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2:30 PM ET, February 18, 2026

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 Top News: 
Jack Dunn / Variety:
Stephen Colbert says CBS released its statement “without ever talking to me” and talk shows have long been exempt from “equal time” rules  —  On Tuesday night's broadcast of “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert slammed his home network, CBS, for releasing a statement denying …
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Corbin Bolies / The Wrap:
Brendan Carr confirms FCC is investigating The View for potentially violating its equal-time rule and says he was “highly entertained” by the Colbert/CBS drama  —  Brendan Carr also said the media should be “ashamed” for running claims that the FCC blocked James Talarico's “Late Show” interview
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Stephen Colbert says CBS lawyers blocked an interview with Democratic US Senate candidate James Talarico, citing the FCC's equal time guidance for TV talk shows
Discussion: YouTube, Reuters, The Wrap, The Ankler, Mediaite, YouTube, Deadline, New York Times, PoliticusUSA, RedState, @bgrrl.bsky.social, Jennifer Johnson on LinkedIn, @michaeljstern.bsky.social, The Guardian, LaineyGossip, Raw Story, Washington Post, TheJournal.ie, @bugstev2.bsky.social, NOTUS, @michaeljstern.bsky.social, @mcbridetd.bsky.social, MS NOW, @jamestalarico, HuffPost, The Wrap, Benzinga, @sgmandanas.bsky.social, ZeroHedge News, @charles.littlegreenfootballs …, The Hollywood Reporter, @adamscochran, The Verge, @adamscochran, @kurtbardella, @repdarrensoto, @davidsirota, @kylegriffin1, @schmittnyc, @mollyjongfast, @chrismurphyct, @adamwren, @mikenellis, @timodc, Deadline, @chriso_wiki, Variety, @j_g_allen, masslive.com, @richardhanania, Talking Points Memo, @terrymoran, @therickwilson, @reckless.bsky.social, @nathanleamerdc, @mehdirhasan, UPI, @ronfilipkowski, @meidastouch, @yakhappy.bsky.social, Lawyers, Guns & Money, @hissgoescobra, Business Insider, @adamscochran, @redsteeze, @redsteeze, CBS News, @wjcarter, @nick_field90, @farhip, Washington Post, @newnarrative.bsky.social, New Republic, @jayrosen.bsky.social, @mdg650hawk.bsky.social, Peter S. Henne on LinkedIn, Mediaite, New York Daily News, twitchy.com, The A.V. Club, Techdirt, Forbes, Page Six, The Dean's Report, Rolling Stone, NewsMax.com, @eddiesheehy.bsky.social, @sev.yote.social, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post, Washington Times, New Jersey Online, Straight Arrow News, The Hill, @johnshirley2024.bsky.social, The Siren, New York Sun, Daily Caller News Foundation, @cat1957.bsky.social, The Status Kuo, Mother Jones, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, Newsbusters, Endless Urgency …, NBC News, @geneha.com, @drewharwell.com, The Nation, MS NOW, USA Today, The Independent, The A.V. Club, Mediaite, @noahshachtman.bsky.social, Axios, @texassignal.bsky.social, The Boston Globe, Us Weekly, Mediaite, The Daily Beast, @gabrielmalor.bsky.social, Forbes, Mediaite, Raw Story, TVNewsCheck, The Wrap, Mashable and Variety
Todd Spangler / Variety:
CBS says The Late Show was not prohibited from broadcasting a James Talarico interview and was given “legal guidance” that a broadcast could trigger an FCC rule
Cameron Adams / The Daily Beast:
Sources: CNN restricted staff from using its platforms for self-promotion, after Jake Tapper pushing his Joe Biden book turned into a “rolling infomercial”  —  TURNING A PAGE  —  The anchor is said to be “very, very unhappy” at the network's new policy on self-promotion.
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Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Netflix sends ByteDance a C&D letter over Seedance 2.0, joining WBD, Paramount, and Disney, saying “forensic evidence” shows “unauthorized derivative works”  —  With their two-page correspondence and potential legal action to follow, Netflix have linked arms …
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
The Irish Times says it now has ~150,000 print and digital subscribers, and it has reached a milestone where subscriber revenue fully funds its journalism  —  Revenue generated by subscribers to The Irish Times is now fully funding its journalism for the first time.
Discussion: @metacurity.com
Julia Black / Vanity Fair:
OpenAI hires Instagram's VP of global partnerships, Charles Porch, as its first VP of global creative partnerships, seeking to win over a skeptical Hollywood  —  Charles Porch's newly created role as OpenAI's VP of global creative partnerships signals the AI giant's new focus on the entertainment industry
The Keyword:
Google rolls out Lyria 3, a generative music model that can make 30-second tracks with Nano Banana cover art, in beta in the Gemini app in eight languages  —  The Gemini app now features our most advanced music generation model Lyria 3, empowering anyone to make 30-second tracks using text or images in beta.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Audible launches an “immersion reading” feature that lets readers switch between ebook and audiobook versions of a title in their Audible and Kindle libraries  —  Only days after Spotify announced its foray into physical book sales, which included an audiobook feature that lets …
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Snap says its direct revenue business has reached a $1B ARR, driven primarily by Snapchat+ surpassing 25M subscribers since its 2022 launch  —  Snap's direct revenue business has reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate, the company announced on Wednesday.
 
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 More News: 
Cristina Criddle / Financial Times:
Perplexity says it has no plans to further pursue ads, which it introduced in 2024, after phasing them out in late 2025 over fears they would erode user trust
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
Amnesty research: a government customer of spyware maker Intellexa hacked the iPhone of journalist Teixeira Cândido in Angola in 2024 via Predator spyware
 Earlier Picks: 
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Automattic adds an AI assistant to WordPress.com, enabling users to perform site-wide layout and style modifications via natural language commands
Krystal Hur / Wall Street Journal:
Filing: Berkshire Hathaway reports that it purchased 5.1M shares of The New York Times during the December quarter; NYT rises 3%+ pre-market
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Paramount says it is “prepared to engage” with WBD on takeover talks during a seven-day negotiating window, but doesn't say whether it will raise its bid