Top News:
Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
President Trump told reporters “it's imperative” for CNN to be sold: “Any deal it should be guaranteed and certain that CNN is part of it or sold separately” — President Trump indicated he'd like to see CNN be sold off as its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery …
Discussion:
New York Post, Media Nation, Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal, HotAir, Reuters, NPR, Townhall, Business Standard, The Wrap, Straight Arrow News, Yeni Şafak, Benzinga, Newser, Communicate Online, Barrett Media, Variety, Mirror US, NewsMax.com, NBC News, @pinemikey.bsky.social, Fox News, Bloomberg and Just The News
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Peter Kafka / Business Insider:
The value of WBD's cable networks including CNN is a key number for Netflix and Paramount bidders; Ellison says they're worth ~$2.5B, while analysts say ~$10B — - Ellison also says those cable networks — including CNN — aren't very valuable. — It's confusing!
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Breitbart, Status, The i Paper, Bloomberg and Fortune
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Two representatives on the US House Financial Services Committee warn WBD CEO David Zaslav of national security concerns about the financiers of Paramount's bid
Discussion:
Axios, Variety, No Film School, NPR, Associated Press, Proactive, Financial Post and Semafor
Emily Graffeo / Bloomberg:
A look at Netflix's funding plan for WBD: $59B of debt financing via Wall Street banks, to be eventually replaced with bonds, term loans, and revolving credit
A look at Netflix's funding plan for WBD: $59B of debt financing via Wall Street banks, to be eventually replaced with bonds, term loans, and revolving credit
Discussion:
The Wrap, @devonheinen.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Screen Rant
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
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
Discussion:
New York Post, TVNewsCheck, Zeteo, Media Play News, @maxwelltani, NOTUS, The Wrap, Telegraph and Cord Cutters News
Ashley Capoot / CNBC:
Disney and OpenAI sign a three-year deal to bring 200+ Disney characters to Sora; Disney makes a $1B investment in OpenAI and will become a major OpenAI client — The Walt Disney Company on Thursday announced it will make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI and will allow users …
Discussion:
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Plagiarism Today, OpenAI, TechCrunch, TVNewsCheck, Advanced Television, CNN, MediaPost, Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Wrap, Variety, Reuters, Australian Financial Review, Implicator.ai, eWeek, Benzinga, Daily Mail, Baller Alert, Engadget, CNET, Analytics India Magazine, Associated Press, Spyglass, The Economic Times, Quartz, Dexerto, Polygon.com, TestingCatalog, The Guardian, Kotaku, iClarified, Entrepreneur, Constellation Research, NBC News, The Information, The Verge, Yahoo Finance, Deadline, Crypto Briefing, Pulse 2.0, Silicon Republic, Capital Brief, ZeroHedge News, Axios, Media Play News, @jason_kint, @_simonsmith, @midky80748, 9to5Mac, @aagave, @loudmouthjulia, @stokel, @loudmouthjulia, @andrewcurran_, @hunterwalk.com, Joe.My.God., Business Insider, CBS News and The Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Disney sends Google a cease-and-desist, accusing Google of copyright infringement on a “massive scale” and using AI to “exploit and distribute” the content — Disney sends cease-and-desist letter to internet giant — As Disney has gone into business with OpenAI …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Axios, Deadline, Gizmodo, The Hollywood Reporter and Media Play News, more at Techmeme »
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Mirror Editor-in-Chief Caroline Waterston steps down after less than two years, to be succeeded by Chloe Hubbard, currently UK editor at The Independent — Mirror editor-in-chief Caroline Waterston is stepping down at the end of the year after less than two years in the job.
Discussion:
HoldtheFrontPage
Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli / Financial Times:
Journalists at Italian newspaper La Stampa go on strike to protest against a potential sale of its parent company Gedi to Greek media organization Antenna — Exor in talks to sell owner of newspapers including La Repubblica to Greek bidder — Journalists at Italian newspaper La Stampa …
Yael Krifcher / Committee to Protect Journalists:
A look at the erosion of press freedom and independent reporting in Israel, where journalists report escalating censorship, harassment, and self-censorship — Two years into Israel's genocide in Gaza, press freedom inside the country has reached a breaking point.
Discussion:
Columbia Journalism Review, The Parnas Perspective, Middle East Monitor and ABC
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Pinterest agrees to acquire tvScientific, a CTV ad platform that automates and optimizes ad buying; tvScientific was founded in 2020 and has raised ~$60M — Pinterest has agreed to acquire tvScientific, a connected television (CTV) advertising platform that automates and optimizes ad buying for marketers, executives told Axios.
Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
UK sports publisher GRV cut ~60 staff since September, reducing its workforce to 94, citing drops in Google traffic; other sports sites report similar declines — A UK-based sports website publisher has cut 60 staff since September as a result of falling Google referral traffic.
David Bauder / Associated Press:
The NYT says it won't be deterred in its work after Trump posted on Truth Social that reporting by The NYT and others about his health was “seditious” — The New York Times, attacked by President Donald Trump for reporting about his physical condition, said on Wednesday …
Discussion:
masslive.com, @nytimespr, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, Raw Story, @karyncaplan, @trumpwarroom, Deadline, @jswatz.bsky.social, @gregmorosoff.bsky.social, @brunojnavarro.bsky.social, @mariopro.bsky.social, Straight Arrow News, MS NOW, Alternet.org, @carlquintanilla.bsky.social, CNN, The Wrap, The Hill, Suggest, New Republic, @atrupar.com, Mediaite, New Jersey Online, HuffPost, Mirror US and The Independent
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Google tests AI-powered overviews on some publications' Google News pages; publishers like Der Spiegel, El País, and WaPo in commercial partnerships get paid — Google is testing AI-powered article overviews on participating publications' Google News pages as part of a new pilot program, the search giant announced on Wednesday.
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Press Gazette, Android Headlines, The Information, 9to5Google and The Verge
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David Peisner / New York Times:
Timbaland's Stage Zero launches TaTa Taktumi, an AI pop artist created using Suno's tools; Timbaland says ~85% of the creative work is still done by humans — The producer dreamed up TaTa Taktumi and brought her to life with help from the software Suno. She's arriving at a fraught moment for artificial intelligence in music.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Spotify says it will test Prompted Playlist, which lets users describe what they want to hear and receive a unique set of songs based on their listening history — Spotify announced on Wednesday that, for the first time, it's giving users more control over the streaming service's algorithm.
Discussion:
Spotify, Thurrott, Music Business Worldwide, 9to5Google, How-To Geek, TechRadar, Bloomberg, Music Ally, PCMag, Tech Times, Windows Report, Digital Trends, WinBuzzer, Android Police, Android Authority, Gizmodo, Anna Lundström on LinkedIn, Rasmus Zwickson on LinkedIn, Billboard, The Verge, Engadget and @techcrunch.com
