Top News:
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
President Trump says that he will attend this year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner, marking the first time he will do so as president — Donald Trump said that he will attend this year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner, marking the first time he will do so as president.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, @realDonaldTrump …, UPI, Washington Examiner, NewsMax.com, New York Times, Reuters, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Axios, Bloomberg, The Hill, @harrymccracken.com, Politico, NBC News, Washington Post, @whca, Variety, The Wrap, DNYUZ, KVIA-TV, NOTUS, The Independent, Washington Times, The Post Millennial and Fox News
Jennifer Maas / Variety:
David Ellison says Paramount plans to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max into one streamer with 200M+ subscribers, but will let HBO “operate with independence” — Paramount Skydance plans to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max into one streaming service, upon the completion …
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, CNBC, Advanced Television, Washington Post, Deadline, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, The Movie Blog, TechCrunch, @matthewkeyslive, @reelpoporngeek, PCWorld, Alex Sherman on LinkedIn, @sherman4949, @zsharf, @film_girl, @raykcx, TV Insider, Mediaweek, PCMag, UPI, @matthewkeyslive, Los Angeles Times, @azalben.bsky.social, @sherman4949, @whenbatmenfly, @jeremymbarr, Tom's Guide, Axios, Android Authority, Deseret News, @bee_with_mee, CNET, IndieWire, @jeremymbarr, @tvgrimreaper, Animation Magazine, TheDesk.net, MMA Fighting, @steele131, Screen Rant, @sherman4949, Mashable, Broadband TV News, CNN, StreamTV Insider, New York Post, Bloomberg, Gizmodo, NBC News, @dkaszor.bsky.social, @annala7680.bsky.social, @mhwilliams.bsky.social, /Film, @laurenmeidasa.bsky.social, Streaming Better, Awful Announcing, The Verge, Media Play News, WPXI-TV, The A.V. Club, Yahoo Finance, LateNighter, MacDailyNews and Just Jared
RELATED:
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
Paramount says there are “no plans to divest or spin off a package of cable assets at this time”, after merging with WBD, creating a vast cable and TV portfolio — CEO David Ellison added that HBO would continue to — have “the resources and independence to do what it does best”
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Paramount President Jeff Shell was absent on Monday's WBD investor call, sources say amid an internal probe that he leaked details about a UFC deal in 2025 — Paramount President Jeff Shell, a key member of the management team during the company's pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery …
Discussion:
Sportico, @karlbode.com and The Olympian
Financial Times:
Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters says he is “nervous” about severe job cuts after Paramount's WBD acquisition and “a bunch of people are going to lose their jobs” — Co-chief Greg Peters is ‘nervous for the industry’, days after streaming group cedes WBD tie-up to David Ellison's company
Discussion:
Los Angeles Business Journal
Harshita Mary Varghese / Reuters:
David Ellison says Paramount's deal for WBD will leave the combined company with ~$79B in net debt; Paramount's offer includes $47B in equity and $54B in debt — Paramount Skydance (PSKY.O) CEO David Ellison said on Monday its deal for Warner Bros will leave the combined company …
Discussion:
Deadline, NPR, @scottfree.bsky.social, /Film, BMI, Gulf Business, Digital Music News, American Prospect, Engadget, @radiodeadair.com, Reuters, Mashable, Broadband TV News and New York Times
Blake Brittain / Reuters:
SCOTUS declines to hear a dispute over copyrights for AI-generated material, in a case where a computer scientist was denied a copyright for AI-generated art — The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to take up the issue of whether art generated by artificial intelligence …
Discussion:
Engadget, The Rundown AI, @maho-studio.bsky.social, Catherine Zaller Rowland on LinkedIn, Courthouse News Service, Decrypt, @alexanderchee.bsky.social, IPWatchdog.com, Marc Rotenberg on LinkedIn, Social Media Today, ARTnews, The Verge, @tyleraking.com and Bloomberg Law, more at Techmeme »
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
X announces a “Paid Partnership” label that creators can apply to their posts to indicate they're ads; until now, creators relied on hashtags to label posts — Social network X on Monday announced the introduction of a new “Paid Partnership” label that creators can apply to their posts to indicate they're advertisements.
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Lachlan Murdoch says Fox News expects CNN under the Ellisons to be a “strong competitor”, but adds that “running news is hard” — “We have been winning, and we win amongst strong competition,” Murdoch said at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Wrap, Barrett Media and @blowryontv
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
NBC News plans to expand chief data analyst Steve Kornacki's role in the 2026 midterms with a “Kornacki Cam” that will stream on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram — A live feed of Kornacki will stream on NBC's platform as well as on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram as the news division doubles down on the data wonk.
Discussion:
NBC News Press Releases and TV Insider
Lindsay Gellman / Wall Street Journal:
A profile of Christine Tyler Hill, a crossing guard in Vermont, whose print magazine about her job now has ~2,000 subscribers, making her about $14K per month — Christine Tyler Hill is among a number of creative types who have found people still really love to get things in the mail.
Discussion:
Newser
Mike Abrams / New York Times:
Q&A with three members of NYT's Tech team based in CA about seeking comment from subjects of their stories, tech companies “front-running” stories, and more — It's a tenet of independent journalism: Always offer the people you're writing about a chance to provide comment.
Discussion:
@mikeisaac

