6:10 PM ET, February 3, 2026
February 3, 2026
6:00 PM
Deadline
:
At a US Senate hearing, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos committed to a 45-day theatrical window and discussed a meeting with Trump, YouTube, residuals, and more
5:50 PM
Wren Graves /
Consequence
:
Sinclair's digital stations plan to stream Kid Rock from Turning Point's alternative Super Bowl halftime show, competing against their own NBC affiliates
5:20 PM
Jackie Strause /
The Hollywood Reporter
:
NBC's Savannah Guthrie cancels plans to travel to Milan for Winter Olympics coverage, amid a search for her missing 84-year-old mother
3:50 PM
Brian Steinberg /
Variety
:
Nielsen plans to give panelists wearable devices that capture audio to better count viewers in bars, hotels, and offices, starting with the Super Bowl
3:10 PM
Matthew Keys /
TheDesk.net
:
The FCC approved the transfer of five broadcast TV licenses to Sinclair, in Oregon, California, Maine, Virginia, and Tennessee; DirecTV opposed the move
2:00 PM
Rick Porter /
The Hollywood Reporter
:
CBS pulls a 60 Minutes segment with contributor Peter Attia that was set to re-air after the Super Bowl, as Attia's name appears ~1,700 times in Epstein docs
1:30 PM
Greg Evans /
Deadline
:
In an interview, Don Lemon says he offered to turn himself in to federal agents prior to his arrest, but the offer was ignored: “they want to intimidate you”
1:05 PM
Charlotte Tobitt /
Press Gazette
:
LADbible-owner LBG Media reports adjusted revenue up 10% YoY to £92M in the year to September 30, pre-tax profit down 3% to £14M, and £49.7M in direct revenue
12:10 PM
Leah Nylen /
Bloomberg
:
Sources: David Ellison turned down an invitation to testify before the Senate about Netflix's WBD acquisition because he didn't believe it would be helpful
11:50 AM
Financial Times
:
LexisNexis-owner Relx, Thomson Reuters, and other media and financial stocks fell 10%+ after Anthropic launched Claude Cowork tools that automate legal work
11:40 AM
Benjamin Mullin /
New York Times
:
New York Public Radio names Christy Tanner as its CEO; Tanner is a former AP reporter and spent eight years at CBS, expanding its streaming platform
11:20 AM
Adrià Calatayud /
Wall Street Journal
:
Publicis reports 2025 net profit of €1.65B, down from €1.66B in 2024, and total revenue up 8.5% YoY to €17.4B, but PUB falls 8%+ driven by AI fears
10:35 AM
Etan Vlessing /
The Hollywood Reporter
:
Fubo reports Q1 revenue up 40% YoY to $1.55B, up 6% to $1.68B pro forma after closing Disney's Hulu merger, and 6.2M North American subscribers, down from 6.3M
9:45 AM
Charlie Savage /
New York Times
:
Court docs: the US DOJ failed to tell a judge about a 1980 law protecting journalists when it sought to seize WaPo reporter Hannah Natanson's devices last month
9:20 AM
Jennifer Maas /
Variety
:
Disney says new CEO Josh D'Amaro's initial annual package is set at ~$38.4M, with a $2.5M base, and President Dana Walden's is set at ~$24M, with a $3.75M base
8:50 AM
Dade Hayes /
Deadline
:
Disney names Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, as its president and chief creative officer, a newly created role, effective March 18
8:36 AM
Variety
:
Disney names Josh D'Amaro, head of its theme parks and consumer products division, as CEO, replacing Bob Iger, effective March 18; D'Amaro joined Disney in 1998
8:15 AM
Hannah Abraham /
Forbes
:
Reliance's Jio Studios acquires a 50.1% equity stake in Sikhya Entertainment for ~$16.7M, uniting India's largest studio with the Oscar-winning production house
6:00 AM
Charlotte Tobitt /
Press Gazette
:
DMGT reports revenue down 1% YoY to £1.1B, adjusted operating profit up 11% to £97M, and digital ad revenue down 15% to £148.3M due to Google's AI Overviews
5:00 AM
Daniel Thomas /
Financial Times
:
Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun says the company is among the few in the sector to crack the use of generative AI, and pledges another €1B for AI and data operations
4:05 AM
Sarah Scire /
Nieman Lab
:
Q&A with journalist Danny Funt about his new book on sports betting, news organizations making sports betting deals, parallels with prediction markets, and more
1:45 AM
Katie Kilkenny /
The Hollywood Reporter
:
An interview with Christopher Nolan about becoming president of the Directors Guild of America, labor negotiations, studios striking AI deals, and more
February 2, 2026
7:45 PM
Isaac Rouse /
Polygon.com
:
Crunchyroll raises its US prices by $2/month; the cheapest, $10/month tier gets its first price bump since 2019 and now offers offline downloads on one device
5:35 PM
Riya Misra /
Politico
:
Dan Bongino returned to his podcast after a nine-month tenure as the deputy director of the FBI; the first episode featured a call-in from President Trump
4:15 PM
Trishla Ostwal /
Adweek
:
Amazon Ads announces the open beta of its Model Context Protocol server, which lets advertisers connect AI agents to Amazon Ads through a single integration
2:35 PM
Peter White /
Deadline
:
Versant-owned E! acquires the US broadcasting rights for the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards, taking over from previous rights holder BritBox
1:50 PM
Kerry Flynn /
Axios
:
The IAB proposes draft legislation to protect publishers from AI companies using their content to train models and generate summaries without compensation
12:05 PM
The Wrap
:
Source: CBS News may cut ties with new contributor Peter Attia, a wellness expert, after emails show Epstein links; Bari Weiss sees this as giving in to the mob
11:05 AM
Max Tani /
Semafor
:
A look at the clash between The California Post and Gavin Newsom, helping The Post get more attention for its content while Newsom scores points with his base
9:25 AM
Jesse Whittock /
Deadline
:
Ampere expects global sports streaming spend to hit $14.2B in 2026, with Prime Video contributing 27%, DAZN 22%, YouTube TV 14%, Paramount+ 8%, and Netflix 5%
8:10 AM
Simon Hunt /
City A.M.
:
Source: the London Stock Exchange cancels hundreds of FT corporate subscriptions in response to the paper's retreat from London markets coverage in recent years
7:25 AM
Alex Weprin /
The Hollywood Reporter
:
Disney says ESPN is valued at ~$30B and the NFL's 10% equity stake in ESPN valued at ~$3B; Disney has the right to buy back NFL's stake in 2034, per a filing
7:05 AM
Brooks Barnes /
New York Times
:
Disney reports Q1 operating profit down 9% YoY to $4.6B, weighed down by high movie production costs and a 15-day YouTube TV carriage dispute that cost $110M
6:50 AM
Todd Spangler /
Variety
:
Disney reports Q1 revenue up 5% YoY to $26B, driven by Zootopia 2 and a record $10B revenue from Experiences; streaming operating income rose 72% YoY to $450M
5:15 AM
CNBC
:
Sensor Tower: Latin American downloads of the top 20 microdrama apps rose ~402% YoY in 2025; ReelShort and DramaBox led with 77M and 74M downloads, respectively
4:00 AM
Anna Nicolaou /
Financial Times
:
How the music industry is split over AI; some labels signed licensing deals for AI that mirror revenue splits they use with YouTube for user-generated content
February 1, 2026
11:55 PM
Lucas Shaw /
Bloomberg
:
A look at Netflix's bid for WBD and the regulatory hurdles ahead, as Ted Sarandos is set to testify before the US Senate antitrust subcommittee on February 3
7:55 PM
Thomas Buckley /
Bloomberg
:
Sources: Disney's board is aligning on promoting theme park division chairman Josh D'Amaro to CEO; Disney says “the board has not yet selected the next CEO”
4:55 PM
Rebecca Rubin /
Variety
:
Amazon's Melania documentary opens with $7M at the North American box office, above pre-release estimates of $3M to $5M; Amazon spent $75M on the documentary
12:00 PM
Daniel Thomas /
Financial Times
:
NBCU says some brands are paying a record $10M+ for 30-second Super Bowl ad slots this year, with advertisers paying an average of $8M, matching 2025's peak
3:45 AM
Andrew Marchand /
The Athletic
:
ESPN closes the deal to acquire multiple NFL Media assets after receiving US regulatory approval; NFL will get a 10% stake in ESPN as part of the agreement
3:32 AM
Trishla Ostwal /
Adweek
:
OpenAI says it is asking select advertisers to commit at least $200K as it rolls out beta ads on ChatGPT; two sources say their firms were pitched lower amounts
January 31, 2026
3:45 PM
Austin Fuller /
Current
:
The Public Media Bridge Fund, formed due to CPB cuts, raises $66.5M of its $110M goal and launches disaster recovery and restructuring programs for stations
January 30, 2026
11:05 PM
Matthew Keys /
TheDesk.net
:
Former GM of Sacramento public radio service CapRadio, Jun Reina, was arrested and charged with allegedly embezzling ~$1.33M from station funds for personal use
8:35 PM
Washington Post
:
Independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort have been released from custody after their arrests for coverage of a protest at a Minnesota church
6:45 PM
Winston Cho /
The Hollywood Reporter
:
Don Lemon is released from custody on a no money bond; Lemon's lawyer says he intends to plead not guilty
5:55 PM
Richard Luscombe /
The Guardian
:
Press freedom groups denounce the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort, saying the arrests are an “unequivocal attack on the First Amendment”
5:40 PM
Brooks Barnes /
New York Times
:
A profile of Josh D'Amaro, a front-runner for Disney CEO who oversees Disney parks, cruises, and video games; his unit supplied ~60% of Disney's 2025 profit
5:00 PM
Wall Street Journal
:
Sources: Bob Iger has told associates that he plans to step down as Disney CEO before December 31; the board plans to vote on his replacement next week
4:00 PM
Wall Street Journal
:
Sources: OnlyFans is in talks to sell a nearly 60% stake to Architect Capital in a deal that values the company at around $5.5B, including debt
3:25 PM
Bill Toulas /
BleepingComputer
:
Authorities led by Italian investigators seized three illegal IPTV services in Europe; the US DOJ also said it dismantled three pirate services in Bulgaria
3:00 PM
Sarah Scire /
Nieman Lab
:
Analysis of Apple News in the UK: Apple News+ has 1.7M subscribers generating ~$136M for outlets; national papers account for 55% of time spent on Apple News
2:50 PM
Bloomberg
:
Sources: BMG, a division of Bertelsmann, is weighing a bid for music rights investor Concord in a deal that could value Concord as high as $7B
1:30 PM
Robert Channick /
Chicago Tribune
:
A look at Chicago alt-weekly The Chicago Reader as it scales back to a monthly publication under new EIC Sarah Conway and reverts to a for-profit business model
12:55 PM
Sarah Perez /
TechCrunch
:
Bluesky releases its first transparency report: users rose 60% in 2025 to 41.2M, including AT Protocol accounts; moderation reports from users grew 54% to 9.97M
10:40 AM
David Folkenflik /
NPR
:
Current and ex-VOA staff say a recent VOA interview by Kari Lake, who is calling herself USAGM deputy CEO, tramples on the firewall between the two agencies
9:40 AM
April Rubin /
Axios
:
Journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested by federal agents on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, respectively, for their coverage of a Minnesota church protest
8:38 AM
New York Times
:
Don Lemon Released Without Bond Over Minnesota Protest Charge
8:15 AM
Gene Maddaus /
Variety
:
Ahead of contract talks between SAG-AFTRA and studios beginning February 9, negotiators consider ideas such as an AI “tax” on studios that use synthetic actors
7:30 AM
New York Times
:
Peter Chernin sells North Road to France's Mediawan; sources: the agreement, paid mostly in stock, values the independent film and TV studio at ~$900M
6:10 AM
Michael Savage /
The Guardian
:
A BBC internal review found a “noticeable” gender mismatch among older presenters, with older women required to look younger or develop “idiosyncratic personas”
January 29, 2026
9:55 PM
Anna Tingley /
Variety
:
Reporters from mainstream news organizations including NYT, WaPo, AP, and Vanity Fair were shut out of the premiere screening of Melania in Washington, DC
9:30 PM
Todd Spangler /
Variety
:
Darren Aronofsky's Primordial Soup debuts its short-form Revolutionary War series, made via Google DeepMind with human voices and distributed by Time Studios
8:30 PM
New York Times
:
Sources: WaPo's layoffs may narrow its scope to topics of expertise and reader interest based on digital traffic, with politics and video becoming more central
7:00 PM
Lucas Shaw /
Bloomberg
:
Indie film and anti-monopoly groups urge state attorneys general to block the Netflix-WBD deal and also object to any WBD acquisition by Paramount or Comcast
6:25 PM
Roushni Nair /
Reuters
:
Australia's Nine Entertainment plans to sell its broadcast radio business to the Laundy family for AU$56M and buy digital outdoor ad firm QMS Media for AU$850M
6:15 PM
Max Goldbart /
Deadline
:
WBD partners with X and TikTok to share Eurosport and TNT Sports coverage of the Winter Games in markets across Europe
memeorandum
(River)
—
Techmeme
(River)
—
WeSmirch
(River)
—
Ballbug
(River)