Mediagazer: How Larry Ellison is helping his son David build a media empire, including making the case to Trump for why Paramount, not Netflix, should acquire WBD (Theodore Schleifer/New York Times)

2:05 AM ET, December 25, 2025

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Todd Spangler / Variety:

Trump says Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic trainwreck” and “CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW”, after CBS aired a Late Show rerun in which Colbert mocked Trump — U.S. president appeared to be responding to ‘Late Show’ Dec. 8 rerun in which Colbert mocked Trump …

Washington Post:

Internal email: CBS' standards department told staff to use the Kennedy Center name, saying the change to Trump Kennedy Center needs Congressional approval — The network kept the Kennedy Center's original name in its broadcast, and CBS News instructed staff to do the same, an email shows.

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Adam Satariano / New York Times:

The Trump administration's travel ban on five Europeans includes researchers working to tackle online disinformation and abuse, like CCDH founder Imran Ahmed — The Trump administration said five regulators and researchers who work to tackle disinformation and abuse on the internet had been barred from entering the United States.

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Fatima Hussein / Associated Press:

The US imposes visa restrictions on five Europeans, including Thierry Breton, accusing them of pressuring US tech companies to censor certain US viewpoints — The State Department announced Tuesday it was barring five Europeans it accused of leading efforts to pressure U.S. tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.

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Zachary Leeman / Mediaite:

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller calls for CBS staff who “revolted” over Bari Weiss' decision to postpone 60 Minutes' CECOT segment to be fired — White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called for CBS staffers engaged in a “revolt” over a 60 Minutes immigration report to be “fired” immediately.

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Sara Fischer / Axios:
60 Minutes' CECOT segment, pulled by Bari Weiss, was mistakenly aired in Canada via an app owned by Global Television, which airs 60 Minutes in the country

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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Source: Bari Weiss is planning to create a masthead for CBS News as part of a broader overhaul of standards and procedures

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Sources: Bari Weiss skipped five 60 Minutes CECOT screenings; after her edits were added on Thursday, she asked on Friday to add a Stephen Miller interview

Rebecca Rubin / Variety:

Disney crosses the $6B milestone at the box office for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic; no other studio has managed to reach $6B since 2015 — All hail the Magic Kingdom. Disney notched a major box office milestone, surpassing $6 billion in global ticket sales.

Discussion: Deadline, Media Play News, Comic Book, UPI and Screen Rant

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Comcast extends Mike Cavanagh's contract through January 1, 2029, and grants a ~$35M performance-based stock package; he's set to become co-CEO in January 2026 — Michael Cavanagh, as he's set to assume the role of Comcast's co-CEO on Jan. 2, extended his employment contract with the cable …

Discussion: Philadelphia Business Journal and Deadline

John Koblin / New York Times:

YouTube dominates daytime TV streaming, with 6.3M viewers at 11am in October on average, above Netflix's 2.8M, per Nielsen; prime-time viewership is more even — At Nancy Ann Ling's house in Central Texas, the TV generally goes on around 5 a.m., and Mrs. Ling flips over to the same app each day: YouTube.

Discussion: @katherinemiller, @katherinemiller, @tvgrimreaper and @genetics56, more at Techmeme »

Theodore Schleifer / New York Times:

How Larry Ellison is helping his son David build a media empire, including making the case to Trump for why Paramount, not Netflix, should acquire WBD — When David Ellison became a teenager, his father, Larry, bought him a gift not usually bestowed on a 13th birthday: his own Katana stunt plane.

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Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:

A US judge denies WBD's bid to block Sling TV from selling short-term offerings that let users sign up for access to its bundles for as little as one day — Dish Network leveraged ambiguity around the term in licensing deals with Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney to offer short-term Sling TV subscription passes.

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Washington Post:

A look at DHS and ICE's social media efforts, which are propelled by the White House's demands to “flood the airwaves” and make use of right-wing influencers — Inside ICE's media machine … Across thousands of internal ICE messages reviewed by The Washington Post, this kind of celebration has become commonplace.

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Lorcan Lovett / Nieman Reports:

A look at the state of independent media in Myanmar, which lost US and Swedish funding this year and where subscriptions aren't a dependable source of revenue — As U.S. funding vanishes, competitors turn collaborators to keep reporting alive — Journalists work in the Democratic Voice of Burma …

Discussion: New York Times, @w7voa@journa.host and Lorcan Lovett on LinkedIn

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

WBD's board says it will “carefully review and consider” Paramount's revised offer, which includes a full backstop personally guaranteed by Larry Ellison — David Ellison submitted his revised tender offering, backed by his father Larry Ellison, Monday morning.

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Sara Salinas / CNBC:
Paramount says Larry Ellison “agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4B” for its hostile WBD bid, but did not increase its $30-per-share bid