“The Onion’s plan to take over the Infowars platforms that Alex Jones built into a bullhorn of conspiracy theories and turn them into parody sites was in limbo again Thursday, after a Texas court paused a proposed deal involving the satirical news outlet.” - AP
“Paramount subscribers, in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in federal court, allege the acquisition will substantially reduce competition in streaming, news and theatrical distribution in violation of antitrust laws.” - The Hollywood Reporter
“That is the technical legal term for this: batshit crazy. … Legally there is no basis for removing a broadcast license because you don’t like the program. And if there is some kind of DEI claim here, I really don’t know what that would be.” - Vulture (MSN)
As expected, Brendan Carr and the FCC on Tuesday unleashed license-renewal hell on The Walt Disney Co. However, with another Jimmy Kimmel brouhaha erupting with Donald Trump and MAGAland, the Josh D’Amaro-led Disney is playing it cool and playing along, at least for now. - Deadline
Reviews are now even more crucial than they used to be while ratings have dipped in importance in a world of cannibalized viewing, Jeff Pope told a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch this afternoon in London. - Deadline
“They’ve got the books, and I (have no) desire to debate them over what they say their business model is and how it does not work anymore. But less than two years before, ... they were very eager for me to be signed for a long time. So, something changed.” - The New York Times
While the rest of the world was getting hooked on cat videos and bedroom-dance routines, Chinese creators were tinkering with something more ambitious: serialized shows shot vertically, for phones, and packed with racy plots, absurd twists, and great swells of emotion. - The New Yorker
“Seventy per cent of India’s films made before 1950 are gone forever. Film Heritage Foundation founder Shivendra Singh Dungarpur is trying to save the rest.” - Variety
“The Onion always makes fun of the big thing in the cultural zeitgeist. We have not made fun of gut-microbiology influencers for far too long, and now they’re running the Department of Health and Human Services; we have to parody these people.” - The Hollywood Reporter
The venue that created a new type of live entertainment has become the highest-grossing arena in the world, with $379 million on 1.7 million tickets sold last year, according to Pollstar. When it opened three years ago, it had all the signs of an impending disaster. - The Wall Street Journal
“The initial backlash to Cotoye v. Acme being shelved was clearly getting to WBD by November of 2023 when the studio began offering other production houses like Netflix, Amazon, and Paramount (more on this in a bit) the chance to buy the movie’s distribution rights.” - The Verge
“Heated Rivalry became a bona fide great TV show, as worthy of Emmy consideration as shows about emergency medicine and international diplomacy and AI. But we’re not having that conversation for the dumbest of all possible reasons: the rules.” - Vulture
The contract, which is oddly long but helps shore up health care, earned the approval of more than 90 percent of the members who voted. - The Hollywood Reporter
