Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison reportedly sent a scathing letter to Warner Bros. Discovery alleging that the auction process for the studio and entertainment conglomerate is “a tilted and unfair process.” Ellison purchased Paramount Global earlier this year for $8.8 billion, creating Paramount Skydance and was the first to make an unsolicited bid for WBD. Other bidders entered the picture during the first round, including Netflix and Comcast, and Ellison claims that Netflix has received more favorable treatment. Second round bids were due on December 1, and all three participants were said to up their offers for WBD. According to The Hollywood Reporter, WBD lawyers said in a statement that “…the WBD Board attends to its fiduciary obligations with the utmost care, and that they have fully and robustly complied with them and will continue to do so.”

In the letter, which was published in full on CNBC’s website, Ellison cited published reports that called a Netflix transaction “a “slam dunk,” and cast a Paramount takeover “in a negative light.” He continued, asking WBD execs whether those reports were accurate and for WBD and Paramount Skydance “to engage in a productive discussion with you around any actual or perceived issues that it may reflect.”

Versant, Comcast’s planned spin-off of select media brands and digital businesses, acquired INDY Cinema Group, a cloud-based cinema operating system. As part of Comcast’s online movie ticketer Fandango, INDY will offer a vertically integrated software platform designed to support key operational functions across ticketing, point-of-sale, concessions, loyalty, marketing, inventory management, and real-time analytics.

Oxygen has renewed “Snapped” for seasons 37 and 38 and will introduce a new title in the franchise – “Snapped: Killer Moms.” The network has also greenlit the original documentary “Hooters Murders: Deadly Shift.” Across its most recent seasons, “Snapped” has been Oxygen’s top-performing series. Season 36 will debut on January 4 at 6p, ahead of celebrating its 700th episode next year.

“Def Comedy Jam,” will air weeknights at 11p on youth culture network Revolt, marking the series’ return to television. Def Comedy Jam originally aired on HBO from 1992-1997 and introduced comedians who became cultural anchors, including Bernie Mac, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, and Kevin Hart. “Def Comedy Jam opened the door for so many of us and forever changed the landscape of the genre. It gave Black comedians the space to tell our stories and jokes exactly the way we wanted,” said Cedric The Entertainer.

A new addition to the Baking Championship franchise, “Baking Championship: Next Gen,” will premiere January 5 at 8p on Food Network. Hosts and judges, Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown will helm the pastry journey, with 12 teams of siblings aged 8-14 competing to win $25,000.

Saturday’s Premieres
Prime Video: Surely Tomorrow
Netflix: Pro Bono

Sunday’s Premieres
Peacock: Reality Hot Seat at 8p
TLC: 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days at 8p

Fox News has lined up interviews with Erika Kirk as she launches a book tour for her late husband’s tome STOP, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life, throughout the week of December 8.

Paramount+ original series “Girl Taken” – previously announced as “Baby Doll” – will premiere on the streamer on January 8. Based on the novel Baby Doll by Hollie Overton, the six-part psychological thriller follows the story of twin sisters Lily and Abby, whose lives are shattered when Lily is abducted from their quiet rural English town by beloved local teacher Rick Hansen.

New animated family comedy series “Hey A.J.!,” will premiere with a marathon of the first seven episodes on January 13, on Disney Jr. (7a-10:15a) and later that day on Disney Channel and Disney Jr. On Demand.

NewsNation will present a new special “Reality Check with Ross Coulthart: Underwater UFOs” on Saturday, December 6 at 8p. Hosted by special correspondent and investigative journalist Coulthart, the one-hour program will take viewers from Sydney, Australia to the Baltic Sea to the coast of Southern California and analyze a mysterious underwater UFO highway that has led to sightings and stories.

The first four episodes of Season 4 of “The Beach Hotel” make their US debut on European streaming service Viaplay on December 11, with the final four showing on December 18. The series, from Sweden’s bestselling mystery author Camilla Läckberg, is set in a sun-soaked European resort.

Agentic AI platform Clinch said it has added new AI data agents to its AI Copilot product, enabling teams to explore data conversationally, surface insights instantly, and generate visual reports using natural language. Clinch’s AI data agents also have the ability to synthesize performance insights across multiple campaigns.

Nielsen’s Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, which provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-side platforms (DSPs) with access to the company’s standardized program-level metadata. Media buyers can use Gracenote Content Connect to directly access the platform for “hands-on-keyboard” creation of private marketplace (PMP) and programmatic guaranteed (PG) deals, or to leverage their partner SSPs or DSPs to create, manage and activate deals on their behalf.

Digital advertising technical standards body IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of a Deals API for public comment. This new specification introduces a standardized method for communication of programmatic deals from origin systems – typically supply-side platforms (SSPs) – to receiving systems – typically demand-side platforms (DSPs) – significantly reducing potential for errors due to manual input in multiple systems and improving operational efficiency. The public comment period will remain open until January 31, 2026.

Triton Digital has updated its Omny Studio product, expanding the platform’s capabilities to include comprehensive support for video podcasting. Triton says the update gives publishers the ability to create, manage, distribute and monetize both audio and video content within a single platform

CreativeX has launched Datalink, a data backbone that it says provides the connective infrastructure for a brand’s entire creative ad system, integrating multiple sources of creative intelligence into a single dashboard. By creating a unified creative data backbone, Datalink enables brands to layer and activate insights seamlessly across their existing media and production workflows. Early integrated partners include Kantar Link AI, Adverteyes, Dragonfly.AI, DAIVID, and Amplified.

According to AdExchanger, CTV is less transparent than YouTube, which has led to flat spending, plateaued performance and buyers increasingly hesitant to push budgets further. When buyers cannot see what they are buying, they cannot commit their spend with conviction, notes AdExchanger, which reports that on YouTube buyers can see the channel title and the video where their ad ran (for 30% to 60% of impressions, on average), while across CTV, they receive app-level reporting and a genre label, with only a handful offering channel- or network-level transparency. “Show-level or program-level data is almost entirely withheld because most publishers fear buyers will cherry-pick the most in-demand content and disrupt their yield strategy,” AdExchanger said. Read the article here: CTV Is Less Transparent Than YouTube. That Should Alarm Everyone | AdExchanger.

CNBC and Kalshi have formed a multi-year, exclusive partnership to incorporate real-time prediction data into CNBC’s editorial coverage across its TV, digital, and subscription channels. Kalshi and its users can trade on real-world events to predict the outcomes of events that have real-time market impact, like elections, economic indicators, and cultural moments. Beginning in 2026, CNBC will incorporate exclusive Kalshi predictions market data into its programs, including “Squawk Box” and “Fast Money.” Kalshi will also launch a CNBC page on its site, featuring CNBC-selected markets.

FloSports has extended its media partnership with the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), to include NCAA Division II athletics on its FloCollege service. The agreement follows a strong Fall season on FloCollege with more than 1.1 million live viewers, 6.8 million video views, 56.9 million live minutes streamed, and 38.9 million impressions on social media to date.

The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has partnered with Home Team Network to blend advanced artificial intelligence tools and traditional production practices in select league ballparks beginning in 2025. The collaboration is built around Home Team Network’s underlying AI technology platform, designed to complement, not replace, the human elements that shape the league’s broadcasts.

FOX Advertising’s 2026 Upfront presentation will take place May 11 at New York City Center, highlighting new programming and events across FOX Sports, FOX News, FOX Entertainment and Tubi. “It’s going to be a big year for FOX – centered on what arguably will be one of the most anticipated events – FIFA World Cup 2026,” said Jeff Collins, President, Advertising Sales, Marketing and Brand Partnerships, Fox Corporation. “We look forward to welcoming advertisers to our new Upfront location at the New York City Center where we’ll demonstrate how brands can tap into the powerful fandoms drawn to our massive live sports, news and entertainment content along with one of the most exciting brands in streaming, Tubi.”

FloSports is launching two new FAST channels on Prime Video and Fubo – FloRacing 24/7 and FloHockey 24/7. According to FloSports, the launch brings its top sports programming to more than 130 million monthly viewers in the US and Canada.

According to a report from SponsorUnited, sponsorship revenue for Major League Soccer (MLS) teams rose 8% year-over-year to $716 million reflecting continued momentum from new partnership categories, upgraded premium assets, and higher deal values across club portfolios. Automotive and food products emerged as the fastest-growing categories, each posting 17% YoY growth, while financial services remained the league’s largest overall spending category.

Malaysian production company Double Vision has entered into a strategic partnership with microdrama and digital entertainment business RisingJoy.
RisingJoy represents more than 500 hours of high-quality microdramas in Chinese, Korean, Japanese and English – working with partners across 20+ different countries throughout Asia, Europe, MENA and South America – and plans to launch a co-branded app, RJoy. As part of the partnership, Double Vision will acquire a minority stake in RisingJoy.

Today’s Trivia Question
Before he became a bona fide movie star, Jack Lemmon starred in several early TV shows, including this 1950s sitcom where he played an assistant buyer in the toy department of a New York store with his real-life wife portraying a secretary-turned-homemaker that was always getting him out of jams? (Email your answer to trivia@cynopsis.com and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: a limit of four answers per time zone.