Top News:
Rohan Goswami / Semafor:
Sources: some WBD investors warm to David Ellison and his top team, after they were reassured that Paramount's Middle Eastern financing is secure — THE SCENE — Paramount CEO David Ellison spent Tuesday morning and afternoon meeting with major shareholders in Warner Bros. Discovery …
Discussion:
Status, CNN, @semaforben, @maxwelltani, Breaking the News, Business Insider, Raw Story, Poynter, Daring Fireball, TVNewsCheck, Proactive and primetimer.com
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Max Tani / Semafor:
Democrats warn that their party, when it returns to power, may attempt to block or unravel any Paramount acquisition of WBD due to national security concerns — The Scoop — As the battle over Warner Bros. Discovery grows, two Democratic lawmakers are warning that their party may try …
Discussion:
Cord Cutters News, @maxwelltani, Axios and @carnage4life@mas.to
Tim Wu / New York Times:
WBD merging with either Netflix or Paramount should be challenged by US antitrust authorities and would be bad for US streaming market competition
Discussion:
Variety, @dougieg633.bsky.social, New York Magazine, American Prospect, Barrett Media, Financial Times, New York Times, @cmthiede@social.vivaldi.net, Variety, Washington Examiner, The Entertainment Strategy Guy, JD Supra, Benzinga, Daring Fireball, AzerNews, @ppopiel.bsky.social, Benzinga, Courthouse News Service, Cord Cutters News, Washington Post, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times
Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Money manager Mario Gabelli said it's “highly likely” he will tender his clients' WBD shares to Paramount in an effort to spark a bidding war for WBD
Money manager Mario Gabelli said it's “highly likely” he will tender his clients' WBD shares to Paramount in an effort to spark a bidding war for WBD
Discussion:
The Wrap, Fortune, No Film School, Proactive, Benzinga, Los Angeles Times, NDTV Profit, Blockchain.News, Financial Times, One America News Network and Techdirt
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
CBS names Tony Dokoupil as the new anchor of CBS Evening News as part of a major overhaul under Bari Weiss; Dokoupil is currently an anchor on CBS' morning show — Dokoupil, currently an anchor on the CBS morning show, will lead an overhaul of the evening newscast under CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
Discussion:
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Bloomberg:
Australia's under-16 social media ban excludes Discord, GitHub, LEGO Play, Roblox, Steam, Google Classroom, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and YouTube Kids — Young teenagers in Australia have been barred from social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok in one of the toughest crackdowns …
Discussion:
Forbes, @nvbinder.io and @davezatz, more at Techmeme »
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The Guardian:
Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant says under-16s slipping through the cracks of the social media ban will be “booted off” the platforms in time
Discussion:
Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, ABC and Telegraph, more at Techmeme »
Nic Fildes / Financial Times:
As Australia enacts the world's first under-16 social media ban, a look at the implications, reaction from parents and teens, and more
As Australia enacts the world's first under-16 social media ban, a look at the implications, reaction from parents and teens, and more
Discussion:
CBS News, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Engadget, The Cyber Express, BBC, RTÉ, France 24, CNBC, Mirror, USA Today, Scripps News, KDFX-TV, The Free Press, SBS News, Associated Press, The Register, The Conversation, New York Times, Tom's Guide, IJR, Fox News, NDTV Profit, Forbes, YouTube, NBC News and Fortune
Josh Taylor / The Guardian:
Australia's ban on under-16 social media users takes effect, as Meta, YouTube, and others remove users; platforms that don't comply risk up to AU$49.5M in fines
Australia's ban on under-16 social media users takes effect, as Meta, YouTube, and others remove users; platforms that don't comply risk up to AU$49.5M in fines
Discussion:
The Week, iPhone in Canada, WNYW-TV, Chicago Tribune, Fortune, KDFX-TV, ABC, Time, Mirror, Hollywood Life, CGTN, NDTV Profit, Digit, Sydney Morning Herald, Nicola Trotman on LinkedIn, KnowTechie, People, Information Age, CNN, Forbes Australia, PC Gamer, @amirattaran.bsky.social, @lizhighleyman.bsky.social, @publictorsten@mastodon.social, The Hill, Wansoo Im on LinkedIn, UPI, Talal Shamoon on LinkedIn, Al Jazeera, The Cyber Express, ABC, @kate@aus.social, @claesdevreese.bsky.social, CNET, The Verge, @rlstollar.bsky.social, Android Headlines, @hammancheez.bsky.social, Semafor, @jan6risingvoice.bsky.social, today.rtl.lu, Kyodo News, Breitbart, Silicon Republic, Tom's Guide, Le Monde, Moneycontrol, Los Angeles Times, BBC, Firstpost, Mashable, Tech in Asia and Reuters, more at Techmeme »
Nick Vivarelli / Variety:
The UK's Channel 4 names Priya Dogra as CEO, starting March 2026, replacing Alex Mahon, who stepped down after eight years; Dogra currently works for Sky — Priya Dogra has been appointed as the next chief executive of U.K. public service broadcaster Channel 4, replacing Alex Mahon who stepped …
Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Instagram appears to be generating often misleading SEO-style headlines and long descriptions for users' Instagram posts, appearing in Google Search results — Instagram is generating headlines for users' Instagram posts without their knowledge, seemingly in an attempt to get those posts to rank higher in Google Search results.
Discussion:
Mashable, @andymstone.bsky.social, Pixel Envy and Engadget
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Amazon plans to let authors offer their DRM-free ebooks in the EPUB and PDF formats through Kindle Direct Publishing, starting January 20, 2026 — Amazon says it will allow authors to offer their DRM-free ebooks in the EPUB and PDF formats through its self-publishing platform, Kindle Direct Publishing.
Discussion:
Android Authority, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
YouTube TV plans to launch over 10 genre-specific, cheaper YouTube TV Plans in early 2026, including a Sports Plan featuring ESPN Unlimited and Fox Sports 1 — YouTube TV's base package currently costs $82.99 per month. But early next year, the streaming service will roll out a range …
Discussion:
Deadline, YouTube Official Blog, Sports Business Journal, Sportico, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, The Streamable, 9to5Google, @tvgrimreaper, Cord Cutters News, Business Insider, Droid Life, The US Sun, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, Streaming Better, @lucas_shaw, Front Office Sports and BGR, more at Techmeme »
Jem Aswad / Variety:
TikTok launches a podcast series called TikTok in the Mix, featuring four 30-minute episodes streamed live on TikTok; the first episode stars Demi Lovato — TikTok is launching a brand-new live podcast series called “TikTok in the Mix,” a four-episode season of conversations with major artists.
Wall Street Journal:
Chernin Group agrees to take a minority stake in Entangled Publishing, a publisher of romance-fantasy books; sources say the deal values Entangled at ~$400M — Deal values publisher of popular ‘Fourth Wing’ books at $400 million — Media executive Peter Chernin's private-equity firm …
Discussion:
Publishers Weekly
Francesca Stevens / Bloomberg:
Vietnam's parliament passes amendments to its press law that tighten restrictions over information gathering and sharing, weakening confidentiality protections — Vietnam's parliament passed amendments to the press law that tighten restrictions over information gathering and sharing …
Discussion:
Reuters
Emma Roth / The Verge:
The RSL Collective, backed by Ziff Davis, Yahoo, and others, launches RSL 1.0, which lets publishers set licensing and compensation rules for AI web crawlers — RSL 1.0 helps publishers outline how AI companies should pay for the content they scrape across the web.
Discussion:
RSL Internet Collective and Search Engine Journal, more at Techmeme »
Reece Rogers / Wired:
Instagram launches Your Algorithm, which shows users an AI analysis of their activity to let them customize the topics shaping their Reels recommendations — In the battle for your attention, Instagram is betting that more control over the algorithm could keep you scrolling on Reels.
Discussion:
The Economic Times, Search Engine Land, @chriscox@threads.com, WeRSM, TechCrunch, Inc.com, TechRadar, Fast Company, The Verge, 9to5Mac, MediaPost and Verdict
