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Friday, February 20, 2026 |
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Happy Friday! Sorry I'm a little late today; my son woke up with a case of the sniffles. He's feeling better now. Here's the latest on the Washington Post's day in court, the TikTok race in Texas, the "Today" show's careful shift, and much more... |
The lawyers, bankers and moguls at the center of the renewed Warner Bros. Discovery bidding war are going to have a busy weekend.
"The negotiating window with Paramount ends Monday, Feb. 23," as Variety's team noted yesterday. Netflix "has four days to make a counteroffer in the event Paramount puts forward a higher bid."
Paramount hasn't publicly made a higher bid yet, but a lot is going on behind the scenes, and the bidders are deriding each other in the press.
Puck's Matt Belloni wrote overnight, "Can we officially call the Warner Bros. sale a campaign yet? So far, this seven-day window of reopened bidding feels less like a disciplined M&A process and more like the final push to win the presidency (or the best picture Oscar), complete with sharply drawn narratives, strategic endorsements—and, of course, mudslinging and opposition research."
Next week will be busy for sure, as WBD is slated to hold its fourth-quarter earnings call next Thursday.
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This morning's news: Paramount said "it has cleared the Department of Justice's Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) waiting period on its $108.4 billion hostile takeover bid — its first major antitrust hurdle in the US," TheWrap's Lucas Manfredi reports.
The announcement aligns with Paramount's argument that it has the regulatory upper hand and can offer WBD shareholders "certainty," while Netflix cannot. For further context, read this story by THR's Winston Cho titled "Paramount's savvy legal maneuver for Warner Bros. alarms Democratic senators."
But the bottom line, according to Netflix's chief legal officer, David Hyman, is that his rivals at Paramount "have not secured approvals needed to close and they are a long way from doing so."
The DOJ can (and sometimes does) bring an enforcement action after the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period has expired.
But those aforementioned Democratic senators, and many others, suspect that the fix is in, so to speak. Paramount's connections to President Trump have been well documented. Trump's recent claim that he hasn't been "involved" in the mega-merger battle was met with a whole lot of skepticism.
At the moment, though, it's Netflix that has a signed deal to take over the WBD studio and streaming assets. "The outcome of this deal is very important to the entire industry," Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told Belloni on "The Town" podcast.
Netflix has stepped up its criticism of Paramount this week, pointing to the cost-cutting that Paramount would have to do. And Sarandos has continued to express optimism about getting his deal past regulators. But many observers think the DOJ will sue to block the deal — whether due to Trump's influence, genuine antitrust concerns, or both – and that Netflix will fight back in court.
This, of course, is where we have to mention yesterday's installation of a giant banner of Trump's face outside DOJ HQ. "Whether it's criminal prosecutions, civil lawsuits or antitrust," the banner makes it "easier for DOJ targets to argue that they are being singled out for retribution by the president," Deadline's Ted Johnson pointed out.
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>> "Legendary 'Titanic' director James Cameron is likening the theatrical experience to a 'sinking ship' if Netflix acquires WBD's film studio." (CNBC)
>> And/but: Most rank-and-file WBD employees "are now supportive of Netflix's deal" to acquire Warner Bros and HBO, Variety's team found, while Paramount's "cozy relationship with the Trump administration has given WBD staffers pause." (Variety)
>> Netflix "has ample cash" to match a new bid from Paramount, "two people with knowledge of the matter said." (Reuters)
>> Axios reporter Dan Primack recently remarked, "Many of those discussing Paramount/Netflix battle for Warner Bros are overstating the U.S. regulatory challenges – including Trump role – and understating the global regulatory challenges." (X)
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A monumental SCOTUS ruling |
"We have tariffs," Amy Howe announced in the SCOTUSblog live chat at 10:01 a.m. Within moments, the Supreme Court's ruling against Trump's sweeping emergency tariffs was the top story everywhere. Check out CNN's live updates here... |
NBC's Melanie Zanona asked last night: "Is 'Release the X files' the new 'Release the Epstein files'?"
Trump is "stepping into alien territory," the WSJ's Alex Leary and Alyssa Lukpat quipped after Trump said on Truth Social that he will "direct the defense secretary and relevant departments to begin the process of releasing government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life" and UFOs.
All of this stems from Barack Obama's comment during Brian Tyler Cohen's speed-round podcast question about the possibility of alien life. Cohen remarked on X last night, "Not for nothing but if you have the resources to release the alien files, guess what else you have the resources to release?"
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WaPo fighting DOJ review in court |
Lawyers for The Washington Post will appear in court this afternoon for arguments about the motions the Post filed last month seeking to block the government from reviewing Hannah Natanson's devices.
Back on Jan. 14, the FBI seized Natanson's reporter notes and other materials in connection with a leak investigation. Magistrate Judge William B. Porter issued a "standstill order" on Jan. 21. Today, the judge could allow the DOJ to review Natanson's devices, order the return of the devices while deciding next steps, or defer any further action.
>> Scoop: The Post's new acting CEO Jeff D'Onofrio and exec editor Matt Murray are expected to attend today's hearing in support of Natanson and The Post...
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Trump's next podcast chat |
Trump taped an appearance on "Josh Pate's College Football Show" yesterday in Rome, Georgia, at a branch of The Varsity drive-in fast food chain. If you're not familiar with Pate, he's a rising star with his own YouTube show and a growing presence on ESPN. (Front Office Sports wrote about that last month.)
The POTUS episode will come out on Sunday, but after Pate promoted it on social media, he heard from many detractors, and responded accordingly: One, he said, "when the President of the United States offers to discuss College Football it's an auto-yes 1000% of the time," and two, "Those expecting political discussion will be sorely disappointed."
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McConaughey + Chalamet this weekend |
Matthew McConaughey and Timothée Chalamet's town hall event with Variety and CNN will premiere on TV Saturday at 7 p.m. ET and will stream on CNN's app. During the taping, the two A-listers told young people "to brace themselves and lead the entertainment industry through the rise of AI." Variety's Selome Hailu has a great preview of the town hall here...
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A careful shift at 'Today' |
The "Today" show is shifting to a "more typical format" as the search for Nancy Guthrie continues in Arizona, Variety's Brian Steinberg writes.
This morning, for a second day in a row, the show led with other news. It's a hard call, but the right call. The hosts continue to wear yellow ribbons in support of Savannah.
>> Steinberg also has a ratings update: Last week, "Today" "saw viewership surge 30% over the year-earlier period." That's attributable to both concern about Nancy and NBC's coverage of the Olympics...
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'Content creators under the microscope' |
The NBC affiliate in Tucson, KVOA, is out with a new story about this. ☝🏻 Andrew Capasso says "a clash is emerging over who has the right to cover a crime scene, sparking a debate on the role of social media influencers. Some are calling for influencers to leave, arguing that unvetted information is harming ongoing investigations. Independent creators, however, claim they offer a vital service by providing the public with an unfiltered view."
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DHS cleans up site after CNN catches errors |
This is an excellent bit of reporting by CNN's Michael Williams and Alex Leeds Matthews: "The Department of Homeland Security admitted that its website featuring what it calls the 'worst of the worst' arrested immigrants was rife with errors and changed the site this week after receiving questions from CNN about it." Read all about it here...
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'When government interferes...' |
It's a tale of two FCC commissioners on X:
While chair Brendan Carr yesterday plugged a Fox News opinion piece titled "How Stephen Colbert conned Dem donors and burned Jasmine Crockett," Democratic commissioner Anna Gomez weighed in with a much more serious POV.
"The FCC is engaged in a campaign of censorship and control," Gomez wrote. "They may not have ordered The Late Show interview pulled. But when government interferes in editorial decisions, broadcasters are forced to self-censor or push back. CBS chose not to push back."
>> A related turn of phrase about that: "CBS didn’t misread the law, CBS read its balance sheet," Courtney Radsch wrote in this new blog post.
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This is a super interesting story by TIME's Nik Popli: Colbert's Monday guest James Talarico and his main primary rival, the aforementioned Jasmine Crockett, "have amassed the largest TikTok followings of any candidates in competitive statewide races this year, according to a TIME analysis, making the March 3 primary a test of which of their distinct approaches to leveraging viral attention will translate into electoral success..."
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>> Charlotte Klein looks inside Will Lewis' downfall at WaPo, including how "Bezos had lost confidence in Lewis's leadership as early as the fall of 2025." (NYM)
>> Aidan McLaughlin profiles the Ruthless podcast, which signed a deal with Fox News, and dives into its "avoidant" style that "has proven incredibly lucrative for conservatives under the current president." (Vanity Fair)
>> In the wake of WaPo's sports desk shuttering, Corbin Bolies looks at how outlets have evolved their sports reporting to fit the times. (TheWrap)
>> Will Sommer on the AI reincarnation of the late Scott Adams that has unsettled his family and his MAGA fans. (The Bulwark)
>> Casey Newton's take on Mark Zuckerberg's testimony in LA this week: "The infinite scroll goes on trial." (Platformer)
>> Matthew Ball is out with his annual slide deck about "the state of video gaming," full of insights about the media industry's attention war. (Epyllion)
>> Dan Heching features Jimmy Kimmel in the latest edition of the CNN Business Risk Takers series. (CNN)
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>> Perplexity "is abandoning plans to put ads in its AI search product as the industry looks for sustainable business models that won’t hurt user trust," Maxwell Zeff revealed yesterday. (WIRED)
>> "Polymarket and Substack are now 'exclusive,' the companies announced. And the relationship getting serious is raising a few eyebrows." (NiemanLab)
>> Yet another lawsuit against Roblox: This time it's Los Angeles County alleging "the gaming platform engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices that exposed children to sexual content, exploitation and online predators." (NBC LA)
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