Top News:
Semafor:
In a letter to the Trump administration, the GOP Senatorial Committee Chair Sen. Tim Scott said the Netflix-WBD deal raises “significant antitrust problems” — THE SCOOP — A key Republican senator Friday joined the mounting opposition in Washington to Netflix's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Discussion:
Blaze Media, The Wrap and Fox Business
RELATED:
Lauren Hirsch / New York Times:
Sources: WBD chose Netflix partly fearing limited recourse if Paramount's bid failed, since Larry Ellison has not provided a personal guarantee — Larry Ellison is backstopping Paramount's bid for Warner Brothers, but Warner Brothers is concerned that the billionaire has not provided a personal guarantee to pay.
Discussion:
The Times, The Movie Blog and Axios
Sarah Holder / Bloomberg:
A look at Netflix House in Philadelphia, a new 100K sq. ft. location for in-person experiences, which resembles a Disneyland attraction and a Dave & Buster's — The entertainment company's new “Netflix House” experience is bringing the brand's shows into former department stores.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Esquire, Sarah Holder on LinkedIn, Dallas Innovates and Axios, more at Techmeme »
Will McCurdy / PCMag:
Amazon rolls out Ask This Book to the Kindle iOS app, letting readers ask questions about plot or characters; authors can't opt out — Whether you're reading dense, challenging 19th-century classics or the latest thriller, sometimes even the best readers lose track of what's actually going on …
Discussion:
Reactor
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Arkansas PBS severs ties with the PBS network, the first state public TV system to do so since Congress cut CPB funds, citing the annual $2M+ membership cost — The loss of federal funding forced a difficult decision, the executive director of Arkansas TV said: Cut PBS, or go off the air entirely.
Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:
Disney's Zootopia 2 surpasses $1B at the global box office, the fastest PG-rated film to do so after just 17 days in release — Disney's year-end holiday tentpole achieved the feat faster than any Holllwood animated film in history, as well as any PG-rated film.
Discussion:
@disneyanimation, @discussingfilm, @drewdisneydude, The A.V. Club, Vulture, LAmag, Reuters, People, The Walt Disney Company, Screen, Deadline, The Movie Blog, Forbes, Gizmodo, Deadline, CNBC, The Wrap, Variety, Comic Book and Screen Rant
Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
R. Bruce Dold, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at the Chicago Tribune, where he became editor-in-chief and publisher, is dead at 70 — As head of the editorial page, he encouraged The Tribune's support of Barack Obama, resulting in the paper's first endorsement of a Democrat running for the White House.
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Google has removed dozens of AI videos from YouTube that depicted Disney characters, after Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter flagging the links — Disney flagged the YouTube links to the videos in its letter, and demanded that Google remove them immediately.
Sam Roberts / New York Times:
Arthur L. Carter, who started a Connecticut newspaper in 1981, bought and sold The Nation, and founded the New York Observer in 1987, has died at 93 — After making a fortune on Wall Street, he bought The Nation magazine and founded The New York Observer, which one writer called a “maypole of Manhattan gossip and intrigue.”
Financial Times:
OpenAI hopes the Disney deal boosts Sora, which has high costs and limited traction; Sensor Tower: users average 13 minutes per day on Sora vs. 90 on TikTok — Sora has struggled to build an engaged audience despite already hosting bootleg content from the Hollywood studio
Discussion:
Nikkei Asia, MediaNama, Communicate Online, France 24, Sky News, Fast Company, MediaPost, Watcher Guru, Dow Jones Newswires, CNBC and Consequence, more at Techmeme »
Aidan Ryan / The Boston Globe:
Boston Globe editor Nancy Barnes steps down from her role but will remain on staff as editor-at-large; she joined the paper as the first female editor in 2023 — Nancy Barnes, the editor of the Boston Globe, announced to staff Friday that she is stepping down from her role at the end of next week.
Discussion:
WBUR, Boston Business Journal and Media Nation
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Amazon Prime Video pulls its AI recaps, which it began testing in November, for Fallout, Bosch, and other shows after users noticed errors in the Fallout recaps — Fallout's season one recap wrongly stated that The Ghoul's flashback takes place in the 1950s, rather than the year 2077.
Discussion:
Tech Times, @danmcquillan@kolektiva.social, Forbes, The Wrap, Mashable, The A.V. Club, Engadget, Gizmodo, Consequence, Digital Trends, Business Insider, @sidereal@kolektiva.social, Cord Cutters News, Thurrott, TheGamer, PCWorld, @FediThing@social.chinwag.org, @jaspar.bsky.social, IGN, TechRadar, PCMag, GameSpot, Kotaku and GamesRadar
Editor - The Upshot, NY — 
Asia Metals Correspondent, Singapore — 
Economic Policy Reporter, DC — 
Senior Director - Editorial, NY — 
Accountability Reporter, ME — 
Senior Editor, FL — 
Senior Sydney Correspondent — 
Investigative Reporter, OR — 
Reporter I, Remote — 
Digital Content Editor, CT — 
Sr. Political Reporter, CA — 
Local Editor, MD — 
Senior Writer - Politics, TN — 
Editor - CFO Brew, NY — 
Senior Content Strategist, CA — 
Audience Strategist, CO — 
Senior Editor, Remote US — 
Managing Editor, NY — 
IT Industry Reporter, MA — 
Multimedia Reporter, TX — 
Curation Editor, NY — 
Food Correspondent, OR — 
Deputy Editor-in-Chief, NY — 
Breaking News Editor, Toronto — 
Breaking News Reporter, Remote — 
Assitant Business Ed., TX — 
Digital Editor, OH — 
Ellsworth/Acadia Reporter, ME — 
Live Blogger, London — 
Criminal Justice Reporter, LA — 
Editorial & Opinion Page Editor, NV — 
Senior Editor, NY — 
Principal Writer - Investigative & Trust — 
Culture & Travel Reporter, NY — 
