Top News:
Bloomberg:
Paramount pays the $2.8B breakup fee owed to Netflix; NFLX closes up 13.8%, and PSKY closes up 20.8% — Paramount Skydance Corp. has paid the $2.8 billion breakup fee owed to Netflix Inc. after the streaming company dropped its planned deal to buy parts of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., according to people familiar with the move.
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Bloomberg:
How Paramount's David Ellison deployed financial backing and political lobbying, including his well-connected chief legal adviser, to beat Netflix and win WBD — After the board of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. concluded a meeting Thursday afternoon, Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav called David Ellison …
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Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount agrees to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, paying $31 per share in cash, giving WBD an enterprise value of $110B — Netflix backed away from its $87.2 billion deal on Thursday. … The two companies formally unveiled the deal Friday after Netflix formally bowed out of the running a day earlier …
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
Since bidding for WBD began in September, its stock price has risen 148% and Paramount raised its bid by 63%, a testament to David Zaslav's dealmaking abilities — In repeatedly rebuffing takeover offers from Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros. Discovery's board managed to create one of Hollywood's …
Variety:
The international film community sees Paramount's potential WBD acquisition with optimism for theatrical windows and worry about a reduced number of film buyers — Late Thursday night at around 10.30p.m. in London at the world premiere afterparty for Warner Bros.' all-star gothic romance …
CNN:
CNN employees and viewers have serious concerns about whether Ellison will uphold CNN's editorial independence amid severe political pressure — Viewers and readers of CNN might be wondering the same thing that CNN employees are asking right now: What will Paramount's ownership mean?
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Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
California AG Rob Bonta says Paramount-WBD “is not a done deal” as CA DOJ “has an open investigation” and the companies haven't “cleared regulatory scrutiny” — If the Justice Department and foreign regulators approves the deal, it'll be up to state attorneys general to challenge the merger.
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Deadline:
One analyst says European regulators are unlikely to block a Paramount-WBD deal; another says it's likely that regulators would slow down the approval process — Hollywood's boardroom battle of the decade has ended with P aramount dramatically snatching Warner Bros. Discovery from Netflix.
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Ted Johnson / Deadline:
US Senator Elizabeth Warren calls a potential Paramount-WBD merger an “antitrust disaster” and questions the influence of the Trump White House on the deal
US Senator Elizabeth Warren calls a potential Paramount-WBD merger an “antitrust disaster” and questions the influence of the Trump White House on the deal
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Chris Gardner / The Hollywood Reporter:
Equalpride, parent company of LGBTQ+ outlets like Out and The Advocate, cuts staff, including the EICs of Pride.com and The Advocate — Commenting on the latest round of cuts, a source tells THR, “These brands mean a lot to people, and we need to be telling our stories now more than ever.”
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Rob Waugh / Press Gazette:
SEO agency Clickout bought The Escapist and two other UK-based gaming sites, fired and replaced staff with AI, and filled the sites with content about casinos — Everything about writers Brian Merrygold and Callum Mercer is fake. — A network of prominent gaming sites has fired multiple human staff …
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Computerworld
Jeremy Barr / The Guardian:
Memo: another CBS News producer leaves, after 46 years, and says, “We've been told to aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum” — Mary Walsh, leaving after 46 years, says staffers told to ‘aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum’
Aisha Malik / TechCrunch:
Spotify launches Audiobook Charts in the US and the UK, which will be updated weekly and highlight the top audiobooks overall and by genre — Spotify is launching Audiobook Charts for the U.S. and U.K., the company announced on Friday. Similar to the streaming giant's Music and Podcast Charts …
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Kristin Robinson / Billboard:
Suno CEO and co-founder Mikey Shulman says the AI music company hit 2M paid subscribers and $300M ARR; pitch deck: it had 1M paid subscribers in November 2025 — The AI startup reports rapid growth, strong retention rates and rising engagement. … On Wednesday, Suno CEO …
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