely expected”, but Netflix is “super confident” that it will get the WBD deal “across the line and finish”
Discussion:
Politico, Boston Business Journal, The Wrap, Media Play News, TVNewsCheck, Mediaweek, World of Reel, Deadline, Business Insider, Los Angeles Business Journal, Screen, Fortune, Investor's Business Daily, StreamTV Insider, Cord Cutters News, CinemaBlend, Axios, Screen Rant, Benzinga, Bloomberg, The Movie Blog and The Hollywood Reporter
Barbara Moens / Financial Times:
The European Commission opens an investigation into Google to assess possible anticompetitive conduct by Google in “the use of online content for AI purposes” — Investigation is the bloc's latest challenge to American Big Tech companies — Brussels has launched an investigation …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Variety, Thurrott, Breitbart, Global Competition Review, Wall Street Pit, WinBuzzer, The Register, UPI, Android Headlines, Computerworld, TVNewsCheck, eWeek, Benzinga, Engadget, The Decoder, The Irish Times, Deutsche Welle, Digit, Business Today, European Commission, Politico, Livemint, Dow Jones Newswires, Channel NewsAsia, Blockonomi, Sharecast, Ukrainian National News, Euronews, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Agence France-Presse, The Verge, PYMNTS.com, Türkiye Today, Reuters, NDTV Profit, Novinite.com, CNBC and Bloomberg Law, more at Techmeme »
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Matt Gutman is leaving ABC News to join CBS News as chief correspondent on January 5, reporting across the network as well as lead correspondent for 48 Hours — Gutman also will contribute to future seasons of 60 Minutes, and will serve as fill-in anchor. He will start in Jan. 5 and will be based in Los Angeles.
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Oliver Darcy / Status:
Sources: Tony Dokoupil is set to be the next CBS Evening News anchor beginning in the new year, despite an external search for a high-profile star
Sources: Tony Dokoupil is set to be the next CBS Evening News anchor beginning in the new year, despite an external search for a high-profile star
Discussion:
Variety, New York Post, Showbiz411, The Independent, Poynter, TV Insider, Barrett Media, Mediaite, @nickfield.bsky.social and @oliverdarcy.bsky.social
Tyler Falk / Current:
The Public Media Bridge Fund awards $26M across 74 organizations that operate more than 180 public radio and TV stations — The Public Media Bridge Fund is awarding $26 million in its first round of grants to public media organizations that are most in need following the loss of federal funding earlier this year.
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Trump attacks Paramount owners as “no better than the old ownership”, demanding an apology from 60 Minutes and Lesley Stahl for Marjorie Taylor Greene interview — Donald Trump said that the Ellison-owned Paramount is “no better than the old ownership,” as he lashed out at the company …
Jesse Whittock / Deadline:
Steven Bartlett's FlightStory makes a “seven-figure” investment in Maggie Sellers Reum's Hot Smart Rich, whose podcast reached 1.8M+ downloads in its first year — Terms of the deal haven't been fully revealed and the size of the stake isn't known, but the cash will go towards scaling HSR …
Discussion:
PodcastingToday, Forbes and BusinessCloud
Deborah Mary Sophia / Reuters:
Wikimedia Foundation names Bernadette Meehan, who was the US Ambassador to Chile from 2022 to 2025, as its new CEO — Wikimedia Foundation, the operator of Wikipedia, on Tuesday named Bernadette Meehan its chief executive officer, tapping an administrator with deep policy expertise …
Discussion:
Diff, more at Techmeme »
Kendra Barnett / Adweek:
PubMatic partners with Kontext to let advertisers choose the chatbots they'd like to appear in and use Kontext's tech to generate ads that fit the chatbot chats — The integration enables advertisers to buy ads across a range of AI interfaces through PubMatic or their DSP of choice.
Discussion:
AdExchanger
Praveen Paramasivam / Reuters:
JioHotstar plans to invest $444M over five years to acquire and produce content from South India, as it plans to more than double its 200M+ subscriber base — India's JioHotstar plans to invest $444 million over five years to acquire and produce content from south India, an executive said on Monday …
Discussion:
Variety, Press Trust of India, Deadline, Livemint, Moneycontrol, Deccan Chronicle and BMI
Jaspreet Singh / Reuters:
Spotify rolls out music videos to Premium subscribers in the US and Canada, following a beta launch in nearly 100 markets last year — Spotify (SPOT.N) said on Tuesday it is making music videos available to premium subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, as the Swedish streaming giant challenges YouTube for market share.
Discussion:
Billboard, TechCrunch, KARE-TV, Thurrott, Spotify, iPhone in Canada, Deadline, MobileSyrup, Engadget, The Verge, Hypebot and Inside Radio, more at Techmeme »
