Top News:
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
Discussion:
Variety, The Wrap, The Hollywood Reporter, Business Insider, CNN, Paramount Skydance Corporation, HotAir, Implicator.ai, @pkafka, @dylanbyers, New York Times, @scottnover, Gulf News, Barrett Media, @edmundlee, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, Bloomberg, Axios, Ukrainian National News, Sharecast, @danprimack, @pkafka, @brianstelter and @pkafka, more at Techmeme »
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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 …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Business Insider, Reuters, Benzinga, The Hollywood Reporter, @xpangler, CBS News and Financial Times
Charles Gasparino / New York Post:
Source: Paramount has no immediate plans to sweeten its $30 per share, all-cash bid for WBD — Paramount Skydance has no immediate plans to sweeten its $30-a-share, all-cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery - instead continuing to make its case to shareholders that its $78 billion offer …
Discussion:
The Wrap, The Streamable, Business Insider, CNBC, Financial Times, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Dow Jones Newswires, UPI, IWCP Online, Business Standard, Reuters, Euronews, Investomania, Times of India, The Standard, Streaming Better, Sports Business Journal, Washington Examiner, NBC Bay Area, ABC13, Screen, Mobile World Live, Los Angeles Times, Proactive, Miami Herald, WPXI-TV, The Times, The Independent, @danprimack, Livemint, BMI, Cord Cutters News, Broadband TV News, Awful Announcing and Deadline
New York Times:
WBD says the Ellisons have “consistently misled” shareholders, including claiming Paramount's proposal had a “full backstop” but it “does not, and never has” — The claim was made as part of Warner Bros. Discovery's dismissal of Paramount's hostile takeover offer.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Axios, @pkafka, @sherman4949, @sarafischer, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., Straight Arrow News and Semafor
Peter Grant / Wall Street Journal:
The WBD deal could worsen soundstage vacancies as productions may shift to the studio's facilities, affecting companies like Hackman, owner of 60+ soundstages — Set and studio landlords like Hackman Capital are already suffering from a slowdown in U.S. TV and film production
Discussion:
Daily Mail
Bloomberg:
Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners is exiting from Paramount's takeover bid for WBD, citing changed investment dynamics since it joined the bid in October
Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners is exiting from Paramount's takeover bid for WBD, citing changed investment dynamics since it joined the bid in October
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Guardian, The Guardian, TVNewsCheck, Media Play News, Forbes Middle East, Fortune, CNBC, New York Times, Axios, @brianstelter, @rogoswami, Sky News, XboxEra, @pkafka, @charlesarthur, The Standard, @richlightshed, Business Insider, Dow Jones Newswires, Yahoo Finance, The Daily Beast, CBS News, The Information, Raw Story, Fortune, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Reuters, The Wrap, Variety, Variety, Benzinga, Capital Brief, BelfastTelegraph.co.uk and r/MediaMergers
Associated Press:
A US federal judge denied Sarah Palin's bid for a new libel trial against the NYT and rejected her motion for his recusal, after a jury found no libel in April — Regarding the request to recuse himself, the judge said the trial transcript shows he frequently ruled in Palin's favor during the trials.
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
Sources: Disney has been hesitant to license its IP to Roblox because it doesn't consider it a safe platform, bucking the trend followed by Netflix and others — Here's a stat that might shock anyone who isn't the parent of a Gen Alpha kid: As of October 2025, online gaming platform Roblox boasted …
Joseph Berger / New York Times:
Norman Podhoretz, who transformed Commentary magazine into a controversial and influential neoconservative voice as its EIC from 1960 to 1995, has died at 95 — A New York intellectual and onetime liberal stalwart, his Commentary magazine became his platform as his political and social view turned sharply rightward.
Discussion:
The Bulwark, Washington Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Fortune
BBC Press Office on LinkedIn:
BBC News hires Lindsay McIntosh, previously Head of News at The Sunday Times, as its Executive News Editor — We are delighted to announce Lindsay McIntosh as the new Executive News Editor, BBC News. — As Executive News Editor, Lindsay will be at the heart of the BBC newsroom …
Todd Spangler / Variety:
E.W. Scripps' board unanimously rejects Sinclair's unsolicited acquisition proposal of $7 per share in cash and stock, offered in November — Sinclair's takeover move came amid Nexstar Media Group's $6.2 billion deal for Tegna, which would expand the reach of Nexstar, the No. 1 biggest TV station owner group in the U.S.
Discussion:
Awful Announcing, Radio & Television …, New York Post, E.W. Scripps Company, Cord Cutters News, @jbflint, Advanced Television, The Wrap, Baltimore Business Journal, Front Office Sports, Axios, Bloomberg, Cincinnati Business Journal, Deadline, CNBC, TV Tech, Wall Street Journal, TheDesk.net, Broadband TV News and TVNewsCheck
Wall Street Journal:
US prosecutors charge Nick Reiner with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Hollywood director Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner — Prosecutors say Nick Reiner killed his father and mother in their Los Angeles home — LOS ANGELES—Prosecutors charged Nick Reiner Tuesday …
Discussion:
Us Weekly, Suggest, Breitbart, Cele|bitchy, International Business Times, New York Post, Daily Mail, Boston.com, CBS News, HuffPost, WWL-TV, Mediaite, TVNewsCheck, KFMB, ROB SHUTER'S Naughty But Nice, Billboard, The Movie Blog, San Diego Union-Tribune, The Hill, Lawyer Monthly, THEJ.CA, Full Feed and ABC7
Payton Turkeltaub / Variety:
UCLA study: among the most-watched streaming series in 2024, 80% of lead actors were white and white men accounted for 79% of all show creators, vs. 77% in 2023 — In 2024, there were fewer leading roles featuring women and women of color than the year before, despite households of color …
Discussion:
UCLA, Los Angeles Times and The Wrap
