Walmart announced the completion of its $2.3 billion all-cash acquisition of TV maker Vizio, a move by the retailing giant to expand its advertising business. The closing of the deal follows the expiration of the waiting period under federal regulations. Walmart announced the deal to buy Vizio in February 2024. Walmart said the acquisition of […]

OpenAI granted early access to Sora, its new generative-AI video tool, to some 300 visual artists and filmmakers to “gain feedback” on the technology. The tech company got it — but not the kind it was hoping for. On Tuesday, a group of Sora testers released a version of the tool publicly alongside a manifesto […]

Comcast is carving off most of its cable channels. Will its new spinoff be a hunter or prey? The media giant last week put an upbeat spin on its move to shed what Wall Street sees as an albatross — the bulk of NBCUniversal’s cable networks, which have seen their revenue growth stymied by the […]

Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast, has sold $20.4 million worth of shares in the media and cable giant, a small portion of his holdings. The 469,515 shares Roberts sold on Nov. 26 represent less than 2% of his Comcast stock ownership. The Class A shares he sold were restricted stock units and options […]

The Onion will have to wait a few more weeks to see whether a court will approve the satirical outlet’s bid to buy the carcass of Infowars, the site founded by right-wing conspiracy monger Alex Jones. Earlier this month, the Onion gleefully revealed its winning bid for Infowars, which was sued into bankruptcy (as was […]

What’s the mood of the rank and file at the NBCUniversal cable networks and businesses Comcast intends to spin off next year? As you would expect, there’s a degree of anxiety over the move to create “SpinCo,” carved off from Comcast and NBCU, with a number of unanswered questions about what’s next. And there’s dismay […]

MrBeast is the ringmaster for a “Squid Game”-style winner-take-all battle for $5 million in his forthcoming “Beast Games” show for Amazon’s Prime Video. “Beast Games” will premiere Dec. 19, exclusively on Prime Video. On Monday, MrBeast — the massively popular YouTuber whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson — posted a teaser trailer for the show […]

Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, the company that partnered with Netflix for the Nov. 15 livestreamed fight between Paul and Mike Tyson, has responded to allegations that the match was somehow rigged or faked. “Following the wide circulation of incorrect and baseless claims that undermine the integrity of the Paul vs. Tyson event, Most Valuable […]

Bob Iger, chief executive of Disney, cashed out a chunk of his stock options worth $42.7 million, according to a regulatory filing. Iger sold 372,412 shares of Disney on Nov. 22, with an aggregate market value of $42,667,125.16, according to an SEC filing. Those shares were vested stock options Iger was granted in 2014 that […]

SiriusXM will revise the process of canceling subscriptions in New York to make it faster and easier, after a judge found it broke the law by failing to provide “simple mechanisms” for quitting. New York state Supreme Court Justice Lyle Frank ruled that SiriusXM violated the federal Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act of 2010 because […]

The U.S.’s two satellite TV providers aren’t getting hitched anymore, at least anytime soon. DirecTV on Thursday formally announced that it was nixing the agreement with EchoStar to buy Dish Network. The deal is being terminated effective as of 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 22, DirecTV said. DirecTV’s official termination of the agreement follows Dish […]

Paramount Global is offering $1 million retention bonuses to two top executives, contingent on them remaining with the company through the close of the Skydance Media merger. On Thursday, the media conglomerate — parent of CBS, Paramount Pictures, and cable networks including MTV and Comedy Central — said it was granting $1 million potential cash […]

Hulu will continue to be the U.S. streaming home for Fox’s “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy,” “The Masked Singer” and other shows for at least the next four years. Fox Corp.’s Fox Entertainment and Disney’s Hulu announced a multiyear renewal of their content partnership, encompassing in-season streaming rights for Fox’s programming slate. The agreement also includes […]

The day after Thanksgiving, Jennifer Hudson and Martha Stewart will suit up to pitch Amazon special deals, as part of a series of live shopping shows produced by video-commerce company TalkShopLive. Amazon’s TalkShopLive shows on Black Friday (Nov. 29) will be hosted by Stewart, Hudson, actor Eva Mendes and Kimberly Schlapman (of country supergroup Little […]

In a proposal that could radically alter the internet, the Justice Department is seeking to break up Google — by forcing it to divest the popular Chrome browser — as a way to end its monopoly on search. The DOJ’s request comes after a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia […]

At least one Netflix customer was disappointed enough over the company’s glitchy livestream of last Friday’s fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson that he’s gone to court. Ronald “Blue” Denton, a resident of Hillsborough County, Fla., who says he is a Netflix subscriber, sued the company in Florida state court. The lawsuit, filed Monday, […]

Comcast is officially cutting the cord on most of its cable networks. The company announced a plan Wednesday that will offload the bulk of NBCUniversal’s financially challenged cable portfolio — excluding Bravo — into a new entity owned by Comcast shareholders. The thinking is the new company will be positioned to acquire other media and […]

Spotify and DC are bringing back the tortured soul of Batman/Bruce Wayne, voiced by actor Colman Domingo, in a second season of “Batman Unburied.” “Batman Unburied: Fallen City” is set to premiere Nov. 26 exclusively on Spotify — promising to take listeners deeper into the Dark Knight’s history. The audio streamer released the first 10-episode […]

Tucker Carlson, who went solo after losing his job at Fox News, had the No. 1 new show on Apple Podcasts this year in the U.S., according to the tech giant. On Apple Podcasts, the conservative media personality released more than 150 episodes of “The Tucker Carlson Show” with guests including Vladimir Putin, JD Vance, […]