Mediagazer: George Clooney criticizes CBS and ABC for settling lawsuits with President Trump and says CBS News EIC Bari Weiss “is dismantling CBS News as we speak” (Brent Lang/Variety)

9:10 PM ET, December 30, 2025

Top News:

Michael Schneider / Variety:

Nielsen: CBS was 2025's most-watched network in primetime despite a 12% YoY drop in average viewers, followed by NBC, ABC, and Fox, up 10% due to the Super Bowl — Complete Broadcast, Cable and Pay TV Ratings Primetime Ranker for 2025 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 — What a difference a Super Bowl makes.

Discussion: @nemalki.bsky.social, @xpangler, @variety, TV Series Finale and The Daily Signal

New York Post:

Leaked letter: a group of “prominent journalists” at CBS News are preparing a petition urging David Ellison to uphold editorial independence at the network — CBS News journalists are preparing a petition urging Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison to uphold editorial independence …

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Independent, Fox News, RedState, @alexsteigrad, twitchy.com, Mediaite and The Hill

Brent Lang / Variety:

George Clooney criticizes CBS and ABC for settling lawsuits with President Trump and says CBS News EIC Bari Weiss “is dismantling CBS News as we speak” — When George Clooney was preparing to make his Broadway debut appearing as CBS news correspondent Edward R. Murrow in …

Discussion: Variety, Variety, HuffPost, Fox News, Breitbart, HELLO!, New York Post, @bariweiss, Raw Story, People, Entertainment Weekly, The A.V. Club, New York Sun, The Wrap, Mediaite, twitchy.com and The Independent

Will Sommer / The Bulwark:

The Trump administration helps Tenet Media's Lauren Chen return to the US; she lost her visa after a 2024 indictment alleging illicit funding from Russia's RT — Tenet Media's Lauren Chen is back—even though the illegal-influence and money-laundering investigation remains open.

Zac Ntim / Deadline:

Angel Studios says Angel Guild, its program through which members are given a say on which projects the studio produces, has two million paid subscribers — The Angel Guild is the studio's grassroots membership program. Members pay a monthly fee and serve as virtual co-producers on every project …

Discussion: Cord Cutters News, Arthur Van Wagenen on LinkedIn and Ryan Svendsen on LinkedIn

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: WBD plans to reject Paramount's revised takeover bid at a board meeting next week, viewing the $30-a-share cash bid as still inferior to Netflix's bid — Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. plans to once again reject a takeover bid from Paramount Skydance Corp. after the rival media company amended …

Discussion: Awful Announcing, Variety, Financial Times, The Wrap, Screen Rant, Deadline, The Business Times, Sports Media Watch, GfxSpeak, City A.M., Proactive, Hindustan Times, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, The Japan Times and Media Play News

Tess Patton / The Wrap:

Job cuts across TV, film, broadcast, news, and streaming in the first 11 months of 2025 grew 18% YoY to 17K+; news suffered 2,254 job cuts, down about 50% YoY — A wave of consolidation, AI-driven change and cost-cutting pushed entertainment and media layoffs sharply higher in 2025

Discussion: Always Be Watching and New York Post

Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:

A profile of NPR CEO Katherine Maher, who has taken an unyielding approach to NPR's biggest battles, causing rifts with the right and her public media allies — Katherine Maher knew that running NPR was going to be difficult. But since taking over as chief executive last year, she has confronted one crisis after another.

Discussion: @dankennedy.net, @billscher.bsky.social, @notjessewalker, New York Post, @dicktofel.bsky.social, @jcollins.bsky.social, @RunRichRun@mastodon.social, @gshans.bsky.social, @benmullin and Los Angeles Times

Max Tani / Semafor:

Ezra Klein, Ben Shapiro, Steve Bannon, Vanity Fair's Mark Guiducci, Puck's Matt Belloni, Verge's Nilay Patel, and others on what media leaders got wrong in 2025 — Semafor asked journalists, content creators, and other media-watchers what they'd gotten wrong at the end of a wild year.

Discussion: @nick_field90, @ettingermentum, @admcrlsn, @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social, @bulwarkonline, @readdanwrite, @maxwelltani, @semaforben, @scottnover, Fox News and Washington Examiner

Summer Ballentine / The Detroit News:

The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press ended their joint operating agreement, which began in 1989; The News plans to launch a Sunday print edition January 18 — A nearly four-decade-long business partnership between The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press ended Sunday …

Discussion: Crain's Detroit Business, @sdkstl.bsky.social, @azagata.bsky.social, Kelley Root on LinkedIn, Deadline Detroit, The Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News and The Autopian

Jordy Fee-Platt / The Athletic:

Kalshi and Polymarket have partnered with social media accounts purporting to be breaking news reporters, some of which have repeatedly posted false information — Unknown just a few years ago, the prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket have gained wider recognition in recent weeks.

Discussion: @cooperlund.online, Event Horizon, Front Office Sports, New York Post, Decrypt and The Intercept

Deadline:

Streaming metrics underwent a rethink in 2025, as Netflix and Disney pivoted away from subscriber numbers to revenue per user, engagement, and other metrics — After more than five years of gushing red ink, 2025 was the year when streaming across the board started to turn a profit.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Page Six, Business Insider, Observer and Decider

Mark Sweney / The Guardian:
Ampere Analysis: UK streaming subscribers on ad-supported tiers will reach 26.5M by the end of 2025, surpassing the 23.1M ad-free subscribers for the first time

Discussion: NZ Herald and @samuelwroberts.bsky.social

The Hollywood Reporter:

Among media stocks in 2025, WBD surged 172%, Fox jumped 47.3%, Paramount Skydance rose 29%, Netflix was up just 5.7%, and Disney was up 2.25%; Comcast fell ~20% — The M&A-boosted Warner Bros. Discovery, as well as Sphere Entertainment, Fox, and Imax were among the gainers, while Netflix moved little …

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Jeremy Barr / @jeremymbarr:
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Eoin Higgins / The Flashpoint:
Journalist Eoin Higgins says Matt Taibbi is suing him for defamation over Owned, his book about tech billionaires and the left, and “I stand by my work”

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