Mediagazer: Inside the creation of AI actress Tilly Norwood, which included 2,000 iterations; Particle6, its creator, says it has ~60 NDAs for projects involving Tilly (Ellen Gamerman/Wall Street Journal)

4:10 AM ET, December 8, 2025

Top News:

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Ted Sarandos met with President Trump in November, and both agreed WBD should go to the highest bidder; Sarandos argued that Netflix wasn't a monopoly — Netflix Inc. co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos ventured to the White House in mid-November for a meeting with President Donald Trump.

Bloomberg:

President Trump says Netflix's planned acquisition of WBD will have “to go through a process” and he will be personally involved in the decision-making process — US President Donald Trump raised potential antitrust concerns around Netflix Inc.'s planned $72 billion acquisition …

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

Netflix agrees to acquire WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash-and-stock deal, including debt, to close after WBD splits in two 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 …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, About Netflix, @paulguinnessy.bsky.social, TechCrunch, @mbrandolph, @michaelcollado, Dow Jones Newswires, Alberto Onetti on LinkedIn, John Gallaugher on LinkedIn, Yahoo Finance, The Motley Fool, @austincarr, New York Times, @pkafka, @netflix, Los Angeles Times, Raman Kumar Parepalli on LinkedIn, CNN, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, Reuters, Status, Jonah Zalken on LinkedIn, The Guardian, @themorrancave.bsky.social, Blaze Media, Axios, Press Association, Benzinga, Bounding Into Comics, The Daily Signal, Washington Post, iDrop News, Deadline, Breitbart, Ben Keen on LinkedIn, Charlotte Crouch on LinkedIn, Jasmeet Sidhu on LinkedIn, @parismarx.com, Daring Fireball, @shaundai.com, The Daily Caller, Channel NewsAsia, A Lovely Way to Spend …, @thefienprint.bsky.social, @carnage4life.bsky.social, @vinsonlovescomics.bsky.social, @karlbode.com, @Holberg@mstdn.social, @tweak@ohai.social, NPR, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, TechCrunch, Deadline, @jonathancohn.bsky.social, @droog811.bsky.social, @bretbatson.bsky.social, @kambole.bsky.social, @peter-eller10.bsky.social, @leafwarbler.bsky.social, @jackcarterbenjamin …, @Knoebel@mastodon.social, @mgsiegler.com, @valiuz.bsky.social, @jakevk.bsky.social, @uppergwladysblu.bsky.social, Deadline, @lewisgoodall.com, @joshsternberg.com, @irishoutsider.bsky.social and @thebarrylad.bsky.social

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:

WBD CEO David Zaslav, criticized for cutting costs, scrapping movies, and laying off thousands, may end up having the last laugh thanks to the Netflix-WBD deal — Long Hollywood's punching bag, the CEO is shaking up the industry with a blockbuster deal — David Zaslav is finally having his moment.

Discussion: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap, Business Insider, Deadline, Puck and The Indian Express

Financial Times:

Sources: WBD's board wanted a proposal it could sign immediately, and Netflix was the only bidder whose paperwork was fully executable the night of December 4 — Old-guard Hollywood underestimated streaming pioneer that has upended the industry over two decades

Variety:
The WGA, which routinely opposes media mergers, says the Netflix-WBD deal must be blocked, and the Producers and Directors guilds express concern over the deal

Jody Godoy / Reuters:
Congressional Democrats and Republicans criticize the Netflix-WBD deal, saying it would raise streaming subscription prices and lessen workers' pay and control

Katie Campione / Deadline:
SAG-AFTRA puts off taking a position on the Netflix-WBD deal but says a deal benefiting its members “must result in more creation and more production, not less”

Discussion: TheJournal.ie, @variety, Adweek, The Wrap, USA Today, Financial Times, The Hollywood Reporter, The Times, Yahoo Finance, MediaPost, The Streamable and Business Insider

Chris Kerr / Game Developer:
WBD confirms that Warner Bros. Games will be acquired by Netflix along with its wider streaming and television business

Bloomberg:
Netflix secured $59B in bridge financing from Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas, and HSBC for its WBD bid, one of the largest loans of its kind; Wells' share is $29.5B

Discussion: Financial Times, Paula Seligson on LinkedIn, SiliconANGLE, Fortune, Associated Press and Inc.com

Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
Netflix's WBD bid marks a striking strategy shift for a company long known for pivots, especially after years of avoiding full commitment to theatrical releases

Discussion: The Movie Blog, GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT, Forbes, Screen, Screen Rant, @mgsiegler, @laurenshirsch, Variety, Instapundit, Vulture, No Film School, Decider, Los Angeles Times, /Film, Den of Geek, MakeUseOf, San Francisco Chronicle, Deadline, CNBC and Spyglass

John Koblin / New York Times:

The Netflix-WBD deal should quiet concerns, for now, from CNN employees worried about the prospect of Paramount combining CBS News and CNN in a WBD acquisition — The prospect of Paramount's buying Warner Bros. Discovery had led CNN journalists to wonder if the channel may be combined with CBS News.

Discussion: Semafor, Straight Arrow News, Washington Post, Forbes, Mock Paper Scissors, World of Reel and TVNewsCheck

Oliver Darcy / Status:
Sources: David Ellison's interference in WBD's failed summer talks to extend HBO Max's South Park licensing deal left David Zaslav distrustful of Ellison

Discussion: @matbrunetvo.com, Olu Akanmu on LinkedIn, David Grant on LinkedIn, Cracked.com, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, @status.news and BBC

Alex Sherman / CNBC:
Documents and source: WBD CEO David Zaslav's stock in WBD would be worth close to $660M if the Netflix deal closes

Discussion: The Information, Mumbrella, Australian Financial Review, Los Angeles Times, DNYUZ, @dylanbyers, @jbillinson@threads.com, Variety, DiscussingFilm, @willmckinley.bsky.social, Sportico, @devonheinen.bsky.social, Benzinga, Puck and @timkarr.bsky.social

Matt Donnelly / Variety:

A look at the auction for the Oscars' TV rights, as sources say Netflix is out, NBCUniversal gains ground, and YouTube and ABC remain active bidders — There are eight weeks left on the holy Hollywood awards calendar until Oscar nominations are announced, and it's not just artists and craftspeople hunting for trophies.

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Rant, Offscreen Central, The A.V. Club, Deadline, @discussingfilm.net and World of Reel

Ellen Gamerman / Wall Street Journal:

Inside the creation of AI actress Tilly Norwood, which included 2,000 iterations; Particle6, its creator, says it has ~60 NDAs for projects involving Tilly — How the human behind Tilly Norwood brought her to digital life

Discussion: CBS News, Digital Music News, Associated Press and The Wrap

Kat Tenbarge / Wired:

Some Reddit moderators say a surge of AI slop on the site is eroding its authenticity and could lead to a feedback loop of AI models training on AI content — Reddit is considered one of the most human spaces left on the internet, but mods and users are overwhelmed with slop posts in the most popular subreddits.

Discussion: WinBuzzer, Gizmodo, New York Times, @glenngabe.bsky.social, Siripilli Bharathi on LinkedIn, @mike@sauropods.win, @informor.bsky.social, @codinghorror@infosec.exchange, @jtlg.bsky.social, @rodneyabrooks.bsky.social, @gedankenstuecke@scholar … and @carnage4life.bsky.social

Dominic-Madori Davis / TechCrunch:

A look at Hamlet, a startup that uses AI to process local government meeting videos and which plans to provide the tool to local journalists for free — The launch of Hamlet was quite personal for Sunil Rajaraman. — Back in 2022, he ran for city council in a small California town.

Discussion: Mariesa Lenz on LinkedIn and Plain Dealer

Isabella Simonetti / Wall Street Journal:

Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi agree to part ways and let her contract expire at the end of the year, following new allegations about her affair with RFK Jr. — Nuzzi joined the magazine as an editor earlier this year — Vanity Fair and Olivia Nuzzi have agreed to part ways following …

Pamela McClintock / The Hollywood Reporter:

A look at Paramount's culture shift under David Ellison, where the focus is on male-driven action movies, and not on prestige films seen as critics' darlings — It's a brand-new day at the legacy studio, where prestige films are out, testosterone-heavy tentpoles are in and Brett Ratner is back on the call sheet.