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New York Times:
Sources: WBD staff are bracing for widespread layoffs as David Ellison wants $6B in “synergies”; the internal mood is grim as staff preferred Netflix's proposal — It was a Hollywood battle royal, one filled with feints, bruised egos, strategic leaks, boardroom intrigue and old guard vs. new guard tension.
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The Olympian, NBC News, The Hollywood Reporter, Politico, TODAY.com and Wall Street Journal
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Dan Gallagher / Wall Street Journal:
Netflix actually won by walking away from the WBD bid, collecting a $2.8B termination fee and driving up the price and debt load of the Paramount-WBD merger — King of streaming preserves its business model, while Paramount will have to deal with a massive debt load
Discussion:
Ace of Spades HQ, ROB SHUTER'S Naughty But Nice, Irish Examiner, Deadline, Morningstar and FlatpanelsHD, more at Techmeme »
Nellie Andreeva / Deadline:
Sources: Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters held a town hall to explain Netflix's decision to withdraw from the WBD bid; the town hall excluded a Q&A session — With Netflix employees still absorbing the news that the streamer won't be buying Warner Bros. per the two companies' December 5 agreement …
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 …
Discussion:
New York Times, Variety, New York Times, TechCrunch, The A.V. Club, The Boston Globe, @dyckron@mstdn.ca, @mikeisaac, @lucas_shaw, The Hollywood Reporter, Tempo English, Deadline, primetimer.com, Los Angeles Times, Times of India, Forrester, Straight Arrow News, Sports Media Watch, @andkenbrbr.bsky.social, Reuters, @robertscotthorton.bsky.social, @karlbode.com, @karlbode.com, What's Trending, Financial Times, New York Post, The Motley Fool, Dow Jones Newswires, The Gateway Pundit, Kidscreen, American Prospect, Front Office Sports, The Week, iDrop News, Telegraph, Android Headlines, Reality Tea, CinemaBlend, BBC, What Hi-Fi?, Entrepreneur, Metro.co.uk, Bloomberg Law, Benzinga, The Irish Times, City A.M., Rolling Stone, ZeroHedge News and ANI News
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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Deadline, The Guardian, Decider, Türkiye Today, Paramount Skydance Corporation, Sky News, Hindustan Times, Screen, Washington Examiner, TV Blackbox, iClarified, FinancialContent, Wrestling Inc., @steppencat.bsky.social, Superman, Times of India, Media Play News, NBC Bay Area, Engadget, @musiccomposer.com, The Wrap, ABC7, Dallas Express, Blockonomi, MediaPost, Agence France-Presse, ir.netflix.net, Rock, Paper, Shotgun, KVIA-TV, NME, Bloomberg, Proactive, MediaNews4U and iPhone in Canada
Rebecca Rubin / Variety:
Cinema operators are relieved Paramount won WBD due to its support for theatrical releases, but skeptical about its plans to increase output and sustain windows — Is there a lesser of two evils? … There's been fear that any merger — no matter which bidder prevailed …
Discussion:
Deadline, Screen, Comic Book, Reuters and New York Post
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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Variety, @newsynick, Polygon.com, The Verge, ETF Trends, Ukrainian National News, The Wrap, Crypto Briefing, Reuters, Benzinga, Media Play News, Deadline, CNBC, The Post Millennial and CNBC
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.
Discussion:
CNBC, Screen, Fortune, Marketing Brew, The Hollywood Reporter, Wrestling Inc., The Daily Beast, Advanced Television, Marketing Week, GamingBolt, Bloomberg and TVBEurope
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
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
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
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Essence, Business Insider, GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT, @hunteryharris, @dorkly, @sonnybunch, The Hollywood Reporter, @canteverdie, Too Much TV Newsletter, BANG Showbiz, Quartz, World of Reel, The Shortcut, TV Insider, New York Times, The Streamable, The A.V. Club, Sports Business Journal, PCMag, The Indian Express, Sharecast, The Standard, Broadband TV News, Gamereactor UK and Deadline
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?
Discussion:
The Guardian, Bloomberg, Deadline, RADAR, Meidas+, Washington Post, New York Times, The Observer, Breitbart, Christian Grece on LinkedIn, Joe.My.God., Variety, @semaforben, NewsMax.com, @thespaceshipper.com, The Gateway Pundit, @eriqgardner, @hugolowell, NBC News, Daily Caller News Foundation, DNYUZ, @lukesteuber.com, Newsbusters, Associated Press, CNBC, Adweek, @songsung.bsky.social, The Post Millennial, @christianed2.bsky.social, @jayrosen.bsky.social, Fox News, Defector, Reality Tea, Mediaite, MS NOW, The Wrap, Daily Mail, NPR, TV Insider and New York Sun
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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”
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Variety, Deadline, TV Insider, @senadamschiff, Reuters, Deadline, @markruffalo, @agrobbonta, FOX 11 Los Angeles, Washington Post, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, Digital Journal, Newser, Screen Rant, The Independent, Ars Technica, @willpollock.com, Business Insider, Slate, BIG by Matt Stoller, twitchy.com, Associated Press, Forbes, UK Cinema Association, The Direct, Gizmodo, One America News Network, Bloomberg, New Republic, PBS NewsHour, The Wrap, Yahoo Finance, KitGuru, Streaming Better, TheDesk.net, Sky News, Game Developer, Notebookcheck, The American Bazaar, Blockonomi, GamesIndustry.biz, CBS News, The Sun Malaysia, Deadline, Türkiye Today, @paulhikari.bsky.social, Fortune India, Business Insider, Variety, @somenobody24.bsky.social, Inc, Deutsche Welle and The Wrap
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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NPR, Baller Alert, The Hollywood Reporter, TMZ.com, Techdirt, New York Post, The Wrap, Wall Street Journal, The National Pulse, Washington Times, @hshaban, NBC News, @jayrosen.bsky.social, @senwarren, @simonowens, @matthewkeyslive, @film_girl, New Republic, Screen, Fast Company, Senator Schiff, @notaaroncraig.bsky.social, CBS News, Deadline, Time, Free Press Action Fund Feed, primetimer.com, @lukerussell.bsky.social, @wajali.bsky.social, @emptywheel.bsky.social, @nemalki.bsky.social, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social, @scaredbisexual.bsky.social, Ukrainian National News, @bselena.bsky.social, @ddayen.bsky.social, @ddayen.bsky.social, @ddayen.bsky.social, @ddayen.bsky.social, @ethanpfreedman.com, The Wrap, @ethanpfreedman.com, @matthew.flux.community, @timkarr.bsky.social, @jamellebouie.net, @jamellebouie.net, @jamellebouie.net, @jamellebouie.net and @jamellebouie.net
Henry Dyer / The Guardian:
UK minister Josh Simons resigns over allegations that a think tank he led has probed some journalists and falsely linked them to a “pro-Kremlin” network — Makerfield MP has been under pressure over thinktank's commissioning of PR firm to investigate reporters
Discussion:
@shakethescales.bsky.social, Bloomberg, @jeremymillar.bsky.social, Reclaim The Net, Mirror, HuffPost and GB News
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’
Discussion:
TV Insider, @jjtb4v.bsky.social, @trumpactiontracker …, @cernovich, @eenaruffini, @rwindrem, @davidfolkenflik, @abbeyarletto.bsky.social, The Wrap, @mattmcneilshow.bsky.social, @newsguyusa@flipboard.social, DNYUZ, The Hollywood Reporter, @samlitzinger.bsky.social, Fox News, @newnarrative.bsky.social, @laurenmeidasa.bsky.social, The A.V. Club and @oliverdarcy.bsky.social
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
The FCC approves Charter's $34.5B merger with Cox, combining cable, fiber, and cloud units, and taking the Cox name and using Spectrum for consumer business — The FCC on Friday announced that it has given the greenlight to Charter Communications' $34.5 billion merger with Cox Enterprises.
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.”
Discussion:
@kishizuka.bsky.social
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