Top News:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
A Paramount shareholder lawsuit claims David and Larry Ellison made an illegal deal with Trump in trade for approval of the WBD merger, promising to revamp CNN — Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison and his tech billionaire dad Larry Ellison have been sued by a Paramount shareholder …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Deadline, Chancery Court of the state of Delaware, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, NewsMax.com, The Wrap, @freedom.press, Freedom of the Press …, @leftocorangehater.bsky.social, Bloomberg Law, Raw Story, Annotated DC, Columbia Journalism Review, The A.V. Club, Status, State of California and r/MediaMergers
RELATED:
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Sources: execs expect a judge to grant a temporary restraining order delaying the Paramount-WBD merger; Paramount still expects to close the merger before Q4 — Executives involved in the pending Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery deal expect that a judge will hit pause on the takeover plan in the coming days.
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Paramount agrees to a request from 12 states, led by CA, to link their federal antitrust case in the WBD merger to an existing Paramount+ subscriber lawsuit — Paramount has agreed to a request from 12 states to link their federal antitrust case to a pre-existing suit brought by Paramount+ subscribers.
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Brendan Carr proposes repealing the national ownership cap, which restricts amassing TV stations that cover more than 39% of households, and sets an Aug. 6 vote — FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is proposing a repeal of the national ownership cap, which restricts broadcasters from amassing stations …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Ars Technica, The Verge, Poynter, Los Angeles Times, The Hill, Politico, Reuters, Barrett Media, Radio & Television …, FCC, CNN, @lucas_shaw, Bloomberg, Matthew Keys on LinkedIn, TV Tech, Variety, @jeremymbarr, The Wrap, Blockonomi, The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck and Bloomberg Law
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
The NYT filed a motion Wednesday to quash DOJ subpoenas of three of its reporters demanding they disclose their sources, following coverage of Air Force One — The Justice Department is seeking to compel grand jury testimony as part of an investigation into Times reporting on the president's new Air Force One jet.
RELATED:
David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Acting AG Todd Blanche has shown he's willing to stifle the free press, through subpoenas of WSJ, NYT, and WaPo reporters and a search of a WaPo reporter's home
Acting AG Todd Blanche has shown he's willing to stifle the free press, through subpoenas of WSJ, NYT, and WaPo reporters and a search of a WaPo reporter's home
Discussion:
Poynter, PBS NewsHour, The Hill, New York Post, New Republic, Talking Points Memo, UPI, TheGrio, Florida Politics, The Contrarian, NPR, NewsMax.com, Associated Press, NOTUS, New York Times, CBS News, Fox News, MS NOW, Semafor, @jbendery, Mediaite, @theatlantic, @jonlemire, @steadystate2025, @dagtoddblanche, RADAR, Courthouse News Service, Wall Street Journal, Media Matters for America, @attorneynora.bsky.social, @dankennedy.net, HuffPost, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Washington Post and CNN
Corey G. Johnson / ProPublica:
Ethics disclosures show 7 out of 10 FCC commissioners since 2016 have accepted Kennedy Center tickets worth thousands courtesy of CBS or its parent company — Reporting Highlights — Expensive Gifts: Despite regulating broadcast media, FCC commissioners have accepted pricey tickets …
Discussion:
Media Play News, Staff Stories, The Hollywood Reporter, Washington Examiner, @portiamcgonagal.bsky.social, @billspaced.com, New Republic, @bstnboy.bsky.social, @alanpringle@mstdn.social, @cdarwin@c.im, @coreygjohnson.bsky.social, @lauren@mastodon …, @andrewlevesque.bsky.social, NextDraft, @ProPublica@newsie.social, @nicolefcarr.bsky.social, Gadget Review, @schwanksta.com, The Wrap, TheDesk.net and Mediaite
GTLN:
The Georgia Trust for Local News purchased The Macon Telegraph and The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer from McClatchy; The Macon Melody will merge with The Telegraph — Deal will revitalize local journalism in Middle, West and South Georgia — Dublin, Ga. - The Georgia Trust for Local News today purchased …
Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
Letter: Tennessee Deputy Governor Stuart McWhorter urged David Ellison to move Paramount's corporate headquarters from California to Tennessee — Paramount CEO David Ellison and his family have deep ties to the Volunteer State and the mogul is now in a legal battle with California.
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Todd Spangler / Variety:
The Writers Guild of America sues Paramount and WBD in an effort to stop their merger, claiming the deal would hurt wages and working conditions for writers
Discussion:
The Wrap, US District Court, Northern District of California, The Hollywood Reporter, @balancecrafting, Broadband TV News, The Ankler, Inverse, Wyatt Fore on LinkedIn, Graphic Policy, @balancecrafting, Mercury News, Media Play News, The A.V. Club, Advanced Television, Writers Guild of America West, Civil Discourse …, Kellie Lerner on LinkedIn, Associated Press, Screen, Wall Street Journal, @cinephiliabeyond.org, @filmbrainbmb.bsky.social, Los Angeles Times, IndieWire, Cord Cutters News, Front Office Sports, @susanrinkunas.com, Reuters, Deadline, Oh No They Didn't!, Bloomberg, MediaPost, Fast Company, Bloomberg Law, CNBC and Sports Media Watch
Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Trump's recent comment on a “normal path” for CNN raised eyebrows amid the Paramount-WBD merger; Paramount would need CNN revenue to help pay off $80B in debt
Trump's recent comment on a “normal path” for CNN raised eyebrows amid the Paramount-WBD merger; Paramount would need CNN revenue to help pay off $80B in debt
Discussion:
@agrobbonta, Variety, @danpfeiffer, The Hill, @danpfeiffer, @danpfeiffer, The Message Box, MS NOW, Reuters, New York Magazine, The Wrap and r/MediaMergers
Ariel Zilber / New York Post:
Layoffs hit Altice USA's News 12 operations around NYC; source: at least three dozen employees across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Westchester, and Connecticut were cut — An earthquake hit local broadcast journalists across the New York metropolitan area this week as News 12 carried out sweeping layoffs …
Discussion:
@jamesqueallylat, @ftmarkets, @petersterne, Financial Times, FTVLive, 06880 and @benbrodydc
Patrick Coffee / Wall Street Journal:
How TikTok Shop sellers are using AI creators and AI twins to boost sales; eMarketer: US sales on TikTok Shop are expected to hit $23.4B in 2026, up 48% YoY — Brands issue warnings as more creators use avatars and duplicates of themselves to boost affiliate sales
Discussion:
The Independent and PR Daily
Jessica Davies / Digiday:
Ozone: publisher ad supply in Q2 fell by 32% to 37% YoY in the US and 39% to 41% YoY in the UK, driven by AI-era zero-click search and reduced referral traffic — Publisher ad supply fell by up to 40% in Q2 of 2026 as AI era, zero-click search choked the flow of traffic to news and other open-web sites …
Discussion:
Bob Regular on LinkedIn
Malia Mendez / New York Times:
PEN America's co-CEOs defend publishing an article critical of cultural boycotts, like those affecting Jewish authors, that led the group's president to resign — A co-chief executive of the free expression group said a recent article about Israeli and Jewish writers had been “critical” to pursue.
Bauer Media:
Bauer Media appoints Frances Hedges as Editor of Grazia; she was previously Deputy Editor of Harper's Bazaar UK — Bauer Media has appointed Frances Hedges as Editor of Grazia. She joins from Harper's Bazaar UK where she was Deputy Editor since 2019. — Frances will lead Grazia's editorial vision …
Discussion:
Frances Hedges on LinkedIn and Lauren Holleyoake on LinkedIn
