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CNN:
CNN employees and viewers have serious concerns about whether Ellison will uphold CNN's editorial independence amid severe political pressure — Viewers and readers of CNN might be wondering the same thing that CNN employees are asking right now: What will Paramount's ownership mean?
Discussion:
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Bloomberg:
Paramount pays the $2.8B breakup fee owed to Netflix; NFLX closes up 13.8%, and PSKY closes up 20.8% — Paramount Skydance Corp. has paid the $2.8 billion breakup fee owed to Netflix Inc. after the streaming company dropped its planned deal to buy parts of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., according to people familiar with the move.
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
California AG Rob Bonta says Paramount-WBD “is not a done deal” as CA DOJ “has an open investigation” and the companies haven't “cleared regulatory scrutiny” — If the Justice Department and foreign regulators approves the deal, it'll be up to state attorneys general to challenge the merger.
Discussion:
The Independent, New York Times, Deadline, Reuters, TheDesk.net, San Francisco Business Times, Ars Technica, DNYUZ, Associated Press, BIG by Matt Stoller, Deadline, TrekMovie.com, American Prospect, Gizmodo, New York Post, Al Jazeera, Dow Jones Newswires, NBC News, New Republic, BBC, The Motley Fool, One America News Network, LaineyGossip, Telegraph, Dallas Express, What Hi-Fi?, The Bulwark, Yahoo Finance, Android Headlines, The American Bazaar, The Irish Times, @paulhikari.bsky.social, Comic Book, Business Insider, Sky News, Media Matters for America, @somenobody24.bsky.social, Variety, ANI News, Time, The Wrap, CBS News, Australian Financial Review, Sports Business Journal, Empire, The Business Times, /Film, Nerdist, CinemaBlend, Engadget, TV Tech, Channel NewsAsia and Just Jared, more at Techmeme »
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount agrees to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, paying $31 per share in cash, giving WBD an enterprise value of $110B — Netflix backed away from its $87.2 billion deal on Thursday. … The two companies formally unveiled the deal Friday after Netflix formally bowed out of the running a day earlier …
Discussion:
Screen Rant, The Wrap, Paramount Skydance Corporation, NBC Bay Area, @musiccomposer.com, Deadline, Blockonomi, UPI, Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., NME, C21Media, Notebookcheck, Bloomberg, KVIA-TV, MediaNews4U, Bloomberg Law, MediaPost, Pulse 2.0, Paramount, Breitbart, New York Post, Axios and Adweek, more at Techmeme »
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Since bidding for WBD began in September, its stock price has risen 148% and Paramount raised its bid by 63%, a testament to David Zaslav's dealmaking abilities — In repeatedly rebuffing takeover offers from Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros. Discovery's board managed to create one of Hollywood's …
Variety:
The international film community sees Paramount's potential WBD acquisition with optimism for theatrical windows and worry about a reduced number of film buyers — Late Thursday night at around 10.30p.m. in London at the world premiere afterparty for Warner Bros.' all-star gothic romance …
Deadline:
One analyst says European regulators are unlikely to block a Paramount-WBD deal; another says it's likely that regulators would slow down the approval process — Hollywood's boardroom battle of the decade has ended with P aramount dramatically snatching Warner Bros. Discovery from Netflix.
Discussion:
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Bloomberg:
How Paramount's David Ellison deployed financial backing and political lobbying, including his well-connected chief legal adviser, to beat Netflix and win WBD — After the board of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. concluded a meeting Thursday afternoon, Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav called David Ellison …
Discussion:
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Ted Johnson / Deadline:
US Senator Elizabeth Warren calls a potential Paramount-WBD merger an “antitrust disaster” and questions the influence of the Trump White House on the deal
Discussion:
Status, Variety, NPR, Free Press Action Fund Feed, The National Pulse, Deadline, Inven Global, Washington Times, Screen, The Direct, Kidscreen, KitGuru, The Wrap, Fast Company, @jayrosen.bsky.social, CNN, New Republic, Reuters, Blockonomi, @hshaban, @notaaroncraig.bsky.social, @senwarren, @simonowens, @matthewkeyslive, @film_girl, International Business Times, Hypebeast, primetimer.com, @lukerussell.bsky.social, @wajali.bsky.social, @emptywheel.bsky.social, @nemalki.bsky.social, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, CBS News, @scaredbisexual.bsky.social, Ukrainian National News, @bselena.bsky.social, RedState, @ddayen.bsky.social, @ddayen.bsky.social, @ddayen.bsky.social, @ddayen.bsky.social, @ethanpfreedman.com, The Wrap, @ethanpfreedman.com, @matthew.flux.community, @timkarr.bsky.social, @jamellebouie.net, @jamellebouie.net, @jamellebouie.net, @jamellebouie.net, @jamellebouie.net, @rbreich.bsky.social, TheDesk.net and Annotated DC
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Memo: CNN CEO Mark Thompson urged employees to avoid jumping to conclusions after Netflix pulled out of the WBD deal and to focus on serving CNN's audience
Memo: CNN CEO Mark Thompson urged employees to avoid jumping to conclusions after Netflix pulled out of the WBD deal and to focus on serving CNN's audience
Discussion:
The Guardian, New York Times, New York Post, Poynter, Snopes, @willpollock.com, The Wrap, @andrewlevesque.bsky.social, The Hollywood Reporter, Truthout, @karlbode.com, Newser, @socialmedialab.ca, Jeff Jarvis on LinkedIn, Rodney Benson on LinkedIn, @Sustainable2050 …, Barrett Media, Variety, Screen Rant, HuffPost, The A.V. Club, @bgrueskin.bsky.social, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, @jaymesl.bsky.social, @parkerdw.bsky.social, @justinbaragona.bsky.social, @mattgertz.bsky.social and Gizmodo
Chris Gardner / The Hollywood Reporter:
Equalpride, parent company of LGBTQ+ outlets like Out and The Advocate, cuts staff, including the EICs of Pride.com and The Advocate — Commenting on the latest round of cuts, a source tells THR, “These brands mean a lot to people, and we need to be telling our stories now more than ever.”
Discussion:
The Wrap
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Rob Waugh / Press Gazette:
SEO agency Clickout bought The Escapist and two other UK-based gaming sites, fired and replaced staff with AI, and filled the sites with content about casinos — Everything about writers Brian Merrygold and Callum Mercer is fake. — A network of prominent gaming sites has fired multiple human staff …
Discussion:
Computerworld
Jeremy Barr / The Guardian:
Memo: another CBS News producer leaves, after 46 years, and says, “We've been told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum” — Mary Walsh, leaving after 46 years, says staffers told to ‘aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum’
Discussion:
Fox News, @samlitzinger.bsky.social, @newnarrative.bsky.social and @laurenmeidasa.bsky.social
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
The FCC approves Charter's $34.5B merger with Cox, combining cable, fiber, and cloud units, and taking the Cox name and using Spectrum for consumer business — The FCC on Friday announced that it has given the greenlight to Charter Communications' $34.5 billion merger with Cox Enterprises.
Discussion:
The Wrap, Radio & Television …, CNET, Public Knowledge, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters and Cord Cutters News
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Spotify launches Audiobook Charts in the US and the UK, which will be updated weekly and highlight the top audiobooks overall and by genre — Spotify is launching Audiobook Charts for the U.S. and U.K., the company announced on Friday. Similar to the streaming giant's Music and Podcast Charts …
Discussion:
Spotify, Digital Trends, How-To Geek, Neowin, 9to5Mac, MakeUseOf, Thurrott and Phandroid
