Mediagazer: Livestream marketplace Whatnot raised $225M at an $11.5B valuation, after raising $265M at a $4.97B valuation in January, taking its total funding to $968M (Michael J. de la Merced/New York Times)

8:40 AM ET, October 28, 2025

Top News:

Matthew Belloni / Puck:

Sources: Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan is leaving Paramount after closing a major film and TV deal with NBCU; he was unhappy with Paramount's new regime — TV's top creator has just closed a massive deal with rival NBCUniversal for film and TV when his commitments with Paramount are up.

Discussion: Advanced Television, New York Times, Mirror, Deadline, Screen Rant, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, TV Insider, The A.V. Club, @jbflint, Benjamin Odell on LinkedIn, Entertainment Weekly, Benzinga, @matthewkeyslive, @pkafka, @chasewoodruff.bsky.social, Taste of Country, Los Angeles Times, @markwilkens.bsky.social, @bdgrabinski, @discussingfilm, @pkafka, @loudmouthjulia, @colinthecrabb, @mattbelloni, @gentledoofus, Wall Street Journal, HELLO!, Media Play News, @bobchipman.bsky.social, Business Insider, Bloomberg, Comic Book, TheDesk.net, @mattbelloni.bsky.social, New York Post, Decider, Breitbart, The Streamable, Erik Felderhof on LinkedIn, Suggest, @darrenzone.bsky.social, The Wrap, Us Weekly, TVLine, Daily Mail, Dexerto, @tdogmedia.bsky.social, @tyleraking.com, TVNewsCheck, Gamereactor UK, World of Reel, Variety, @bjbethel.bsky.social and Just Jared

Sharon Waxman / The Wrap:
Source: Taylor Sheridan's NBCUniversal deal is worth $1B+; a movie deal starts in 2026 and will run for eight years while a TV deal starts at the end of 2028

Discussion: The A.V. Club, Screen Rant, TV Insider and The Hollywood Reporter

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:

Sources: David Ellison will keep WBD mostly intact in a possible Paramount merger, merge HBO Max into Paramount+, keep creative teams, and target 30 films/year — Paramount Skydance Corp. plans to keep much of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. intact if it merges with the rival film and TV studio …

Discussion: The A.V. Club, Reuters, @harrymccracken@mastodon …, The Wrap, Business Insider and Puck

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:
Sources: Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told friends that he is interested in acquiring WBD's IP, including HBO, contrasting with co-CEO Greg Peters' skepticism

Discussion: Lucas Shaw on LinkedIn, Spyglass and @mariopro.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Committee to Protect Journalists:

Turkey arrests TELE1 chief editor Merdan Yanardağ as part of an “espionage” investigation and seizes control of TELE1, which stopped broadcasting on October 24 — Turkish authorities should release TELE1 chief editor Merdan Yanardağ and withdraw the order to assign …

Discussion: Reuters

Max Tani / Semafor:

Ex-Bellingcat journalist Tristan Lee and open-source researcher Jennefer Harper launch Decoherence Media to cover “authoritarian and anti-democratic movements” — Two veteran data journalists are launching a new investigative publication to cover rising authoritarianism from the shadowy corners of the internet.

Discussion: Decoherence Media, @decoherence.media and @inlayterms.bsky.social

Max Tani / Semafor:

Source: Bari Weiss is looking to poach conservatives from other networks and met with CNN personality Scott Jennings; Weiss reportedly approached Bret Baier — Bari Weiss hasn't said much publicly about the direction she wants to take CBS News in. But her office meeting calendar is starting to show clues.

Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CBS Evening News co-anchor John Dickerson says he plans to leave the network at the end of 2025

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:

An interview with Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch about shifting the company's business model from print and web ads to events, paywalls, and other revenue sources — Vogue parent wants to create ‘cultural moments’ as magazines face traffic declines and AI disruption

Discussion: Cosmopolitan, @alexbruell, Vogue and C21Media

Michael J. de la Merced / New York Times:

Livestream marketplace Whatnot raised $225M at an $11.5B valuation, after raising $265M at a $4.97B valuation in January, taking its total funding to $968M — The start-up is among the biggest names in a fast-growing part of e-commerce that is effectively a kind of QVC for the TikTok era.

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:

MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler says the news channel will officially rebrand from MSNBC to MS NOW on November 15, ahead of the planned spinoff into Versant — The rebrand of the cable news channel will take place Nov. 15, with a marketing effort launching next week.

Discussion: Deadline, Axios, The Wrap, @willoremus, @matthewkeyslive, FTVLive, @tsuvik, @deggans, Richard Hudock on LinkedIn, @jeremymbarr, @jeremymbarr, TVNewsCheck, TV Insider, Adweek, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite and People

Kayla Cobb / The Wrap:

Adobe partners with YouTube to offer a Create for YouTube Shorts feature in the Premiere mobile app, letting creators instantly publish video, launching soon — The “Create for YouTube Shorts” option will be coming to the Premiere mobile app and will be available on YouTube

Discussion: Variety, Engadget, Ken Yeung, Adobe Newsroom and Business Wire, more at Techmeme »

Agence France-Presse:

Meta and TikTok say they will comply with Australia's under-16 social media ban, taking effect on December 10, but warn the landmark law may be hard to enforce — Tech giants Meta and TikTok said Tuesday they will obey Australia's under-16 social media ban but warned the landmark laws could prove difficult to enforce.

Discussion: Financial Express, CNET, Bloomberg, Reuters, Moneycontrol, COINOTAG NEWS, SBS News and Forbes, more at Techmeme »

Washington Post:

Grokipedia, a Grok-based encyclopedia, launches with 885K+ articles, drawing from Wikipedia content; Elon Musk called it “a massive improvement” over Wikipedia — The right-leaning tech magnate is touting his own online encyclopedia as an unbiased alternative, but it went down after about an hour.

Discussion: Engadget, New York Times, The Guardian, Implicator.ai, The Economic Times, PYMNTS.com, @eevblog, @brianroemmele, @waytoomuchbeer, @thomasslabbers, @basedbeffjezos, @garymarcus, @garymarcus, @grummz, @samsheffer, @mfnrich, @basil_tgmd, @ramintahbaz, @quantian1, @grummz, @chamath, @luismbat, @elonmusk, @stevesi, @lsanger, @chamath, @amxfreeze, @garymarcus, @deryatr_, CNBC, @elonmusk, Thurrott, Forbes Middle East, Digit, France 24, Business Standard, TheStreet, @elonmusk, NewsMax.com, @elonmusk, @janmoleski.bsky.social, @niedermeyer.online, @michaelsderby.bsky.social, Gizchina, Livemint, @cb_doge, @elonmusk, The Overspill, Moneycontrol, Cointelegraph, WinBuzzer, @seanhollister.bsky.social, @harrisonstephen, Business Insider, Raw Story, The Verge, Axios, @justinhendrix.bsky.social, The Indian Express, Gizmodo, @Wyatt_H_Knott@vermont …, Digital Trends, Daily Sabah, NBC News, @jwharris.bsky.social, @rmac.bsky.social, The Commune, @davidingram.bsky.social, @romitmehta.com, NDTV Profit, @willoremus.com, @milesklee.bsky.social, @rmac.bsky.social, @kettlebelldan, @nerdjpg.com, @cuthrell.com, @rmac.bsky.social, @jeremyfcohen.bsky.social, Wired, Livemint, Tom's Guide and Fox Business, more at Techmeme »

Dylan Wells / Washington Post:

A look at podcasts hosted by potential 2028 US presidential candidates; Senator Ted Cruz's podcast leads with 1.8M average monthly downloads and views — A guide to political podcasts from potential candidates. Not all of them are riveting. — When California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) …

Discussion: @maxwelltani, @mannyfidel, @noahbierman, @maxwelltani and @dylanewells

Marc Hogan / New York Times:

A look at Live Nation's Setlist.fm, a wiki-like site with 80M annual users that changed live music by letting users document songs that artists play at concerts — Live music used to be a guessing game. Concert times were posted, but exactly when the headlining performers would take the stage …

Discussion: @mattsebastian.com, @Neddyo@shakedown.social and @samadams.bsky.social

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More News:

Dade Hayes / Deadline:
CNN launches its new All Access streaming subscription tier for $6.99 per month, including live channels and on-demand video, after shutting down CNN+ in 2022

Discussion: Advanced Television, Mediaite, The Wrap, Variety, Broadband TV News, Cord Cutters News, @bristei, @cnnpr, @mlcalderone, @hayekmg, CNN, Business Insider and The Hollywood Reporter

Ted Johnson / Deadline:
NBC News unveils a marketing campaign that attempts to address low trust in news media, promoting the network as a place for “facts”, “clarity”, and “calm”

Discussion: MediaPost and Variety

David Folkenflik / NPR:
A look at the fight between NPR and the CPB over a $36M contract to operate a satellite distribution system for public radio stations

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, Current, Inside Radio, @papaesoco.bsky.social, Radio & Television …, @davidfolkenflik, @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social, @dbrauer.net and Semafor

Alice Brooker / Press Gazette:
How a focus on video helped News UK's Talksport transform from a radio station to a multi-platform sports brand, with 35M to 45M YouTube views per month

Marcus Mendes / 9to5Mac:
Meta launches “ghost posts” on Threads, letting users share “unfiltered thoughts” in posts that disappear after 24 hours; replies will appear as a DM

Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:
Cinemark signs a deal with Imax to add 17 theaters, including four new US Imax laser projection screens, amid a rise in event cinema like Avatar: Fire and Ash

Discussion: Variety, WKYC-TV, Inverse, The A.V. Club, Engadget, @brendanhodges.bsky.social, Gizmodo, @coreyatad.com, Deadline, /Film and Screen Rant

Earlier Picks:

Natalie Korach / Status:
Sources: CNN staff were taken aback when Mark Thompson suggested easing up on covering Trump's East Wing demolition after a rare White House visit last week

Minho Kim / New York Times:
Despite President Trump's efforts to dismantle VOA, the newsroom remains active, aided by federal court intervention and backing from some Republican lawmakers

Discussion: TVNewsCheck, @patrickneithard.bsky.social and @paulthedogman.bsky.social

New York Times:
US progressives are embracing debate shows long used by conservatives, seeing the format as a more authentic alternative to “spoon-fed” political talking points

Michael Sainato / The Guardian:
ICE detained British journalist Sami Hamdi on October 26 at SFO; the Council on American-Islamic Relations says it was retaliation for his criticism of Israel

Discussion: USA Today, The Indian Express, View from the Wing, CNN, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times, HuffPost, Middle East Monitor, @mothinali.bsky.social, RedState, Baller Alert, The Forward, Reuters, New Republic, Wonkette, Ace of Spades HQ, The Sun, New York Sun, San Francisco Chronicle, @lauraloomer, @alexduncantx, @saikatc, @commondreams, @ebstanfill, @mehlaqacapj, @jalalayn, @osint613, @muslimcouncil, @gozukarafurkan, @hwmaqbul, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, New York Times, @cairnational, CBS News, ABC7, Sky News, UPI, Breitbart, GB News, The Guardian, @jonathancohn.bsky.social, @evelyndouek.bsky.social, @dystopian-fashion.bsky.social, @amerliberal.bsky.social, Al Jazeera, @kerim.one, @joepublic.bsky.social, @gowder.io, CBS News, @alphwilliams.bsky.social, @kkmbol.bsky.social, SFist, @b9AcE@todon.eu, @dearsarah.bsky.social, @adamrose.bsky.social, @meccanoish.bsky.social, SFGATE, @trumpwatch.skyfleet.blue and Daily Mail

Rei Nakafuji / Nikkei Asia:
Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki says the company has no intention of bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery, noting “right now, we don't want to do a big Hollywood M&A deal”

Discussion: Gamereactor UK, @toadsanime.lostincult.co.uk, GamingBolt, GamesRadar, Push Square, r/boxoffice, r/PS5 and r/MediaMergers

Matt Karolian / 📰🤖:
RivalIQ: WaPo's YouTube channel's views fell 85% from April to September, after Dave Jorgenson, who led the channel, left to launch Local News International

Discussion: Tristan Loper on LinkedIn

From Techmeme:

Anissa Gardizy / The Information:
How OpenAI scrambled for compute as Stargate stalled amid SoftBank disagreements; sources say OpenAI building its own data centers is not its near-term priority

David Streitfeld / New York Times:
In recent interviews, Sam Altman said AI's adoption faces more resistance than he expected, while Jensen Huang warned the “doomer narrative” may be winning

Marcus Schuler / Implicator.ai:
Google Antigravity users say their paid Google AI accounts were banned after linking Gemini models via OpenClaw; Peter Steinberger says he may “remove support”

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