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Netflix waives clause for WBD in Paramount talks
Netflix has granted a seven-day waiver permitting Warner Bros. Discovery to reopen talks with Paramount Skydance. Warner Bros. has a pending transaction with Netflix, but Paramount has launched a hostile bid of US$30 per share to Warner Bros shareholders after losing out to Netflix in the bidding war. “Netflix has provided WBD a limited waiver under the terms of WBD’s merger agreement with Netflix, permitting WBD to engage in discussions with Paramount Skydance (“PSKY”) (NASDAQ: PSKY) for a seven-day period ending on February 23, 2026 to seek clarity for WBD stockholders and provide PSKY the ability to make its best and final offer,” Warner Bros. Discovery said in a release. “During this period, WBD will engage with PSKY to discuss the deficiencies that remain unresolved and clarify certain terms of PSKY’s proposed merger agreement.” Paramount’s initial bid promised $30 per share, but the company’s leadership said it could go higher. Last week, the company sweetened the deal with additional enhancements but didn't raise the per-share value. However, Warner Bros has said a senior Paramount representative informed a WBD board member that it would pay $31 per share if deal talks were to reopen. Warner Bros presid
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Warner Bros weighs renewed sales talks with Paramount
Warner Bros. Discovery is weighing up reopening sales talks with Paramount Skydance Corp after receiving its most recent amended offer. According to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter said that members of the Warner Bros board are discussing whether Paramount could offer a path to a superior deal in the bidding war against Netflix. The board is yet to decide how to respond and still has a binding agreement with Netflix. Paramount submitted amended terms last week that addressed several concerns. The company will cover a US$2.8 billion fee owed to Netflix if Warner Bros terminates their agreement and is offering to backstop a Warner Bros debt refinancing. Paramount also said it would compensate Warner Bros shareholders if the deal doesn’t close by 31 December, underscoring its confidence that the deal will get swift regulatory approval. While there are still some concerns about Paramount’s offer, this is the first time the Warner Bros board has considered that it could lead to a better deal or prompt Netflix to up its bid. Warner Bros had already agreed to sell both its film studio and HBO Max streaming services to Netflix for $27.75 per share. Paramount's initial bid promised $30 per share in an all
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Paramount sweetens, does not lift offer for Warner Bros
Paramount Skydance Corp has sweetened its rejected takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) without raising its offer price. Paramount said it had added a ‘ticking fee’ in the form of extra cash for each quarter the deal failed to close and agreed to cover the breakup fee that WBD would owe if rival bidder Netflix walked away. But Paramount stopped short of raising its offer of US$30 cash per share, valuing the target at more than $108 billion (A$153 billion), which it believes is superior to Netflix’s offer of $27.75 per share cash offer for WBD’s studio and streaming assets. Paramount said it would add 25 cents to its offer for each quarter its transaction had not closed after 31 December, which is equivalent to $650 million. "The additional benefits of our superior $30 per share, all-cash offer clearly underscore our strong and unwavering commitment to delivering the full value WBD shareholders deserve for their investment,” Paramount Chairman and CEO David Ellison said in a news release. “We are making meaningful enhancements – backing this offer with billions of dollars, providing shareholders with certainty in value, a clear regulatory path, and protection against market volatility." In a news release,
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Washington Post publisher resigns amidst mass layoffs
Chief executive and publisher of The Washington Post, Will Lewis, has resigned, just days after shocking mass layoffs were announced for the outlet. Lewis took over the roles at The Washington Post in early 2024, but prior to that had a long-spanning career at Murdoch media institutions. His decision to walk away from the masthead, owned by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, comes directly after huge staff cuts were announced, with nearly a third of staff laid off. During the meeting where these lay-offs were announced, Lewis was conspicuously absent, announcing his sudden resignation in a staff email. “All – after two years of transformation at The Washington Post, now is the right time for me to step aside,” Lewis wrote in the email, obtained by the Guardian. “I want to thank Jeff Bezos for his support and leadership throughout my tenure as CEO and Publisher. The institution could not have a better owner." Lewis has been succeeded by Jeff D'Onofrio, who has served as chief financial officer at the Washington Post since June 2025.
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Trump backpedals on criticism of Nexstar-Tegna deal
United States President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Nexstar Media's proposed acquisition of Tegna, after previously criticising it. The deal, which was announced in August of last year and would come in at US$6.2 billion, came under fire from Trump as recently as November, saying it would be an “expansion of the fake news networks” and calling ABC and NBC an “illegal campaign to the radical left”. Nexstar currently has ownership or partnership of 200 news stations, and if the deal is successful, would take on 64 from Tegna. This would leave Nexstar with coverage of approximately 80% of the U.S. Trump has weighed in on the deal again this week, but with a surprising show of support, calling for “more competition against…the Fake News National TV Networks". “Letting Good Deals get done like Nexstar - Tegna will help knock out the Fake News because there will be more competition, and at a higher and more sophisticated level. Those that are opposed don’t fully understand how good the concept of this Deal is for them, but they will in the future. GET THAT DEAL DONE!," he wrote on a Truth Social post.

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PR is broken and it’s the industry’s own fault
For years, the public relations industry has blamed shrinking newsrooms, unpredictable algorithms, and now artificial intelligence (AI) for its growing challenges. But the harder truth is this: Public relations (PR) didn’t lose relevance; it handed it away. Complacency replaced creativity. Volume replaced value. And outdated playbooks continued to run in a world where audiences are sharper, journalists are overwhelmed, and businesses expect measurable impact. PR is not failing because the world changed. It’s failing because the industry didn’t change with it.The Volume Game Has Destroyed CredibilitySomewhere along the way, PR became a numbers exercise defined by more pitches, more press releases, more “touchpoints”, and more activity presented as strategy. Journalists now receive hundreds of irrelevant emails a day, fuelled by agencies still relying on the spray-and-pray approach, mass distribution in the hope something lands. It is inefficient, disrespectful, and steadily erodes trust. Business leaders feel the consequences too. Retainers are spent on coverage reports filled with impressions, reach, and links that deliver little commercial return, while what is promised as strategic storytelling often becomes temp
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Thomson Reuters beats estimates, promotes AI products
Thomson Reuters surpassed estimates on earnings and revenue last quarter, and the company has moved to assure investors of the value of its artificial intelligence products. Earnings per share were up 6% year-over-year to US$1.07, above Zacks estimates of $1.06. Revenue increased 5% to $2.01 billion, beating estimates by 0.07%. "Our fourth‑quarter results capped a year of important progress for Thomson Reuters," said Thomson Reuters president and CEO Steve Hasker. "We are seeing tangible benefits from our continued investments in AI, accelerating our pace of product innovation and leveraging technology to reimagine how we work.” “As we move into 2026, we will continue to scale our agentic capabilities to deliver greater speed, clarity, and confidence for our customers – further demonstrating the value of professional‑grade tools built on quality content and deep subject‑matter expertise." The company’s share price has fallen 20.5% in the past five trading days after Anthropic added new plugins for legal tasks and data analysis to its Claude Cowork AI agent. General purpose AI models do not provide the same level of accuracy for legal tasks as Thomson Reuters’ due to its extensive library of law content, Hasker said
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Mass layoffs at Bezos-owned Washington Post
The Washington Post, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has announced massive job layoffs, totalling close to a third of the masthead's staff. The cuts include 300 of the approximately 800 journalists in The Post's newsroom, with executive editor Matt Murray describing the move as “painful". This drastic cutback comes as many major media outlets in the United States are under pressure from the Trump administration, frequently in the form of lawsuits over coverage about the President. Bezos, who bought the masthead in 2013, has grown closer to President Donald Trump during his second term in the White House. "The company's structure is too rooted in a different era, when we were a dominant, local print product," said Murray in a note to employees. “And even as we produce much excellent work, we too often wrote from one perspective, for one slice of the audience.” Veteran journalist and executive editor of the Post until 2021, Marty Baron, said the layoffs “ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations”. Included in the cuts are most of the overseas stationed reporters, including all Middle East correspondents and the Kyiv-based Ukraine correspondent. The daily po
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Nine buys QMS for $850m, sells radio assets
Nine Entertainment has announced the acquisition of digital outdoor media platform QMS Media (QMS), the sale of its radio assets and the conversion of regional television station from a wholly-owned business to an affiliate. The media company reaffirmed earnings guidance as part of the announcement of initiatives, which are part of a strategic repositioning aimed at driving long-term shareholder value. Nine said it would:Buy QMS on a cash and debt-free enterprise value basis for A$850 million (US$594 million) from Quadrant Private EquitySell Nine Radio (2GB, 3AW, 4BC, 6PR, 2UE, Magic1278 and 4BH) to the Laundy Family Office on a cash and debt-free enterprise value of $56 million, andConvert regional television station NBN (Northern NSW) from a wholly owned business to an affiliate, owned and operated by regional partner, WIN and receive $14.8 million.Chief Executive Officer Matt Stanton said the announcements marked a critical milestone in the company’s transformation, with digital growth businesses expected to account for more than 60% of revenue from the 2027 financial year. “These transactions will create a more efficient, higher-growth, and digitally powered Nine Group for our consumers, advertisers, shareholders and