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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 …
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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.
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.
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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 …
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Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Cinema operators are relieved Paramount won WBD due to its support for theatrical releases, but skeptical about its plans to increase output and sustain windows — Is there a lesser of two evils? … There's been fear that any merger — no matter which bidder prevailed …
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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 …
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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 …
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?
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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.
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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
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
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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’
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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.
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.”
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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 …
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