 |
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.”
 |
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.
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7... GQ editor Will Welch is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton... Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. 
The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI reach an agreement that will make a set of more than 200 animated, masked and creature characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars available for use by Sora, OpenAI’s short-form generative AI video platform... CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has moved Tony Dokoupil, a co-host at “CBS Mornings” since 2019, into the anchor’s chair for the “CBS Evening News,” following the departure of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois... USA Today editor-in-chief Caren Bohan has left the paper.
