Variety: India’s Streaming Universe Hits 601 Million Users as Connected TV Surges 87%

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India‘s streaming audience has reached 601.2 million users, representing over 40% of the country’s population, according to new research from Ormax Media.

Variety: Sony Pictures Television Reups Movie Slate Deal With Turkish Pay Operator Sinema TV

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Sony Pictures Television has extended its first-run feature film slate deal with Turkish pay TV operator Sinema TV.

Warner Bros. Discovery/Paramount Skydance Corporation merger - Variety: Why Does David Ellison Want Paramount to Swallow Warner Bros. Discovery Whole? To Beat Rival Suitors to the Punch

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David Ellison’s Skydance Media just completed the $8 billion takeover of Paramount Global five weeks ago.

Warner Bros. Discovery/Paramount Skydance Corporation merger - Variety: Warner Bros. Discovery Shares Spike on Report David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance Readying Acquisition Bid

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Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery shot up as much as 33% Thursday on a report by the Wall Street Journal that Paramount Skydance is prepping a takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery in its entirety.

Paramount Global for sale latest - Variety; Meet the New Boss: Inside CBS Following the Skydance-Paramount Merger

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As the Emmy Awards arrive, CBS is catching its breath.

Variety: Studiocanal Hires Sky Studios Commissioner Paul Gilbert as SVP of English-Language Series

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Studiocanal is expanding its U.K. leadership team with the hiring of Paul Gilbert as the SVP of English-language series.

Variety: John Malone Wishes Discovery Could Have Seen WarnerMedia’s Full Financials Before Closing the AT&T Deal

Story from Variety:

John Malone, the billionaire power broker and investor who has shaped the cable and media industries for more than five decades, has made his share of savvy deals.

Variety: HBO Changes the Names of 6 TV Channels as HBO2 Becomes HBO Hits and More

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HBO is enacting more name changes, as the cabler has given a cosmetic makeover to six of its U.S. linear channels:

Variety: Dan Rather Blasts ‘Shameful’ CBS and ABC Settlements With Trump, Draws Parallels to His Bush-Era Ouster

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In 2004, Sumner Redstone was looking to add TV stations to the CBS portfolio and needed the approval of a then Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission.

Paramount Global for sale latest - Variety: Paramount Skydance Hires BCG Partner Jeff Silberman as SVP of Corporate Strategy

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Paramount Skydance, continuing to round out its management ranks, has hired Jeff Silberman as senior VP of corporate strategy.

Variety: Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Receive TV Academy’s Governors Award After Being Defunded by Congress

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As it prepares to shut down after nearly 60 years of service, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will be honored with one of the Television Academy‘s top prizes, the 2025 Governors Award.

Variety: Australia’s Nine Entertainment Posts $1.75 Billion Revenue, $86 Million Profit

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Australian media giant Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited posted revenue of AUD2.7 billion ($1.75 billion) and a net profit after tax of AUD133 million ($86.3 million) for the 12 months ended June 30, the company announced Wednesday.

Variety: ABC News Names Katie den Daas SVP, Global Newsgathering

Story from Variety:

Katie den Daas, who has worked as a producer and executive at ABC News for a decade, was elevated to senior vice president of global newsgathering.

Variety: ESPN Unlimited Streaming Service Is Already Bundled With Some Pay-TV Plans — for No Extra Cost

Story from Variety:

Disney this week launched ESPN direct-to-consumer sports streamer — to get “all of ESPN, all in one place,” with no need to subscribe to a cable, satellite or internet TV service.

Variety: National Association of Broadcasters Calls for FCC to Abolish National TV Ownership Rule Amid Nexstar-Tegna Deal

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The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and several broadcast companies called for a repel of the FCC‘s longstanding national TV ownership rule on Friday.

Variety: CBS Seals 5-Year Deal for American Music Awards, Expanding Partnership With Dick Clark Prods.

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CBS is extending its partnership with Dick Clark Productions, sealing a new five-year deal to keep the American Music Awards on the Eye network and Paramount+ starting in 2026.

Paramount Global for sale latest - Variety: Shari Redstone Defends Paramount’s $16 Million Settlement With Trump as ‘No-Brainer’

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Shari Redstone said the decision for Paramount Global, the media conglomerate she just sold to Skydance Media, to pay President Donald Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit against CBS was a “no-brainer” — and she had expected the company to pay far more to the sitting president to make the litigation go away.

Variety: Nexstar to Acquire Tegna in $6.2 Billion Deal, Marking Big Move to Consolidate Local TV Biz

Story from Variety:

In a deal to combine two major players in the local TV station biz, Nexstar Media Group said it reached an agreement to buy Tegna in a transaction valued at $6.2 billion.

Variety: Banijay Americas’ New Label A Fábrica Mexico & U.S. Hispanic Taps Santiago Zapata for Scripted VP Role

Story from Variety:

Banijay Americas’ A Fábrica Mexico & U.S. Hispanic has tapped award-winning producer, writer, exec Santiago Zapata for the position of scripted VP. The new label, a partnership formed between Endemol Shine Boomdog and Brazil’s A Fábrica was founded in January in a bid to focus on producing more scripted content for the Mexican, Latin American and U.S. Hispanic markets.

Paramount Global for sale latest - Variety: Paramount Skydance Shares End Roller-Coaster, Memestock-Fueled Week Up 30%, Boosting Market Cap by $2 Billion

Story from Variety:

Paramount Skydance, over its first full week on the stock market under new owners, saw its stock jump 30% — and boomed as much as 60% in intraday trading Wednesday.