Mediagazer: Semafor raised $30M at a $330M valuation after generating $2M in EBITDA in 2025, its first profitable year, and plans to expand its annual CEO gathering in DC (Isabella Simonetti/Wall Street Journal)

12:30 PM ET, January 7, 2026

Top News:

Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:

WBD's board unanimously rejects Paramount's amended $108.4B acquisition offer, saying the bid still has “significant” risks compared to Netflix's $83B offer — The board says the revised $108.4 billion bid continues to offer “significant costs, risks and uncertainties” compared to its $83 billion deal with Netflix

Discussion: StreamTV Insider, Advanced Television, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Warner Bros. Discovery, Los Angeles Times, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Proactive, The Guardian, The Standard, UPI, MS NOW, The Independent, Cord Cutters News, @scottnover, New York Times, @lucas_shaw, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNN, BERNAMA, Plain Dealer, Far Out Magazine, World of Reel, GameSpot, The Streamable, Dow Jones Newswires, Engadget, Barron's Online, Fortune, BBC, Bloomberg, Axios, The Hollywood Reporter, Media Play News, Deadline, @luiz_fernando_j, Screen, @sarafischer, @brianstelter, TTV News, @danprimack, @lwsresearch, @brianstelter, @pkafka, @brianstelter, @brianstelter, Türkiye Today, @sarafischer, CNBC, Forbes, Barrett Media, CBS News, Broadband TV News, Capital Brief, BelfastTelegraph.co.uk, Cynopsis and Telecompaper, more at Techmeme »

Tony Maglio / The Hollywood Reporter:

WBD board chair indicates WBD remains open to a Paramount acquisition, saying David Ellison “stepped up to the table” but “ultimately didn't raise the price” — WBD board chair Samuel Di Piazza Jr. is doing his negotiating through the TV media.

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Mediaite, NBC News, Reuters, Front Office Sports and CBS News

Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:

Semafor raised $30M at a $330M valuation after generating $2M in EBITDA in 2025, its first profitable year, and plans to expand its annual CEO gathering in DC — The digital media outlet, which aims to inform the ‘global leadership class,’ plans to expand its events business and add journalists

Discussion: The Wrap, Reuters, Axios, Talking Biz News, @johnwilson, @neilcybart, @sbanjo, @thesimonetti, @lizrhoffman, Semafor, @parryravi, Justin B. Smith on LinkedIn and @emily_sundberg

Oliver Darcy / Status:

Sources: Tony Dokoupil's CBS Evening News debut left some staffers embarrassed and alarmed over the chaotic on-air rollout and MAGA-friendly editorial choices — On Tuesday evening, newly installed “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil closed out just his second official broadcast with a surreal segment …

Discussion: The A.V. Club, Variety, The Hill, Mediaite, TV Insider, @sueinrockville.bsky.social, @passantino.bsky.social, @samlitzinger.bsky.social, @nickfield.bsky.social, @nickfield.bsky.social, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @passantino.bsky.social, @scott-conway.bsky.social, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, HuffPost and Raw Story

Daniel D'Addario / Variety:
After promising to be “more accountable” than Walter Cronkite, Tony Dokoupil didn't challenge Pete Hegseth in an interview or cite sources in another segment

Jazz Tangcay / Variety:

NLRB: DreamWorks remote workers, Netflix animation production workers, and “Ted” production workers vote to unionize with the Animation Guild and Editors Guild — DreamWorks Animation (DWA) remote workers across the United States, feature production workers at Netflix Animation Studios …

Discussion: The Wrap, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Washington Post:

The new Pentagon press corps, comprising many right-wing influencers, had no scoops about the Venezuela raid, choosing to praise the event instead of probing it — Newfound access hasn't provided more information to the largely right-wing press corps that signed the Defense Department's media rules.

Discussion: @scottnover, @scottnover.bsky.social and @drewharwell.com

Deadline:

Deadline names Nellie Andreeva, its current Co-Editor-In-Chief and head of the TV department, as sole EIC; Mike Fleming Jr. will become Editor-at-Large — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline's current Co-Editor-In-Chief and head of the TV department, has been named sole Editor-in-Chief.

Discussion: The Ankler, The Wrap, @deadline and @maxwelltani, more at Techmeme »

Elizabeth Hernandez / Denver Post:

After its domain registration expired, the student news outlet at the University of Colorado Boulder was plagued by a copycat site using AI to create content — Copycat websites increasingly common amid rise of artificial intelligence, CU Independent's attorney says

Discussion: @lizzy-hernandez.bsky.social, @kjonuska.bsky.social and @researchbuzz@researchbuzz …

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

The White House debuts a website to revise the history of January 6, with false claims blaming police for fomenting the attack and calling Mike Pence a coward — The website appeared to be a way to counter what has been a daylong commemoration at the Capitol, featuring primarily Democrats …

Katherine Doherty / Bloomberg:

Polymarket agrees to supply Dow Jones outlets like the WSJ and Barron's with prediction market trading data for online and in print, its first media partnership — Polymarket will supply Dow Jones with trading data under a new partnership, the latest in a string of deals between exchanges …

Discussion: Reuters, The Block, Watcher Guru and Crypto Briefing, more at Techmeme »

Sibylla Brodzinsky / The Guardian:

Venezuela's union representing press workers said at least 14 were detained on January 5, including 13 from international media organizations; one was deported — Thirteen of those detained were released according to the country's National Union of Press Workers

Discussion: NPR, @karyncaplan, @kenroth, @penamerica.bsky.social, National Press Club, BBC, New York Times, Committee to Protect …, UPI, @inlayterms.bsky.social, @laurenmeidasa.bsky.social, @vetsfighfascist.bsky.social, @newsguy.bsky.social, @msignorile.bsky.social, Fox News, Semafor and Payday Report

Wayne Friedman / MediaPost:

NBCU partners with RPA and Newton Research to connect buy-side and sell-side agentic AI, automating real-time cross-platform video ad deals starting in Q1 2026 — Joining the agentic AI race from a live sports TV network/seller perspective, NBCUniversal has struck a deal …

Discussion: Inside Radio, Mumbrella, TVNewsCheck, AdExchanger, Radio & Television … and FinAi News

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More News:

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Spotify lowers monetization eligibility for video podcasters to three episodes, 2,000 consumption hours, and 1,000 engaged audience members over a 30-day period

Discussion: The Wrap, Reuters, Stat Significant, The Hollywood Reporter and Los Angeles Times

Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Imax reports $1.28B in 2025 global box office, a company record, driven by a global theater network expansion and films like Ne Zha 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash

Discussion: IndieWire and Deadline

Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
Asian streaming giant Viu launches Viu Shorts, a new vertical video section for microdramas on its app, featuring episodes that are one to three minutes long

Bloomberg:
Grupo Televisa's co-CEOs acquire $106M worth of the company's shares in a swap with ex-chairman Emilio Azcarraga, who upped his stake in sports spinoff Ollamani

Discussion: Stock Titan

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
The New York Times announces it has hired eight journalists with backgrounds in video production and has another 14 video-related roles open

Discussion: The New York Times Company and @niemanlab.org

Earlier Picks:

Patrick Brzeski / The Hollywood Reporter:
An MPA report forecasts total screen revenue across Asia Pacific rising from $171B in 2025 to $196B by 2030; premium VOD is expected to rise by $12.5B to $52B

Discussion: Variety and Deadline

Ben Axelrod / Awful Announcing:
Mark Silverman, Fox Sports president and COO, is stepping down and moving into a consulting role; Fox Sports executive Brad Zager will reportedly succeed him

Discussion: @ourand_puck, Barrett Media, Sports Business Journal and r/NASCAR

Bill Bradley / Adweek:
NBCUniversal says it has sold out its Winter Olympics ad inventory, about a month before the games begin, adding over 100 new advertisers for the games

Discussion: MediaPost, Mashable, Advanced Television, AdExchanger, Sports Business Journal, Variety, Reuters, The Wrap, Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, Sportico, Deadline and VuePlanner

Eva Baron / Publishers Weekly:
HarperCollins France says it is testing using AI-assisted translation, citing declining sales and following in the footsteps of Taylor & Francis and others

Discussion: 404 Media and Moneycontrol

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
New York Post Media Group EIC Keith Poole says The California Post will launch January 26, setting up its newsroom on the Fox studio lot in Century City

Discussion: Fox News, New York Post, @pinemikey.bsky.social, @pressgazette.co.uk and Fox News

From Techmeme:

Wired:
Grok's website and app are being used to produce extremely graphic, sometimes violent, sexual imagery of adults that is vastly more explicit than images on X

Ina Fried / Axios:
OpenAI unveils ChatGPT Health, which lets users import medical records and other data from wellness apps into ChatGPT, available to a small group via a waitlist

Jay Peters / The Verge:
Google rolls out an AI Inbox view for Gmail, showing users to-dos and summaries of topics rather than a traditional email list, first for US “trusted testers”

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