Mediagazer: 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 (Will Sommer/The Bulwark)

8:55 AM ET, December 30, 2025

Top News:

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.

Discussion: @reichlinmelnick, @emptywheel, @ryano_chosencoy, @jaynordlinger, @luismorenolg, @matthew_kupfer, @themainewonk, @zguz, @scarylawyerguy, @sarahlongwell25, @timodc, @hissgoescobra, @thelaurenchen, @willsommer, Raw Story, Lauren Chen on Instagram, @overlord26 and Alternet.org

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: Mediaite, @alexsteigrad, twitchy.com and The Hill

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: @readdanwrite, @maxwelltani, @semaforben, @nick_field90, @ettingermentum, @admcrlsn, @scottnover, @bulwarkonline and Fox News

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 …

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

In 2025, several books saw audiobook sales outperform hardcovers, even as digital audiobook growth slowed to 1% through October after 2024's ~24% jump to $1.1B — Though the pace of growth has slowed, audiobooks remain a bright spot in publishing — Author S.A. Cosby's southern crime novel …

Discussion: Semafor, Scott Dickey on LinkedIn and @dannygroner.bsky.social

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: @xpangler, TV Series Finale, @variety and The Daily Signal

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

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: Business Insider, Decider, Page Six and Observer

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, @samuelwroberts.bsky.social, Miami Herald and Tom's Guide

Axios:

Nick Shirley, a MAGA-friendly YouTuber, goes viral with video reports about alleged fraud in Minnesota, provoking approving responses from the FBI and JD Vance — Nick Shirley, a MAGA-friendly YouTuber, lit up X during Christmas week with video reports from Minnesota alleging massive fraud …

Discussion: @nickshirleyy, Washington Times, twitchy.com, Newsweek, El País, Fox News, Townhall, @jdvance, @speakerjohnson, New York Post, @danprimack, Matzav.com, @redsteeze, @danprimack, The Post Millennial, @alt-dol.altgov.info, The Hill, The Daily Caller, @jonathanweisman, @chrisvanderveen, @richardhanania, @caolanreports, The Wrap, @donaldjtrumpjr, The Western Journal, @daveweigel.bsky.social, Blaze Media, Ace of Spades HQ, @jonathanweisman, @hasanthehun, Breitbart, Raw Story, @jonathanweisman, @jessicatarlov, @billackman, @jodambusta, @waitbutwhy, @daveweigel, @chrisvanderveen, @daveweigel.bsky.social, The Last Refuge, @tommysantos14, @mollyjongfast, @jason_paladino, @brendankeefe, The Daily Wire, NewsMax.com, @cgasparino, NBC News, @deenafaywinter, @shipwreckedcrew, @jgebbia, CNN, @theomniliberal, @guru_merc, @cathyyoung63, @timurkuran, Mediaite, Twin Cities, @brian_armstrong, The Independent, New York Sun, @jrobin.bsky.social, Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner, RedState, Know Your Meme, IJR, CBS News, The Guardian and ZeroHedge News

Variety:

North America's box office in 2025 will fall far short of the $9B most analysts expected, flat from 2024 and well below the pre-pandemic norm of $10B to $11B — Some comeback! — The past 12 months were supposed to turn things around for struggling cinemas.

Discussion: Bloomberg, @stevenraymorris.bsky.social, @brentalang, Los Angeles Times and Instapundit

Aisha Down / The Guardian:

A Kapwing study of the 15,000 top YouTube channels finds 278 of them have only posted AI-generated “slop” videos, amassing 63B+ views and 221M+ subscribers — Low-quality AI-generated content is now saturating social media - and generating about $117m a year, data shows

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” — Does that make me the realest free speech warrior? — As you probably now know, pundit Matt Taibbi is suing me for defamation …

Discussion: @dylangyauchl, @nathanjrobinson, @zaidjilani, @mehdirhasan, @vanguard_pod, @notouchthrow, @eoinhiggins_, @postleftwatch, @eoinhiggins_, @agoldmund, @leighbeadon, @zaidjilani, @mtaibbi, @nickyfrank30, @jaredlholt and @hongpong.bsky.social

DataBreaches.Net:

A hacker published 2.3M Wired user records, and claimed to have downloaded all 33M Condé Nast users' information, including email, name, phone, and usernames — Over the years, DataBreaches has been contacted by many people with requests for help notifying entities of data leaks or breaches.