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8:20 AM ET, December 17, 2025

Mediagazer

 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
RELATED:
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 …
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.
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
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 …
Discussion: Dexerto and Glossy
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.
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.
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 …
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
Justin Baragona / The Independent:
Nielsen ratings for Bari Weiss' town hall with Erika Kirk were 11% below total viewership for CBS News' standard programs in the same time slot, year to date  —  According to Nielsen, the Saturday night town hall saw a 41 percent decline in in the key 25-54 advertising demographic compared …
 
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 More News: 
New York Times:
The US threatens economic penalties against European companies like Spotify if the EU does not roll back regulations and lawsuits targeting US tech giants
Christina Van Waasbergen / Courthouse News Service:
Texas sues Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense and TCL, alleging they fail to adequately notify users that their CTVs record what they display for ad targeting purposes
Christal Hayes / BBC:
The BBC says “as we have made clear previously, we will be defending” against Trump's defamation lawsuit and “we are not going to make further comment”
 Earlier Picks: 
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Instagram unveils its first TV app, initially available on Amazon's Fire TV as a test with plans to expand to other TV platforms
Jessica Testa / New York Times:
Netflix announces a partnership with iHeartMedia to exclusively publish 15+ video podcasts from early 2026, including The Breakfast Club and My Favorite Murder
Jacob Savage / Compact:
A writer argues that since 2014, DEI practices led to discrimination against white male millennials for entry-level and mid-level roles in Hollywood and media
 

 
From Techmeme:

The Information:
Sources: Amazon is in talks to invest $10B+ in OpenAI at a $500B+ valuation, with OpenAI using AWS Trainium; Microsoft keeps the rights to sell OpenAI's models

Rachel Metz / Bloomberg:
OpenAI updates ChatGPT Images to generate images up to 4x faster and edit uploads more precisely, and adds a new section in ChatGPT's app and website for images

Lynn Doan / Bloomberg:
Oracle says final negotiations on an equity deal for its Michigan data center project are “on schedule” and Related Digital will be its development partner
 
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