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New Fox is calling off plans to bid for the 22 Fox regional sports networks that Disney needs to divest due to its acquisition of several 21st Century Fox assets. The assets Disney acquired include Fox’s film and TV studio, its 30 percent stake in Hulu and several cable channels, in addition to the sports networks. Regulators told Disney that it could not own both ESPN and those networks. “Fox confirms that it does not intend to bid for any of the Fox regional sports networks that Disney (or any entity operating on its behalf) may sell as required by the consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice,” 21st Century Fox said in a Jan. 11 SEC filing. According to FOX Business, both Sinclair Broadcasting and rapper Ice Cube are still interesting in acquiring the properties, which analysts have said could come with a price tag of around $20 billion.
 Jeff Flake |
CBS News is reportedly in talks with former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) about taking on a role at the network. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Flake, a prominent critic of the president, was seen Jan. 4 at CBS headquarters in Manhattan. The Reporter said that CBS declined to comment on the situation. Last June, The Daily Beast reported that Flake had met with the heads of CNN and MSNBC about potential opportunities. If he does wind up at CBS, it will go against the guess of president Trump. “Jeff Flake is now selling real estate, or whatever he’s doing,” Trump said at a Jan. 2 cabinet meeting. “He’ll probably go to work for CNN. That’s my prediction.”
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IMDb, the movie website owned by Amazon, has launched a free streaming video channel. IMDb Freedive is available in the U.S. on the IMDb website as well as on Amazon Fire TV devices. The company says that a mobile app version of the service will be available soon. The ad-supported channel, which does not require viewers to purchase a subscription, offers movies and such TV programs as The Bachelor and Without a Trace. The video content currently available on IMDb—including trailers, celebrity interviews and short-form original series—is being bundled into Freedive, says the company, and will still be free to watch.
Trump Media & Technology Group today reported a $58.2M net loss on $4.1M in 2023 revenues, a disclosure that drove its stock price down 22.6 percent to $47.96.
Barry Pollack, an attorney at Wall Street’s Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler, has registered Julian Assange as a client with the Justice Dept. “out of an abundance of caution.”
Paramount Global to slash 800 jobs in what chief executive Bob Bakish calls part of an effort to “return the company to earnings growth"... Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman is exiting at the end of the month due to disagreements with chief executive Gus Wenner over the direction the magazine is taking... The New York Times broke the $1 billion barrier in annual revenue from digital subscriptions in 2023... Press Forward is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms.
The majority of news articles are read within the first three days of publication, according to a recent report.
The Los Angeles Times gives pink slips to 115 people or 20 percent of its newsroom staff... TIME is also laying off about 30 employees, which is approximately 15 percent of its editorial staff... The Baltimore Banner, which was launched by Stewart Bainum in 2022 after he failed to buy the Baltimore Sun, added 500 subscribers per day in the three days following Sinclair Broadcast Group's deal to purchase the Sun.
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