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1:50 AM ET, July 26, 2025

Mediagazer

 Top News: 
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Paramount says it expects its merger with Skydance to close on August 7; the new company will trade on Nasdaq as PSKY  —  In just under two weeks, Paramount Global will complete its takeover by the smaller Skydance Media to form “Paramount Skydance Corp.” — and bringing a rollercoaster M&A ride to its conclusion.
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
The FCC approves the Paramount-Skydance deal, granting the transfer of licenses for 28 CBS-owned local TV stations to the Skydance-led ownership group  —  The FCC has granted approvals necessary to clear the way for the $8 billion merger of Paramount Global and David Ellison's Skydance Media.
Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the FCC, dissents against the Paramount-Skydance merger and says the FCC made “unprecedented” moves to help broker the deal
Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Chris McCarthy, co-CEO of Paramount Global and president of Showtime/MTV, plans to depart the company once its acquisition by Skydance is completed
Sara Fischer / Axios:
Meta will no longer accept political, election, or social issue ads in the EU from October, like Google, with both citing incoming regulation  —  Meta on Friday said starting in October it will no longer accept political, election or social issue ads in the European Union …
New York Times:
Docs and interviews: Media Matters is struggling to survive, having racked up ~$15M in legal fees to defend itself from lawsuits by Elon Musk, the FTC, and AGs  —  Scrambling to pay legal fees, Media Matters has dialed back its criticism, trimmed its staff and contemplated closing entirely.
Lucia Moses / Business Insider:
Sources: Netflix is searching for a video podcasting head; the role could be under Netflix's TV and film licensing arm rather than the original content side  —  - Netflix is quietly searching for an exec to lead its video podcast efforts.  — The streamer is chasing YouTube, which has cemented itself as a video podcast titan.
Discussion: Bloomberg
Michael Schaffer / Politico:
Sources: all but one person on WaPo's obit desk has taken the paper's buyout offer; the lone holdout is too junior to qualify for the buyout deal  —  It looks like it's time to submit a death notice for the Washington Post's obituaries section.  —  The paper's longtime obit chief …
Morgan Sung / KQED:
Sen. Alex Padilla grants the Internet Archive federal depository status, making it a part of a network of over 1,100 libraries that archive government documents  —  The San Francisco-based Internet Archive now has federal depository status, joining a network of over 1,100 libraries …
Lucas Manfredi / The Wrap:
FCC filing: Larry Ellison will hold a minority voting interest of ~35.5% in the combined Paramount-Skydance company, without any veto or special voting rights  —  The Oracle chairman will not have any “veto rights, or any special or outsized voting rights,” per an amendment filed with the FCC
Discussion: The Information
Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch:
Source: India orders ISPs and app stores to block 25 streaming services, like Ullu and ALTT with millions of downloads, for allegedly promoting obscene content  —  India has ordered the blocking of 25 streaming services — many with millions of viewers and even paying subscribers …
Austin Fuller / Current:
At a CPB meeting, CEO Patricia Harrison said CPB is doing “everything possible” to secure funding for FY26 while also preparing for a possible shutdown  —  Dru Sefton / Current … “So it's very difficult — hope on the one side, and sort of acceptance on the other,” Harrison said.
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Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Donations to US public media surge amid funding cuts, up by ~$70M YoY so far in 2025, but still fall well short of the annual $550M that Congress has cut
Melissa Heikkilä / Financial Times:
Q&A with Stability AI CEO Prem Akkaraju on taking over from Emad Mostaque, his movie background, data and copyright, working with creative industries, and more  —  The boss of the company behind Stable Diffusion insists film industry fears about the impact of the popular image-generating AI model are misplaced
 
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 More News: 
Katie Robertson / New York Times:
Project Veritas has withdrawn its 2020 lawsuit against The New York Times; the lawsuit accused the newspaper of defamation over an article published in 2020
Peter White / Deadline:
Source: E! News, the long-running celebrity news show, will end on September 25; its digital brand will continue with a focus on social platforms
 Earlier Picks: 
Jesse Whittock / Deadline:
Sony acquires a ~2.5% stake in Tekken and Pac-Man owner Bandai Namco for $464M, to expand “the fan community for IP such as anime and manga around the world”
Lauren Forristal / TechCrunch:
Spotify and Netflix launch a minigolf game within Spotify's app to promote Happy Gilmore 2, marking Spotify's first partnership for an in-app gaming experience
Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Sources: the NFL is in talks to take a minority stake of up to 10% in ESPN, which would own NFL Network and RedZone rather than just hold a controlling stake
 

 
From Techmeme:

Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Sources: Meta is considering deep budget cuts to its metaverse efforts in 2026, potentially as high as 30% and most likely including layoffs as early as January

Kif Leswing / CNBC:
Apple says general counsel Kate Adams and policy chief Lisa Jackson will retire, and Jennifer Newstead, Meta's former chief legal officer, will replace Adams

Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Two studies suggest AI chatbots can shift political views more effectively than TV campaign ads, especially by presenting many claims, regardless of accuracy
 
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