Top News:
Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Netflix agrees to acquire WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash-and-stock deal, set to close after WBD splits into two companies in Q3 2026 — As part of the deal, WBD will continue with plan to spin off its cable television networks — Netflix has agreed an $83bn takeover …
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Tony Maglio / The Hollywood Reporter:
Netflix says it “expects to maintain Warner Bros.' theatrical releases for films” but “the windows will evolve to be much more consumer friendly” — Now that that's settled... Netflix just solidified itself as the leading entertainment company (and then some), and all it cost was $83 billion.
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
A look at the hurdles Netflix will have to clear for the WB acquisition to go through, including DOJ and EU approval and a possible response from Paramount — Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told investors on Friday that he was “highly confident in the regulatory process” win approval …
Discussion:
Benzinga, /Film, Media Play News and Mediaite
Scott Roxborough / The Hollywood Reporter:
A European theater owners group says Netflix's Warner Bros. acquisition “represents a double risk” of fewer films being produced and getting theatrical releases — The UNIC, which represents cinema exhibitors across Europe, fears the streamer will downgrade the theatrical experience.
Discussion:
Variety, Business Insider, The Wrap, The Sun, Inverse, Den of Geek, Deadline, UNIC, Screen and Irish Independent
Dade Hayes / Deadline:
Netflix CEOs say the WBD deal won't fail because “we understand these assets that we're buying” and they're not buying to compensate for business deterioration — Netflix Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters sought to reassure investors that their game-changing deal …
Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Business Insider, Sports Media Watch, The Hollywood Reporter and AppleInsider
Jane Fonda / The Ankler:
Jane Fonda warns that a WBD merger in any form is an alarming escalation in media consolidation, threatening the entertainment industry and the First Amendment
Jane Fonda warns that a WBD merger in any form is an alarming escalation in media consolidation, threatening the entertainment industry and the First Amendment
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Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
The Chicago Tribune sues Perplexity for copyright infringement, alleging Perplexity's platforms lift Tribune content verbatim and divert traffic from the paper — The Chicago Tribune filed a copyright infringement lawsuit Thursday in New York federal court against Perplexity AI …
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New York Times:
The New York Times sues Perplexity, claiming the AI startup violated its copyrights and kept using its content despite repeated demands over the past 18 months — IDEAS — Hannah Arendt Is Not Your Icon … Photo illustration by Ricardo Tomas — ADVERTISEMENT — LIVE
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Meta strikes multiyear commercial AI data deals with news publishers, including CNN, Fox News, and Le Monde, to provide real-time answers in its Meta AI chatbot — Meta on Friday said it has struck several commercial AI data agreements with news publishers ranging from USA Today, People Inc. …
Will Sommer / @willsommer:
The Blaze retracts its article accusing a former Capitol Police officer of being the January 6 pipe bomber after the FBI arrested a different person — The Blaze has finally retracted its story accusing a former Capitol Police officer of being the Jan 6th pipe bomber, after a different person was arrested today. [image]
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, The Independent and New York Times
Tyler Falk / Current:
CPB announces $4.4M in grants to support rural radio and TV news services in Wisconsin, Ohio, Arkansas, Kansas, West Virginia, Tennessee, Michigan, and Iowa — CPB announced $4.4 million in grants Thursday to support rural news services in eight states. — The Rural News and Information …
David Pierce / The Verge:
Yahoo launches Game Breakdowns in beta, offering AI-generated game summaries, stats, and play recaps, all updated live, to Yahoo Fantasy Plus subscribers — AI models are very useful for mining stats to see exactly what's going on in the game you're watching.
Discussion:
David Fucillo on LinkedIn
Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
The EU fines X €120M for breaching online content rules, the first DSA fine, citing issues like its failure to publish an ad repository, after a two-year probe — Elon Musk's social media company X was fined 120 million euros ($140 million) by EU tech regulators on Friday …
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