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Financial Times:
WBD tells Paramount to make its “best and final offer” within seven days, or get out of the way of Netflix's agreed $83B deal; Netflix granted a weeklong waiver — Netflix grants weeklong waiver to rival bidder in high-stakes battle for control
Discussion:
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
Paramount says it is “prepared to engage” with WBD on takeover talks during a seven-day negotiating window, but doesn't say whether it will raise its bid — The company didn't indicate that it is willing to increase the price tag for its hostile takeover bid but said it was ready …
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Deadline, Deadline, CNBC, Variety, Mumbrella, Sports Media Watch, IndieWire, Livemint, CNBC, Morningstar, Ars Technica, Front Office Sports, CinemaBlend, Agence France-Presse, Los Angeles Business Journal, CBC News, Anadolu Ajansı …, UPI, The Hill, Ukrainian National News, Associated Press, Screen Rant, Telecompaper, The Movie Blog, Realscreen and International Business Times
Jill Goldsmith / Deadline:
WBD says Paramount informed WBD on February 11 that it would pay $31 per share, up from $30, if the sides engaged, and that $31 was not its best and final offer — Warner says that the Ellison camp had verbally agreed to boost its bid to $31 or higher if two the sides engaged, which WBD today has agreed to do.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Straight Arrow News, Cord Cutters News and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
WBD sets March 20 as the date for a special shareholder meeting to vote on the proposed $83B Netflix deal, which its board “continues to unanimously recommend”
Discussion:
Deadline, Deadline, B&T, ANI News, HuffPost, CNBC, Paramount Skydance Corporation, The Wrap, The American Bazaar, @serrata.org, Screen, Benzinga, Media Play News, Washington Examiner, ZeroHedge News, Yahoo Finance, Advanced Television, The Streamable, Dow Jones Newswires, Livemint, Commercial Observer, New York Times, Netflix, Inc., Channel NewsAsia, The Hollywood Reporter, Bloomberg, The A.V. Club, Sherwood News and Sharecast
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Netflix says Paramount has caused “ongoing distraction” and “mischaracterized the regulatory review process”, and its WBD bid raises national security concerns
Discussion:
Deadline, Spyglass, New York Post, @brianstelter, Proactive, Screen, Economic news, CBS News, The American Bazaar, Barrett Media, Blockonomi, Broadband TV News and The A.V. Club
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Stephen Colbert says CBS lawyers blocked an interview with Democratic US Senate candidate James Talarico, citing the FCC's equal time guidance for TV talk shows — Colbert and ‘The Late Show’ posted the interview with James Talarico on the show's YouTube page to bypass the FCC's oversight.
Discussion:
YouTube, YouTube, New York Times, Deadline, LateNighter, The Verge, The Wrap, Reuters, @sgmandanas.bsky.social, @jamestalarico, The Hollywood Reporter, ZeroHedge News, @charles.littlegreenfootballs …, Forbes, Mediaite, The Wrap, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, UPI, @repdarrensoto, @schmittnyc, @kurtbardella, @therickwilson, @chriso_wiki, @cat1957.bsky.social, @adamscochran, Mediaite, @mollyjongfast, @sev.yote.social, Straight Arrow News, @terrymoran, Steady, Washington Times, @timodc, RedState, The Status Kuo, @mehdirhasan, New York Post, @nathanleamerdc, @jayrosen.bsky.social, Business Insider, Washington Post, @adamscochran, @mdg650hawk.bsky.social, @j_g_allen, @kylegriffin1, @yakhappy.bsky.social, New Jersey Online, @richardhanania, @ronfilipkowski, CBS News, @eddiesheehy.bsky.social, @davidsirota, @chrismurphyct, @adamwren, Raw Story, @mikenellis, @newnarrative.bsky.social, @johnshirley2024.bsky.social, @reckless.bsky.social, Peter S. Henne on LinkedIn, @meidastouch, @geneha.com, @drewharwell.com, The Nation, OutsideTheBeltway, @hissgoescobra, NOTUS, @adamscochran, Variety, @redsteeze, @redsteeze, MS NOW, USA Today, The Independent, The A.V. Club, @wjcarter, @nick_field90, @farhip, The Hill, Mediaite, @noahshachtman.bsky.social, Axios, @texassignal.bsky.social, The Boston Globe, Us Weekly, The Siren, IJR, NewsMax.com, Plain Dealer, New Republic, The Dean's Report, The Daily Beast, TV Insider, Townhall, Page Six, @gabrielmalor.bsky.social, Mediaite, Raw Story, TVNewsCheck, Bloomberg Law, HuffPost, Mashable and Eschaton
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
CBS says The Late Show was not prohibited from broadcasting a James Talarico interview and was given “legal guidance” that a broadcast could trigger an FCC rule — CBS said it did not force “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” to pull an interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico …
Discussion:
Ars Technica, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Associated Press, The Hill, RedState, Deadline, Vox, The Independent, Axios, Washington Examiner, NewsMax.com, LateNighter, @phoward8020.bsky.social, FIRE, The Hill, @jeremymbarr, Yahoo Finance, Truth on the Market, @karlbode.com, NBC News, Fox News, Forbes and PBS NewsHour
Naman Ramachandran / Variety:
By not airing Colbert's interview with Talarico, CBS bowed to FCC pressure preemptively as the agency hasn't formally eliminated talk show equal time exemptions
Discussion:
Status, HuffPost, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Mediaweek, Fast Company, Deadline, Australian Financial Review, Washington Examiner, Entertainment Weekly, KVIA-TV, RADAR, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, Polygon.com, Decider, The Wrap, New York Times, New York Daily News, @jmery1985@threads.com, Mother Jones, @jeremymbarr, Tampa Free Press, Newsweek, CNBC, Wonkette, New York Magazine, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Techdirt, TV Insider, Gizmodo, @coryupdate@threads.com, @notcapnamerica@threads.com, Daily Caller News Foundation, New York Sun, @notjessewalker, Forbes, twitchy.com, Newsbusters, @jefftiedrich@threads.com, CinemaBlend, Daily Mail, Washington Times, everyone is entitled …, Breitbart, TV Tech, Mediaite, The Guardian, The Texas Tribune, The Hill, Baller Alert, Blaze Media, The Gateway Pundit, Scripps News, Newser, Politico, Straight Arrow News, Time, LateNighter, New Republic and Just Jared
Krystal Hur / Wall Street Journal:
Filing: Berkshire Hathaway reports that it purchased 5.1M shares of The New York Times during the December quarter; NYT rises 3%+ after hours — In Warren Buffett's last quarter as CEO, his company further trimmed its holdings in iPhone maker — Berkshire Hathaway sold shares in Bank …
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MarketWatch, Associated Press, Barron's Online, Morningstar, Reuters, SEC.gov, The Hollywood Reporter, ZeroHedge News and Bloomberg
Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Versant's MS Now signs a deal with Crooked Media to air highlights from Crooked podcasts such as Pod Save America and Lovett or Leave It, at 9pm ET on Saturdays — In a notable video podcast pact, highlights from Crooked shows such as ‘Pod Save America’ and ‘Lovett or Leave It’ will air Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET.
Discussion:
The Wrap, @jeremymbarr, Richard Hudock on LinkedIn, Brands, Mediaite, Deadline and Barrett Media
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Automattic adds an AI assistant to WordPress.com, enabling users to perform site-wide layout and style modifications via natural language commands — WordPress.com, the website hosting platform from Automattic, will now include a built-in WordPress AI assistant, the company announced on Tuesday.
Cristina Criddle / Financial Times:
Perplexity says it has no plans to further pursue advertising, which it introduced in 2024, phasing out ads late last year over fears it would erode user trust — Leading start-ups have recently embraced sponsors as they search for revenue — AI start-up Perplexity has abandoned advertising …
Discussion:
Business Insider
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Condé Nast names Adam Baidawi as GQ's global editorial director; Baidawi previously led British GQ and wants GQ to be a “North Star of masculinity” — Adam Baidawi recalls being enthralled by GQ magazine the first time he pored through an issue as a teenager in suburban Melbourne, Australia.
Discussion:
Condé Nast, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, @nicolegelinas, Feed Me and The Business of Fashion
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Warner Bros. joins Disney and Paramount claiming infringement on ByteDance's AI video tool, Seedance, and demands ByteDance cease training AI on WB characters — The studio's legal counsel fired off a letter on Tuesday to John Rogovin, the general counsel of ByteDance who happens …
Discussion:
The Wrap, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, MediaNews4U, Advanced Television, WinBuzzer and The Decoder
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Memo: Hearst CEO Steve Swartz says 2025 revenue grew 3% YoY to $13.5B and the company hit record profit levels, with B2B business accounting for 60% of profits — Hearst, the 138-year-old media giant, saw record revenues and profits last year, CEO Steve Swartz wrote in an annual memo to employees Tuesday, obtained by Axios.
Discussion:
Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Bloomberg
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