Paramount Skydance is buying online media outlet The Free Press and installing its co-founder and CEO, Bari Weiss, as CBS News editor-in-chief, the company said Monday. "The combination brings together CBS News’s scale and reach with The Free Press’s culture-shaping voice and innovative spirit, united in the pursuit of setting a new standard for trusted journalism in America." Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison said Weiss will report directly to him. "We believe the majority of the country longs for news that is balanced and fact-based, and we want CBS to be their home," Ellison said. The Free Press will maintain its brand and operations, Paramount Skydance said. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Weiss' appointment follows that of Kenneth Weinstein, former head of conservative policy think tank the Hudson Institute, who joined CBS News as ombudsman last month (see 2509090065).
President Donald Trump is pushing for Univision's return to the YouTube TV channel lineup. "I hope Univision, a great and very popular Hispanic Network, can get BACK onto the very amazing Google/YouTube," he wrote Saturday on Truth Social. Trump said Univision's removal from the YouTube TV package "is VERY BAD for Republicans in the upcoming Midterms." Univison was "so good to me with their highest rated ever political Special, and I set a Republican Record in Hispanic voting. Google, for the purpose of FAIRNESS, please let Univision back!" Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said last week that the blackout was "obvious retaliation" for Univision hosting a town hall event during Trump's 2024 campaign (see 2509300037).
Streaming giants like Disney, Google and Amazon reach more than half of U.S. internet households through a mix of premium subscription video-on-demand, ad-supported channels and virtual MVPD offerings that replicate the traditional TV bundle, Parks Associates wrote Friday. As a result, midtier brands without the same portfolio depth will be challenged, Parks said. Growth of services like HBO Max and AMC Networks is stalling, and providers that are unable to bundle or scale across multiple formats face a ceiling in household penetration, it added. The rise of mixed-model streaming strategies "is reshaping how value is defined" by consumers and advertisers.
CNN's live feed will no longer be available on HBO Max starting Nov. 17, the streaming service told subscribers Friday. The move comes as a CNN streaming service is set to launch later this year and as parent Warner Bros. Discovery is planning a mid-2026 split that will see HBO Max and CNN moving to different parents (see 2507280029).
News might be a tempting option for Netflix, with its high margins and daily engagement, but it also comes with significant risks, nScreenMedia's Colin Dixon wrote Wednesday. News "could attract the unwanted attention" of governments around the world, but it also could help Netflix build loyalty and boost profitability, he said, adding that cable news networks' profit margins make it an attractive business. Dixon said Netflix might want to replicate elsewhere the approach it's taking in France, where Netflix subscribers will be able to watch TF1 channels and on-demand content on Netflix starting next summer. Under that approach, TF1 carries the government scrutiny for its LCI news channel, while Netflix gets content that helps keep people on its app, Dixon added.
Actress Jane Fonda and more than 700 entertainment industry figures have resurrected a First Amendment group originally established to battle McCarthyism, in part as an apparent reaction to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s recent pressure on broadcasters and networks. “The McCarthy Era ended when Americans from across the political spectrum finally came together and stood up for the principles in the Constitution against the forces of repression,” said the relaunched Committee for the First Amendment on its new website Wednesday. “Those forces have returned. And it is our turn to stand together in defense of our constitutional rights.” The original Committee for the First Amendment was formed in 1947 by Hollywood figures -- including Henry Fonda -- to protest House Un-American Activities Committee hearings against screenwriters and directors. “We are moved by their courage to speak truth to power and alarmed by how relevant their words are today, 78 years later,” the website said.
Fubo said Tuesday that its shareholders voted to approve the Disney deal that will combine the streaming platform with Hulu + Live TV. The transaction was announced in January (see 2501060003). Disney will own 70% of Fubo, and the latter's management team will operate the Fubo and Hulu + Live TV businesses, Fubo said. The two services will continue to be available to consumers as separate offerings. The deal still needs regulatory approval, the company noted.
Programmers and NAB criticized YouTube TV and Hulu on Wednesday after multiple networks went dark on the virtual MVPDs due to failed carriage talks.
The elimination of the broadcast TV national ownership cap would lead to higher prices for MVPD consumers and lower broadcasting viewership, said DirecTV in an ex parte filing posted Monday in docket 17-318. NAB's arguments that eliminating the cap won’t raise retransmission consent fees “is a curious position from an organization whose two biggest members seek to merge with the explicit goal of achieving ‘contractual revenue synergies,’” said DirecTV, referencing Nexstar’s proposed $6.2 billion purchase of Tegna.
MVPDs looking to replace their in-house pay-TV business with a virtual MVPD partnership need to be concerned about integration, flexibility and availability of local partners, Analysys Mason's Martin Scott wrote Wednesday. Multiple U.S. MVPDs have gone this route, including Frontier, WideOpenWest and Google Fiber, as operators are putting a greater priority on broadband access in their business models, he said. Partnerships can cut the costs and complexity of running a pay-TV service while letting operators keep the value of a bundled offer, Scott noted. But, he added, drawbacks include a dependence on third‑party partners for pricing and channel lineup, as well as the complexity of integrating billing and support.