Barack Obama took Donald Trump and his billionaire pals to task Saturday in a rare display of bare-knuckled political pugilism from the 44th POTUS. The series of jabs and blows during a rally appearance in Norfolk, VA, made it look a lot like a 2008 Saturday for Obama on cable news – with some…

Warner Bros Discovery chief David Zaslav spoke fiercely about the power of storytelling and warned that “when the government controls the news, that is the end of democracy” on Thursday during his speech at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Humanitarian Dinner, where he was being honored for his…

Like everyone in town, Ken Ziffren knows someone new is going to own Warner Bros Discovery soon, but he won't say who – sort of. "Can’t help but mention the pending acquisition of WBD by a company called Paramount, Paramount Skydance or PSKY," the circumspect grand dean of Tinseltown lawyers…

Paramount began significant layoffs Wednesday morning, with about 1,000 U.S.-based workers being let go in the first round, and roughly another 1,000 soon to follow. The 2,000 layoffs represent about 10% of Paramount’s employee base. CEO David Ellison confirmed the cuts were underway in a…

Even in an industry increasingly accustomed to head-snapping change, this has been quite a week. After Paramount Skydance made the third in an escalating series of acquisition offers for Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent of Warner Bros., HBO and CNN officially declared it was for sale…

Among the broadcast networks, the CBS Evening News on Thursday was the only news program not to mention Donald Trump's sudden pardon of money-laundering cryptocurrency billionaire Changpeng Zhao. While ABC, CBS and PBS all covered the somewhat surprising legal break delivered to the convicted…

Paramount Skydance is mulling its next move after having its acquisition offer for Warner Bros. Discovery rebuffed for a second time in a span of days. Multiple sources familiar with the ongoing WBD talks tell Deadline that the latest bid came in at $24 a share, sweeter than the initial offer of…

A potential corporate purchase notwithstanding, Warner Bros Discovery on Thursday followed Paramount’s lead in rejecting an A-lister-heavy boycott of the Israeli film industry over the war in Gaza. "Warner Bros Discovery is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment for its…

As CBS News undergoes a regime change under Paramount‘s new ownership, John Oliver is alarmed by the new hire. With David Ellison‘s takeover and subsequently appointing Bari Weiss to editor-in-chief of CBS News, the comedian used Sunday’s Last Week Tonight to call out her questionable op-ed…

UPDATED with WGA East memo: Bari Weiss, the newly installed editor in chief of CBS News, sent out her first memo to staffers, asking them how they spend their working hours and what their ideas are for what is working and what is not. “I hope you are as excited as I am about the prospect of…

The most vexing obstacle for David Ellison and Paramount’s planned acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery looks to be David Zaslav – though probably not for long. As of now, Zaslav is moving ahead with a somewhat-still-fuzzy plan unveiled this past summer to split WBD in half by next spring to…

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) are again pressing Paramount CEO David Ellison on whether there was any “side deal” with Donald Trump in advance of FCC approval of Skydance’s acquisition of the legacy media company. In advance of the FCC’s…