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FCC Chairman Brendan Carr tells a Senate committee the FCC “is not an independent agency”; the agency removed “independent agency” from its site as he testified — FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in his Wednesday Senate testimony that the agency he governs “is not an independent agency, formally speaking.”
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Steven Portnoy / ABC News:
Members of the Senate Commerce Committee accused FCC Chairman Brendan Carr of making “mafia threats” and encroaching on broadcasters' First Amendment rights — Sen. Markey calls him “chairman of the ‘Federal Censorship Commission.’” — Brendan Carr, commissioner …
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Wall Street Journal:
WBD recommends shareholders reject Paramount's unsolicited cash bid, calling the offer “illusory” and saying it believes Netflix's proposal is still superior — Warner raised concerns about the credibility of Paramount's ‘illusory’ offer and its backing from the Ellison family
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
SEC filing: WBD says the Ellisons offered David Zaslav a compensation package of several hundred million dollars, which Zaslav said was inappropriate to discuss — The Ellisons came promising boatloads of cash. … Over a four-month stretch, David Ellison pressed his case aggressively …
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Senators Warren and Blumenthal call on AG Bondi to recuse herself from reviewing the WBD deal due to her prior employment with lobbying firm Ballard Partners — Warner Bros. chose Netflix over Paramount — again. Now what? — Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said Wednesday …
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Paramount reaffirms its $30/share all-cash bid after WBD's board officially rejected it, saying its bid offers “superior value and certainty” for shareholders
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Scott Feinberg / The Hollywood Reporter:
The Academy signs a multiyear deal that gives YouTube the exclusive global rights to the Oscars, beginning in 2029 and running through 2033, streaming for free — The Academy announced on Wednesday: — LOS ANGELES, CA - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and YouTube signed …
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Laura Cress / BBC:
Netflix wins rights to a FIFA soccer simulation game, developed by Delphi Interactive and set for release ahead of the 2026 World Cup, for free to Netflix users — Fifa will finally release its much-anticipated return to video games in 2026, several years after its acrimonious split with developer EA.
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Netflix signs a deal with Barstool Sports to stream video versions of three podcasts, initially in the US; full video episodes will be removed from YouTube — Netflix also has podcast distribution deals with Spotify and iHeartMedia — Netflix has gone into business with Dave Portnoy …
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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube says it will no longer give data to US Billboard charts after January 16, saying Billboard's ranking formula doesn't count ad-supported streams fairly — YouTube is pulling its data from Billboard for use in the publisher's industry-leading U.S. music charts.
Raphael Minder / Financial Times:
TV Republika, the largest right-wing broadcaster in Poland, plans an English-language channel, seeking to fill a market gap in Europe for MAGA-aligned outlets — Largest rightwing broadcaster in Poland intends to emulate Britain's GB News — Poland's largest right-wing broadcaster …
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Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Meta is testing limiting Facebook professional accounts and Pages to posting just two links per month, unless they subscribe to $14.99+/month Meta Verified — In a new experiment, Meta is limiting the number of links users can post on Facebook, unless they have a paid Meta Verified subscription.
Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:
Filing: Comcast's offer to merge NBCUniversal with WBD valued Comcast's media and theme-park assets at about $81B; Comcast's overall valuation is about $111B — Comcast Corp.'s offer to merge its NBCUniversal division with Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. valued the cable giant's media …
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