Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, October 9th, 2025:
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ACCESS JOURNALISM
Over the past 24 hours you have no doubt read a number of pieces in the industry and business trades that claim to be reporting the "inside" story of a proposed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. You've read details about which executives might be on the chopping block (Current WBD head David Zaslav), how the merger might be paid for (private equity funding) and what the company might look like after the merger (it'll be super cool).
And all of those takes are just self serving crap.
When I was doing financial news, one of the things I quickly learned was that if someone at a company called to provide you "context" on background, they weren't doing it to help you out. They weren't even concerned about making things clearer for the investor. They were trying to spin you and the public narrative about the company. So when they reached out to me, I realized that what they said was less important than trying to figure out why they were saying it. If I could figure out the reason they were spinning me, I'd be closer to the truth of what was really going on at the company.
That is an important thing to keep in mind as you work your way through these stories about the "overwhelming likelihood" of a merger between Paramount Skydance and WBD. Who is spinning the story. And why are they doing it?
This NY Post piece yesterday afternoon from Charles Gasparino highlighted that Paramount Skydance head David Ellison is in talks with private equity firms - including Apollo Global Management - to help fund his merger idea.
A couple of things in the article jump out at me:
Apollo appears closest to helping Ellison with the bid, sources said. Billionaire Stephen Schwarzman’s Blackstone, which owns stakes in Hollywood firms including Candle Media – the outfit founded by ex-Disney bigwigs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs – has investigated a possible financing role but as of now not interested in participating, sources tell The Post.
“These companies bring a lot to the table since they own stakes in Hollywood properties and have a lot of money,” said one source with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
Much of the rest of the article talks about how David Ellison needs to raise billions to make a bid for WBD and there is much speculation that despite rumors, his father is not especially interested in helping to fund the acquisition of another media company:
“Look, the WBD deal might happen, or it might not, but David Ellison needs to raise tens of billions of cash,” said Rich Greenfield, a media and tech analyst at LightShed Partners. “But one thing I don’t see any time soon is Larry Ellison selling $60 billion of his Oracle stock to buy WBD.”
To be clear, Greenfield is just speculating. He (or to be be fair, no one else) has no clue about what Larry Ellison may or may not do. But the article is filled with speculation about funding, as well as a reminder that David Zaslav is successfully turning WBD around. And given this is not the first time Gasparino has made that argument, my guess is the purpose of this NY Post piece was two-fold. One, to remind people just how underrated an executive Zaslav might be and how WBD is worth more than David Ellison is likely to offer. And it's also pushing the narrative that Ellison likely doesn't have the money to finance the merger on his own. And that he most likely financial ally - Apollo Global Management - failed in its bid to acquire Paramount Global because it couldn't nail down its financing. In other words, this merger idea isn't nearly the done deal other outlets might be arguing.
On the other side of the spin is the piece entitled David Ellison's Warner Bros Bid Takes Shape; No Clear Role For Zaslav - The Dish, which comes from Deadline and sports the bylines of three reporters.
I'll try not to be too snarky, but I will make the argument that it takes a certain amount of journalistic confidence to bill a story as an "exclusive" when this is the type of vague things you are reporting:
Sources at both studios tell us that while no formal offer has yet been sent from PSKY to WBD, the Jeff Shell and Gerry Cardinale-advised Ellison is just biding his time before making a bid for another iconic studio. However, it is unclear how far “informal” pitches and discussions between the parties have evolved.
To that, specifically, Ellison and his father Larry Ellison, the second richest man in the world depending on what time of day it is, don’t want to see a repeat of the prolonged painful saga that marked Skydance‘s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount. Nor do they want to step on landmines or find any surprises at the debt-heavy WBD.
And they don’t currently see a significant role for Zaslav in the newly merged mega studio.
This piece seems to be sourced primarily from the Paramount Skydance side, and aside from taking a few shots at Zaslav, it also makes the argument that a merger is a super-great idea:
With new contracts for Warner Bros Motion Picture chairs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy signed, sealed and delivered, the (still) David Zaslav-run Warner Bros. Discovery is truly poised for a purchase by David Ellison and Paramount.
Coming off a $4 billion global box office year-to-date, De Luca and Abdy are clearly among WBD’s crown jewels and major assets for the Ellisons, which is more than you can say for Zaslav. With the duo re-upped, it’s akin to Ellison buying a house and discovering a Warhol painting hanging out back.
Nope. Definitely no spinning going on in this story:
WBD is splitting, and maybe it’s in the Ellisons’ best interest to snap it up now in full, in cash, before linear networks and film and TV production go their separate ways, risking a bidding war around the studio and streamer that pushes up the price. Meaning, he could get it cheaper if he was willing to swallow the company whole, cable and all. At second glance, however, the number of potential suitors is limited after all — for or for part of WBD. Comcast, a frequent target of Trump’s ire, would face tough regulatory scrutiny. The deal might be a big one for Sony, although it could team up again with a PE partner like Apollo. Apple? Amazon? Really?
Aside from all of the spinning going on from both sides in the press, the thing that strikes me most about all of these stories is that the entire focus is on the process behind a potential merger. There is zero reporting about whether the merger is a good idea for either consumers or investors.
I have some thoughts about that and you can read more in tomorrow's newsletter.
TWEET OF THE DAY
AND WOW, DO I HAVE SOME READER FEEDBACK
My newsletter from earlier this week about Bari Weiss joining CBS News sparked a ton of comments from readers - both positive and negative. And here are a few of the highlights:
"Or, and just bear with me for a second, Bari is not the demon so many seem to think she is. Maybe, just maybe, her supposed heterodoxy is kinda what’s needed in news today. That the staffers of a sinking ship are scared of Bari means they are scared of the wrong thing. She may succeed, she may fail, but what exactly is the current product they are trying to protect?"
--Matt S.
"I wish a few of those CBS staffers would share their concerns publicly/on record. I get it-- it's easy for me to armchair QB when it's not my career on the line-- but still... I guess at this point, the best case scenario is either 60 Minutes is left untouched, or it's spun off to another channel or platform. Sure wish Andy Rooney was here to weigh in on it all..."
--Kevin A.
"CBS news and the mainstream media spent almost 20 years since "Hope and Change" creating an alternative reality full of lies and half truths, while covering up "hard news" like the Hunter Biden laptop, Operation Crossfire Hurricane, the list goes on."
--Adam
"I didn’t know these seasoned journalists were such whiny little bitches. They should start a Substack and build it into a successful business and then who knows what may present itself…."
--Edward
"Another concern from some staffers I spoke with was Weiss’s well-known support of Israel. “She isn’t just a supporter of the current Israeli government,” one staffer told me. “She is a filthy Jew herself!" There, I fixed it for you."
--Tennvol
"Typical case, may become “the example” , of how money buys opinions. One can be a supporter of Israel and Jewish people, but no one can support Netanyahu and his band of messianic lunatics. And that’s what she’s all about. She’s smart, but not enough for the job."
--Ilan G
"Over the past five years, the standing of media institutions like CBS News and The Washington Post, etc., has only declined. Levels of trust among the public have eroded further. And as a former journalist (got out in 2000 when the writing was on the wall for old media), who has done just about everything else in comms and still has longstanding friendships with reporters/editors/executives at many of these institutions, I am not surprised that CBS staff are so badly out of touch with the reality of the world outside their echo chamber. The institution for which they work is not trusted. It is not respected. It is losing eyeballs and credibility (and probably scads of money no matter what their internal accounting processes claim), and they seem wholly unaware of the environment they exist in. They should be celebrating Bari’s arrival as an opportunity to begin the process of regaining credibility and viewership and readership. Instead, it’s the same old politics and elitism that got them into the hole. In short, they earned Bari Weiss, created the circumstances for which she was hired to address, and now will have to deal with it. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving cohort."
--Ed M.
VARIETY REALLY LIKES THAT AMAZON AFFILIATE MONEY
ODDS AND SODS
* Showtime has officially renewed Dexter: Resurrection for a second season.
WHAT'S COMING TODAY AND TOMORROW
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9TH:
* Boots Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Grey's Anatomy Season Premiere (ABC)
* 9-1-1 Season Premiere (ABC)
* 9-1-1 Nashville Series Premiere (ABC)
* O'ahu Shores Season Premiere (Peacock)
* Peacemaker Season Two Finale (HBO Max)
* Saquon (Prime Video)
* Team Mekbots: Animal Rescue Season Premiere (Peacock)
* The Resurrected Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Vgly (HBO Max)
* Victoria Beckham (Netflix)
* Zatima Midseason Finale (BET+)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10TH:
* Always, Lady London (Tubi)
* Frankie Quiñones: Damn That's Crazy (Hulu)
* John Candy: I Like Me (Prime Video)
* Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars Series Premiere (Apple TV+)
* Kurukshetra: The War Of Mahabharata Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Masters Of Illusion Season Premiere (The CW)
* My Father, The BTK Killer (Netflix)
* Old Money Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Penn & Teller: Fool Us Season Premiere (The CW)
* Swim To Me (Netflix)
* The Alabama Solution (HBO)
* The Braxtons Season Premiere (ALLBLK/WE tv)
* The Hyperboreans (Film Movement +)
* The Last Frontier Series Premiere (Apple TV+)
* The Paradise Murders (LMN)
*The Woman In Cabin 10 (Netflix)
SEE YOU EARLY FRIDAY MORNING!