“Paramount’s strategically and financially compelling offer to WBD shareholders provides a superior alternative to the Netflix transaction, which offers inferior and uncertain value and exposes WBD shareholders to a protracted multi-jurisdictional regulatory clearance process with an uncertain outcome along with a complex and volatile mix of equity and cash,” said Paramount. Paramount’s bid will be backed in part by funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Affinity Partners, an investment firm founded by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

Paramount’s prospects for securing regulatory approval were likely not helped by Sunday’s “60 Minutes” interview featuring President Trump’s new critic, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), which aired on Paramount-owned CBS. Shortly after news of Paramount’s hostile bid emerged, Trump took to Truth Social to say that Paramount is “NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, who just paid me millions of Dollars for FAKE REPORTING about your favorite President, ME! Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!”.

In a call with investors, Paramount Chairman and CEO David Ellison suggested the transaction would be better for the creative community. “We love the movie and entertainment business,” he said. “We believe deeply in its future, and we want to help preserve and strengthen it. Movies are one of America’s greatest exports. We want to lean into that legacy, not diminish it.”

Layoff alert: The acquisition of WBD would result in up to $6 billion in cost savings, said Paramount’s Chief Strategy and Chief Operating Officer Andy Gordon. After years of cuts, what’s left to shave? asked an analyst. “This deal is about synergies between two of the largest entertainment companies in the country,” responded Gordon. “And so unlike what we’ve done, which was improve efficiencies at Paramount, this is about duplicative operations across all aspects of the business.” Noted Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos later that day at a UBS conference, “Where do you think synergies come from? Cutting jobs.”

On Monday afternoon, the Warner Bros Discovery board of said it would review Paramount’s offer but is not modifying its recommendation with respect to Netflix. It is advising the company to “take no action at this time” in regard to the Paramount Skydance proposal, and said it would “advise its stockholders of the Board’s recommendation regarding Paramount Skydance’s tender offer within 10 business days.”

Audience Segments from Nielsen Marketing Cloud are now available across the Amazon Ads marketplace, including the Amazon DSP and their data clean room, the Amazon Marketing Cloud. The collaboration allows advertisers to seamlessly access Nielsen’s audience segments to target their specific audience, deliver ads across multiple platforms and formats, and measure performance. “With our audience segments now in Amazon’s industry leading advertising ecosystem platforms, we offer marketers one of the industry’s best data capabilities to help further drive marketing ROI,” said Kirsten Cummings, General Manager, Outcomes at Nielsen.

Jimmy Kimmel has signed a one-year extension to his deal with ABC to host “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”. He’s now set to stay through May 2027.

Also staying put is Anderson Cooper, who inked a new deal with CNN. Cooper joined the news net in 2001.

WPP Media has upgraded its global advertising growth forecast, raising its June mid-year forecast nearly three points for 2025, and a point for 2026, noting a diminished impact of tariffs, and AI spending that remains hearty despite fears of an AI bubble. North America’s total advertising (excluding US political advertising) is forecast to grow 12.3% in 2025 to $452.9 billion and is expected to grow a further 7.5% in 2026. “Looking ahead to 2026, the U.S. midterms are poised to capture near record political advertising revenue with $12.3 billion, which would be 6.2% higher than the last mid-term election,” notes the report.

Nominees for the 83rd Annual Golden Globes were announced on Monday. Netflix scored the most nods with 22, followed by HBO Max (15) and Apple TV (12). Up for Best TV Drama are “The Diplomat” (Netflix), “The Pitt” and “White Lotus” (HBO Max), and “Pluribus,” “Severance” and “Slow Horses” (Apple TV). Competing for Best Comedy are “Abbott Elementary” (ABC), “The Bear” (FX on Hulu), “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu), “Hacks” (HBO Max) and “The Studio” (Apple TV). The awards show airs Sunday, January 11 on CBS; for a complete list of nominees, go here.

YouTube’s Neal Mohan has been named Time’s CEO of the Year. “As mayor of the global megalopolis, Mohan knows one of his chief duties is to communicate a genial unflappability rather than a slick charm,” writes Time Editor at Large Belinda Luscombe. “He’s superior at it: uncle level…People who have known Mohan since he first arrived at YouTube have observed that interaction with the creators seems to be the part of being CEO he enjoys most.”

Andrea Linares has joined FOX News Media’s daily one-hour Spanish-language program “FOX Noticias” as an anchor. Founding anchor Rachel Campos-Duffy is transitioning from the daily show to focus on her role on “FOX & Friends Weekend” as well as a forthcoming FOX News Book set, along with being part of potential FOX Noticias digital specials.

Bravo’s “Summer House” is back for season ten on Tuesday, February 3 at 8p. Six new housemates join seven returnees on the Hampton-set reality show.

“Alaska State Troopers” is back with a new home on Wednesday, January 7 at 8p. The docuseries has moved to A&E from Nat Geo, where it ran from 2009 until 2015, when Alaska’s Department of Public Safety decided to “focus on the job of providing public safety without any added outside distractions.” At the time, the DPS did not rule out beginning “another chapter” at some point.

Season five of Acorn TV drama “My Life Is Murder” debuts Monday, January 5. The series stars Lucy Lawless (“Xena: Warrior Princess”).

“Happiness,” described as “a feel-good musical comedy drama,” kicks off Sunday, December 14 at 8p on PBS. The series follows a theater group in New Zealand.

Family drama “It’s Not Like That” premieres Sunday, January 25 on Prime Video. Scott Foley (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Erinn Hayes (“Childrens Hospital”) star as newly single parents.

Today’s Premieres
Magnolia/HGTV: Mountain House at 9p

MHz Choice: State of Happiness

Netflix: Badly in Love; Blood Coast

“Advertisers and publishers alike recognize that marketing opportunities, like those on social media and digital video, come with complexity,” said Integral Ad Science CEO Lisa Utzschneider. “The industry’s challenge lies in balancing digital innovation with control – ensuring every impression drives trust and performance.”

Havas announces the acquisition of media agency Kaimera. The deal strengthens Havas Media Network’s footprint in Australia and New Zealand, and adds scale and specialist capabilities while accelerating the deployment of Converged.AI, Havas’ group-wide AI-driven, data-powered strategy and operating system. Kaimera will join the organization under Havas Media Network and operate as “Kaimera, a Havas Company.”

DBC, a PR and marketing agency specializing in adtech and data insights, takes a forward-thinking approach to helping clients break through a crowded and rapidly evolving marketplace. President Bill Daddi discusses how the company continues to stay ahead of the curve, in Cynsiders.

Uber Advertising announced Uber Intelligence, a data and insights platform built in partnership with LiveRamp. Uber Intelligence lets advertisers securely combine their own customer data with Uber’s consented, pseudonymized signals while maintaining strict governance and privacy controls. “For years, brands have been chasing signals that keep disappearing. What they really need is a way to understand people through how they live, not just how they click,” said Edwin Wong, Global Head of Measurement at Uber Advertising. “Powered by LiveRamp, Uber Intelligence allows brands to transform their customer view by building connections grounded in real-world behavior that is human, contextual, and measurable.”

Last week’s episode of Food Network’s “Holiday Baking Championship” posted season high Live+3 ratings of .71 P25-54 / 0.90 W25-54, +58% and +41% respectively versus prior six-week benchmarks and ranked as the #2 non-news/sports ad-supported cable program for P25-54 and #3 for W25-54.

Today’s Trivia Question
“The Crying Game” and “Scent of a Woman” were the first two films to air on which network? (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.