Top News:
Lauren Hirsch / New York Times:
WBD says Paramount's new $31-a-share offer could lead to a better deal than Netflix's, potentially triggering a four-day period for Netflix to revise its bid — Warner Bros. Discovery said Paramount's new offer of $31 a share could lead to a “superior proposal” to the deal it signed with Netflix.
Discussion:
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The Hollywood Reporter:
WBD confirms that it received a revised bid from Paramount to acquire the company, but says it still recommends that shareholders vote for Netflix's deal
WBD confirms that it received a revised bid from Paramount to acquire the company, but says it still recommends that shareholders vote for Netflix's deal
Discussion:
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K.J. Yossman / Variety:
The UK plans to update the Media Act 2024 to bring streaming platforms with 500K+ users under “enhanced” Ofcom regulation, giving it power to investigate them — Streaming platforms in the U.K. are set to come under “enhanced regulation” from media regulator Ofcom …
Discussion:
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New York Times:
The FTC and FCC are engaging in a hostile takeover of the marketplace of ideas by treating editorial decisions as fraud and conditioning mergers on news content — The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission were designed to be independent stewards of the public interest …
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Mogul, founded by ex-SoundCloud execs to help artists track royalties, raised $5M and says it has helped track $1.5B in lost royalties since 2025 — Music rights and royalties are a complex world. There are multiple types of royalties, and artists need to make sure that their data …
Discussion:
Julie Lein on LinkedIn and Music Business Worldwide
Emma Roth / The Verge:
Google says AI music generation platform ProducerAI is joining Labs and will be powered by a Lyria 3 preview version; ProducerAI was developed alongside artists — ProducerAI will use Google's Lyria 3 AI model to help users generate sounds, workshop lyrics, remix songs, and more.
Zac Ntim / Deadline:
BAFTA tells members a “comprehensive review” is underway after a Tourette's campaigner involuntarily said a racial slur during the ceremony — BAFTA told its members this afternoon that it has started what it described as a comprehensive review of Sunday's Film Awards …
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Jake Kanter / Deadline:
Source: Warner Bros. raised concerns about the involuntary racial slur during the BAFTA Film Awards and requested the incident be removed from the BBC broadcast
Discussion:
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Alex Ritman / Variety:
BAFTA says it takes “full responsibility” for putting its “guests in a very difficult situation”, after a Tourette's campaigner made several offensive comments
BAFTA says it takes “full responsibility” for putting its “guests in a very difficult situation”, after a Tourette's campaigner made several offensive comments
Discussion:
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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
YouTube updates its $7.99-per-month Premium Lite subscription to let users download videos for offline access and play videos in the background — YouTube is expanding its more affordable, $7.99 per month Premium Lite subscription service with new features, including the ability to download videos …
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Memos: Disney's chief communications officer, Kristina Schake, is leaving on March 18 after four years, as Bob Iger ends his run as CEO — The former Biden administration and Michelle Obama aide joined the studio in June 2022 — Kristina Schake will end her four-year run …
Discussion:
Deadline, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter
Tom Singleton / BBC:
The UK ICO fines Reddit £14.47M for unlawfully using children's personal information; Reddit began verifying user ages in July 2025 to comply with the UK OSA — Reddit has been fined £14.47m by the UK's data watchdog for unlawfully using children's personal information.
Discussion:
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Georg Szalai / The Hollywood Reporter:
At a panel, Tubi MD David Salmon said “consumers candidly don't care” if content is professionally produced, creator-produced, or UGC — David Salmon, along with Pluto TV and DAZN execs, discussed sports as a streaming user driver and inspiration for “shoulder content” at MIP London.
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
AWS launches Elemental Inference, an AI tool that lets networks convert live video into vertical clips for mobile and social media use in real time — AWS Elemental Inference will let networks and studios convert live sports, news and other content into vertical video in real-time.
Discussion:
The Wrap, MediaPost, TVNewsCheck, Forbes, Amazon Web Services, Deadline and SiliconANGLE
Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
Sources: Nexstar's WGN-TV in Chicago has laid off eight veteran reporters and anchors; the outlet has been eliminating a variety of positions for several months — The ax is falling at WGN-Ch. 9, cutting a wide swath out of “Chicago's Very Own” TV newsroom.
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
TelevisaUnivision reports Q4 revenue down 2% YoY to $1.32B, US revenue down 7% YoY to $777M, and a net loss of $234.7M, down from an $809.7M loss in Q4 2024 — Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivsion said it narrowed its losses in the fourth quarter as it generated profits …
